Rosa Heyman, social media editor at Marie ClaireDo you ever have those moments where you meet someone with a CV so impressive, it makes you question what you’ve been doing with your life? That’s pretty much how we felt when we caught up with US Marie Claire’s social media editor, Rosa Heyman. Just to give you a quick bit of background, she started out as the executive assistant to PEOPLE.com’s editor and VP. Lending a helping hand to the title’s engagement team saw her moving over to digital and the rest is history. Very quickly she was promoted to engagement editor, where, she, you know, casually launched PEOPLE’s Discover page on Snapchat and now, she mans the ship on all things social at US Marie Claire. She’s written for everyone from Time to Harper’s Bazaar too, oh, and did we mention she’s only 24?

Our chat with her got us thinking here at The Lifestyle Edit HQ. You see, so often, we’re quick to look to industry veterans for inspiration as far as our careers are concerned but it’s people like Rosa that remind us that we don’t have to look quite so far. More than ever, the women inspiring us most are, well, just like us: grafters working hard to climb the ladder, trying to figure things out and cease opportunities on the way. Here she talks candidly about graduating in the aftermath of the recession (yes, it was as tough as people say it was), imposter syndrome (despite her success, it’s something she still grapples with) and why nothing gets in the way of her ‘me’ time (balance means prioritising balance). We promise, this is one you’ll want to bookmark…

I’ve always identified as a feminist—I was raised by two feminists and I was a card-carrying member of the Spice Girls’ “Girl Power” club—so the foundation for my interest in the subject has always been there. I didn’t have any expectations for what I would major in when I got to college, so I just took classes that interested me. I was never worried about how “practical” my major was; I still believe that you should study a subject that truly interests you without concern for how it will groom you for a job down the line. Learning to think critically is the best thing that a college education can do to prepare you for the working world. My background in Women & Gender Studies is quite helpful for my work at MarieClaire.com. We deal with complicated and nuanced issues affecting women—birth control, rape, relationships, career politics—so understanding how to speak intelligently and sensitively about those topics is essential. I’m also so tired of the idea that women’s fashion and lifestyle brands are fluff, so I’m using my background to fight that stereotype from the ground up.

My parents are both big readers, both of fiction and nonfiction. They’ve subscribed to The New Yorker and The New York Times for as long as I can remember, as well as the local newspaper in Providence. My family is the family that sends newspaper clippings to one another with a sticky note attached that reads, “Think you’ll find this interesting…” Reading was always an expectation in my house, which certainly had an influence on my interest in writing. Smart literature was just always around. I didn’t decide I wanted to pursue writing until I was a sophomore in college. I started writing for Her Campus and had a lot of fun profiling students for the “Campus Cutie” column—a beat that was slightly at odds with my major. Then I applied for an internship at BlackBook Magazine in New York City for that summer. I think at that time, a large part of me was attracted to what I perceived to be the glamorous life of a magazine editor. I’ve always loved that magazine journalism can get you interested in subjects you wouldn’t normally read about otherwise. I read the synopsis of an article in The New Yorker and think, “the Cascadia fault line? Who cares!” and then two paragraphs in Kathryn Schulz has me completely gripped.


I’m so tired of the idea that women’s fashion and lifestyle brands are fluff, so I’m using my background to fight that stereotype from the ground up.


I graduated at the heart of the recession. It was tough, but probably no harder than it is for college graduates now. Because the magazine industry fills positions so quickly, I didn’t bother applying to jobs until after I had graduated. I knew I needed to be in New York City to find a job in New York City. Thankfully, a couple lucky circumstances allowed me to live there while doing just that. My friend had an extra room where I crashed rent-free and I had a freelance writing gig for Daily Worth that actually paid me. I truly pounded the pavement that summer, asking to get coffee with anyone and everyone, and taking every interview that was offered to me even if the job wasn’t a good fit. I thought of it all as practice.

