Q: Okay so how did you start your career in journalism?
A: That started by accident because I was a wedding coordinator and, at the time, we were the only wedding coordinators in the country. We started that whole wedding coordination business, and it so happened that the editor-in-chief position at Bride Philippines was vacant and it was offered to me, not because I was a journalist, but because I was a wedding coordinator. It was because I knew my weddings. I knew nothing about journalism. Absolutely nothing. I wrote in school and that’s about it. I had no prior experience when I entered, so I was lucky that I got a top job as my first job, but I had a lot of help.
Q: Do you remember your first article?
A: The first was, of course, on etiquette, because I was doing work as an etiquette consultant at the same time that I was a wedding coordinator. I used to write about topics I knew like the back of my hand, like etiquette. We started with wedding etiquette. Again, with the help of friends and colleagues, I eventually developed the skill for writing feature articles.
Q: What was your college degree?
A: My college degree was on Political Science and International Relations, and my Masters degree is on marketing. I’m a marketer by profession but I chose journalism.
Q: So, but what was your plan? Was it always what you wanted?
A: No, no my plan, my grand plan, was to be this high profile diplomat, but that, of course, obviously did not happen. Journalism happened by chance, but over the years I’ve had opportunities to go out of the business, and then come back to the business, and I’ve always gone back to being a journalist, because it’s where I feel my talents are being useful.
Q: When did you realize you wanted to pursue it? Like, how old were you then?
A: I was in my twenties, I think, about 26 or 27. So, I wasn’t that young, nor was I too old.
Q: So did you pursue journalism right after college?
A: No, no…
Q: So what did you pursue?
A: I became a wedding coordinator. I was a teacher. I taught etiquette, grooming, and personality development, and then I went into wedding coordination. Like I said, the journalism happened completely by accident.
Q: Um, how long have you been in the business?
A: Since 1996. So, last century.
Q: Since being an editor, have you been based anywhere else aside from here in the Philippines?
A: No, but I did a stint for Johnson and Johnson Asia, where I worked in marketing and communications. I was on the other side of the fence, so to speak. I took a corporate job, but my job was still in journalism. In other words, I put press releases together and did a lot of PR work for them. I was able to work in countries like Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Hong Kong because of that job. But I was still based here.
Q: Have you met any interesting people in this line of work?
A: Oh yeah, you meet a lot of interesting people. What’s great with this line of work is that you meet, quote unquote: celebrities. So you never stop learning. What’s beautiful about this job is it’s creative and you’re creativeness continues to flow. There’s no two days that are alike.
Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met?
A: That’s a hard, very hard question.
Q: Well what story strikes you most, what do you remember?
A: Well through the years we’ve met so many people and every one is interesting in their own right, but of course what’s freshest in your mind is now, what you’re doing now, and I’m very excited to work with big names in the industry. As you know, Cocoon is a home magazine, so right now the most interesting person I’m getting a chance to work with and get to know is, of course, Budgy Layug, who is the foremost furniture designer. I was almost star struck when I started working with him, and when we rode the car together going to a house, I kept texting my friends: I’m in the car of Budgy. Of course they don’t get it because they’re fashion people, but if you’re really into furniture and that scene, it’s great to be around those people. You meet other designers: like Nina Naval, Kenneth Kobon-Pue, all the big names in the industry, that really put the Philippines on the map in terms of furniture design
Q: Since your magazine is about furniture and home, what is your magazine’s goal exactly?
A: The goal of the magazine is basically to offer the reader ideas for their home, but more importantly it’s for the reader to create their own personality in their own homes. What makes Cocoon different is that its philosophy is that everything in your home makes you happy, so that includes the people that you live with. And so Cocoon will have a Wellness section to it and a Family section to it, wherein we give advice on you know family matters and, and the same, how to take care of yourself so that you are better able to take care of your family…that sort of thing. So it’s a more holistic approach to a whole magazine. It goes beyond style and decor.
Q: So what are your demographics like?
A: Our demographics are…well, our primary target market are women who are either starting a home or have been running their household for quite some time – so it’s a how-to magazine. Our secondary market are single women who are living out of the home for the first time. There’s a huge amount of um women right now as opposed to men, because men have been leaving the house since before, but now, more women are leaving the house before they get married. They get their own apartments, because they have the financial freedom earlier. The call center industry has enabled them to do this, and I think women right now are more empowered to go, to have their independence much earlier. They no longer go from the mother’s home to the husband’s home. They usually develop themselves more, so that’s our secondary market.
Q: So, what are the things that you love the most about this job?
A: The creativity, the planning, the putting it together. You have to visualize the whole magazine, and then you have to visualize it in your head, and put it down on paper, and it’s what you call a lineup and that’s what the contents of the magazine will be. It’s like our Bible. For that issue, that’s the lineup. And to visualize that, in paper, in bullet points, without having to see it visually, is to me the most exciting part, because that’s where the creative process comes in, and then as you go, you make adjustments. You add stories, you remove stories. It’s very visual. I’m very passionate about it, because to me, it’s helping people. It’s inspiring people to create.
Q: Do you have any perks?
A: Oh yeah
Q: Like, so do you get to keep anything?
A: Oh yeah, you get a lot of perks. That’s the thing with journalism, you have to watch yourself because you almost get everything for free. You get free make up, free stays, and all of that, and you have to manage it with a certain degree of professionalism. You can’t be a freebie queen. You have to look at it like, if somebody gives you a spa treatment for free, it doesn’t mean, it’s because you just want to have a free spa treatment. You have to write about it, you have to do a review, and there’s work involved. It’s your job to let your readers know what that experience will be, so that when they try it they already have an idea of what to expect.
Q: So the perks are kind of like plugs also?
A: The perks are plugs, yes. And a lot of journalists tend to give it a bad name because there’s quite a few who just take advantage of it. And that’s I think a discipline, it’s a self-instilled disciplined, that you don’t: 1) let it go to your head, and 2) that you handle it or manage it responsibly.
Q: Is your line of work competitive?
A: Extremely. It’s extremely competitive for the simple reason that there are, wow, hundreds of magazines out there with a very limited market. When we first started the glossy magazines industry we were about five players, and each one had their own topics, and different genres, so we didn’t really compete with each other. We were all friends, but now it’s a little more competitive for the simple reason that there are so many more magazines, and not many readers.
Q: What would your advice be then since it’s a competitive industry – to those who want to go into it?
A: One, make sure you love it, because you’re never going to get rich. [Laughs] Two, that you do it with passion and integrity. Anything that you do, you have to do it passionately. Whatever job you choose to do, you have to really love it. If you love what you’re doing, it’s not work. You look forward to it every single day. You don’t say, thank god it’s the weekend. You never say that.
Q: So what do you want to be remembered for?
A: What do I want to be remembered for? As someone who’s good at what she does, who practices her profession professionally with integrity, and someone who can create a magazine that people will want to read, and that people will keep even after reading.
Q: Yeah…Yeah, that’s it, actually.
A: Oh! Okay, that was painless, thank you!
______________________________________________________________
Lia Bernardo was born on June 23, 1968. She took up political science, political relations and marketing. She used to be a wedding coordinator and teacher, but got her break in journalism with an editorial position with Bride Philippines. At the time of the interview, she was editor-in-chief of Cocoon Inquirer Magazine.
No comments:
Post a Comment