2021 Gumbo final - Book - Page 221
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elise
“I saw a posting on Facebook of a job opportunity at a magazine. I didn’t know which
magazine it was, but I thought it was worth a shot. I sent in my application, and pretty
soon after, I got an interview at inRegister. Then I got the job! inRegister Magazine
is a lifestyle magazine in Baton Rouge. Most of my articles involve interviews for the
e-newsletters on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week. The Tuesday newsletter is always
design focused, so I usually reach out to interior designers and ask them questions on
design tips or about different homes. I interview a couple of people a week and write
several shorter articles on food or different items around town at local boutiques. I’ve
written about 80 articles. I just wrote one on this world-famous opera singer. Her name
is Lisette Oropesa, and it was really cool to talk to her. She’s literally world famous! She
was raised in Baton Rouge, but she sings internationally. My favorite part of the job is
talking to so many people. I’ve met many local business owners, and everyone is always
so grateful when I’m done. They always give great feedback after I write the articles!
It’s really cool to hear back from people. The most challenging part of the job is making
time for the interviews. Sometimes I have to kick my roommate out for the interviews,
and it takes a lot of focus to conduct them. My advice for other writers is that you should
just go for it! You don’t have to be a writer to write this kind of stuff. I had no prior
writing experience. Before I interviewed for the magazine, I contacted the assistant
editor. I told her I didn’t have any writing experience, but that I was going to start taking
more media classes and could interview at a later time. She just told me no problem and
that you can’t teach this a classroom. It’s just about life experience and anyone can be
a writer! I’ve been published in print three times, and I think that’s really cool! I never
imagined this for myself. I’ve always liked writing, but I never saw myself doing this.
Being able to see my name in the byline for print is just really cool!”