Revisiting My Early Career in NYC
The late 90s and early 2000s were a wild time indeed
NYC baby: Beginning my career in NYC’s late 90 / early 2000s was a wild time in the world of media, marketing, PR, communications, events, and pop culture. Especially for a newbie from nowhere.
I recently stopped in my tracks while browsing TikTok, when not one but TWO “nostalgic” stories from NYC past, flashed across the screen.
Who knew there were multiple accounts dedicated to going through the pages of old magazines issues, like the many (many) of Seventeen Magazine from the late 1990’s, when I interned there in NYC.
Revisiting the PR nightlife queens from the the early 2000s NYC, when I was first starting my career working for two of the biggest nightlife guys in the city - through a post about the infamous night where publicist Lizzie Grubman backed her car into the Conscious Point Inn in the Hamptons. Some of us were there….
The 90’s and Seventeen Magazine
Working in those wild NYC days was not for the weak, but it sure was fun. through a lot of luck, and a help from a friend and her Aunt, I landed myself an internship at Seventeen Magazine at a time that it could open an incredibly amount of doors. Anything was possible. I always had my sites on living in NYC and London, and was determined to get there. I worked in the marketing and merchandising department, where I quickly found out that a gal from a boring Canadian town (but a better University, hello UBC) had a lot to catch up on in the ways of savvy NYC girls raised on the Upper East Side who had attended private schools and came from a lot of privelage. Car services, couriers, overpriced lunch salads at your desk, taking Britney Spears to Benetton to perform songs off of her upcoming album that would send her into the stratosphere of pop stardom? What had I got myself into!? I knew nothing about that world, I had no point of reference aside from movies. I was lucky to work around some wonderful people, and also many not - though the latter group got a lot nicer once their learned I knew someone in the executive office. This was my first steep learning curve of an entirely different work and city culture, and made it my mission to learn as much as I could, no matter how uncomfortable or out of place I felt. The expense accounts in those magazine days made up for a lot of it, along with some free merch. The 90s was an interesting time all around, and looking back I realize how much good music, movies, and pop culture was happening, especially now that people reference it often as a “cool” factor and it constantly come backs in fashion (though I will skip on the clothes and shoes please). Another saving grace at that time was when Sex and The City debuted on June 6, 1998 (though it appeared as a column first in The New York Observer on Nov. 28, 1994), frequently using real locations around the city and name dropping things that only locals would know. I was on my way…
The early 2000’s and nightlife
My second unexpected stroke of luck - when I decided to move to NYC permanently and share an UWS apartment with a gaggle of girls but didn’t have a firm plan - was landing work along with one of my besties, with the soon-to-be kings of nightlife, Noah Tepperberg and Jason Strauss (who went on to found the Tao Hospitality Group which recently sold to Mohari Hospitality for $550 million). Fresh out of college, they were already big party promoters in the city, and recently opened a business (Strategic Group) that integrated marketing into special events and nightlife, from NYC to Miami. They knew everybody, and everybody new them. Looking back, I can’t even believe the rooms I was in, the parties I attended, or the fact that I had over 100 young women on my marketing roster who promoted alcohol brands at bars everywhere. I was 22, what the hell did I know? These were the days of Diddy, Jlo, Jay-Z, Mary J Blige, Christina & Britney, and border line anorexia in pop culture. The young Hiltons and Kardashians often snuck into the bars (especially Paris). I even had a wild run-in with famed Madam Heidi Fleiss inquiring about my staff, but that is a story for another time. The power PR Women of the day were the scariest people I ever met, but also intriguing. We promoted around big fun events like the US Open and VMA awards. We were at hot Hamptons parties, as well as random parties in Miami, Philly, and Boston, that were full of the East coasts rich elite with multiple houses and global vacations. My co-workers and I swapped clothes to keep up with the rich girls eyeing us. It was wild, but we didn’t care - having that proximity was an eye opener, and Noah and Jason were always incredibly supportive and loyal of their teams, still are. Long before the days of social media, some of it felt a bit slimy and misogynistic too, and again I felt small next to celebrities and richest kids in NYC at the time (its hard to explain just how free flowing the money was at that time, pre-2008 crash), but I also met some of the most wonderful and loyal people who I am still friends with today. I also realized early on that most of the wealthiest people I met, were the most miserable. I think this has always helped me hold fast to my sense of identity and integrity, it has served me well.
Other NYC career breaks
Through networking, being in the right place, putting myself out there with early-day blogging, and staying open to everything, I had other work opportunities and experiences at Forbes, Conde Nast, Hearst, Luxury Fashion & Retail, Production jobs, Canada and US Tourism, and more, before I took another unexpected opportunity to move across the country to Los Angeles, to become the director of the famous Beverly Wilshire Hotel (from “Pretty Woman”) and sit on the board of directors for Rodeo Drive. Not bad for a Lady trying for a very different life of experiences.
I often get asked for career advice, but I don’t really have any because I never followed a plan or a path. I had plenty of failures, which is how you learn, grow, and hopefully succeed in the long run, though it is never how you expect. I always say to stay curious, learn and take courses any chance you get, add a million tools to your tool box however unrelated, follow what perks your interest, put yourself out there, find your unique perspective and voice, champion yourself, help others, experiment, pivot, don’t be afraid to take big swings or moves. Just keep moving.
On that note, I have a new project coming by way of intergenerational mentorship and opportunities, but more on that soon.
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