Paul McKenna, perhaps the most popular hypnotist in his native England, is an international best-selling author whose books have sold more than 7 million copies and been translated into 32 languages. McKenna has worked in almost every medium, from radio and TV to books and digital. And he’s used his hypnotherapy on everyone from Ellen DeGeneres to David Beckham.

McKenna’s latest venture is a talk show on Hulu, aptly named McKenna. He’s already interviewed such media moguls as Simon Cowell, Ryan Seacrest, Harvey Weinstein, Rachael Ray and Randy Jackson to uncover their secrets to success. Here, McKenna shares stories about his own wild start in radio, the day he went from hypnotherapy skeptic to believer and how a chance encounter on Simon Cowell’s boat resulted in his latest gig.

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Name: Paul McKenna
Position: Best-selling author, hypnotist, talk show host
Resume: Started off in radio at the age of 16 and quickly moved up the ranks to the top channels in the UK, Capitol and BBC Radio One. Became an expert on hypnosis and NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) and in 1993 got his first show on TV, The Hypnotic World of Paul McKenna. Hosted various shows through the ’90s and 2000s in the UK and the United States. Authored 16 nonfiction books, including I Can Make You Thin, which is the best-selling self-help book in UK history. Currently hosts his talk show, McKenna, which debuted on Hulu in 2014.
Birthday: November 8
Hometown: Hackney, East London
Education: Saint Ignatius College, East Hartfordshire College, International Management Center; holds two doctorates
Marital status: In a committed relationship
Media mentor: “Richard Bandler. He’s the creator of NLP [and] probably the greatest living behavioral scientist in the world. He’s consistently upped his game and encouraged me to up mine.”
Best career advice received: “Know when to leave the fair,” given by David Geffen, record industry veteran and Hollywood producer.
Guilty pleasure: “Well, I was born a Catholic, so I feel guilty for everything. In fact, I’m a recovering Catholic.”
Last book read: The Singularity is Near, by Ray Kurzweil
Twitter handle: @ImPaulMckenna

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What sparked your interest in radio?
Well, London in the ’60s was communist country, or the next best thing to it. We were allowed an hour of pop music a week, and Ronan O’Rahilly came up with the idea of putting a radio station on a boat, outside of British territorial waters, so we could play pop music, God forbid, 24 hours a day. I joined Radio Caroline, the most famous pirate radio station, in the ’80s. It was probably the greatest adventure I ever had. I was 20 years old. All we did was play pop music from this beautiful Icelandic Atlantic trawler. I had a lot of fun because it was rebellious, and it was pro-democracy. There’s something about the process of radio that has a very direct connection with the listener, which I love.

Where did your interest in hypnotherapy come from?
I was always interested in yoga and meditation, and particularly in Zen Buddhism, those sorts of practices that have to do with the mind. I interviewed a local hypnotist for the radio station, and I had him demonstrate [his technique] on me. I was skeptical, but it worked. He lent me a book, Trance-Formations, by Dr. Richard Bandler and John Grinder, and it’s the best book I’ve ever read on hypnosis. That got me hooked.

“People described me as a cross between Tony Robbins and Dr. Phil. But I would like to point out that I’ve got more hair than Dr. Phil, but nowhere near as much money as Tony Robbins, or as much energy!”

Soon, I began practicing on my friends to help them lose weight or quit smoking, and most of the time it worked. Then I started doing small shows. They got bigger and bigger. By then I had moved on from Radio Caroline and was working at Capitol Radio, the biggest station in the country at the time. My boss, Richard Park, helped me promote my shows in London. I think all success in life comes down to people backing you. In that moment, my life changed.

How did you land your first TV gig?
I started doing shows in a London theater. A television producer called Paul Smith came to see me one night. He liked what he saw, and I ended up doing a TV show with him, which turned out to be the most popular entertainment show in Britain that year. What I did was I modeled people who I thought were very good on television because I was very nervous. I took the elements that I liked, put them together and, lo and behold, it worked.

At what point did your TV show format change from purely entertainment to more serious forms of hypnotherapy?

Well, I’d started a little training company, teaching people hypnosis and self-improvement techniques. And for the first one, 12 people showed up. And then the next time, 50 people showed up. And then hundreds of people, and then thousands of people. People described me as a cross between Tony Robbins and Dr. Phil. But I would like to point out that I’ve got more hair than Dr. Phil, but nowhere near as much money as Tony Robbins, or as much energy! So I suppose I was Britain’s equivalent for a while. That’s when I stopped doing these shows where I got people to do daft stuff, and I began doing shows where I would show people how to change their lives.

What inspired you to start writing nonfiction books?
I noticed that at the time [2005 to 2006] all the self-help books were pretty much all saying the same sort of stuff. Everyone was rehashing everyone else’s material. And I thought, ‘I can do better than this.’ So I went to various publishers and I said, ‘I’ve got some ideas for some self-improvement books.’ Random House said, ‘Hang on a minute — we really think there’s something to this.’

“I sell solutions, whether they’re books, whether they’re apps, whether they’re downloads, whatever they are; in my self-help world, I’m selling solutions.”

And I signed with them, and the first book I co-wrote was called I Can Mend Your Broken Heart. And it did OK. But the next book, which was called Change Your Life in Seven Days, hit the ball out of the park. That book sold millions of copies around the world. And I did a revolutionary thing, something they told me just could not be done, which was to put a CD in the back of the book [with] a hypnotic trance on it. So after you’d read the book and done the exercises, you listened — some people just listened to the CD and their lives improved.

Take me through your writing process.
When I’m writing a book, I imagine I’m holding a copy of the book, and I start to flick through it and I get a sense of the emotional tone, or I get a sense of the pace of the book, whether it’s short chapters or long ones. The other thing I do is imagine the [reader] is sitting in front of me, and I think, ‘What do I need to tell them to help them get better?’ Because I’m in the solution business. I sell solutions, whether they’re books, whether they’re apps, whether they’re downloads, whatever they are; in my self-help world, I’m selling solutions.

My readers need enough science to tell them that what they’re about to do is safe and has been practiced on other people and is a worthwhile process and then I walk them through it. And I’m not interested in writing intellectual books for other intellectuals to read. I’m interested in helping as many people as I can, in as easy and painless a way as possible. The delivery system is as important as the actual message. The messenger or the style of the message is as important as the message itself.

And so how did your show on Hulu come about?
I was on holiday with Simon Cowell, who’s a good friend of mine, and his boat was parked next to David Geffen’s boat. And Geffen wanted to meet Simon, so he sent a request over, and we all went over for tea. After Simon watched me interact and chat with David, he said. ‘Do you know what? I think you should do a talk show.’ Then I got in contact with Paul Duddridge, a television producer who I’ve known for a long time, and he said, ‘I’m working for this company that owns slots of Hulu and I think we should make a talk show with you, but it should be about how people tick.’

“I think you get more from people if they feel that they’re being genuinely listened to and understood, and that they don’t need to be on guard.”

And that’s how it got started. We came up with a format of very honest, straightforward questions. We’re not interested in the scoop; we’re interested in what makes [people] brilliant, you know? We didn’t want shiny floors and sparkling neon lights and things like that. We wanted it to be very much about the people. What we wanted to achieve with this program is to get insight, and also to be uplifted by our guests. Because all of our guests are people who are game-changers, mavericks and achievers in their own genres.

What do you think makes a great interviewer?
Well, I’m not a journalist. So I haven’t come from conventional journalistic training, which is to go for the jugular, you know, sneak one question in under another, try and get the other person [to] expose something. I’m just fascinated and curious. I think 25 years in the trenches, working with the most challenged of people you can imagine, has given me an ability to have a politely inquiring manner, I hope. I think you get more from people if they feel that they’re being genuinely listened to and understood, and that they don’t need to be on guard.

And you also have to have — and I think this is what I may have gotten from years of doing therapy — a sort of intuition about where to go next. I can’t explain that. That comes from years of talking to people in a therapeutic context.

Your work has spanned radio, TV, traditional publishing, digital platforms — which medium would you say is your favorite?
It changes from week to week. Right now I’m most excited about [McKenna], though I’m just starting work on a new book, and I’ve got a big feeling of excitement about it. So ask me in an hour’s time; it might be something else.

What advice would you give to media pros who are just starting out?
Know what you want — but you’ve got to be really, really clear about what it is you want. Because if you put vagueness out, you get vagueness back. So know what it is you want, know where you are. Figure out how you’re going to get there, what’s going to get in the way, and then with integrity take massive action and do it. Go for it, every day.

Aneya Fernando is the editorial assistant at Mediabistro. Follow her on twitter @aneyafernando.

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NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Terrie Williams, Author, Activist and Public Relations Strategist?

At any given time, The New York Times‘ Best Sellers list is riddled with the memoirs of celebrities who earn up to seven figures from rabid publishers who are more than willing to buoy sagging profits with a salacious tell-all. But here’s the thing: Most entertainers can’t actually write. That part is left to collaborators who are able to capture the celebrity’s authentic voice and weave in a compelling narrative.

For those willing to forgo the notoriety that accompanies a prominent byline, the work for collaborative writers is plentiful — whether as a co-writer who does get a small mention on a book’s cover and spine, or as a ghostwriter who, as the title suggests, completely disappears from public awareness. And for writers who have been in the game for a while, collaborating on multiple books and scoring a few of their own best sellers, the pay can be substantial.

It’s a sweet gig — so sweet, in fact, that competition for the best projects has become increasingly fierce. And the market is growing, too, as publishers increasingly turn to celebs with built-in fan bases for product. Breaking in to celebrity ghostwriting isn’t easy, but if you’ve got the chops and the persistence, you can certainly claim your piece of the ever-growing pie. Here are five tips to help you get started.

