Journalist of the Month

This month we are catching up with Emma North, a freelance journalist who has written for titles such as Glamour, ELLE, Vogue, The Telegraph and Fabulous magazine! Emma will be heading to our client’s luxury women’s only retreat, Bliss Sanctuary for Women in Bali, with her mum in January, but before she heads off Emma has taken 5 minutes out to complete our SBPR Journo of the month questions…

What are the 5 words that best describe you?

Loyal, calm, friendly, empathetic and creative

What magazine do you love reading and why?

Ooh - I love reading Cosmopolitan for their up-to-date and engaging topics. They always seem to be one step ahead of everyone else in terms of controversy and interesting reads. I also love to read Grazia for the celeb gossip and beauty pages. Joely Walker is my female crush. 

What is your favourite book? 

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker 

Which song makes you dance?

Crazy in Love - Beyoncé. It used to be my ringtone in the days before iPhones. Every time I hear it, I think my LG flip phone is ringing and I want to dance.

What has been your best career moment? 

Having my name credited in Funmi Fetto's beauty bible book, Palette.  I assisted her as beauty assistant which was a dream come true. I reached out to Funmi years ago and she's been my mentor and inspiration ever since. Big love to her.

What advice would you give your 20 year old self? 

If you're scared - don't waste your energy worrying and do it anyway. What's the worst that can happen?

Where are you happiest? 

I'm happiest at home in Devon, with my dogs and my family, eating pasta. Or on a Caribbean beach... I can't decide.

Who would be your number one dinner guest and why?

I can't choose just one! I'd have to say Freddie Mercury or Mahatma Gandhi. Freddie would be so entertaining and charismatic. Gandhi would explain to me how I can find peace in this crazy world. 

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

I was cabin crew for 4 years and spent my life on long haul aeroplanes, jet lagged and exhausted. For that reason, I always swore if I had a superpower it would be teleportation. Travelling sucks. I'd like to be able to click my fingers and be somewhere instantly... primarily for naps.

If you had to ask us one question what would it be? 

Are there any clients that you dream of working with and why?

___________________________________________________________

Josh - Paddy Power – they do crazy and outrageous stunts to get them noticed in the busy betting sector and I’d love to be part of the creative.

Lizzie - Farrow and Ball – just because I love them so much; their ethos, branding, colours, and style!

Annabel - I would love to work with a brand which creates Christmas decorations - I am absolutely obsessed with the decorations that Paperchase makes, and I love their stationary too!

Grace - I would love to work with Nars, the make-up brand. I love their make-up and their campaign imagery. They always collaborate with amazing celebs, host incredible events and can be quite controversial with their branding!

Laura – I would like more travel clients and luxury retreats in places like the Maldives, Caribbean etc. – mainly so I can visit them!

Journalist of the Month

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.