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Rihanna on Vogue magazine
Rihanna on Vogue magazine
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Culture

Five Lessons I Learned From Anna Wintour’s Masterclass

Cameron Crews
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at NCSU chapter.

By: Cameron Crews

Everyone has had their “dream jobs.” Whether it’s a lawyer, doctor, teacher, etc. At some point in your life, you dreamed about a certain job. For me, that job is to work at Vogue. I love fashion, design, and culture, and being at a fashion magazine like Vogue, would be the perfect fit for me. I just started my freshman year of college and was admitted into the graphic design program. I thought that’s what I was meant to do, and knew immediately, that I was NOT in the right place. I decided to look at changing my major to Communications with a concentration in media and a minor in Journalism. I am enjoying all of my classes so far and feel like it is the right track for me to be on if I want to end up at a fashion magazine one day. My mom suggested that I look at Masterclass since Anna Wintour (the Editor-in-Chief at Vogue) did a session. Masterclass is basically an online subscription service where different celebrities and public figures make videos teaching subscribers how to do certain skills that they are known for. Her skills were “Creativity and Leadership” and I knew I had to watch. Now I don’t want to give too much away because I did really enjoy the series and think people who are interested in fashion, creativity, and leadership should watch it, but I do want to tell you five important lessons that I learned while watching.

Lesson number one: Expand your mind past what you’re interested in. I definitely struggle with this one. I do NOT like doing things that I’m not interested in. I would rather stick to what I know and like. But with that mindset, how am I going to grow and find new things? Everything I like now was once unfamiliar and I had to discover it. I remember a few years ago, my mom wanted to watch “The Breakfast Club” with me. I did NOT want to watch an “old” movie (It was released in 1985) and did not think it would interest me at all. She kept telling me that I would like the movie, and she was right. It is now my favorite movie, which goes to show that expanding your mind and lifestyle to include things that may seem uninteresting, may end up benefiting you. 

Lesson number two:You are nothing without a great team. We’ve all heard the phrase “There’s no I in team,” and as cliche as it is, the phrase is 100% right. Wintour said to surround yourself with people that have skills that you don’t have. This will lead to effective communication and great work in the end when everyone uses their skills as one. I was the Editor-in-Chief of my high school’s yearbook. I had skills in design and leadership, but lacked skills in copywriting and photography. I had other staff members that were skilled in copywriting and photography but lacked skills in design and leadership. We were able to work together and create an award-winning book, but there is no way we could have done it without relying on one another to get it done. All in all, working with other people is a really effective way to complete tasks effectively AND to complete them well. 

Lesson number three: Find someone that supports your vision. Having supporters around you is so important. If people around you want you to fail, they don’t need to be around you at all. I have had my fair share of friends that secretly wanted me to fail, but would pretend like they supported me to my face. If people don’t want you to succeed, they are simply just jealous of you. There is no other reason why someone who is supposed to be your friend, would want you to be a failure and suffer. Finding at least one person that wants you to succeed is all that you need. That one person can make all the difference. I am lucky enough to have a few people like this in my life, and I know that there is at least one person out there for everyone.

Lesson number four: It’s rare that someone is great at the beginning as it takes time to develop talent and a voice. Wouldn’t it be so nice to be able to start out on top the second you try something new? My ultimate goal is to become the editor-in-chief at a fashion magazine, but I can’t just graduate college, walk into a magazine’s headquarters and expect them to hand me their highest position. As much as I wish that was the case, unfortunately it’s not. In order to get to that point, you may need to start at the bottom of the totem pole as an unpaid intern and work your way up, but if it’s something you really want to do, then it should be worth it.

Lesson number five: Fall flat on your face; It’s worth it. I hate failure. I’m not sure I know of anyone who enjoys it. But it is crucial to success. In the words of Hannah Montana, “Nobody’s Perfect.” I am currently in a public speaking class. I HATE public speaking, but it is required for Communications, so I have to do it. I am so nervous that I am going to slip up on a speech and my grade will be affected, but I’d rather fail now, than later on when I am giving an important presentation. Failing will only teach you how to be better, as terrible as it is.

Overall, I really really loved Anna Wintour’s Masterclass, these five lessons don’t even scratch the surface on everything that I learned and that she talked about. I highly recommend her Masterclass to everyone who is interested, and to those that aren’t interested remember, try things you aren’t interested in, it was lesson number one :) 

Cameron Crews is the president of Her Campus at NC State. She is responsible for publishing all articles, leading meetings, encouraging all staff, and overseeing the entire chapter. This is her fourth year on Her Campus and her third year as President. Outside of Her Campus, Cameron was the Editor-in-Chief of her high school’s yearbook, which she helped lead to being awarded the best book in the entire state and honored at Columbia University’s scholastic journalism awards. She worked as an intern at Southpark Magazine in Charlotte, NC, where she edited articles, conducted interviews, and assisted the editors. In the Summer of 2023, she attended Regents University in London, England, where she took fashion classes from high players in the fashion industry who have worked with the likes of Andy Warhol, Alexander McQueen, Christian Siriano, and more. She also had the opportunity to interview Brendan Fraser immediately after he won his “Best Actor” Oscar at the 2023 Academy Awards. She interned with one of Hollywood's top stylists Tara Swennen in Summer 2024. She is a senior at NC State University majoring in Communications with a minor in Journalism. After graduation, she hopes to move to LA or London and work in the fashion industry as either a fashion editor or celebrity stylist. Cameron was born and raised in Charlotte, NC, with her younger brother and dog, George Bailey. She enjoys shopping, watching movies, listening to music, writing, hanging out with friends, and traveling in her free time. She is a huge Taylor Swift and Harry Styles fan and has seen them both in concert multiple times. She is also a movie aficionado with some of her favorites being Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood, Barbie, Lady Bird, the Breakfast Club, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.