1. Get published (a lot).

Madeleine Morel is the only literary agent who solely represents ghostwriters, but she doesn’t represent just any ghostwriters. Her client list is composed solely of veteran collaborators who have worked on multiple high-profile projects and, in most cases, have a few best sellers in their portfolio.

So what’s the best way to make it onto her short list for representation? “Byline, byline, byline,” she says. “You really have to get your name out as many places as you can. The more you can build your inventory of published material, the better chance you have of being taken seriously.”

Fantasizing about penning Oprah’s autobiography is great, but unless you establish yourself as a credible journalist, that dream will likely never come to fruition.

2. Be strategic.

In the process of building your portfolio of published writing, it’s very important to seek out assignments that you can leverage to gain a foothold in the celebrity space. If you want to write the memoirs of the lead singers of ’80s rock bands, for example, you’d be better off aligning yourself with publications like Billboard or Rolling Stone than, say, Better Homes and Gardens.

And once you’ve established your beat as a music writer, you can even start to pitch articles that will provide interview opportunities with potential book subjects.

That’s exactly how Karen Hunter, New York Times best-selling author and creator/owner of the Simon & Schuster imprint Karen Hunter Books, got her first book deal while she was working at the New York Daily News.

“I had just spoken with an agent friend, and he asked me who I could do a book on,” she explains. “I said I was interviewing LL Cool J and maybe that would be interesting.” During the interview, Hunter asked the rapper if he had ever considered doing a book and, when he replied yes, she said he should do it with her.

“It was just like that,” says Hunter. “I had never met [LL Cool J] before that day and we hit it off. And I guess I was bold enough to ask the question and then follow up with his manager. Thirty days later, we had a book deal with St Martin’s Press [for 1997’s I Make My Own Rules].”

3. Be brave.

Sometimes the best-laid plans go awry, and it isn’t possible to finagle an interview with Solange to ask her what really happened on that elevator — before you offer to write her book. And in that case, it’s time to get creative and courageous.

“If you want to break into collaborative writing, you just have to find a way,” says Michelle Burford, writer of The New York Times best seller Finding Me: The Cleveland Kidnappings, written with Michelle Knight. “You have to talk to as many people as you can. You have to get out there and — I hate to use the n-word — but you have to network.

Maybe you have to make a cold call to another freelancer who’s already in your business and say, ‘Hey, if you ever turn down a project, could you give it to me?’ I don’t think there’s one way.”

Burford’s first collaborative project actually fell in her lap by way of an editor friend who works at the Christian publishing house Zondervan. The editor had just signed Olympic gymnast Gabrielle Douglas to a book deal following her gold-medal run in London and needed a writer who could take on the project and turn it around in four weeks.

But Burford quickly notes that personal connections aren’t the only way to get in the game. “In my life, as a freelancer, I try to do one brave thing every day,” she says. “You just have to keep pressing until you get where you’re trying to go. Use what’s in front of you, whatever resources you can come up with, and before you know it you’re swinging.”

4. Hone your skills.

It’s no secret or surprise that some of the top celebrity collaborators are former or current working journalists. Burford served as lifestyle editor of Essence magazine before becoming a founding senior editor of O, The Oprah Magazine, and Hunter got her start covering everything from sports to news and music at the Daily News.

Now, as a publisher, Hunter is in the position to hire other collaborators, and solid journalism skills are always at the top of the list of what she looks for in a candidate.

It’s critical that writers meet deadlines and turn in clean copy, says Hunter, but she also wants someone who can dig below the surface and get the real scoop on a celebrity. “I’m looking for writers who are going to ask the question that nobody’s ever asked because, to me, that’s what makes a great journalist,” she explains.

“Celebrities have been asked everything, so you have to do your homework and figure out what they haven’t been asked. What about them is interesting to you that you haven’t seen anyplace?”

Hunter is also willing to take a chance on a good journalist who doesn’t have a ton of book experience. “Everyone has to get their first shot, so what I’m looking for is somebody who has journalism chops, because those are the foundational pieces that make for a good collaborator,” she says.

“As a sportswriter, for example, you have to create drama in your writing and not be ridiculously sensational, but at the same time you have to be ridiculously sensational. It’s a balance. So you are naturally looking for that kernel that’s going to pop.”

5. Start small.

Once you have your sights on becoming a celebrity ghostwriter, it can be tempting to hold out on other projects until you snag your high-profile deal. But that can be a mistake, says Morel, who believes that starting small is actually a great way to develop the experience necessary to secure a celebrity deal down the line.

“You probably should go to the smaller independent houses, like Adams Media and Sourcebooks, who use a lot of ghostwriters but barely pay a living wage,” says Morel. “They’ll probably pay you $5,000 to write a 100,000-word book, but it’s a way of getting your foot in the door.

And, of course, just because you’re a ghostwriter doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be a ghostwriter who does books that are published by the publishing houses. There must be hundreds and hundreds of ghostwriters out there, thousands probably, who write books for [self-published] people who find them on the Internet.”

Even Burford, who has now notched two best sellers in her relatively short collaborating career, is not opposed to taking on a small project in between her bigger book deals. “I’m of that school that you should just get on the train that’s moving because you will arrive somewhere,” she says.

“So I’m not in the habit of turning down smaller projects, especially if they’re projects that I believe in. My feeling is that one shouldn’t get lazy or rest on one’s laurels. Even with New York Times best sellers, you’re only as good as your last book, so I still need to challenge myself. I still need to not be so arrogant that I don’t take on smaller things.”

But that doesn’t mean that you should not still shoot for the stars — in the figurative and literal, collaborative, sense. “It’s like working in any job,” Morel says. “The longer you’re there, hopefully, you’ll work your way up the corporate ladder. For some people, they’re just lucky and they get a break.

For others, it’s because they’ve really worked damn hard and they have a dream. And their dream is to become a leading ghostwriter. And they get there and they make good money.”

Perhaps you’ve been freelancing for a while now and are still receiving a fair amount of rejection emails to your pitches. There’s no need to panic — especially if you’re just getting started in the freelance world. These types of snubs are a rite of passage that make victory (an accepted pitch and payment agreement!) that much sweeter.

Maybe you’re aiming a bit high with the media organizations you’re querying — national, regional and state publications — and feel discouraged because nothing is sticking. But a rookie mistake in freelancing is missing what’s right underneath your nose. If you’re a contract-based writer or photographer, don’t miss opportunities in your own town or county to dig into community journalism. Despite its lack of love from big media, hyperlocal journalism is hot right now, and it can be just what you need to start connecting with a nearby network of journalists, plus generate a steady flow of work — and cash. Here are six simple ways to break into local freelancing:

1. Go where the news is.

You’ll want to take inventory of where people in your city hang out in order to break into local journalism. Do they congregate at small-town football games or other sporting events? Maybe your local volunteering and community service activities are well attended. A politically active area might also yield packed city council meetings. Go to those places and talk to people, whether they’re local leaders, member of the press or private citizens. Figure out what’s important to people in the community so you can sharpen your pitches.

In short, “listen to what locals are gossiping about on neighborhood e-lists, at the dog park or in the back row at City Hall meetings,” wrote Beth Winegarner, a Poynter writer and author of The Columbine Effect, in a 2012 column. Introducing yourself to newspaper editors and local magazine reps will benefit you later on when you query them. If they can put a face to a name, they may be more likely to listen to your ideas.

Top freelancers should also be deeply invested in the community, said Lance Knobel, founder of community news site Berkeleyside, which covers Berkeley, Calif., and has won the Society of Professional Journalists’ Northern California Excellence in Journalism Award 2013 for community journalism. “The benefit of writing for sites like Berkeleyside is that journalists can really dig into a local issue,” said Knobel. “It’s very much ground-level reporting; nothing happens at 35,000 feet.”

“If you do it tactfully and sparingly, submitting a single piece expecting no dollars in return will not kill your career nor destroy your reputation. It can simply help you get your foot in the door.”

2. Write for free — at first.

I know, I know. Don’t become a “slave of the Internet.” Many people — most of whom are freelance journalists — say to never, ever, under any circumstances, write for free. But I’m here to tell you that if you do it tactfully and sparingly, submitting a single piece expecting no dollars in return will not kill your career nor destroy your reputation. It can simply help you get your foot in the door. All the local publications I have written for, or thought about writing for, asked for one “trial” story (or maybe two stories). Of course, it’s not a full-time gig, so an interview isn’t in order, but if the publication is going to run your piece, the editors need to know what kind of work you’re capable of producing. It’s normal and healthy, and there’s zero shame in writing a couple shorter pieces for free — in the beginning. After you’ve proven your worth, stand your ground, take pride in your work and profession, and politely request fair payment for being a vital asset to the publication’s contributor network, as well as the pub’s audience.

Besides, with local journalism, said West Seattle Blog editor Tracy Record, your work will be read whether you were paid for it or not. “Your work is likely to be read and remembered by more people via our readership than if you are buried somewhere in a mid-level metro,” she explained.

Record said the benefits of doing local freelance work include engaged audiences, “making life better” for a community by “expanding their knowledge of what’s going on” and “enjoying community support” — all good reasons to submit your first piece free of charge.

