Introduction

My name is Magda Knight. I’m the editor of Mookychick.co.uk, which is an online lifestyle and fashion site for alternative, free thinking young girls.

Why did you choose this industry to get into?

I chose this industry to get into because I thought there was a niche in the market for, what you could almost think of as a lifestyle bible for girls who know who they are and what they want to be and they just want more resources, whether its information or links online to fashion that they haven’t been aware of. We are very much about the DIY ethic, so we fit in really well with today’s society, there’s many DIY designers, there’s some really good people who have some kick arse fashion ideas but absolutely no money, so they are all supporting each other and we wanted to do our bit by connecting our readers with these people, we thought they’d make happy play mates.

How did you start your career?

I started my career pretty much by accident because I thought I was  just going to make a website for slightly older women but when I realised who the readers were I just went with the flow. I needed both editorial and technical skills as well as my personal interests to achieve the website, so I started off as erm, an internet waitress in Britain’s first internet cafe which was very pioneering and I learnt the nuts and bolts of how to make a website. Then I was lucky enough to work at a big publishing company, creating their online websites where I learnt a lot about the industry about how to try and make money out of the website which is a concern in itself because if you’re starting small and you know that it costs forty quid a month to host a website, and you want to make sure you getting in forty quid a month, it’s not much but that pocket money means you can continue for the next year or two. So I had to learn how to use Google ads and I had to learn all about how to create content that readers who had never heard of you could find on search engines. I learnt how to approach people on blogs to ask them to write for us for free. If you can’t offer money and you want to set up a website then you want people to write for free but for you to give them love too, so you make sure they get links to their blogs  so they get something for their portfolio or CV to do with journalism. So if you are thinking of creating a fashion website, don’t be greedy, make lots of friends, help each other out and do everything for free, it’s all about networking and making friends.

What’s an average day like for you?

Because I still have a day job, Mookychick is very much my six to nine job and unless your gainfully unemployed which I was once and it was one of the best times of my life, if you do have to work for your bag of gold then be prepared to somehow fit in your boyfriend and your life and your work around your actual heart project and don’t be afraid to put in a couple of hours every day or to ignore it until a Sunday and then put in about six hours. Always keep in mind whatever project it is, if you’re starting small, try and get the hours in, spend no money whatsoever and that way whatever it costs you, you should be making a little bit of profit. Always start small and get bigger.

Who inspired you as a young person?

In terms of people that have inspired me, I’d say it’s always been the free thinkers, Kate Bush was a complete nutter  and she was a personal icon, for a woman who should be in a mental hospital she is so talented and beautiful and amazing that somehow she has become Kate Bush instead. I suppose nowadays you’ve got free thinkers like Chris Morris who has managed to completely change our ideas of what comedy is and who’s been quite successful at it but he still lives in Brixton and catches a bus. I’m very admiring of people who have done things their way.

Is there anyone you aspire to be like?

I’d like to aspire to be like Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls  or as she calls herself, Amanda ‘fucking’ Palmer, because she has retained every single ounce of her integrity, she’s not afraid to be somewhat of a business woman encouraging her band to buy the tickets, buy the t-shirts but doing it in such a friendly, loving way, and always having time for the people that support her.

Where do you see yourself in ten years time?

In ten years time I think it’s time to move the six to nine Mookychick job and make it a day job. I'll also be trying to turn it into a bit more of an empire so that I can hand the reins on to other people and walk away from it knowing that it’s in better hands than it’ll ever be. I’ll also be planning on doing other projects like, erm, writing a book which is currently in its second draft and also I’ll be investigating the breeding of animals on a small holding, I’m aiming for two Alpacas and several house trained goats.

Have you ever sacrificed anything to get to where you are?

I’ve sacrificed time but I think everyone has a time thing, so for me I sacrificed Eastenders to achieve a beautiful community so there’s no harm done really.

What are the positives and negatives of your career?

The negatives of my job  would be definitely controlling your time, making sure that whatever you spend is matched by whatever you make. Also because of the readership of Mookychick which is based on integrity and mutual respect we have issues about integrity every single day, whether it’s considering whether money making endeavours are getting in the way of what we are actually producing. We also have issues of integrity around the community, if someone is hassling community members by being too needy for attention you have to get the balance right.

Do you have any tips or advice for young people wanting to get into this profession?

I had a really nice chat with a girl who set up her own fashion magazine and she’s aiming to continue into the fashion industry and she’s only seventeen now, she was sixteen when she started and she said the best advice she could think of was, don’t be proud, don’t  say “ I am unwilling to get published unless it’s in vogue”, think small, build your portfolio. If you are wanting to get into fashion writing then definitely set up your own blog, make it look as professional as possible, keep the content flowing, see your writing get better and better , network as much as possible. Blogs are very cheap to set up, they’re a very quick means of getting your voice heard in the industry. Think about whatever you have that is unique and don’t be afraid to show it, because that could be the difference between you and other people in the same position.