We recently connected with Leena Tailor and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Leena, thanks for joining us today. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?
I worked as a writer at a weekly magazine for seven years, which instilled a work ethic which has been crucial since becoming self-employed. No matter what was happening each week, the one constant was the deadline that would roll around each Thursday and not delivering articles on time for that was simply not an option. This meant there were times I would be working late nights, holidays, weekends and through difficult personal times. It also meant there were times that news would break at the last minute and I’d need to write up developing stories under the pressure of a fast-looming deadline in an already-hectic office environment.
Fast forward to my freelance life today and I now have the confidence that no matter what my workload is, what I’m going through or what deadline I’m up against, I can and will file my work in time – even it means pulling an all-nighter on the odd occasion.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m a freelance journalist covering entertainment, travel, lifestyle and more for media outlets around the world. I grew up loving pop culture in New Zealand and studied communications, majoring in Journalism and dreaming of editing my own teen mag someday. After college, I got a job at a weekly magazine in New Zealand, starting with small writing tasks before joining the features writing team and eventually becoming Senior Writer. The role entailed covering everything from celebrity weddings, breaking news stories and real-life reads to health, fashion, travel and beauty articles.
After moving to Los Angeles, I began freelancing for magazines and websites in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It’s a dream job as I have been able to specialize in entertainment and music, while also covering other areas. For example, I suffer from migraines and have been able to raise awareness of the condition through various articles and interviews. I’ve also loved writing about fellow expats for publications back home. Additionally, I’ve been able to apply my writing skills to fields of interest like music, such as writing artist biographies or website content for bands and singers.
As much as I love freelancing, it can be extremely difficult during periods of little or no work, so I’m proud that I have perservered this long, never missed a deadline and built good relationships with editors. I’m also proud that my music and celebrity features have enlightened fans to things they didn’t know about people or artists they’ve followed for many years.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Freelancing is full of amazing highs, which often come side-by-side with the difficult lows of constant pitch rejections, financial struggles, media outlets shutting down and work drying up. I’m currently experiencing the biggest drought of my career which has been a huge test of my resilience. It can be difficult to find motivation and purpose in each day, when you have long periods of having no interviews, deadlines, meetings or stories to work on. However, I realized early on that such lulls are part of choosing the freelance life and that I just have to do what I’ve always done during these times – try my best to stay positive, keep pitching stories, network, pitch more stories, reach out to contacts and just keep the faith that the tide will change!
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I’ve never missed a deadline, respond promptly and after-hours, secure exclusive angles and my articles have performed well with audiences. Ultimately, I hope my work speaks for itself and that my professional reputation hinges on that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.LeenaTailor.com
- Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/LeenaTailor
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leena.tailor.1/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leena-tailor-38338a21/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/leenatailor
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuiFgcxoOjA-RKQ-1vtBzgA
Image Credits
All photos are my own.