The third instalment in our ‘Meet The Creator’ blog series is with talented interiors freelance journalist and one of our absolute favourites Claudia Baillie.
This latest interview delves into Claudia’s time at top titles such as The Sunday Times Style and ELLE Decoration Country, how to make it in the competitive world of magazine journalism, plus her most rockstar press trip moments with the Little Red PR team.
How did you get started in journalism and what titles have you written for over the years?
I came to journalism relatively late in the day and only started doing work experience when I was 28. After graduating with a degree in fashion in the 90s, I worked briefly in trend prediction before deciding, as many people do, to take a year out and travel. When I returned home I was broke, so I started temping and before I knew it, I’d accepted a full-time job as an account manager for France Telecom. There were lots of perks but it wasn’t a career I’d ever dreamed of, so when they offered me voluntary redundancy, I took the leap. I always loved magazines, right from when I was a teenager poring over Smash Hits through to being a fashion student waiting for the next issue of Vogue, The Face, or i-D to hit the shelves. This was before the internet, and these mags were the source of all my fashion, music, and youth culture intel so when I came to this crossroads, a career in magazines was what I decided to shoot for.
My first internship was through a friend at a wedding title, and I spent many long hours in the fashion cupboard returning tiaras. I worked at a couple of other fashion mags, but it was only when I was offered a placement at ELLE Decoration that I realised interiors was the way forward for me. I originally wanted to be an interior stylist, and I assisted lots of talented people before landing a stint at Livingetc. It was there I started to do more writing, and eventually, they offered me a full-time job. I then worked at Homes & Gardens, before becoming the interiors editor at The Sunday Times Style. In 2016 I left to go freelance, and since then I’ve written for all kinds of magazines and newspapers including ELLE Decoration, House & Garden, ES Magazine, The Sunday Telegraph’s Stella, The Sunday Times, Soho House, and many more. I also edited ELLE Decoration Country on a freelance basis and was recently the launch editor for the new John Lewis At Home magazine. On top of writing, I moderate talks for various clients and still do a little bit of styling if someone twists my arm.
For someone reading this blog post who is looking to get their foot on the journalism career ladder, what guidance can you give them to succeed?
This is a tricky question, as things have changed so much since I started 18 years ago and it’s a while since I’ve worked in-house so I’m not 100% sure how people do things these days.
However, I imagine the top line is still the same: consider which area you’d like to focus on and get work experience in as many editorial offices as you can. You won’t be writing any big pieces at first, but accept all the small and boring jobs, make yourself useful, and keep offering to help. Stick around for a bit, do everything with a smile, and read all the relevant magazines and papers, so you absorb their tone of voice. I have no journalistic training whatsoever, but I was crazy for the publications I loved so when it came to writing for them, I knew how things were structured and what they should sound like. Again, I myself have no qualifications in journalism but I would imagine getting yourself onto some sort of official course would help too.
Finally, when you do start writing, try to respect people’s deadlines. I’ve been a commissioning editor and it’s rubbish having to chase people, so don’t be the person that turns copy in late. Having said that, I’m sure someone will read this and think ‘she’s filed copy late to me before’, so if I have then I do apologise!
What has been your experience working with the Little Red PR team as a freelance journalist?
I’ve worked with the Little Red team for many years now, both from the point of view of a journalist and as a moderator and panellist for Little Red client talks. It’s an incredibly loyal team, which I think says a lot for Vic and the way she runs the company. They are a hard-working, proactive, honest, and clued-up bunch and I know when I approach them for information, images, or expert comment that they will be on it straight away, and that the assets they supply will be exactly what I’m after. Also, very importantly, they are a lot of fun to hang out with. The Christmas party, Summer Showcase, and subsequent late nights at the Spanish Bar in Fitzrovia are yearly highlights.
As a WFH expert, what tips can you share with the public who are now accepting this setup as the norm?
I would flag here that despite having been freelance for a while, I am absolutely not a work from home expert. In fact, I often WFB (work from bed), which I believe is the worst thing you can do. Under normal circumstances, I’m out and about almost every day for meetings and at press events and so in that scenario, I head to various hotels, coffee shops, and bars in between to catch up on emails and work. At the moment, lots of tea and regular walks are the only things getting me through.
What is your favourite press trip/event you have been on been on with Little Red PR?
The LA/Las Vegas trips to CES are legendary. I’ve been lucky enough to tag along twice and much fun was had including stays at Chateau Marmont, The Standard (RIP), and The Cosmopolitan. We also paid a visit to Soho House Malibu, Nobu in Vegas, and all the rock bars on the Sunset Strip. The Doors tribute band at the Viper Room and a slightly aging tribute to Motley Cruë (rechristened Portly Cruë) at the Whiskey a Go Go were particularly memorable, as was the impromptu road trip back to LA when our flights were cancelled due to what we Brits would consider a spot of light rain. Overnight stays with Victoria + Albert Baths at Chewton Glen’s treehouses and At The Chapel in Bruton were also very lovely.
What one piece of advice would you give to budding interiors writers out there?
It’s not going to happen overnight. Stick at it and earn your stripes.
What are the most exciting stories from your journalism career to date?
This is most definitely a job I do for the love, not the money, so there have to be some perks. I can’t choose one but over the years I’ve been lucky enough to go on amazing trips to the Maldives, Beijing, Marrakesh, Paris, Venice, New York, St Moritz, Bordeaux, Provence, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Verbier, Puglia and lots of other places I can’t even remember now. I’ve been to The Brits, the Q Awards, countless different gigs and lots of incredible restaurants.
I’ve interviewed Ian Schrager in Shanghai and Jamie Hewlett (artist and co-creator of Gorillaz) in slightly less glamorous west London. That ended up with me leaving my Dictaphone on the bus to Brixton, after which followed a very tense weekend before it was miraculously discovered in a grubby bus depot on the outskirts of Croydon, but that’s another story for another day. Also, both of the US trips with Little Red – see above.
Do you prefer working in-house or as a freelancer?
These days I much prefer being freelance as it gives me complete freedom to accept whatever work is offered to me, and to work for whoever I want, when I want. Having said that, my inhouse jobs taught me everything I know – at Livingetc and Homes & Gardens I learned how to plan features, research in-depth topics, interview experts, put together shopping pages, edit images and to commission other writers. My job at ST Style was much more fast-paced, and features were often time sensitive. We needed exclusives with really high calibre subjects, and whereas on a monthly there is a fair bit of tweaking, on a weekly, things had to be done super-fast with no messing around. Both were lots of hard work and at times really stressful, but ultimately very rewarding. I’ve done all sorts of things since becoming freelance that I had no idea I was even capable of. Stepping out of a comfort zone has occasionally been hard, but it’s amazing how transferrable your skills are when it comes down to it.
