Are You Hiring? is a new monthly column from CULTURED dedicated to the inner workings of a creative career—how to get one, how much it pays, and what it really takes to make it work. Each month, an anonymous figure from the worlds of art, media, music, PR, fashion, design, and literature gives us an unvarnished account of how they got in the door, what they wish they knew before they started, and how they actually pay the bills (or don’t).
A job in magazines once carried with it the heady opportunity to shape the zeitgeist. It’s no secret that things have changed: The Internet’s cacophony has displaced media’s supremacy, and the days of martini lunches and $500,000 cover shoots are behind us. Meanwhile, shrinking staffs have increased the industry’s dependence on freelance writers, whose rates still hover around where they were 20 years ago. So what is the allure of a career in media today?
For the anonymous subject of Are You Hiring’s debut installment, the answer is freedom and control over one’s time. After cutting her teeth at top American magazines during the late 2010s, a wave of layoffs left her bracing for a rocky entry into the freelance world. She was surprised by what she found: There’s opportunity everywhere for someone with rigorous training and a strong network. It’s the money that’s tough to find. Here’s how she makes it work.
Would you consider yourself ambitious?
Yes. I wanted to work in magazine journalism when I was in high school, and I never wavered on that. I feel very happy about that early instinct.
What was your earliest understanding of what this job would be? How did you find your way to it?
I studied journalism in college. I also watched a lot of shows and movies where putting together magazines looked like the most fun thing in the world.
What aided you most in your transition from working in-house to going freelance?
Frankly, the experience of being let go in a very public way was extremely helpful. It gave me a boost.
How does the media industry feel to you right now?
A lot of institutions are shrinking. You can spend time hand-wringing over that, but then you would lose sight of the fact that there are always new white whales to hunt down. To be successful as a freelancer, you have to have a bit of an appetite for going on the hunt and sniffing those out. Honestly, I thought it would be harder to find work when I went freelance, but there’s a lot to be had, because no one wants to hire full-time people anymore. It might be the full-timers who are having a tougher time.
What’s something you wish you knew about freelance life before you started?
I wish I had talked to more people who’ve been doing it for a while. I would have saved myself a lot of heartache over tax stuff, LLC stuff, basic admin. It doesn’t bother anyone because everyone’s been there and everyone’s happy to share that knowledge.
Describe your work-life balance in three words.
Working Saturday nights.
What’s the biggest myth about your industry?
There’s a myth that you can stack up enough one-off assignments to pay your rent. That’s not the case. Even from very big outlets, most assignments get you 500 bucks here and there, maybe a little more. I don’t know anyone who’s able to pay their bills off of just prestige outlet writing, the writing that they really want to do. Even award-winning writers have some corporate anchor gig or boring content generation job. I was told when I was coming up that you can’t compromise your ethics or your value as a journalist by doing brand work on the side. No, no, no, no. Everyone is doing that. I think it’s actually a huge disservice to perpetuate that myth that you can make a living off of pure freelance journalism.
Do you feel a sense of security in your work?
I really do. I feel like I was on the last chopper out of Vietnam, in that I’ve had a lot of work opportunities that I don’t think exist anymore. I developed a good background, and now all the relationships are starting to coalesce. At a certain point it’s like, “Okay, so I’m gonna stick around, and these people are also gonna stick around, and we all know each other.” There’s a lot of security in that. It may also be because there’s no longer a clear pipeline of new people coming in. I don’t envy anybody younger than me right now.
What would you say was the biggest barrier to entry for you as a freelance writer/editor?
Relationships. As far as I’m concerned, you can’t really cold email or cold apply to a media job anymore because any opening is gonna have a million applicants. You have to hope you know someone there who can vouch for you.
What does a typical day look like for you?
The freedom of freelancing is so amazing, but it does feel like I have to tailor almost every day and every week. I can go to the beach on Monday with a friend if I want to, but that means I’m working the whole weekend. Other times it’s a little more of a normal nine-to-five.
Do you give yourself a lunch break?
No.
How much PTO do you give yourself?
I follow my whims, but I also keep track pretty closely. In 2026, I spent 38 days on a trip or on vacation. That does count weekends. I look at that number and feel like it’s all worth it. Last year, I took 42 days.
What’s the most ridiculous thing you find yourself doing at your current job?
