In 2008, Sally Hunwick gave up her gig as the beauty writer at Harper's BAZAAR to head to London where she immersed herself in the publishing scene. Now, she's back in Australia where she's joined the Professional Beauty team as online editor.
Here, we chat to Hunwick about her career path, working in London, and the changing Australian media landscape.
Can you tell me a bit about your career?
My career started as an intern with Cosmopolitan, which then led to a full-time position as PA to Lynette Phillips, who, at the time, was the national sales director for Women’s Titles at ACP (now Bauer). Lynette has a fantastic work ethic and taught me so much about the magazine industry. From there I went on to be the beauty editor on DOLLY and then after that, I went to Harper’s BAZAAR as beauty writer. After three years on BAZAAR, I made the tough choice to follow my heart, marry my now husband and move to London. In London, I was features director on a start-up fashion title called Spashion; I was a regular contributor for a luxury spa title called Spa Secrets; and I did freelance work for UK titles such as Tatler, Seventh Man and Beauty Expert – as well as commissioned stories for titles in Australia such as Harper’s BAZAAR. I had Elliot, my little boy, in London and once he was nearly two, we decided to come back to Australia where I came on board as online editor for Professional Beauty.
What was it like working as the features director at Spashion?
Spashion is a men’s fashion and sports website and magazine; working for it was such an incredible experience. It is the brainchild of Tony Lewis, who is one of London’s top stylists. He was the fashion director for Esquire for years – name a male celebrity and chances are he has styled him! I came on board for the launch of Spashion, which was just before the London Olympics. Those first few months were so exciting; we had the opportunity to shoot and interview some incredible Olympic athletes. I also interviewed leading football players, Wimbledon champions, top models… basically just a lot of very handsome men. It wasn’t such a bad gig!
Was working in media in the UK very different from that in Australia?
Not really, publishing is publishing no matter where you are; you have your deadlines and you need to stick to them just like here. Press launches were held at amazing places like Claridges or even [in] Paris, but we have just as wonderful launches here! On the other hand, the UK is a bigger market, there are more people, more going on, so there are exciting opportunities for journalists who don’t mind working outside the traditional magazine setting. More brands are hiring in-house journalists to create content, which will continue to happen more and more here too.
Has much changed in the Australian media landscape in the time you've been away?
Yes and no. There are more websites now than when I left and a lot more bloggers. This is exciting for the industry – we need dynamic, creative people to push the boundaries. There is SO much more social media than when I left – but then, when I left, the iPhone4 hadn’t even come out! There are also a few less magazines on the market than when I left, which I find sad; I grew up with mags like Cleo.
Online is definitely the biggest change in the media landscape, which is making things faster paced than they were. We all want our media [content], like, now. I have definitely noticed the difference in pace working online. Social media is the other big change. Journalists don’t just write features now; we have to be on top of all the social mediums too.
Are many of the faces in the industry still the same?
Yes! Of course there are, and should be, new faces but it is really lovely to see some familiar faces at launches and press events. I have made some very dear friends – both journalists and PRs – over the years so it is really nice to be able to come back and see so many of my old colleagues. Beauty media really does seem to attract such amazingly caring women and men; I have always felt very privileged to be part of it.
Since returning, you've taken on the role of online editor at Professional Beauty. What does your current role involve?
I am responsible for running the website – I also write for the magazine each issue. Professional Beauty talks to beauty professionals, so it is my role to pass on all the industry news – and there is a lot going on! The role has allowed me the opportunity to delve into the beauty industry in a way I perhaps haven’t done before; I get to meet incredible beauty therapists, doctors, company founders, make-up artists and technology experts on a day-to-day basis. It’s really exciting.
What appealed to you about the position?
Online is the medium of the moment so being full-time online was appealing. It’s fast-paced, which I enjoy. I always say the internet is like a beast that needs constant feeding – more is never enough! Also, I love being back in beauty. I have done a lot of fashion and lifestyle over the past few years, so it is really nice to be back writing beauty full-time. It is a subject I really love writing about.
Are you still involved in freelance work?
I’m full-time at Professional Beauty now so I don't have much time for freelance, unfortunately. I love having a team around me but I also loved the freedom of working as a freelance journalist. One week I was writing for Tatler in the UK, the next week I was doing a story for Harper’s BAZAAR Australia, the next I was writing my regular beauty feature for Spa Secrets UK, then I might be back with my Aussie hat on doing something for an Australian website. It was so varied and dynamic and unexpected.
Could you see yourself returning back to magazines?
Of course! I love magazines. I grew up with them. I pored over DOLLY as a young girl and then I got to be beauty editor on the title; I was obsessed with Cosmo as a teenager, then became their first ever intern and later got to write stories for the brand. I worked on Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, which was a dream come true and taught me to be the writer I am today. I really love the immediacy of being online but I am lucky because I also get to write for Professional Beauty magazine. I do at least one or two features in each issue, which keeps the writer in me (who loves to spill out 1200 words into a Word doc) very happy.