3. Ask your colleagues for advice.

It can’t be stressed enough — being a freelancer means being a people person. Ironically, despite the reality that you can be found writing alone most days, you are always selling yourself and your product via telephone calls, email exchanges and social media presentations with potential clients. On top of that, you should be seeking out opportunities to pick the brains of successful freelancers in your area. How did they become involved in the freelance journalism realm? Where do they seek out work opportunities? Keep your questions general, but be friendly. Maybe if you develop a good rapport, you can agree to each swap one contact. Still, it’s valuable to have local friends who freelance, whether to meet up at a coffee shop and work together or just for moral support.

Winegarner wrote that social media makes finding a network of freelancers easy: “Knowing who’s writing, and who they’re writing for, gives you a good sense of which publications are open to taking freelance work.”

“No publication will give you the time of day unless you clearly articulate your value to their product. What do you have to offer? Interesting sources? A story that has never been told in your community?”

4. Set yourself apart.

No publication will give you the time of day unless you clearly articulate your value to their product. What specifically do you have to offer? Interesting sources? A story that has never been told in your community? Photography skills? Communicate your usefulness to the publication of choice after doing research on its digital platform and print product. Bring the editors something they haven’t seen in the form of a detailed content plan proposal and social media promotion strategy, and you will be golden.

Yet remember that traditional principles of good journalism are timeless. “We want journalists who know how to report thoroughly and accurately. It doesn’t matter at all if they’re new to journalism or grizzled veterans,” Knobel said.

Record echoed this sentiment. “You can have a long resume, but if you don’t write clearly and accurately, it makes no difference. I am a pretty good editor, but I don’t have a ton of time to fix your story. If it doesn’t come in close to ready to go, you’re no help to me,” she said.

5. Pitch frequently.

An unanswered email isn’t a “no.” While it could be a “no,” it could also mean the editor or assigning reporter is behind on his email, on vacation, waiting to respond more cohesively, forgetful or even that your email went to the spam folder (yes, this has happened to me). Moral of the story is to follow up on your pitches. Then after you have written for the publication once, continue pitching. A good rule of thumb is to do so weekly. Consistently (not constantly) seeing your name in an editor’s email keeps you top-of-mind and reminds him you’re available and willing to work.

You’ll find that local news sites can always use extra content. “We use freelancers reasonably regularly so that we can expand our coverage beyond what the four journalists on our staff do,” Knobel said. “Most of the work we use from freelancers is commissioned by us. The freelancers we use regularly do pitch stories, which we welcome.”

It’s also permissible to ask an editor what her needs are. Record said she has tons of stories up for grabs.”I need hard-news help___ I have a pile of potential stories day in and day out, most of which need research, shoe leather, phone calls, and no matter how fast and intensely I work, I cannot do them all,” she said.

6. Share your work on social media.

Show the editor you understand the significance of social. Your work is hardly done once the story is submitted and published. Because social media efforts by local publications are just as important as national outlets, consider sharing your piece on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and LinkedIn multiple times. Post with different lead-ins and at different times of the day to see when readers are most engaged, and finally, send an email to your assigning editor with stats on “likes,” “retweets” and “shares.” When I was a community editor with a digitally native local news outlet, I had one active freelancer who would always send me this information as well as selected comments from our audience. It was a simple yet powerful way to show me her value to our product.

Now it’s your turn to go out and do great community journalism. Good luck!

Angela Washeck is a freelance writer and editor based in Dallas. Follow her tweets @angelawasheck.

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NEXT >> What Editors Really Want From Writers

Wannabe PR pros who have seen Sarah Evans featured on countless media outlets, including Forbes, MSNBC and ABC News, may assume that their road to the top will be likewise paved with TV appearances and red-carpet soirées. The truth, however, is that Evans’ journey as owner and partner of the luxury hospitality PR firm J Public Relations, founded by college friend Jamie Lynn Sigler (no, not the actress), hasn’t comes without lots of hard work.

It’s been worth it, though, and after launching the company’s New York division in 2009 in her late 20s, JPR now has more than 70 clients on five continents. Evans may not get much sleep these days (“We’re doing conference calls starting at 6 a.m. sometimes and ending at 11 p.m.”), but she can certainly savor the fruits of her labor. JPR has seen a 50 percent year-over-year revenue increase in each of the five years of Evans’ tenure with the top-ranking firm — proof that the publicist is a pretty badass businesswoman, too.

Name: Sarah Evans
Position: Owner/partner at J Public Relations
Resume: Moved to San Diego after college and started interning at a local PR firm while waiting tables. Landed her first full-time PR gig at Allison and Partners before relocating to New York in 2003 to take a job with Hawkins International, where she worked for six years. In 2009, she launched the New York division of J Public Relations.
Birthdate: February 22, 1979
Hometown: Fredericksburg, Virginia
Education: BS, political science, East Carolina University
Marital status: Married
Media mentor: Katie Couric: “She’s reinvented herself for decades and she’s continued to stay relevant.”
Best career advice received: “The harder you work, the luckier you get.”
Guilty pleasure: Bravo TV
Last book read: The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin
Twitter handle: @jrpublicity

What inspired you to start your own PR firm at age 29?
My business partner is my best friend from college, and she had started J Public Relations in San Diego when she was 25 in 2005. I was in New York working in luxury travel PR, so we were doing very similar things on different coasts, and we talked and said, ‘You know what, we could do this together, and why not start J Public Relations in New York City?’ So I took the leap of faith and left my amazing job and started JPR here in New York out of my apartment.

What was the most difficult part of establishing the New York division of JPR? And what advice do you have for others who are considering starting their own firm?
I think the most difficult part in the beginning was that I’m a people person. I’m an extrovert, very social, so starting it by myself in my apartment and not having anyone around me, at least physically, was very difficult. And I think for others starting out, [it helps to put] yourself in an environment where you can survive, like renting a shared office space. I was going back and forth to California a lot, so that was really great for me. I think also having a clear path of what makes you excited and what makes you tick [is important]. For us, hospitality and luxury lifestyle [brands] are something we’re very passionate about personally, so it’s easier to do professionally because when we talk about it we know a lot about it. It makes us light up. And, truly, relationships are what make the world go round. It’s really about these relationships that we’ve sustained individually that have helped us create this company that we have today.

“I think [building relationships] is really organic, and I think social media has made it easier than ever.”

Networking is something we all know is important, but some people are still unsure how to do it effectively. What are your tips?

I think [building relationships] is really organic, and I think social media has made it easier than ever. Whether you have a love-hate relationship with Facebook or Instagram or what have you, now with people that you don’t talk to all the time you can still feel like you know what’s going on in their lives. You’re able to see a snapshot of who they are on social media. And whether it’s commenting on a post or just shooting them a quick note to say ‘I’m thinking of you’ or ‘I saw a photo of your adorable child on Facebook,’ engaging with them personally really holds that professional connection. It has to be very organic. Networking events are great, but that’s not where I’ve met my deepest and true relationships. It’s through working with people, really understanding who they are, reading their stories and understanding what they write about — and then traveling with them and understanding what they love to eat, and maybe what they dislike.

Many people look at publicists and think PR is such a glamorous field. What’s the biggest misconception about PR?
It’s definitely not all glitz and glamour, that’s for sure. I was actually just in a meeting and I was talking with somebody about JPR and how we got to where we are today. There’s been lots of blood, sweat and tears involved. And I think that in PR, it’s all about the hustle. You have to have that hustle; you have to have that drive.

Many of the qualities that I think make a successful PR person are innate; they can’t be learned. It’s drive; it’s charisma; it’s intuition. It’s intuitively understanding what a client wants and what a client needs, and then intuitively understanding the media and their reaction to that. So it’s all of these qualities that really make up a great PR person that, coupled with knowledge and understanding of the industry and writing, as well as what we do, which is hospitality.

“Many of the qualities that I think make a successful PR person are innate; they can’t be learned. It’s drive; it’s charisma; it’s intuition.”

So how do you balance your personal and professional lives?
I think that’s so important because a happy boss means happy employees, so it’s huge that Jamie and I continue to be happy personally. And for me, I have a 2-and-a-half-year-old daughter who’s my world, so I try to get home at the same time every day, and I will block out a couple hours when I get home — that’s my time with her. And then after she goes to sleep, I work. And I work really hard during the week, but I try as much as possible to have my weekends be my time with my husband, my daughter and my dog. It’s a constant work in progress, let’s be honest. But I try hard, and I know how important that balance is to my well-being and ultimately the well-being of the company.

JPR has more than 20,000 Twitter followers and has been recognized for its social media efforts. What’s your advice for other firms?
First, you have to have dedicated resources for social media. Social media can’t be just an afterthought and lumped into everything that you’re doing. I think it really has to be a dedicated team that’s paying attention to it and cultivating it. It has to be conversational, and it has to be a reflection of who you are. I think our social media [Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn], if you looked at it over the last five years, has really evolved, and it’s really grown up with us as a brand. But it’s organic. I think if you go on our social media pages, you get an idea of who we are as a company and who we are as people. And I think that’s important, that there’s that connection. And the other thing is, don’t take your brand too seriously, so if you’re a company, you’re not just pushing out content. You’re engaging with people and making sure that content is really meaningful. People can only hear that there’s a package or a special so many times. It’s really about, if you’re a New York hotel, for example, talking about what’s happening in New York and becoming a resource for who you are and who your audience is.

Andrea Williams is a freelance writer based in Nashville. Follow her at @AndreaWillWrite

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NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Andrea Werbel, Founder and Managing Director of PR Firm Parasol?

