We like to gather career wisdom and inspiration from all over so what better place than reality television, right? It’s competitive, it’s thriving and so very now.

Last night during the NY Television Festival, SallyAnn Salsano participated in a panel discussion with the cast of Jersey Shore. Mind you, she’s the executive producer of the highest rated show on MTV so when the sassy exec talked, we listened.

Sure, most audience members probably wanted to hear from Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and the gang, but Salsano dished insight and back story about the show and consequently about making a mark in her career.

Read more

As creative director for Elle, Joe Zee describes his as an “interesting, sort of nebulous title.”

“I work with all the visuals from cover to cover, so when you read the magazine, whether it’s the model, the celebrity, the styling, the fashion, the photography, all those things come into my play,” Zee explained in our Media Beat interview. “It’s really sort of helping to define a visual signature for the magazine.”

And @mrjoezee gets pummeled with questions daily from women trying to mimic the seemingly effortless style of their favorite celebs. The number one question he gets? No, not that white pants after Labor Day thing — seriously, are we still discussing that?

“I think the biggest question I get all the time is people want my job. How do I do what you do?” said Zee. “I love my job, and it definitely is glamorous after all these years. But there was a lot of years of no glamour to get to that point.”

Part 1: Elle’s Joe Zee Puts It All on the Line for Sundance Channel
Part 3: How Elle’s Joe Zee Broke Into Fashion (and How You Can Too)