When you first start working, you are never too good for any job. Be honest—with yourself and others—about the responsibilities you can commit to. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, or for help when you need it. Being nice always pays off. Speak up if you think something or someone is wrong. Imposter syndrome is something I’ve struggled with since I started working in media—the feeling that I don’t actually belong in the job, that I’m fooling everyone. The only way I’ve been able to deal with those feelings of doubt is by first acknowledging them, and then by diligently keeping track of my accomplishments and reviewing them when I feel insecure. Editorially, I learned what makes a powerful story: the right combination of surprise, honesty, and real sense of humanity.


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The contacts I made while interning were absolutely invaluable. Without their help, it would have been SO much more difficult to break into the magazine industry. I actually don’t even know if I could have done it by myself. And it’s great because although I am still early in my career, I now know editors at many different brands across New York City and other cities. Staying in touch with the people who you’ve worked for will only ever help you because standing out, as a freelancer is just so tough. Once an editor knows you and can vouch for your work, you’ll at least have a leg up.

I’ve never been very successful at cold-pitching editors. I wrote some pieces for Guest of a Guest and Policy Mic (now known as Mic) but I always felt more committed and rewarded when I wrote for editors that I already knew and had worked for. The best thing a freelancer can do is take time to learn and understand the brand. You can have the best idea, but if it’s not a good fit for the brand and the brand’s audience, then it’ll go nowhere. If you’re pitching a piece for online, distill your pitch down to its clickiest angle. Think about whether you would stop scrolling on Facebook to actually read that story. And always pitch with a compelling headline, and keep the emails short and personal!


Imposter syndrome is something I’ve struggled with since I started working in media—the feeling that I don’t actually belong in the job, that I’m fooling everyone. The only way I’ve been able to deal with those feelings of doubt is by first acknowledging them, and then by diligently keeping track of my accomplishments and reviewing them when I feel insecure.


The social media field is still relatively new, so I don’t think someone my age could have known it was a viable career path until we got to college. But it’s been a goal of mine to work in digital media ever since I started seriously thinking about a career. My first job out of college was as an executive assistant to the editor-in-chief and the VP of PEOPLE.com. I’ll admit that I was cynical about the job in the beginning, because I thought it was too entry level—classic millennial, right? But the two women I worked for were great; they were the opposite of “The Devil Wears Prada”-type that you’d associate with magazines and I think they understood that I viewed the position as my foot in the door. After about nine months, the newsroom director asked if I was interested in joining the social media team that was being put together for the first time. She figured I was interested because I had been helping the engagement editor write and schedule overnight tweets and had volunteered for other small, editorial tasks during my downtime as an executive assistant. At that point, I wasn’t certain I’d want to work in social media forever, but it definitely looked more stimulating than the administrative work I had been doing.

I had been working as the assistant editor of engagement at PEOPLE for about a year when I was promoted to editor, but I probably wouldn’t have been promoted so soon if the editor hadn’t left and the position opened up. I feel extremely lucky for the opportunities I’ve had so far in my career. I always think it’s worthwhile to try new things, especially early on in your career. My first boss at PEOPLE gave me a valuable piece of advice: “Think about how this new job will help you two jobs down the line”. In other words, it’s important to consider not just the appeal of the new gig, but how the new job will position you for future jobs. I find it really difficult to answer the question, “where do you want to be in five years?” I’m only 24! So much has changed since I graduated from college—it’s way easier for me to eliminate things that I know for sure I don’t want to be doing than it is to articulate what I want my life to look like in five years. So although I can’t outline my next five years exactly, it was comforting to know that taking a job at Hearst—a reputable company full of bright people—would, at the very least, further my skillset and my network. I knew I wanted to work in digital media, but I had never seriously considered social media until the opportunity was right in front of me. I definitely try to be strategic with my career moves. I’m ambitious and I recognize that I’ve been given a lot of responsibility at a young age and I don’t want to squander all that opportunity.

