Dream BIG!

Pic: Me and the incredz talent that is Sarra Manning…

I know I’ve posted about the Queen of Teen already, but I was flicking through my pictures last night and this one just made me smile… Y’see, Sarra Manning isn’t just a totes kick-ass author, she used to be ed-girl of quite possibly the coolest magazine you’d have EVER read - J17.

I read J17 when it was called Just Seventeen and I LOVED it. It made me feel a little less alone in the world because it was filled with models, features and fashion that a girl like me - a chubby, without-a-boyfriend, not-sure-where-I quite-fitted-in kinda girl - could actually relate to. I always knew I wanted to be a writer girl, but when I was 15 I decided I wanted to write for Just Seventeen - if I could see my name published, alongside a feature, in that magazine my life would be complete.

It became a total obsession. I’d make my own Just Seventeen covers in Media Studies lessons, I’d paste my name over the editors and put it in my journal, I’d write features in Just Seventeen style for assignments and I’d read each issue cover to cover taking notes in my journal…
I kept reading the magazine right through college and university, way past when it’s cool for a girl to read teen mags, because it felt like those pages were being written just for me. The mag had a ‘tude all of it’s own, it had sass, it had a unique tone - and I knew that when I was a writer girl, becuase I never doubted that I would be, these would be all the things that I’d need to develop.

Then Just Seventeen became J17 and started doing a regular column called a Diary of a Crush. It was like nothing I’d ever read before. It was amazing. So, as you always should if you think someone or something is amazing, I contacted the writer to let her know she rocked. I did a bit of research and found that it was being written by one of the writers on the magazine, Sarra Manning. So I emailed her and guess what? She emailed back. It was a total moment. Although, I think she might of lived to regret it as I began to bombard her with interview requests, questions about becoming a journalist - how can I write for J17? can you read my work please? on a near-weekly basis.
But she always replied, and she did read my work and gave me feedback on my feature ideas and when she became editor of J17 and after a year of my innsessant emailing, she asked if I’d like to intern at the magazine. Well, I was beside myself. It was a dream come true. The work was hard, it wasn’t at all as glam-girl-fabulous as I thought it would be, but I loved it, every bit of it. And I got to write my first feature and I can’t tell you how fuurr-reeaaking incredz it was to see my name in print, in my favourite magazine. I went on to write for the next three issues, until unfortunately the magazine was pulled, but the skills and voice I’ve developed from my love of J17 have deffo made me the writer-girl I am right now.

Cool, huh?!
So, there is a point to my story, in fact there are two…

Point 1. If you have a dream, it really doesn’t matter how big it is, it CAN come true. Everything you want, you can have. Never let doubt, social circumstances, or negative ninas stop you from going for what makes you happy. I never doubted that I would write for J17, I didn’t know then, but by making front covers and studying the magazine as hard as I did,  I was letting the universe know that ‘this is what I want to do, I mean business, ‘k?‘ Working at J17 was a dream come true, and was all the proof I needed to know that I needed to keep dreaming big dreams and keep making them come true - so I did and I am, and I’m having quite possibly the best time ever!

Point 2. That mentors and inspirogirls are super-important in helping a dream to become a reality. It was jaw-dropping to be at an award ceremony with Sarra on Monday. She played such a big part in me becoming a writer-girl that to be standing alongside her, along with the amazing Cathy Cassidy who is also an amazing mentor in my world - I know, how lucky am I getting to call two of the best author-girls in authordom my mentors, right? - was all kinds of fabulous, exciting, humbling and awe-inspiring.

An inspirOgirl doesn’t have to be someone you speak to - although it’s really cool if you can and do - an inspirOgirl is anyone you dig or admire that you can learn how to get-good from. For example, if you’re a sports girl, you might not be able to get face time with a gold medallist, but you could read an autobiography by someone like Kelly Holmes and find out the secrets behind her success - remember though, inspirOgirls have an awesome role to play in making dreams come true, but ultimately, in order for dreams to really come true, YOU need to be your own superhero, ‘k?!

So, what are your big dreams, chicas? And who are your inspirOgirls? Spill!