The Globe and Mail - 19.10.2019

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SATURDAY,OCTOBER19,2019 | THEGLOBEANDMAILO PURSUITS| P3

E

laine Welteroth, the former editor-

in-chief of Teen Vogue who spear-

headed the magazine’s pivot from

fashion- and beauty-focused stories to

political, progressive content, is ex-

tremely fashionable and committed to

empowering young women. In short,

her brand is strong, even though, like

many people, she finds the idea of hav-

ing a brand somewhat awkward. While

her 402,000 Instagram followers could

probably identify the hallmarks of a

Welteroth social-media post with little

prompting – bright colours, big hair and

an empowering message are key – she’s

clear that her mission of creating space

for young women is bigger than her in-

ternet image. In August, Welteroth was

in Toronto to promote her memoirs/

self-help field guideMore Than Enough,

and The Globe and Mail sat down with

her to talk about online identities, au-

thenticity and whether anyone really

needs a personal brand.

Becomingeditor-in-chiefofTeenVogue

catapultedyoufromsomeonewho

wasknowninthepublishingindustry

tosomeonewhowasjust...known.

So,whatwasitliketostepawayfrom

therole?

Liberating. Extremely liberating. I’m

grateful for the massive opportunities, I

was mentored by the best, I was lifted

up by a community of like-minded

women and I really felt so proud of

what we were able to do as a team. But I

haven’t looked back for a split second.

Nowthatyou’reabonafide

multihyphenate,howdoyoudefine

yourpersonalbrand?

It’s so funny that you ask that, because I

kind of cringe at the idea of calling my-

self a brand. And at the same time, I’m

aware that we live in an internet [age].

I don’t think of myself as a brand, but I

do think about my mission, and that’s

woven into everything that I do. I rec-

ognize that the audience that I helped

galvanize is coming with me on this

ride. I left Teen Vogue, but I didn’t

leave the readers, so my responsibility

is to really align the truth with the in-

ternet image, and to make sure that

what I’m sharing and what I’m putting

into the world is pushing ourselves

forward, not pushing ourselves back-

ward.

Therearesomethingsyou’reknown

for,though,includingyouryouth.

ButinMoreThanEnough,youwrote

aboutdoingyourbesttoconceal

yourrealage.Why?

Ageism is real. And I think for women,

it works both ways – you never want to

be the oldest person in the room or

the youngest person in the room, es-

pecially if you are looking to climb the

ladder. I never told people how old I

was because I always thought it would

hinder my career. When I was promot-

ed to positions where I was overseeing

work from people who were actually

older than me, I worried about that dy-

namic. So, I just kept my age to myself.

I put a lot of pressure on myself to be

perfect and professional at all times.

Then I became editor-in-chief and

my age was in all the headlines. But

there was a sense of relief that I didn’t

have to pretend to be something I’m

not. I was like, “I guess I can relax into

my youth now.” And when I utilized

my authentic voice and brought more

of myself to the office, that’s what

opened me up to being able to do my

most transformative work.

Allmyfavouritefashiongirlshavea

hashtag–Instagram’sEvaChenhas

the#EvaChenPoseandyouhavethe

#BackseatBeat,whenyouapplyyour

makeupinthebackseatofacar.

Howdidthatbecomesuchathing?

There’s literally nothing that I do on the

internet that’s calculated. I just broad-

cast my real life, in the moments when I

remember to do so. I’m always on the go

• I have a packed work day and calendar
  and I’m constantly in the backseat of
  someone’s car. And I’m very good at do-
  ing makeup in any terrain, in any form
  of transportation. A perfect wing cat lin-
  er in a speeding race boat? Literally, I’ve
  done that before. And I only ever need
  as much time as it takes to get me from
  Point A to Point B.

Thatgoesbacktowhatyouwere

sayingaboutauthenticity,right?

Yes. When I say I want to make sure

we’re pushing ourselves forward, that

means creating space for other people

to be their most authentic selves and to

feel better about who they are. That’s

part of why I wrote this book. I felt like I

had more to offer them than could ever

fit in a pithy little caption on Instagram

or in a fun Boomerang or in a backseat

beat. There’s so much more to me and

there’s just so much more that I want to

contribute to our culture in this mo-

ment.

So,doeseveryoneneed

apersonalbrand?

I think everyone has a personal brand,

whether it’s projected into the digital

world or not.

SpecialtoTheGlobeandMail

ALEXISEKE/THEGLOBEANDMAIL

Thenewmeaning

ofpersonalbranding

FormerTeenVogueeditorElaineWelterothexplainstoStacyLeeKong

thedifferencebetweenhavingabrandandhavingamission

1

UNDERWEAR

Ifyou’reawayforalongtrip,you’llhave

todoawashatsomepoint.Butifyou’re

goneforaweekorless,justpackextra

delicates,especiallyifyouhaveanactive

tripplanned.Afteradayofkayaking/

swimming/hiking/etc.,thelastthingyou

wanttodopostshowerisputona

less-than-freshpair.

2

CREDITCARDS

Ihavemypreferredtravelcreditcard,but

Ialwayscarryaspare,becauseyounever

knowwhen,forsomereason,itwon’t

process.Or–evenworse–youloseitor

it’sstolen.Also,ifyouneedtowithdraw

cashoverseas,someATMscanbefinicky

withacceptingcards(IfindAmexalmost

alwaysworksinthosecases).

3

MEDICATION

Whentravelling,itneverhurtstobe

preparedfortheworst-casescenario.A

mechanicalerrorcouldgroundyourflight

foranextranight.Ahurricanecouldsee

youstrandedfordays.Andwhenthings

gosideways,thelaststressyouneedis

tryingtofindadoctorandapharmacy.

Pillsdon’ttakeupmuchroom,soalways

throwinafewextra.

4

BAGS

EveryroadwarriorIknowalwayspacks

emptyZiplocbags.It’ssurprisinghow

oftentheycomeinhandyforstoring

snacks,encapsulatingleakingbottles,

storingwetbathingsuits–younameit.If

youwanttobemoregreen,gofora

plastic-free,reusableoption.Anextratote

orcompressibleduffelbagisalsogood

forsouveniroverflow.

5

CAMERAACCESSORIES

Forthoseold-schoolphotographyfans

whostillpackacameraalongwitha

smartphone,tossatleastoneextra

batteryandmemorycardintoyourbag.

Incolder weather,abatterycandie

shockinglyfast,andyoudon’twantto

missthatperfectshotbecauseyou’re

busydeletingpicsofAuntPam’s90th

birthdaytofreeupspace.

–DOMINICLARK

TRAVELBETTER

THINGS

YOUSHOULD

PACK

MOREOF