Rosa Heyman, social media editor at Marie ClaireTo be successful, a social media editor really needs to understand the brand’s audience. Social copy needs to convey a point concisely and directly in a compelling, clicky, and relatable way. Social copy should be smart, but you don’t have the space or the time to develop an idea in the same way you do on a website. Similar to online writing, social copy can be voice-y, but probably more conversational than longform story telling. The challenge is not relying on clickbait language, while still highlighting the most interesting part of the story.

I helped launched its Snapchat Discover partnership which was really exciting and difficult. No one truly understood what Snapchat Discover would look like before it launched, so it felt like we were creating content and imagining the audience in a vacuum. We started creating test editions so that we could get feedback from Snapchat a couple months prior to launch, but we definitely didn’t anticipate how much work would be involved in being a Discover partner. Since the editions only live for 24 hours, you have to start working on the following day’s edition as soon as you’re finished with that day’s edition. PEOPLE as a brand is unique because the audience demographic changes dramatically from platform-to-platform—younger on Twitter, older on Facebook, etc. Snapchat Discover was our chance to reach a new, even younger audience, and cultivate a relationship with readers who would never pick up a physical issue of PEOPLE. The challenging part was serving up the content that felt most native to the platform (fun, never somber) while staying true to the brand as a whole. For instance, PEOPLE extensively covered Bobbi Kristina Brown’s coma on the site and in print, so it seemed wrong to exclude that news on Discover, but at the same time, we wondered whether our Snapchat audience would engage with the story. Was there a way to nestle the news update between other pieces of content without seeming flippant or glib?

As a social media editor it’s very important to stay on top of new and emerging platforms. Even if the new platform isn’t yet popular, it’s a smart idea to claim a handle for your brand in case it eventually takes off. When deciding to put your brand on a new platform, first consider what the value is for you specifically—is it reaching a new audience, showcasing pre-existing content in a pretty new format, or participating in a larger trend? There can be value for a variety of reasons, but as any social media editor can relate, you have to be selective with your time and efforts.

I definitely can’t take responsibility for all the growth at PEOPLE by myself. For the first time in its history, there was a team (meaning more than one person!) dedicated to all things social. We could divide and conquer by platform, and really spend time and energy developing a voice that resonated with the audience on that given platform. PEOPLE.com also increased the volume of stories that was published each day, so there was so much more content to promote. We put an emphasis on engagement, responding to comments and encouraging our audience to converse. Social media platforms can’t all be treated the same, in terms of the type of content that performs well, or how a story should be packaged, or the voice you use. We hit a stride, growing month after month, once we honed our strategy for each platform and kept an eye on important emerging platforms. We joked that we wanted the PEOPLE brand to be everywhere, but really, we were everywhere.

I moved to Marie Claire because I wanted to move to a women’s lifestyle brand, and a brand that was more able to take a position on issues that were important to me as a 20-something-year-old woman—such as abortion, sexism in the workplace, dating culture. My role here actually feels quite different. I have a lot more ownership and responsibility, so I feel more engaged on a daily basis. At PEOPLE, there was a whole team of social media editors. Now, I am only the editor who does what I do, which is definitely stressful at times, but rewarding, too. Working at a breaking news celebrity brand is unlike working at a woman’s fashion and luxury brand—different audience, different content cadence, different limitations and different advantages. A lot of my job was done for me at PEOPLE, by virtue of the fact that as a brand, PEOPLE has access to celebrities and big, exclusive stories. I’m challenged in new ways at MarieClaire.com: how to make something clicky without being clickbait, how to repackage a piece of content that is evergreen, how to develop and maintain a brand voice that doesn’t rely on Internet jargon.


Another social media editor once said to me that she didn’t think you could be in a relationship while working in social media—but to that, I say BS! Everyone’s job is demanding, whether you work on the Internet or in retail. Finding balance is about actually prioritizing balance.


