Nineteen-year-old Ryann Foulke was offered a chance to intern at the one place that would have budding fashion fanatics jumping for joy in their stilettos. An internship in the covetable Vogue fashion closet brings to mind a very memorable word of advice from “The Devil Wears Prada;” a million girls would kill for this job. For Ryann, a sophomore at FIT and president of the FIT Ed chapter, this opportunity is a dream come true and a chance to work at her favorite publication; the one she first picked up at the age of 11 while so many of her peers may have still been fawning over Tiger Beat and J14. When this Advertising and Marketing Communications major was also awarded the Ed Trust Fund, the semester was made even sweeter with a fabulous chunk of change that will allow an uber-overachiever (she’s taking 16 credits over two days of classes and working part-time, too) a chance to fully enjoy this wonderful opportunity.
GM: What was your reaction when you were first offered the internship?
RF: I think I almost cried. I was walking to school and I got an email from Sarah (Anolik), my boss now, and she said, “We would like to extend an offer to intern at Vogue.” I called my mother ten seconds after, and then I quickly said yes.
GM: Going into the internship, did you set any major goals for yourself?
RF: I’ve seen “The September Issue.” I own it signed by Grace Coddington and Andre Leon Talley. I really wanted to even just be in the same building as them. It was just cool for me to see people I’ve looked up to for such a long time.
GM: What’s been the highlight so far?
My boss, Sarah, wasn’t able to go to a fashion show so she gave me her certificate. I went and Fashionista.com took my picture and I was actually on their blog a few days ago. That was cool.
GM: How do you think this whole experience would have been different if you didn’t receive the Ed Trust Fund?
I have a job at Anthropologie, which is mainly for the weekends, but I take shifts at night. It’s really exhausting. If I had not gotten the Ed Trust Fund I would have put more pressure on myself to work constantly and I would have been so much more exhausted. Now, I feel like I can take a little break.
GM: When did you first get involved with Ed? And what has it been like being President?
I love it. We meet every Tuesday from 1 to 2. Ed2010 at Fit was started my freshman year. I was secretary for a year and then I was president. A lot of my best friends are in it, and I’ve become friends with everyone there. We’ve had these great editor panels for the semester where we invite four different editors. We’ve had everyone from Eva Chen (Teen Vogue), Amy Odell (The Cut blog: New York magazine), Holly Siegel (Nylon), Mary Kate Steinmiller (Teen Vogue) and Jade Frampton (Elle). A lot of cool people have come talk to us and we’ve really enjoyed it.
GM: After this internship is over, professionally, what are the next steps?
RF: I’m still working on it. I’m staying in the city over the summer. I would really love to stay at Vogue. But, I also would love a paid internship or maybe in a PR company, or in event planning. I’ve been with two magazines and a stylist, so I’ve covered a lot of different bases. I’m still working on the summer, and then after I’m planning on studying abroad in London.
GM: What would be your advice for future Ed Trust Fund applicants, especially those who may be interested in fashion?
RF: You really can’t be afraid of working hard. Being lazy has never really crossed my mind; I work every single day. I feel that really showing your supervisors that you’ll take on anything, that really impresses them. Also, always having a really professional attitude. I like to dress like where I want to be, I really feel like people respect you more.
Lindsay Tigar
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