Community cookbooks have been around forever, so the notion of crowdsourcing home recipes really predates the rise of social media. But employing Twitter to help collect recipes, share cooking advice, and galvanize a community around a shared love of food? That’s certainly a new venture, and one that freelancer Merrill Stubbs and former New York Times Magazine food editor Amanda Hesser worked hard to create. Their popular online recipe community, Food52, recently finished their contest for the best home made recipes, the winners of which will be published in the first Food52 cookbook to be released in 2011 (the curation of cookbook No. 2 is underway).

The two met while researching for The Essential New York Times Cookbook, which Hesser edited, and will be released in late October. “We don’t want to be yet another site that insists on dumbing down recipes to make them “quick” and “easy” — so we won’t,” states the site. Here, Hesser talks about why the duo decided to start Food52, how they built a community around the site, and the advent of Foodpickle, the first real-time food Q&A.

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How did you get the idea for a crowdsourced cookbook, and why did you choose to execute the project this way?

The idea came from a project that Merrill and I worked on together, The Essential New York Times Cookbook, which is coming out this month. In doing the research for that book, we essentially crowdsourced some of the recipes we were testing. We asked New York Times readers what were some of their favorite recipes and got an incredible response — it became this invaluable thread throughout the book. It set the foundation of what recipes we were going to test, and the recommendations were really reliable and great. We also noticed that a lot of recipes that had resonated with readers over the decades at The New York Times tended to come from home cooks, not from chefs. There were obviously many terrific chef recipes that were recommended, but there was something about a recipe by home cooks that really resonated with other home cooks and readers. We just felt like there was something there, and we were really interested in applying the concepts of crowdsourcing and curation online. While there are many food sites and many good ones, we felt that what was lacking was the voice of the people — the celebration of the people who may not be professionals in the food world, but they know a lot about food, they’re incredibly passionate, [and] they have information to share. There wasn’t a whole lot of curation going on. We feel like that’s really important, particularly with recipes, and that’s why we started the site focusing just on recipes. Now we’re starting to branch out into other things.

“While there are many food sites and many good ones, we felt that what was lacking was the voice of the people — the celebration of the people.”

You’ve had a lot of experience writing about food. What did you apply from your previous media experience to form your approach to compiling this cookbook?

Part of my job when I was food editor of the Times and also when I was a reporter was to point [out] which direction trends were heading and essentially curate what was out there. What we felt like we could lend to a crowdsourcing site was that people could send in their recipes and we could use our experience as food editors and trained cooks and writers to tease out the recipes that really had original ideas in them, that seemed particularly promising, and then let the crowd take the curation process from there by voting on which recipes should win.

What is one thing that surprised you about the contributions and feedback that you got from the crowd?

We were heartened to find that there were not only great cooks out there, but ambitious cooks who weren’t daunted by recipes that have multiple steps. I was really impressed by how many people have new ideas week after week, and they really have adventurous palates and just really know their way around a kitchen. I guess we expected people would have certain areas that they would gravitate towards. And surely that has happened — there are the bakers out there who any time we have a dessert or baking theme, they leap on it. But there are a whole slew of cooks who are just willing to and also really want to create new dishes no matter what the theme is every week. That’s the best thing because it actually says something culturally, which is that Americans have reached a point — and I say Americans, just because the large majority of our community members are Americans — have reached a point in their comfort with food that they really have great conviction and are totally at ease in the kitchen experimenting and are not afraid to put their ideas out there in the public realm, which is a really big step forward.

For this project, you really wove social media strategy into the way you collected the recipes. Can you tell us a little bit about Foodpickle and how it helps promote engagement for your project?

FoodPickle grew out of two things, really. One was that as food editors and writers, we are constantly being asked food questions by friends, family, strangers. Because no matter what level cook you are, everyone has food questions. The thing that is unique about food and cooking questions are that they tend to need fast responses because you’re in the grocery store trying to make a decision about an ingredient, or you’re at the stove and something’s not looking quite right and you need someone to ask. So this is something that we thought a lot about over the years, and additionally in the past year in writing Food52, we just discovered that anytime someone on the site had a cooking question, people tended to leap in and respond quickly, thoroughly, and knowledgeably.

And additionally, just through my own experience with Twitter when I was working on The Essential New York Times Cookbook, if I had questions like where to place a recipe in the book, which chapter should it go in, how should it be categorized, what is the source of some kind of ingredient, people answered instantly and they were happy and generous, they wanted to share their knowledge and also they wanted to help you resolve your issue. Watching these things happen and having the available technology of social sites like Twitter, we felt like it was a natural progression: create a place on the site where people could ask questions, integrate it with Twitter so people could ask questions from Twitter, and people who know a lot about food could follow our Twitter feed.

The other thing that we built into that was that it was social, so that if you ask a question it gets broadcast out to Twitter, if you respond it gets broadcast to Facebook; additionally we built in a reward system. Every week we name the “Best Food Pickler,” and that’s a subjective decision based on the quality of responses, how active you’ve been, the spirit of generosity, incredibly engaging answers, etc. And that person gets this really nice prize from Viking. We’re trying to build a community and have people rewarded for great participation.

Food52 has a second book in the pipeline. What are you trying to do differently with this one?

For the first Food52 cookbook, we ended the contest in June, and [the book] will come out in the spring. The second contest just started in September, and we polled our community because we go to them for any big decisions, and said, “What do you think? What should we do for the next book?” It was really fascinating because there were some people who thought we should do a specific theme, but very few people actually did. We had said perhaps we could do a regional cookbook, or we could do holidays. The overwhelming majority wanted us to keep it the same system because they liked the surprise, they didn’t know what was coming week to week, they liked that it was seasonal. The only thing that we changed actually is that last year we would run two themes per week, and this year we’re running one, so we’re going to do more wild card winners. People can upload any recipe to the site at any time, and we just keep an eye on them in the background and test them when we see ones that are good, and then we name a wild card winner. The idea behind that was simply for it to be fun so that people could be surprised and awarded when they didn’t necessarily expect to be.

Do you have any advice for someone who wants to break into food-related media?

I think that it would be a great idea to work at a food website because you would learn a lot about everything from the editorial to the technical. You would be left with a sense of how online media works, and then potentially come up with your own idea for a startup. I think it’s best to just dive in. Tons of people have blogs, and we encourage that as well, but just getting on the ground experience in a food website is the way to go.

Amanda and Merrill’s Tips for Aspiring Food Writers
1. Learn to cook so you understand the medium.
2. When you eat out, always go to a different place, and try as many dishes as possible, especially ones outside your comfort zone.
3. Write a blog (not an original tip, but must be said) .
4. Work in the food business — on a farm, in a shop, as a waitress, as a cook, on a fishing boat. Personal experience is invaluable.
5. Eat some more.

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NEXT >> Turn Food Blogging into a Full-Fledged Career

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Jessica Roy is a freelance writer and the community manager at social media startup Context Optional.

If you are a fan of hip-hop, chances are you can’t escape Elliott Wilson, the self-dubbed “GOAT of Hip-Hop Journalism.” Even if you don’t get his constant barrage of tweets, retweets, posts and re-posts directly on your Twitter and Instagram feeds, they likely find their way there if you are a consumer of hip-hop content. “People used to be like ‘How do you do your job if you’re on Twitter all day?’ Being on Twitter all day is my job because the lifeline of the culture runs through Twitter; it runs through social media,” Wilson said.

The 43-year-old has worked in the field of hip-hop journalism for 20 years and his storied career includes time spent at The Source and a prominent role as XXL‘s editor-in-chief, among other magazine positions. He also has television and radio experience and has co-authored a couple of books. Now social media has kicked Wilson’s career and overall presence into overdrive. Tireless self-branding has raised his profile and the profiles of the brands he built, including Rap Radar, a hip-hop website, and CRWN, a live interview series with hip-hop’s latest and greatest. Wilson juggles these responsibilities with hosting duties for his show “The Truth” on Jay Z’s Life+Time’s YouTube Channel and his work on a forthcoming print project called HRDCVR, a collaboration with his wife Danyel Smith (2013-14 John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, former editor of Billboard and former editor-in-chief of VIBE) — all while tweeting and posting, of course.

“Now the pace is even more strenuous than it probably ever was. I like the challenge of proving that I can still adapt to that and still be at the forefront,” he said about covering hip-hop in the social media age.

Here, Wilson discusses how he leads the conversation about hip-hop on social media.

Can you describe the evolution of your relationship with Twitter and other social media platforms?
I really think my relationship with social media is definitely the key to the success of my website Rap Radar, the resurgence of my career and [responsible for] putting me [at] the forefront of the culture. I joined [Twitter] in summer ’08. And in the early days of Twitter, I just remember a lot of it was galvanized around the President Obama campaign and the Democratic Convention, and the Democratic debates. It would be me and Danyel, Questlove and just… a small group on there talking about politics and… just having the excitement around this whole energy that Obama was bringing.

And then I launched my site Rap Radar in March 2009. And around that same time is when a lot of people in hip-hop started joining Twitter and it started becoming more and more part of our culture. What helped us a lot with Rap Radar was that we were kind of at the forefront because I had already begun to establish myself on Twitter.

“My relationship with social media is definitely the key to the success of my website Rap Radar, the resurgence of my career and [responsible for] putting me [at] the forefront of the culture.”

And at Rap Radar, we would screengrab tweets and make news posts about them. We started documenting [hip-hop] culture and using Twitter as that platform. A lot of traffic started coming to Rap Radar from our Twitter feed and from Facebook. I started to realize if I could try to become really dominant on this social media platform, I could bring the audience to Rap Radar. And that’s kind of what’s happened since ’09.

You’re a prolific curator of tweets. What merits a retweet or a re-post from you and how do you select them?

