Yvonne Leow Talk
On May 20, our Social Media for Journalists class had the pleasure of hearing Senior Snapchat editor for Vox, Yvonne Leow, talk about her journey into her position.
At the ripe age of 28, Yvonne has managed to position herself with a title that only a year ago was completely unheard of. She worked her way through her undergrad at UCLA where she created and lead the video department. She interned with the Associated Press and the Seattle Times, and even landed herself in the Knight Fellowship at Standford.
Yvonne’s journey has been nothing short of extrodinary. Although, as she pointed out, it was not the straight and narrow path her LinkedIn profile would lead you to believe.
There were three high points during her talk that stood out to me, and that I think every up coming college graduate should hear.
- Cultivate relationships, not contacts.
Too often in college you hear it’s “all about who you know, not what you know,” that will land you a job. It’s true, networking is the best way to get yourself deep into the market. As Yvonne pointed out during her talk, however, the term “networking” has a bad rep. She went on to explain how the relationships she built at her internship with the AP is ultimately what helped her get a job later on in a start up. Use networking opportunities as a way to build lasting relationships with passionate people, not just to get business cards.
2. Prioritize people over products.
I read somewhere once that your coworkers are your best friends, whether you know it or not. You spend more time during the week with them than you do most anyone else. Yet so often we find ourselves unable to draw the line between our personal and professional relationships. Yvonne shared with us how she once tried to run her own start up. She brought a coworker, and someone she considered to be her best friend along for the ride. She learned shortly into it just how difficult it is to be in business with your best friend. It is equally as important to maintain healthy relationships as it is to cultivate them. The end product is important, but should never be worth losing someone of significance.
3. Follow your highest excitement.
This was by far my favorite point Yvonne made during her talk. Hearing her explain how she made it into her position at Vox was exciting and hilarious all at the same time. When she saw the posting for the position she was unsure of exactly what it entailed, but knew she wanted to go for it. The idea of being a senior Snapchat editor excited her. And although Vox wanted the position to go to someone located in Washington DC, and to someone with perhaps a better understanding, she went for it anyway. The greatest part is at first she was denied the position. Something that many, if not all, college graduates are going to expereince. Luckily for Yvonne, after some conversations and a few days in DC, she got the job. As someone who is about to be set free into the job market, hearing stories like this is inspiring and motivating.
Yvonne did a wonderful job in expressing how no one person follows a straight and narrow path. Times will get tough, you won’t always land the position that you want, but every step of the journey matters. She’s a stand out case in just how fast the media market is moving as well, taking on a position created only a year ago. As the media landscape continues to change, there is no doubt in my mind a new and exciting position will be created just for me. Or just for you.
