Fresh Young Millionaire
The most gratifying bit about getting involved in this launch publication, aimed at 16-20 year olds, was the mentoring programme. Working with a regular cohort of students, we identified stories, sourced interviewees and prepared for and conducted interviews together. Students then worked with myself and the founder to write the stories. In addition, I visited local schools to mentor individual groups on various features.
Until October 2013, I was also closely involved in the editorial direction and look and feel of four out of five issues the magazine. Sadly, the magazine closed doors in mid-2014, despite winning backing in the Big Issue Tech for Good Challenge the previous year.
For the time it lasted, the work was rewarding and fun, and led to some inspiring features. Among those:
- A tale about Cad & the Dandy, a modern take on the Savile Row tailor, whose founder came into school to take live questions from students
- Telephonic interviews with French couturier Oliver Lapidus and Dragon’s Den entrepreneur James Caan
- A feature following a walking tour with Harry Potter fan and international relations student Hana Umezawa. After struggling to find a job post uni, she coined the nickname Hana Potter and launched a London tour of the locations which feature in the film adaptations
- How Gandys flip-flops, whose founders lost their parents in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, is making a difference supporting orphans around the world.