Obviously, this is a 24/7 world. Anybody at any time can say something, reveal a song, or show a picture. So you want to be on top of it, but you really can’t be on top of the Internet 24/7. So I… created a list of 100 people who I rely on, who I trust. A mix of artists, media professionals that are my peers, industry people. People I felt like were doing, to my knowledge, social media well. They had some insight and some opinions that I respected, even if I disagreed. I would get up first thing in the morning, go back and look at my feed based on those people and I would just start retweeting what happened in the night. If I sent a tweet at 11:30, 11:45 [p.m.] I would go in reverse order and I would retweet things that happened eight hours ago or five hours ago and so my timeline was deceptively looking like I never slept. And then I started becoming known for it, and then I started realizing that… the artists and everybody has the power to express themselves, but no one was really housing the conversation in one place. So I started doing that and my timeline documents [hip-hop] culture in one way that Rap Radar may not.

And now with Instagram, I’ve done it in a very similar way [as Twitter] where I’m just… trying to make sure that I don’t miss anything, and cover up the moments when at the end of the day I have to get some sleep.

What are the elements that make up your social media persona?
Well, I think my social media persona is also an extension of my character. I have a decorated history; I’ve been in this business for over 20 years. I’m an entrepreneur. I’m very boisterous. So I just kind of play that up and I kind of put it all out there and use it to promote and market my companies or promote and market artists that I feel deserve that, for no compensation. It’s just what I feel is good for the culture. Or I may have something I’m doing with the artist and I want the artist to get some notoriety.

“I want hip-hop culture to be respected and acknowledged as the dominant force of pop culture, which I think it is.”

When an artist puts out an album… I’ll retweet their iTunes link and try to encourage people to buy music because I think it benefits the culture overall. But, in terms of me, I think I do a good job of showing who I am — the same way I did with the XXL editorials I used to do — and my real personality. I’m really competitive, I really want to win, I really want to be a celebrated entrepreneur, I want to be an authority of our culture, and I want to prove that nobody has as much passion about it or drive as I do. So I share that but then I also welcome other voices and other points of view. Because as big as I’d like to be, I don’t think I’m bigger than the culture itself or bigger than anybody in this profession or the business itself. I want hip-hop culture to be respected and acknowledged as the dominant force of pop culture, which I think it is.

Have you ever been surprised at all by social media?
When something happens, we all just kind of galvanize around it. I think it’s killed the press release. We still get press releases, but now, pretty much, everything’s going to be first put out there through social media — mostly through Twitter. As a journalist, I’m just continually astounded by the power of that. At any time, something can happen. And given the situation I’m in, people expect me to know whether something’s true or not or have some insight on it. So I have to accept the challenge of that. I interviewed [Lil’ Wayne] for my CRWN series last week and I was telling him that it was a year ago at South by Southwest, where he had the hospital seizure situation and TMZ had pronounced him dead or said he was on his deathbed. It was crazy because there was an event called FADER FORT out there at South by Southwest… and I was [backstage] with Pharrell and Solange Knowles and we’re all hearing this terrible rumor about Lil’ Wayne, and they’re looking at me like ‘Do you know if he’s alive?’ because I need to know as a journalist, right? So I think that that’s the power of it. I think that it forces you to do your job and be on top of things and, almost like a doctor, you’re always on call. There’s a big challenge because information comes out at any hour from any place. And a lot of times artists are empowered to share their content themselves. You just have to be adaptable and passionate to have that drive to keep up with it because it’s super fast-paced.

What was that process that went into selecting Myspace to host the CRWN series?

Myspace is trying to redefine itself and they have created some really good content that I think gets overlooked because they’re still dealing with the shadow of… what the company used to be. And I think that CRWN’s exposure helps showcase that they are creating a lot of great original content and approaching business in a different way. It’s a very unique partnership to have WatchLOUD and Myspace with CRWN.

“I think that [social media] forces you to do your job and be on top of things and, almost like a doctor, you’re always on call. You just have to be adaptable and passionate to have that drive to keep up with it.”

I would say CRWN is like the cover story brought to life in front of the people, in front of the fans, in front of the world — it’s this really honest hour-long dialogue that really captures where the artist is. And former hip-hop journalists like Ben [Meadows-Ingram, director of content at Myspace] and Joseph [Patel, vice president of content at Myspace] get that.

So what do you foresee in CRWN’s future?
The bread and butter of it is to embrace the biggest artists in hip-hop, especially the new generation of stars. But I also want to go with Justin Timberlake or Justin Bieber or Beyoncé or Rihanna — artists that are of interest to me. I think artists today kind of marginalize media because they do so much of it. As a journalist, I have to do everything I can to make my content and my interviews stand out. And I do that by being selective about who I sit down with. But there [are] a lot of great artists, like… the artists I mentioned and also Nicki Minaj and Kanye West and Eminem — artists I haven’t really sat down with in a really long time or never at all. So there are endless possibilities. And I think that Lil’ Wayne was a great success and it sort of brings [CRWN] to another level.

You know what’s great about CRWN, too? It’s scary to be an entrepreneur. It’s scary to create new stuff and a lot of times you’re met with some skepticism, or a lot of skepticism, about it, but… I knew it was special because everyone loves it. It’s hard to find somebody that doesn’t like it or respect it. I think that I never created a brand in my 20 years of doing this that has had so much positive reception to it from out the gate. And it continues to grow.

Elliott Wilson’s Tips for Winning at Social Media Branding:

1. Be natural. “It has to be organic. You have to find your voice. You have to be fearless… even if you are private. You have to have confidence in expressing yourself. Be sincere and honest.”

2. Log off sometimes. “You don’t need to be on [social media] 24 hours a day, [especially] if you’re not in the right mood or you’re not in the right headspace. There [are] times when even I have to unplug for an hour or two… because [social media is] not really inspiring me.”

3. Join the community. “Respect other people’s voices. Be of the people and talk with the people. Don’t talk at them. Engage with them. And by being open to doing that, you develop a comfort in it, and I think that that’s really the key.”

Janday Wilson is a storyteller based in the greater New York City area. You can find more of her work at jandaywilson.com.

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NEXT >> Hey, How’d You Launch an Inspirational Photography Campaign, Eunique Jones Gibson?

Sarah Lewis’ nonfiction debut The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery is a keen interrogation of some of the most inexplicable aspects of the human experience: the pursuit of mastery, creativity, innovation and the surprising advantages that can come from failure. Lewis’ lifelong fascination with how people “become” turns universal in The Rise as she explores the sometimes-precarious beginnings that can lead to a phoenixlike rise through the stories of a staggering range of subjects, including explorers, scientists, choreographers, entrepreneurs and many others. Her book engages intellectually and inspires wonder, giving equal weight to both scientific and artistic inquiry.

Soon to receive her PhD in art history from Yale University, Lewis is currently a faculty member in the MFA program at Yale’s School of Art, has held curatorial positions at the Tate Modern and the Museum of Modern Art and has served on President Barack Obama’s Arts Policy Committee. She is nearing the completion of yet another ambitious book project born from her PhD dissertation: an examination of the “fabrication and mythology of race,” which she will finish during her Du Bois research fellowship at Harvard’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.

Here, Lewis shares with Mediabistro the details of her writing process for The Rise.

For The Rise, you chose to write about very enigmatic material. Was there a moment when you felt overwhelmed by the immensity of the task? If so, how did you pull through it?
Well, there was no period in which I didn’t feel the immensity of the topic I chose to write about, and I deliberately said ‘no’ to a number of things to give myself enough room to grow in the way I needed to in order to write. There was a moment when I was writing about the topic of surrender and how it is that people derive strength from it, whether it’s Arctic explorer Ben Saunders or others [who refuse to give up]. Somehow, relaxing in the face of difficulty, they were able to tap into the inner resources that they needed to discern which way to go next. And it took me a long time to understand that idea, in part because it is enigmatic. It is the paradox about life. We have physical evidence and we know that trees are strong[er] when they’re supple and they actually blow with the wind as opposed to cracking and bending over, but there are very few examples of this in sentient life and how we live as human beings.

So when I came to the point where I needed to write about surrender, I realized that I had to surrender myself as an author — in order to be able to digest this — to what I felt I was being called to say and write about. The surrendering process also meant coping with a lot of grief and letting go of a lot of things I felt were holding me back. So there were personal journeys I had to go on in order to free up enough psychic room to be able to write about this difficult topic.

You mentioned you had experienced six months of sheer terror before you actually dove into writing The Rise. What spurred you to really start the process?
That six-month period came after I received the contract. I wrote the proposal — it was fairly extensive. I had a clear roadmap in my mind of what I thought I wanted to do. Oftentimes, I think what’s marketable right now or fashionable are books that sort of teach you how to do things — how to overcome failure. And I realized in that six-month period, I had no ambition to write a how-to book. I wanted to write a more soulful, probing investigation.

“I had no ambition to write a how-to book. I wanted to write a more soulful, probing investigation.”

And the terror came in when I realized that I was going to have to go to some depths, and heights as well, that I hadn’t fully anticipated when I set out to do it. I had decided to write a book that was on a topic that really hasn’t been touched fully before. And I placed a lot of trust in the fact that if I felt called to write about a topic, then I must have somewhere within me the inner resources to be able to do it to the best of my ability. I realized that it was completely blue sky. The exhilaration that got me through it was in feeling that there was really nothing better than writing about the capacity of the human spirit, so what was I afraid of?

