“I’m just that kind of person.” Coffee chat with Fashion Editor Ebony-Renee Baker

By William Shoukri

Welcome back to another week in the Owl’s Nest! This week I sat down with fantastic fashion editor Ebony-Renee Baker. Ebony has had an illustrious career in the media industry, working as a journalist for Vice and Asos as well as freelance work for multiple fashion brands. She has also worked as a social media editor at Flare. In 2019, Ebony moved back to the U.K. to focus on fashion. She is currently working with Refinery29 as their fashion editor.

Ebony and I spoke about her career journey, how she prepared herself for new roles and at the end of our conversation she gave some advice to third-year students starting their internships.

Fake it ‘till you make it

When Ebony heard she had received the position of Fashion Editor at Refinery29 she was shocked. This was the white whale, one of the biggest brands, the biggest platform, the brightest lights. Even though her entire career had led her towards this, Ebony was still nervous.

“I had never… worked as an editor before. I can take my experience of being edited many times, I’ll apply that to editing another writer – I did it my way”.

Being scared of doing something wrong is a poor reason to not do it in the first place. Ebony knew she had the knowledge and skills to fit into this new role. She trusted herself and was confident in her abilities. Self-doubt will never help when you’re pushing the boundaries of your ability.

Your network is your world

I asked Ebony about some of the most important things that students needed to do coming into the workforce. Much like Guelph-Humber students, Ebony took a third-year internship as well.

“My number one tip – is networking. And not just your typical networking, like going to events and sharking hands. I network constantly every day. I would literally message people on Instagram – I’ve gotten a lot of work through Instagram”.

Ebony went on to talk about just how far networking and connections have gotten her. Going the extra inch when communicating with a hiring manager would lead to her writing for Glamour, eventually landing her at Refinery29.

“Honestly at the time I didn’t even realize where that trickled back to, but it was from me reaching out to that Instagram page”.

Networking is a full-time job for Ebony, no matter what event she is at, the goal is always to leave with a new connection. “I’m the type of person, honestly like being in the office at Vice to just go up to the canteen and say ‘hey how’s it going, I’m Ebony’, just to try and make a connection”

Ebony has carved out a fantastic place for her in the fashion world, all through her hard work and determination. We could all be inspired by her story and her mentality. Now go out and make some connections!