Well, hello there. My name is Liv and I am the founder and Editor in Chief of this little website, also known as Tribe Magazine.
Time has flown by since I published the first post almost exactly 12 months ago somewhere between Australia and New Zealand. At the time I was travelling Down Under on a three-month sabbatical from my career as a journalist.
Back in London, which has been my home since 2008, Tribe began as a vision I shared with two of my dearest friends and fellow writers, Tasha and Louise. Having worked as showbiz journalists for many years, we were looking for a project that allowed us to expand our work to other areas we are passionate about. In the end, the time wasn’t right for my friends to focus on what was a mere creative concept back then and, with their blessing, I continued working on the site on my own.
Having slaved away for the last ten years – first at uni, then as an intern subbing myself with part time jobs that really required full time hours and finally as a freelancer working crazy hours – left me feeling burnt out and uninspired. I got increasingly frustrated with my ‘work hard, play hard’ lifestyle in the city, so I waved goodbye to cold and grey England and headed to Australia. (I’m a Sagittarius, we are notorious for packing up and leaving).
I had every intention to stay in Oz and enjoy the sunshine, incredible scenery and laid-back Aussie lifestyle for a year or two and packed accordingly, ending up a ridiculous version of the traditional backpacker. Lugging around a MacBook, iPad and capsule working wardrobe (just in case), I spent three months exploring Australia and New Zealand and used my spare time and any shaky Wi-Fi connection I could find to build this website.
Having spent at least two years before I left London slagging it off – too grey, too miserable, too expensive and too stressful – no one, believe me no one, was more surprised than myself when I got homesick and started pining for my old home within days. (As I mentioned, I’m a Sagittarius and we are rather independent creatures. Never in my life have I ever been homesick before, not even as a little girl).
So with renewed enthusiasm for work and my old home, I returned to the big smoke. In a burst of motivation I had already sent out some job applications from Sydney and I was thrilled when I was offered the job of Style Editor at Glam UK a few weeks after my return.
Glam UK is part of Mode, a media owner that apart from its own publications also works with a portfolio of fashion, beauty and lifestyle bloggers. This forward-thinking approach hugely appealed to me and is one of the many things I love about my job.
As Style Editor, I look after the fashion, beauty, health & fitness and luxury sections on Glam UK, which gives me the variety I crave. The whole team is just plain awesome and together we have experienced some amazing times – highlights of 2014 included a trip to the Swiss Alps, a weekend on the Isle of Wight covering Bestival and London Fashion Week.
Of course it occurred to me that one day, I might be able to sign Tribe to Mode, so I continued writing for the website in my spare time and worked on growing its following. And just before Christmas 2014, my wish came true, meaning that even more people get to know Tribe Magazine.
So now it’s a new year and time for new stories and new adventures. Here, in the blog section of the site, I’m looking forward to sharing some of them with you. Thank you for being part of the journey…