Can you describe the process of shaping The Rise and placing the chapters in order before publication?
I wrote the chapters as they came to me. And the first four chapters weren’t written in order, but they were the earlier chapters that I wrote. The reordering happened because I looked at the different chapters and could just feel that the rhythm that I initially put them in was off, based on what I was sort of hearing was right for the book. I had this process when I wrote where I would walk by the Hudson River near where I lived [in New York], and I would meditate and kind of get into the rhythm of the flow of that river. And something about it helped me hear the flow of what the sentence structure and the chapters needed to be. It was mystical.

Why did you specifically select The Archer’s Paradox to begin The Rise?

I love that decision. And it was actually there that way from the start. When I went to watch those women archers at Columbia’s Baker Athletics Complex that was the day that I really understood why I was writing what I was writing. I think it’s a mistake to lead by talking about failure when people want to talk about the topic of the book. Really, [the book] is looking at ultimately how it is that we achieve anything new, anything great and how it is that we see mastery instead of just success. And I love the image of seeing that with these women; women who were hitting the bull’s-eye, perhaps, but then hitting an 8 and knowing that they had just hit a 10. What does it mean to sort of outdo yourself constantly and/or see that you are better than you were a second ago? What does that journey of mastery look like? And how is it that tenacity can come from a near win? Those are all things that I loved seeing in them.

I also chose them because it was harder to find stories of women whose rise began or was spurred on by some difficulty. And I think that’s in part due to the fact that it’s only in the past few decades that women have been expected to be successful and therefore have felt comfortable talking about the full arc of what it took to get us where we are.

What was the hardest story or section you had to leave out of The Rise and why?
I interviewed [Dr.] Ellen Langer, who is a professor at Harvard in psychology. She pioneered work on the mind-body connection before the term ‘mindfulness’ was even a term — she coined the term. She’s remarkable and has produced, and is [constantly] producing, some path-breaking work. I interviewed her for the chapter about the grit of the arts; the last full chapter in the book. And she’s since become a friend. And I had to leave much of what I gleaned from that interview out of the chapter… and it was difficult to do.

“Really, [the book] is looking at ultimately how it is that we achieve anything new, anything great and how it is that we see mastery instead of just success.”

But what she had to say and the insights that she gave me weren’t quite right for the story that I was teasing out as it related to Samuel Morse’s life; how he was nimble enough — and mindful enough, really — to shift from painting for 26 years to inventing the telegraph. Ellen Langer was revealing something else, also about herself, in these interviews that frankly deserve their own chapters, their own book.

At a recent talk at The Aspen Institute, you said that in writing The Rise you felt yourself becoming the person you didn’t think you could become. Who is that person you became?
I mentioned that comment as it relates to critique. I think the person I am now is very different in terms of how much stock I put into how people see me. I don’t mean to say that I don’t care what people think about me. You’re on the planet, you’re alive, you care about your relationships with people. It’s just to say that I now value what I think about myself just as much. And that shift, I think, means the world for anyone who creates, because once your roots are deep it doesn’t matter how strong the winds are, in a sense. It’s kind of deepened my own roots about my own sense of myself. I think that really has been the biggest gift.

Sarah Lewis on harnessing the power of the imagination:

1. Get exposed. “Put yourself in a position where you’re letting yourself be exposed to, not just the arts, but really anything that allows you to feel wonder. Let yourself explore.”

2. Embrace the element of surprise. “When you’re young, you never know what’s going to grip you. But once you get hit with that moment of wonder, you know exactly why you’re here [and] what you’re meant to do in this life, and will spend the rest of your life pursuing it.”

3. Recognize that an experience is not one-size-fits-all. “That moment of wonder is so unique for everyone. For me, I was watching some choreography by Pina Bausch, and I was just moved to the point where I didn’t even have the words. And I realized that I wanted to have my book talk about the capacity of the human spirit in a way that somehow her dance did.”

Janday Wilson is a storyteller based in the greater New York City area. You can find more of her work at jandaywilson.com.

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NEXT >> Hey, How’d You Write A New York Times Nonfiction Bestseller, Isabel Wilkerson?

The next time it takes you 10 minutes to find an electrical outlet at Starbucks and you almost miss a deadline, or the next time you endlessly grill a source to get that one short gem of a quote, remember this: Someone else would love to be in your shoes. According to a survey from CreativeLive, 40 percent of Americans want the creative career you have.

The online education network found that 36 percent of employed American adults want to quit their current jobs in search of something more creative, and 55 percent of them would leave their corporate jobs for the self-employed life if they could live off it. The report includes data from more than 2,100 adults and was conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Creative Live.

The report found that millennials (the 18-to-34 crowd) are most likely to go after careers that allow them to make a positive social impact. Thirty-one percent of millennials with jobs say that working with creative people is important to them, and 35 percent report that having a job that makes a positive social impact is very important to them (only 19 percent of those over 35 say that’s a priority). The study also found that 24 percent of millennials that hold jobs are twice as likely as people ages 45 to 64 to take online classes to improve their careers. Chase Jarvis, co-founder and CEO of CreativeLive, says this indicates a rising cultural trend in skill-based learning among younger workers. There is “jarring evidence of a massive — and growing — creativity crisis,” he adds.

While simply switching into a creative industry, or doing so as a self-employed professional, may not solve the problem, the notion of taking “the plunge” is quite appealing to many. For others, simply being in a creative environment — even if their job isn’t in an artsy field — would probably be enough to satisfy them.

“Everyone is inherently creative, but very few people in traditional employment tracks are empowered to put their creativity to use every day,” Jarvis says. “Americans are faced with an unstable economy, rampant unemployment and [are] stuck in jobs focused more on tasks than ideas. So, they are increasingly turning to the one thing they know to be true: their creative passion.”

Secret to Success: Make the Shift

Joel Keller, a New Jersey-based freelance writer and co-founder of Antenna Free TV, understands the struggle that makes so many people flock to creativity.

“You get tired of working in an office after a while. The bureaucracy, the meetings, the office politics… it gets to you,” says Keller, who got his start in the information technology field before he followed his creative dreams and became a writer.

“Even though I heavily concentrated on math and science in school, I always wrote on the side,” recalls Keller. He worked in the IT industry for about a decade and learned the writing business on the side by penning essays and op-eds. By 2006, he was published regularly, and had a growing blogging gig. That same year, he took a leave of absence from his job at IBM and worked full-time as a freelancer. “I did well enough that I left the IT world for good the next year,” Keller says.

“Time-management skills are a must if you’re looking at an alternative career such as being self-employed.”

Making the change was easier because he was single. However, Keller adds, “Even those with families can explore what a creative career might be like; my brother’s doing it and he’s got five kids!”

Time-management skills are a must if you’re looking at an alternative career such as being self-employed. “A creative career may never be feasible for you full-time,” says Keller. “It just depends on your situation and if you can tolerate a couple of years of reduced pay while you build your business.” Keller admits he funded his first year of freelancing with savings.

You do not have to have a stockpile of funds to get started, but having one certainly takes some pressure off. When I knew I wanted to work for myself as a writer, I worked a part-time editing gig at night and ran my business during the days. Make sure to understand what it will take to make your creative dream a reality, as many people cannot just quit their day jobs and begin a career as a social media specialist, web developer or newspaper reporter.

Secret to Success: Vary Your Sources of Income
Jodi Helmer, a writer based in North Carolina, says that building a financial cushion certainly eases the transition.

“Even if you’ve lined up assignments, it can take a while to get paid. You need to be able to pay the bills while the freelance checks trickle in,” she says. “If you can take on assignments while you’re still employed, it’s a good way to develop relationships and build a freelance portfolio___ and help plump up your savings account.”

A lot of writers have found that the key to sustaining their careers is to hone their writing skills in a variety of practices. Although I started as a reporter for a newspaper, I built my business around copywriting because it was more lucrative and enabled me to work in all industries. That gave me enough money to later take on writing books and magazine articles. Now, I write just about everything!

After Helmer got rolling as a full-time writer, she didn’t want to limit herself to only writing for one medium or industry, so she offers courses to mentor aspiring writers, speaks at industry events and has published books. These are all other ways to leverage her editorial skills and ensure a constant flow of income from various sources, which in turn helps her continue writing for markets that pay more sporadically. “Having diversified income streams is the same as having a diversified investment portfolio; it helps you weather blips in the market,” says Helmer.

The varied work has given Helmer the opportunity to fulfill her dream of becoming an author. She’s penned a local travel guide and books on the environment.

“A lot of writers have found that the key to sustaining their careers is to hone their writing skills in a variety of practices.”

“It’s also nice to juggle a long-term project with some of the quick turnaround work I do as a journalist,” Helmer says. The mentoring work allows her to share her passion and encourage others. “There are a lot of people who want to be writers but believe it’s not a viable career option, she says. Mentoring and teaching allows me to dispel misconceptions about creative careers like writing___ and show writers what it takes to be successful. Not all writers are broke and surviving on ramen noodles!”

When Helmer began freelancing, her mentor described freelancing as a three-legged stool. She said there would be assignments you take for love, assignments you take for money and gigs that complement the other work you are doing. In order to have a balanced and sustainable career, all three legs need to be equal.

So Helmer offers a reality check: “If you take on too many passion projects, you’ll be broke. If you take on too many soul-draining, high-paying gigs, you won’t love your work. And if you’re so busy teaching or making coffee that you’re not writing, you’re not really nurturing a writing career.”

Secret to success: Work for it

Keller says it’s easy to covet the lifestyle of a freelancer who is making a living off her talent. You may see something about a person in a technical career who thrives using his or her creativity and want that job, or you may want to sit in a writing studio all day and churn out novels. In theory.

