Chatting with Alison Goldman of Women’s Health

This Online Senior Associate Editor talks about her “interesting, surprising, and rewarding” career.

What is your career backstory? I actually grew up thinking I was going to head to college and major in theatre. I just happened to have a huge women’s magazine obsession on the side. The summer before college applications were due, I had a change of heart and switched my plans—and I’m so glad I did! I majored in journalism at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and spent my summers interning at Family Circle (as an ASME Intern), The Knot, and Whirl. During the fall of my senior year, I interned at Glamour. I got crazy lucky when an editorial assistant position opened there that spring. I started at Glamour straight out of college, and I moved to WomensHealthMag.com (originally as an assistant editor) in February 2013.

What is an industry pet peeve of yours? 

When writers don’t proofread their stories before they turn them in. #grammarstickler

What is a must-have on the job? A notebook and a pen! I basically have them glued to my hands (and I’m a web editor!) so that I can always take notes. Also necessary: my phone and caffeine.

What is your favorite work perk? Getting to talk to so many fascinating people. I chat one-on-one with celebrities, experts in medical research, respected personal trainers, and regular women with incredible stories. It makes my job so interesting, surprising, and rewarding.

You interned throughout college and were able to graduate with an EA job at Glamour; besides interning, what are some other ways to get noticed right out of college? Networking, for sure. I already knew the editors at Glamour because I had interned there, but I also did my best to keep in touch with them throughout my senior year. You can do that regardless of whether or not you’ve held an internship at a publication. This industry is a small one—reach out to an editor for an informational interview, ask if he or she can recommend any other editors you might be able to meet with, and follow up with all of them. Go to industry networking events, too—Ed2010 and ASME NEXT have great ones.

You’ve held three positions as an online editor for Women’s Health; do you like working on the web rather then in print, or do you think that the two formats are interchangeable these days? I think both formats are amazing for many different reasons—each one offers really cool and varied opportunities for packaging, for example. I miss working in print, but I also love working on the web. I’m a big fan of hitting “publish” and—whoomp, there it is on the site!

You get to write across so many topics; how do you stay current on each subject and know what to report on/cover? Constant social networking. Every morning, I spend a solid amount of time reading the news, and then I’m always checking in on Twitter and Facebook throughout the day for updates. Also, people watching and listening are essential. My friends are the WomensHealthMag.com demographic, so if they’re talking about something or dealing with a friendship, relationship, health, or work issue, odds are so are other readers.

What is a favorite published piece that you’ve written? I spoke with Rebekah Gregory DiMartino and Pete DiMartino, two survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings, this past April, one year after the attack and the day after they got married. I was so inspired by their perseverance.

What is some advice you have for others trying to break into the industry? Three things: 1) Get as much experience as you can at as many publications as you can. 2) Give everything you’ve got when completing edit tests—they’re super important during the interview process. 3) Always, always, always be enthusiastic, passionate, and upbeat! Editors notice a great attitude, and it will go such a long way.