ALL PHOTOS TAKEN FROM INSTAGRAM @ebstagrammer

Hello and welcome back to the second content strategy blog! This week we met Refinery29’s UK current fashion editor, Ebony-Renee Baker. Baker who is originally from Toronto, is a Canadian journalist and content creator who is based in London, England. Baker pursued journalism at Ryerson University, now known as Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). It was really motivating to learn about her journey from studying journalism to becoming the fashion editor at Refinery29 UK. I really liked how she described how, as we all know, no one’s professional path is ideal. She talked about how her journey involved a lot of freelancing work and internships in addition to being rejected multiple times. Baker’s love of storytelling drove her to study journalism at Ryerson, which ultimately helped her launch her career in fashion journalism. She secured an internship at Vice Canada in her third year, which gave her the chance to network and demonstrate her abilities as a freelancer. She learned from that internship how valuable they can be, how important it is to have real-world experience and grasp how the actual world functions. After leaving Vice, she was able to secure another internship at Flare Magazine, where she oversaw the quickly expanding demands for online content, wrote several freelance pieces, and served as a social media editor. I found it interesting that she mentioned in this section of her presentation that completing those internships taught her how to swiftly adapt to new situations—a skill that would become even more crucial as her career developed. One of my favourite parts of her presentation was when she talked about taking a risk and entering into uncharted territory. She mentioned that in September of 2019 she moved to the UK on a working holiday visa and although though she didn’t have a job yet, she went with the hope that freelancing would help her get by while she was there. Her honest confession that the trip was a risky decision but that she had trust it will pay off in the end impressed me.Her opinions on freelancing were really enlightening since she said it gave her the opportunity to experiment with various writing projects and techniques.  Because of that, along with her need for a little more stability in her life, she was hired by ASOS to work on editorial and branded content. Though it didn’t fall under the realm of journalism per se, it gave Baker insight into the business side of the industry and a fresh viewpoint on content development. Unfortunately like so many other people around the world, when the pandemic hit, it derailed everyone’s lives up, including Baker’s. She heavily leaned upon the realm of networking because everything was under lockdown and there weren’t many career options. Instagram and LinkedIn became her best friends, as she was using those platforms to connect with people within the industry, both in the UK and abroad. She explained that she’d reach out to people by introducing herself and starting conversations who eventually turned into genuine relationships with professionals who she used to admire and then those connections later led to multiple new freelance opportunities. One of the most important lessons to be learned from this segment of the video was her ability to persevere in the face of numerous rejections, including one from Refinery29. She never gave up. She reapplied for the Refinery29 fashion editor position even though she’d previously been rejected. This time, she got the job! Similar to Dee Thomson’s advice to always be true to who you are, Baker also stressed the importance of maintaining certain ethical standards. It’s crucial that your material keeps its authenticity. Among the most important lessons I learned from Baker’s talk were the significance of both preserving journalistic integrity and adjusting to social media trends, particularly when dealing with commercial material and businesses. Lastly, never underestimate the influence that networking may have. Connecting with people is now easier than ever thanks to social media, and those connections may lead to opportunities you never even knew were there. So, don’t be scared to take chances, learn new skills, and put yourself out there. You never know where they might lead! Thanks for reading, until next week! 🙂 

– Taahirah Baksh – 9/25/24 –