“Who doesn’t want to work out of a studio or office with a view of the mountains or a big city’s skyline? Who wants to keep grinding away at an office job when they can move to a farm in the woods for some peace?” Keller remarks. “I think people want to do creative careers because they have a fantasy that it means they can kick back and work the hours they want.”

Of course, there are great aspects to working in a creative field, but working more creatively — for yourself or a company — doesn’t mean it’s easy. Keller says that not knowing how much money you’ll make in a week, month or year, as well as all the hustling that comes with growing a business, can be tough for someone who is self-employed. Those who jump into a creative field — say from an elementary school teacher to a news reporter — may also be challenged in learning a completely new field.

This is why it helps to have a mentor, take a course, or connect with others in the field. Attend a networking event or go online to communities such FreelanceSuccess.com that can help you gauge what it takes to follow your dream and get ideas.

Secret to Success: Build a Brand

Can anyone have a more creative career? Sure — even people in noncreative careers have to use their creative side. They don’t have to leave their day jobs to engage in a creative activity either. Working in a creative field, though, doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed happiness.

The fact is not everyone can be successful being self-employed because not everyone excels at managing the financial, marketing, legal and client relations aspects of running a business. You have to be willing to learn at least some of these skills if you plan on making a living off your talent and being your own boss.

“When you’re not working for someone else, you are your own brand. That means you must cultivate a positive reputation through proven results.”

Dawn Papandrea, a writer from Staten Island, says that being self-employed means you always have homework, so to speak. “Between deadlines, you need to market yourself and pitch for new assignments to ensure that you have a steady flow of work,” she says. “Sometimes, you’ll be inundated, and other times you’ll be slow. It’s important to manage your time well, and be willing to make up some extra hours if you hope to take some time off. You also need to be diligent about bookkeeping, invoicing and other money matters.”

While there are some not-so-glamorous aspects of jumping into self-employment or transitioning into a more creative career, it may be worth pursuing if you feel that strongly about it. Just remember that you’re building a brand if you go the self-employed route. When you’re not working for someone else, you are your own brand. That means you must cultivate a positive reputation through proven results. You have to have a foundation. And in today’s nation of freelancers, it also means that you have to stand out to start a business — and stay in one.

“You have to want it badly enough to find the time to get to work,” Jarvis says. “Spend your nights and weekends writing every story you’ve ever wanted to tell — be it something you’ve lived or something you’ve imagined. The only way to fail is to never start.”

Jarvis advises that people who are spending their nights and weekends writing yet can’t make the transition to their ideal career should share their work and collaborate with others. Find a mentor, or send out a query to pitch that essay you’ve been pining over. “Things don’t make things happen, people do,” he says. “Find your tribe, listen to their feedback and learn by iterating.”

Kristen Fischer is the author of When Talent Isn’t Enough: Business Basics for the Creatively Inclined (Career Press, 2013).

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NEXT >> Crafting Your Ongoing Education as a Writer

Andrea Werbel’s story started like those of so many other Americans studying in Paris… and ended with her running her own top-tier, hospitality-focused PR firm in Manhattan.

Before landing back in her hometown of Manhattan, Werbel spent time as marketing director at the legendary French culinary school Le Cordon Bleu and a period managing PR at one of the best-known hotels in sunny Beverly Hills before stepping out on her own and founding Parasol, one of New York’s leading luxury hospitality firms.

Here, Werbel tells us how a love of all things French turned into a job translating with top media outlets in Paris, a stint on the Today show and an offer of bigger things in London — one she turned down.

In short, we think you’ll agree the “how” in Werbel’s story is every bit as fascinating as the “what.”

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Name: Andrea Werbel
Position: Founder and managing director of Parasol
Resume: Began working as a researcher for Time Inc. and NBC in Paris before moving into publicity at Columbia Tri-Star Pictures and working as marketing director for Le Cordon Bleu culinary institute. Returned to the United States after 10 years in Paris to work as the PR director at The Peninsula Beverly Hills before returning to her hometown in New York City to launch her own brand marketing and PR firm, Parasol, which specializes in the luxury lifestyle and hospitality industry.
Hometown: New York City
Education: University of Colorado Boulder
Media mentors: Sandra Fathi, founder of technology specialty firm Affect Strategies. “Sandra is super-savvy, she’s grown her business quickly and her client and media relations skills are great. I admire so much of what she’s done as a solo female business owner.” Also: Terry Rooney, founder of financial PR firm Rooney & Associates. “When I wanted to try something outside of hospitality, I worked for a short while at a firm specializing in investor relations, where Rooney was head of the financial division. He reinforced for me the importance of building media relationships, and he was a great mentor in that respect.
Guilty pleasure: Buying lots of very beautiful shoes
Last book read: Selling to the New Elite by Jim Taylor
Twitter handle: @Parasol
What career route led you to the PR/marketing industry?
I initially wanted to work in broadcast news journalism, either in front of the camera or behind it as a producer. I started my career in Paris. I fell in love with the city while studying French film and literature in college, and I wanted to see if I could live there and get a job for six months. Little did I know it would turn into 10 years!

I was ready to do whatever it took, so I went to the French-American Chamber of Commerce, bought a directory of U.S. companies with operations in Paris, and sent handwritten letters and resumes to each of them. I landed a research position working with top journalists at Time Inc. thanks to a combination of tenacity and being in the right place at the right time.

And how did you land the job that really jump-started your career?
The American expatriate journalist community is very tight-knit, and through it I was fortunate enough to meet Ted Albert, who was at the time the bureau chief of NBC news in Paris. I basically begged Ted for a job. I told him I would take his garbage out with a smile — I just wanted to be in the newsroom. One day he called me and said, ‘You are so tenacious; you have what it takes,’ while hiring me for one of two bilingual research positions. I later had a fantastic opportunity to work on the Today show during its on-site coverage of the bicentennial of the French Revolution.

“Our business is dissecting media, and I can’t stress the importance of consuming that media enough.”

Do you now second-guess any of the decisions you made during the first phase of your career?
NBC eventually told me ‘We’re closing our Paris bureau and we’d like to offer you a job in our London office,’ which I turned down because London wasn’t as cool then as it is now. In hindsight, I probably should have taken that job, but I followed my passion to continue to live in Paris instead.

I landed, miraculously, in the publicity department at Columbia Tri-Star Pictures in Paris, promoting American films in France. This was my first foray into publicity. It was an invaluable opportunity because, as I now say, my graduate school was a live playground in Paris.

One thing led to another, and I ended up finding a position with Andre Cointreau, heir to the Cointreau liquor family, who had recently purchased the famous culinary school Le Cordon Bleu. He hired me as his marketing director overseeing his Paris and London schools.

I will be forever grateful to Mr. Cointreau because he put a lot of trust in me; the only limitations I had were my own. I ended up introducing an entire summer abroad program where American hospitality students could receive a portion of their culinary credits at LCB. It still exists today and proved to be an extremely valuable way to expand their market and increase their annual student base.

What brought you back to the States?
I almost had a relationship with Paris, and right around the time that I was falling out of love with that city I got two opportunities in the States. One would have brought me back into journalism with Fox News in New York, but I took a position as the PR director at The Peninsula Beverly Hills, which expanded my experience in the public relations and hospitality industry.

And what inspired you to go independent and start your own business?
My company found me in a sense. A former boss had been teaching at the Cornell PR School and invited me to talk to his class about hotel PR before encouraging me to explore opening up my own company. I’ve always been adventurous, so I thought: if it fails, I could just get a job somewhere else.

“I deliberately didn’t call it the Andrea Werbel PR and Marketing Agency because it’s not about me. It’s about our clients.”

I deliberately didn’t call it the Andrea Werbel PR and Marketing Agency because it’s not about me. It’s about our clients. I called it Parasol because it’s a French word that means umbrella — and under our umbrella of integrated services, we help companies grow.

Like many communications pros, you started in journalism. What do you think of the relationship between the two disciplines?

The purpose of both professions is to tell a story. At Parasol, we wear two hats: the hats of marketers working for a client and the hats of the journalists we work with, who are always hunting for a story. The difference? Media relations is more proactive. You always need to think like a journalist and understand their calling, and every pitch that goes out of my agency is tailored to the specific media outlet.

[Client Phulay Bay’s placement in The New York Times‘ “52 Places to Go in 2014” story] took months and months of hand-placed story crafting, and part of that process involves determining what would make the story fit with that particular outlet.

Do you have a specific example of this principle in action?

In one case, a client wanted to promote a new afternoon hotel tea menu, but there’s really no news there. So I went back to this client and said, ‘Why don’t we look at the behavior behind the story?’ We identified a trend: there were more men conducting afternoon tea, which is no longer reserved for ladies who lunch. So my pitch to the Sunday styles section of a local newspaper was “Men do Tea,” and was essentially a great piece of describing how more and more men are conducting business over tea.

This is the kind of out-of-box thinking that I encourage my employees to explore and cannot underscore enough.

What is your day-to-day like, and have your responsibilities changed in the digital age?

I’m old school: I like to pick up the phone and talk to people, and I like handwritten notes and good manners. I value relationships. Some agency bosses just tell employees to ‘Sit at your desk and work,’ while I say we need to score one-to-one meetings with journalists whenever possible.

“Some agency bosses just tell employees to ‘Sit at your desk and work,’ while I say we need to score one-to-one meetings with journalists whenever possible.”

I almost relate it to dating: a relationship is not a text or an email. You need to go out there and meet these contacts on behalf of your client and your agency because the experience is so much more valuable in the long run, particularly with the type of media we seek to secure for our clients. That coverage often doesn’t take place with a press release and email.

