Photo: Sarah Brick
Catriona Innes is currently Features Director at Cosmopolitan where, in the name of investigative journalism, she has joined an undercover police force, worked as a Playboy Bunny croupier and – for one night only – performed a stand-up set with just two hours’ practice. When she’s not trying on other careers for size, she edits, writes and commissions the award-winning features section of the magazine. Originally from Edinburgh she now lives in London with her husband and cat.
Catriona took some time out of her publishing duties and undercover exploits to answer the notorious SBPR questions…
1.What are the 5 words that best describe you?
Eeeek, I really don’t know. I’d like to think I’m positive (though my friends also know I do like a good bitch every now and then), hard-working, fun (even if I don’t bring the fun I tend to gravitate towards those who do), sleepy (if I don’t get my nine hours that would change to grumpy) and, I guess, happy. I’m very happy right now.
2.What magazine do you love reading and why?
I always get all the weekend supplements – I absolutely love the Guardian Weekend, their long-form features have inspired me throughout my career. I’m also loving ELLE since Farrah Storr took over, the memoir piece at the front is always so moving. And Red for motivation and good advice. American GQ costs a fortune to get here, but is worth it for the long-reads.
3.What is your favourite book?
I always recommend The Lost Art Of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice, it’s one of the few books I’ve read again and again. After Long Silence by Helen Fremont is a brilliant memoir about a woman who discovers that her family is Jewish and that her parents were in concentration camps. They hid it from her to protect her. I’ve bought it about five times as I keep lending out copies to people that I don’t get back.
4.Which song makes you dance?
Raise Your Glass by P!nk.
5.What has been your best career moment?
Getting my job at Cosmopolitan. As soon as I read the first rebrand issue I knew I had to work here – it was at a time when lots of magazines had taken out long-read, investigative features and Cosmopolitan was bucking the trend. I wrote in straight away saying I loved what they were doing and applied for the job of Senior Editor as soon as it came up. Since then I’ve commissioned so many features I’m proud of, as well as writing a huge variation of reports on more serious issues like sexual assault in the porn industry and going undercover with a police force who catch predators on the London underground to lighter things, like when I performed a stand-up comedy set or went to work in the Playboy club.
6.What advice would you give your 20-year-old self?
Career-wise: keep going and trust yourself. I had a lot of wobbles in the early stage of my career where I thought I just wasn’t good enough and would stop emailing editors with my pitches. But now I see that I should have gone for it more and not taken silence as a “no” (I now realise editors are SO busy so that’s probably why they didn’t reply.) Life-wise: carry on having adventures, they matter so much more than the clothes you’re wearing or anything that could bring you ‘status.’
7. Where are you happiest?
Golden hour, first night of a festival, surrounded by friends, can of Strongbow in hand.
8.Who would be your number one dinner guest and why?
P!nk. But not sure it would be that fun for her. I met her once and couldn’t speak I was crying so much.
9. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
Teleportation. I’d love to be able to, in an instant, visit my family and friends in Scotland.
10. If you had to ask us one question what would it be?
What do journalists do that make your job harder?
It’s our job to make journalist’s jobs as easy as possible, so it’s interesting to think of it the other way around. Here’s what the team thought:
Lizzie: Not answering the phone or replying to emails.
Alex: It’s only happened once but naming the client’s product wrong in press did not go down well. The other frustrating thing is not being able to get feedback why a feature doesn’t make the cut.
Josh: Judging the story before they’ve heard it because I’m a ‘PR’ or ‘Press Officer’.
Laura: Not crediting the brand or company when we have provided the journalist with brilliant quotes and images for their story.
Sunny: Saying they are going to feature a story and then no doing it, as it’s very difficult to explain why stories get spiked to clients.
Catriona’s first novel The Matchmaker is available from November 28th and can be ordered here.