I don’t keep my eyes on my own work—I look at what a lot of my competitors are doing. I spend so much time and energy being mad or jealous. But also, you kind of do need to know what everyone else is doing. That’s how I rationalize it, but I waste so much time being mad that someone else got a certain assignment, or that I wasn’t thought of for something.
What have you given up to stay at your job?
It almost sounds contradictory to what I told you earlier, but it feels like I’ve given up on a little bit of ambition. At a full-time job, there’s a clear ladder. As a freelancer, you’re so consumed with surfing every wave as it comes that there’s often no long-term plan.
What’s the last new skill you learned on the job?
Maybe that’s also something that I’ve given up. I don’t feel like anyone’s taking me under their wing and showing me how to do anything right now.
What’s something you learned in school and still draw on at work?
In journalism school, we would get an instant zero if we misspelled someone’s name. That put the fear of God in us to always get those small things right. That kind of neurosis is necessary and fundamental.
What is a work-related stressor you wouldn’t have predicted came with freelancing?
Maybe it’s just part of getting older, but I’ve never had stress manifest physically in my body like it has since I’ve been working freelance. My neck hurts all the time for no reason.
What’s the most glamorous part of your work? The least glamorous?
The most glamorous part is talking to other writers and commiserating with them. Some of the people I thought were the coolest ever have since become my colleagues. We gossip. That has felt very glamorous to me.
The least glamorous is probably when it’s a beautiful day outside and you’re just sitting at home trying to wring something from the Internet like water from a stone.
How big a role does appearance play in your industry?
It’s crazy important, actually. If you’re securely ensconced at an outlet, you probably do not have to care about this at all, but if you’re a freelancer, you have to be constantly out cultivating the illusion that you’re having a good time and are a fun hang.
If your paycheck were a pie chart, where would the biggest portions be spent?
Travel, transportation, and dining out.
How often do you shop? How much of this feels related to work?
A couple of times a quarter there will be an event, and I feel the need to find something perfect to wear for it. That urgency makes me spend money in bad ways. I almost feel like I should be shopping more, so at least I’m not shopping on a deadline. I do spend a lot on transportation. I’m like, “I’m so tired and this Uber is worth an extra hour of sleep.” That’s gonna happen.
What’s your current credit card balance?
$1521.17.
Who buys your flights? Covers your Ubers?
Me. Every now and then there’s a PR Uber code, but those never really work. I travel a lot with my partner, and he usually covers the flights. He works in tech. Partners in non-creative lines of work should be patrons of the arts.
How do you handle health insurance?
A very kind donor in my life pays my health insurance premium every month.
How much do your work and social lives merge?
It’s one and the same. I complain all the time to my partner: “I don’t wanna go to this, but I have to.” It’s like a foreign language to him; he doesn’t understand why you would spend time with people that you don’t know that well. I have a whole class of friendships with people I only see at these work events. We’ve never kicked it individually, and we don’t actually know each other, but we see each other all the time.
Where do people in your industry converge? Where do they live?
The Odeon, for sure. If you walk by Le Dive and Clandestino, without fail you’ll run into people. Also, bars in Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy. So many media people live in Bed-Stuy.
What is your dream job?
I don’t know. It’s not lost on me that the people whose careers I envy the most work an insane amount. I’ve spoken to a lot of the people I look up to, and they are not chill. It’s sort of eye-opening to be like, “These people might be making unimaginable amounts of money, but they are working themselves to the bone.” That is not enviable. I cannot imagine working every day for however many years and be able to maintain that.
How has your attitude toward work changed since you began freelancing?
There’s a new level of personal responsibility. In the first part of my career, it felt like the job or my boss was asking things of me. Now, it’s self-inflicted. I now know that I’m the kind of person who likes to be busy and likes to complain about it. Otherwise, I feel like I’m on the sidelines. So, my attitude towards work has become a little less adversarial. I accept who I am and that I really like to do this. I can’t turn it off.
Do you think you’re good at your job?
Yeah. I think I’m a bit of a shark when it comes to seeing new opportunities and pitching myself. I didn’t expect to enjoy that or be good at it. I even like managing the business part.
What’s a piece of advice you’d give anyone entering your industry?
Shop around for accountants.
Are you hiring?
Girl, I wish. If I needed that kind of help, things would be going very well.
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