My name is Chanel Cruz and I am a senior Fibers major and Video/Film concentration. During the Summer of 2015, I was a Style Intern for Baltimore Magazine, the first city publication in the United States. My supervisor was Lauren Bell, the Style Editor for the magazine’s style section called Charmed Life.
In the beginning of the summer I did not know of any local businesses that I wanted to intern for. One day while working my part-time job at Madewell in Harbor East I explained to my store manager how much I desired an internship that focused on Style since I was already a Stylist for the store. My manager told me that she knew the Style Editor for Baltimore Magazine and gave me her business email. This was perfect timing since I had just launched my website in order to easily display and share my work. After a few days I emailed Lauren asking if I could intern, freelance, or assist in any way with the publication and attached my resume. Lauren mentioned that she had a style internship position available and I basically started the following week.
Working at the magazine has honestly been one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I’ve met many wonderful people and have become very aquatinted with pretty much every single locally owned boutique in Baltimore. My assignments involved interviewing store owners for blog features, contacting/collecting merchandise for shoots from local stores, researching events related to style, and assisting on photoshoots for print at the magazines studio. Since completing my internship my writing and communication skills have improved greatly. This internship allowed me the opportunity to freelance for the magazine and continue interning throughout my year at MICA. When I was younger I had a faint goal of working for a magazine and steered away from it since. Being at Baltimore Magazine has created a path for me to conquer this goal. Post graduation I would like to move and work for a magazine in New York City as a style specialist and with the relations I’ve made through Baltimore Magazine that will absolutely be possible. For that I am grateful and looking forward to being further involved in the magazine during my senior year.