First Day!

At 9:57 AM this morning, I rang Justine's doorbell and was promptly greeted by Monica Hudson, the fashion director. She looked at me hesitantly after seeing that I didn't have a package in my arms. I'm sure she was thinking, "Um, who are you?" After telling her that I was the new intern, she informed me that they had all been away in New York for the Book Expo America, so "that's why things are a little bit scattered right now." 

As I gazed around the room, I noticed that Justine had expanded since I shadowed in 8th grade. Picture around 5-6 brightly painted rooms, each crammed with stacks of books, large racks of magazines, various beauty products in bins, clothes shoved in plastic bags (awaiting a trip in Monica's red Chevy for the fashion shoot tomorrow, June 3rd), racks, hangers, mac desktop computers, bulletin boards with fashion and beauty inspiration, and page layouts on the wall & you'll get an accurate picture of the Justine space. 

 Above: Rack of competitors' magazines                                 One of the many bookshelves

       Page layout for the June/July issue!

 The break-room houses racks of copies of Justine magazines

Monica directed me to the associate editor, Adrianne Jernigan, who will be my quasi-boss. Just as the room emitted cheer, she, too, exuded a welcoming and positive attitude. Admits totaling her car, misprinting the date which the giveaway winner would be announced, and just returning from two back to back trips, she was calm, collected, and friendly. She immediately sent me to work, and I was happy to do whatever she needed; from creating excel documents of release dates to writing a blurb about cheating to capturing Lionsgate's new Hunger Games attraction, I played the magazine field, so to say. 

My desk!

When Jana Pettey, editor in chief, arrived, she greeted me warmly. I felt accepted by everyone at Justine. One reason I can tell that I will love Justine is because of the atmosphere. Everyone wants each-other to succeed; you can easily see that Justine has a positive work environment. No one blaming mistakes on others to gain favor or a promotion; rather, they work cohesively as a team to produce a top-notch magazine. This is the type of workplace I hope I will be able to experience and foster as I get older. 

Mainly, I think this positive attitude is spread by Mrs. Pettey. To exemplify this, I'll give a short instance of her kindness. Late in the day, when Adrianne was relating about how she was being carpooled to work and others places, Mrs. Pettey popped her head in and nonchalantly said, "Hey, Adrianne, I have a car that's just sitting in my driveway. You can drive it." By her attitude, I could tell that Mrs. Pettey regularly supports her employees in more ways than one. She's diligent and hardworking, but also compassionate and empathetic. 

After my first day, I am worn out! I finished at 4pm for a total of 6 hours at Justine. I can't wait to go back tomorrow!

-Anna Johnson