Of course, as captain of the ship, I also have the unfortunate responsibility of saying ‘OK, you did great; now how can we do better?’

What advice do you have for prospective employees or young people trying to break into the communications field like you did?
Our business is dissecting media, and I can’t stress the importance of consuming that media enough. Being savvy at media relations requires years spent reading about the industry in which you work. It also develops your ‘nose for news.’ It’s something I value very much.

If you’re working in hospitality, and you’re not reading the travel section of The New York Times on a weekly basis, then you’re doing yourself a disservice. I don’t require everyone to read the Times cover to cover, but I personally scan five newspapers every day. The habit trains your eye to not just understand what a given journalist is working on but also to understand what’s going on in the industry at large. I don’t know how many people take the time to do that today.

What makes a job applicant stand out to you?

Evidence that they understand the media landscape and that they can harness that knowledge. From a distance, Conde Nast Traveller and Travel + Leisure may simply look like two travel magazines — but to a media relations specialist they’re completely different in terms of their editorial approaches. An appreciation of those nuances is crucial.

Strategy alone can be very boring and creativity alone can be very sloppy, but when you have a fine combination of the two, it’s brilliant.

Patrick Coffee is the editor of PRNewser and AgencySpy. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickCoffee.

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If your dream job involves climbing trees 11 stories high and rappelling down waterfalls, you’ll be inspired by Darley Newman, whose profession as a TV host and producer has enabled her to do both these things and more. Newman’s approach to travel is unique: by exploring landscapes on horseback and connecting personally with locals, she reveals hidden corners of the world and advises her audience on how to recreate these experiences in their travels. She’s currently producing three shows: Travels with Darley at AOL On Originals, Travel Like the Locals with Darley on ulive, a Scripps network site, and Equitrekking, her ongoing series that broadcasts on PBS in 82 countries. When she’s not filming or planning her next global adventure, Newman writes for travel pubs and keeps up her website. You may have seen this smart, spirited traveler on your TV screen, so now here’s a backstage glimpse at her “daily grind” — if you can call it that!

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Name: Darley Newman
Position: TV host, writer, producer and entrepreneur
Resume: Host, producer and creator of the Emmy-winning PBS series Equitrekking, which debuted in New Mexico in 2006 and nationally in 2007. Author of the series’ companion travel book, Equitrekking: Travel Adventures on Horseback, published by Chronicle Books in 2008. Recently launched two Web series: Travels with Darley on AOL On Originals and Travel Like the Locals with Darley on ulive.
Birthday: December 21
Hometown: Washington, D.C., but grew up in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Education: The George Washington University
Marital status: Married
Media mentor: Susan Zirinsky, senior executive producer for 48 Hours
Best career advice received: “You’re always going to have to work hard to be a success, even when you’ve ‘made it.'”
Last book read: On the Trail of Genghis Khan by Tim Cope
Twitter handle: @darleynewman

What led you into broadcasting work — and to focus on travel?
I’ve always been a creative type of person. I made movies when I was a kid and made everyone in the neighborhood be in them. I actually went into electronic media at George Washington University in D.C. I worked as a camera person for a summer in South Carolina and for a radio news service doing reporting, so I was kind of doing all things media. I just found that [broadcasting] was a really neat medium to work in and explore because I was always meeting new people and doing something interesting.

And I love traveling. In high school, I studied abroad for a summer in Spain and lived with a family and attempted to learn Spanish. That trip was just so amazing, and it opened my eyes to just how much of the world I didn’t know about. Not only learning a new language, but growing in confidence; everything was eye-opening. After that trip, I just really wanted to see as much of the world as I could.

Do you have a defining moment in your early career when things really got rolling, a big break?
Really, getting our show on PBS and airing nationally was probably a huge turning point. It started because I had what I thought was a great idea, which is “Equitrekking,” or seeing the world with the locals on horseback and getting to these beautiful natural places. I hadn’t really produced an entire show by myself, so I wasn’t sure what to do. But I really searched for an outlet that I thought I could work with and would actually take something from us starting out, and that was a small niche network that’s not even around anymore called Horse TV.

“My dream was I just wanted to get one episode to air nationally, and we started producing more [until] we actually had a series.”

We went to them and they said, “If you can get sponsors, we’ll air it.” So I actually sought out sponsors and was able to get them to do this pilot episode. Then I took that episode and also went to the local PBS station and did a test run, and grew it from there. So it wasn’t like I just started out and it happened all at once; it was step by step. My dream was I just wanted to get one episode to air nationally, and we started producing more [until] we actually had a series.

In your Web series, you connect with locals to find destinations off the beaten path. How does the process work?
It’s really interesting, from doing this over the years, I have a network of fellow travelers. A lot of them are actually writers that travel all the time, some of them are retired and this is what they do, and some people work a 9-to-5 job but always make time to travel. So I do a lot of networking and talking with people through social media, but also through traditional means and through friends, to find these great places to go and then pinpoint locals to work with.

For instance, I’ve been writing a column for Practical Horseman Magazine for the past five years, and my editor there had gone to Botswana. She’d done all these really awesome safaris, and she introduced me to some of the different places she’d been, and I was like, “Oh my gosh, we have to do that trip!” So we filmed two episodes in Botswana and actually went to some places she [hadn’t gone] as well.

What does your work day look like?
Obviously when we’re traveling it’s so hectic because the days are packed. We’re basically filming as long as daylight exists, which when we went to Iceland was a problem because it was during the summer, so it was light 24 hours a day!

For instance, a half-hour episode is usually five days of filming. And then there [are] travel days interspersed or at the beginning or end of that, and depending on how much jet lag we have to deal with, a lot of times we’ll cover a whole state or various parts of a country.

“When we finish filming, we’re reviewing where we’ve filmed and trying to figure out if we need to change anything up to complete the story — because like any show, we’re trying to tell really good stories.”

When we finish filming, we’re off and reviewing where we’ve filmed, and trying to figure out where else we want to go and if we need to change anything up to complete the story — because like any show, we’re trying to tell really good stories. So that’s part of it.

At home, I write. I run various websites, Equitrekking.com is one, and I do writing for a bunch of other publications. Every day is totally different, and that makes it exciting.

Can you tell me about a time when filming got exceptionally hectic?
We were filming in Hawaii, and we had a series of natural disasters that we had to deal with. I was in my first earthquake when we were staying in this house [in Hilo] that was basically made of all screens. And then we had a few more days of filming and a hurricane was coming in. We had to pretty much change our entire schedule. So we ended up leaving that part of the island and going early to Waimea and trying to figure out what to film there. Then we were on a ranch [in Waimea] and there was a wildfire on the neighboring ranch. Another day, we were in the Valley of Kings, which is one of the lowest points on the Big Island, and there was a tsunami warning. We were like, we cannot win on the Big Island! It turned out to be amazing in the end, but it was kind of comical because I felt like everywhere we turned, nature was against us.

So which are your favorite places to visit?
I really liked Jordan. We went and explored the Bedouin Desert and Petra, which is a dream travel destination. And the people we met there were so genuine and welcoming. I actually rode with the Bedouin in the Wadi Rum desert and had an amazing experience.

I loved Turkey, I’ve been back to Cappadocia, we’ve filmed there twice actually, and that’s another place where we just met these amazing local people. One guy in particular who was an expert on history took us around to underground cities. We rode to these small villages that not a lot of tourists visit.

And I love Ireland just because it’s so beautiful and diverse, and it’s accessible, and the people are so nice. That’s definitely a common element to a lot of those places that we really like: we meet these amazing people.

“Pursue something that you love, something you want to spend time on, because you really do have to immerse yourself in what you’re doing to be a success.”

We definitely luck out, but I think people around the world are open to sharing their culture and who they are, and they do take pride in where they live and their history and background. So, if as a traveler, you’re open to learning about those things, I think you’ll find that locals are generally open to sharing that with you.

What’s the scariest thing that’s happened to you on your travels?
I was charged by an elephant — it had me questioning my entire career! We were in the Okavango Delta, which is the largest inland delta in the world. It’s a great place to explore because there’s so much wildlife; it’s pristine and beautiful and very exotic. We were riding horses, which is a good way to travel, because you can go from island to island, pass through water, and really get into the interior part of these places where there are no trails.

We happened upon this one island where there was an elephant who didn’t want us there. He was eating jackal berries or something, and I guess he didn’t want us to get near his stash. So we were crossing over, we were kind of parallel to him, and I was like, ‘I think he’s coming towards us!’ And sure enough, he charged us, but it was a mock charge.

Our guide had said whatever you do, do what I do. And he knew it was a mock charge, so we basically had a standoff for about 15 seconds until the elephant backed off. I was shaking almost to death, and my horse was shaking too, but I had an amazing mount that had been in that situation before, which was lucky, so I was glad I had chosen that horse. It was really close, I mean, like 10 yards or something. It was close!

Is there any advice you’d give to aspiring travel journalists or TV producers?
Take aspects of whatever you do that you really have a passion for, then the work that you produce is going to be something that other people will be drawn to. Just pursue something that you love, something you want to spend time on, because you really do have to immerse yourself, and your life, in what you’re doing to be a success.

Also, working hard, going after what you want and not taking ‘no’ for an answer is so important. It is a big world and there are lots of new opportunities nowadays, and different ways you can get there. You don’t necessarily have to take the traditional route anymore, and I think that is something that everybody should be aware of. If you’re creative, you can find a way to make what you want to do a success, or at least give it a great try.

Amanda Layman Low is a freelance writer and artist. Contact her on Twitter @AmandaLaymanLow.

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