I’ve tried and failed to explain a typical day to my parents so many times. The MarieClaire.com team hits the ground running at 8:30 a.m. In the morning, I am mainly responsible for finding news stories that we should cover and assessing the priority order, in terms of timeliness and relevance. In addition to writing posts for Facebook and Twitter throughout the day and overnight, I post to Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Tumblr. Most importantly, I keep a close eye on the site traffic, and strategize a reactive content plan with the digital director and the senior editor. I am also the point-person for all things social, which could mean working with the print staff to strategize the monthly cover reveal, or conceptualizing fun videos for Facebook with our video editor. The day flies by, which I really love. There’s no time to be bored! And that’s great, too. I can’t imagine working at a job in which I’m constantly eyeing the clock. Sometimes I feel stressed, but generally the momentum of the day and the news cycle keeps me motivated and on track. I make a lot of lists. I try to keep my inbox at zero.

Right now, my main goal is growing the fan base around MarieClaire.com. When I first started here, the digital director gave me a helpful overview of strategies that had been working and how she wanted us to evolve. The thing about social media is, you can’t be too married to a strategy or an idea; you have to be adaptable. The most important elements of any social media strategy are the voice you use on the platform, the content you promote, the posting cadence, and the quality of the imagery. The first part of developing a social media strategy for a long-term project is determining whether the goal is traffic or another metric, like a big brand moment. Then I usually devise a plan platform-by-platform, considering what format the content would perform best. The main goal of some campaigns is to have other editors and writers take notice of the project, but more often, it’s about delivering the work to your audience in a way that will resonate with them most powerfully.


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I suffer imposter syndrome all day, every day. I haven’t figured out a sure-fire way for overcoming self-doubt (if anyone has, you should patent that, STAT!). I’m a pretty direct person, so if something is really stressing me out, I like to talk things out with my boss; she’s very good about giving constructive advice. In very desperate situations, I do this little internal calculation where I imagine all the possible outcomes, and then I try to pre-emptively problem-solve each scenario. But since I don’t always have the luxury of time for those mental exercises, I just try to work hard and always learn. It sounds so cheesy, but it’s true!

It’s hard to unplug entirely, but I’ve noticed that I work best after I’ve taken a mental break from emails, Twitter, etc. It was harder to unplug when I worked for a breaking news site (one time I got a frantic phone call at 2 a.m. from an editor who said Kate Middleton was in labour, but thankfully, it was false alarm), but even now I still feel responsible for knowing what’s going on in the world and on the Internet at all times. But I set boundaries. I don’t keep my phone on the dinner table when I’m out with friends; I just think that’s rude. If someone from work needs me urgently enough, they’ll call me. Another social media editor once said to me that she didn’t think you could be in a relationship while working in social media—but to that, I say BS! Everyone’s job is demanding, whether you work on the Internet or in retail. Finding balance is about actually prioritizing balance. I definitely have no interest in opening my computer when I get home, I can tell you that much. In my free time now, I’d much rather read a book or a magazine or do something with a friend face-to-face. Whereas many of my friends want to decompress with Netflix after work, I literally feel like my eyes need a break from the screen. I haven’t ever experienced significant feelings of burnout, but the Internet can definitely be a drag sometimes. That’s when I pick up the phone and call a friend from college, or read a physical I-can-turn-the-pages book.

The Internet may have been trashy and flippant in its earliest iterations, but now people want to read smart, thoughtful reporting. Print may persist (and I hope it does!) but already so many people consume information online, and that number is only getting bigger and bigger. I’m young, but the generation after me is using social media in ways I didn’t even know were possible! And they will be the readers and consumers and forces-to-be-reckoned-with in the years to come. The Internet isn’t going anywhere, and soon I don’t think people will even make distinction between “social media” and “the internet.” I’m not sure where digital will be in the next five years. I can only answer this question with wild speculation. I think—or at least, I want and need to believe—that people will grow tired of the lazy, clickbait Internet content, and begin to demand smart storytelling. I also think social media platforms will continue to innovate. Snapchat has already transformed into a game-changing media platform and I’m sure the company has plans for more cool things.