LAUNCHING:
SCARLETT DIXON

Company:

Scarlett London Digital

THE BIG QUESTIONS

WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSIONAL TITLE?

My title changes everyday as I wear many career hats. I'm a freelance journalist and full-time blogger and YouTuber, so this can involve content creation, photography, video editing, modelling, styling, copy-writing, editing, social media management and a whole host of other things. It's a multifaceted job that I think develops so many skills that you can take it in any direction. At the moment, I'm freelance - and I also run large scale blogger, brand and influencer networking events in Central London, organising the entire event from start to finish, on my own. Which can take months.

WHAT DO YOU DO ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS?

Again, this varies and I love that everyday is so different. One day I could be shooting with a brand in London, the next I could be working away until the early hours in my office at home (just outside of North London). Others, I could be on a press trip with a tourist board - I've just got back from five days in sunny Orlando!

WHAT DID YOU WANT TO DO WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD AND WHAT CHANGED?

I wanted to be an author and tell stories. Enid Blyton was my idol. I suppose I do what I always dreamed of doing, as I do still tell stories - just in a different way. It's online, through my own voice rather than in a paperback book.

WHAT ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS DO YOU HAVE?

I have 13 GCSE's A*-B. Four A Levels including in English Literature and Philosophy & Ethics and a First Class Honours Degree in Multi-Media Journalism. I'm very proud of my qualifications as I was rather poorly throughout my educational career and so they are like badges for me. They remind me to keep pushing on even if I doubt myself. However I do believe that you don't necessarily need qualifications to succeed in life, they can only really get you so far. A vehement drive and passion can also stand you in very good stead.

WHAT’S THE BEST CAREER ADVICE YOU’VE EVER BEEN GIVEN?

"Your dream job doesn't exist, you must create it." I'm a big believer that unless you're Harper Beckham, you probably won't ever get handed things on a fully formed plate. Opportunities don't always come knocking (though if they do - great!) and so you have to create them. Everyone has the ability to create their dream job, again you just have to have that passion. Everyone is moving forward on their own path, and creating yours involves discovering what you love doing and how you can earn money from that. Saying that however, working for yourself isn't for everyone and so perhaps a dream role would be within a company. Again, you do usually have to create this yourself, firstly by getting the job, then working your way up in the company, displaying your strengths and your weaknesses and growing with a team. Using your intuition for this 'job creation' is imperative.

WHO IS YOUR ROLE MODEL AND WHY?

I don't believe in role models, as I personally believe it puts people on a pedestal that both incites pressure and the feeling of emulating that person's success. Noone is perfect and I take inspiration from other's success and their mistakes. When we grow up, we are taught to differentiate between the 'goodies' and the 'baddies' in fairy-tales. In real life, there are no goodies and baddies (with a few MAJOR exceptions). We are all three-dimensional, we all make mistakes. A good person could do one bad thing, or make many mistakes. I think the people who inspire me are those who are honest, uphold integrity, work hard, achieve success and still remain kind and humble. In business I think there's an unwritten rule that you have to be ruthless, but I think manners and kindness are totally underestimated.

WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT YOUR CURRENT WORKING ENVIRONMENT?

I love our home and I love that I get to work here everyday, following my own schedule. I love the creativity behind it and the fact I can have an idea and put it into practice. Our home and my home office is very 'Instagrammable' - which was done deliberately so that we could use it as a backdrop for photo-shoots. But it's also very cosy and a lovely environment to be in.

WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT YOUR DAILY WORK ROUTINE IF YOU COULD?

I would like to get out of the house early in the morning before I start tapping away at my emails and head off to the gym, however our closest gym is miles away and I don't have a car, so my boyfriend and I make time in the evenings instead. I find exercise very awakening, so I would like to change it to the early morning if I could. But it's not a huge problem!

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF PROFESSIONALLY IN FIVE YEARS’ TIME?

I have no idea. The blogosphere is ever changing and while that is exciting, it means you can't really plan too far ahead. As I said though, I think there are so many skills you develop in this role that it wouldn't be a huge jump to go into PR, marketing, events or journalism. I have professional training and experience in each of those careers anyway - so who knows. I'd love to continue what I'm doing though, creating content with no 'boss' editing your words, is a great feeling!

DO YOU FEEL YOU CAN BE THE SAME PERSON AT WORK AND IN PRIVATE?

Absolutely. In my role, you don't really differentiate between the two because your life, is your work. You document everything and not much is private. However, I do love having a digital detox now and then. I'm also very focused with my work though I do like to let my hair down sometimes.

WHERE AND IN WHAT ROLES ARE WOMEN IN THE LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE AT YOUR COMPANY?

I think blogging is one of the newer industries in the technology sector where women make up a large percentage of all those within it. Men are definitely coming into their own in the content creation world, but women are still paving the way for what is an ever growing and ever changing exciting industry.

DOES DIVERSITY MATTER TO YOU?

Absolutely. I think we need it to thrive and succeed. The world would be a very boring place if we were all the same. Whether that be in opinions, appearance, size, age, race, sex or ability. The thing I love most about the blogging world is that there is inclusion of everyone, there is a place for everyone and everyone has a voice. Albeit some voices are bigger than others, but there is space for absolutely everyone and you can both find people similar to you and those who are different, and who may be able to educate you on topics you knew nothing about.

HOW GOOD IS YOUR WORK LIFE BALANCE?

I'll be honest, it's not great. As I document my life as my work, the lines are somewhat blurred. However once a year my boyfriend and I will have one holiday where we leave our phones behind, don't connect to the wifi and just enjoy being us, without having to Instagram it.

WHAT QUALITIES DOES BEING IN YOUR ROLE NECESSITATE?

I think you have to be very passionate about what you do, because as much as blogging is spoken about as being highly lucrative, with freebies left right and centre and holidays to the Maldives once a month, it takes an awful lot of unglamorous hard work that most people will never see. I worked on my blog every evening for three years before being approached by a jewellery company about whether I'd like to receive a free necklace in return for a review. I thought all my Christmases had come at once because I'd always admired their jewellery and couldn't believe they wanted to work with little old me. Money wise, it was around the 3.5 year mark where I first made any money from my content. So you have to do it for the love of it first and foremost. Otherwise you can get a little bit lost and caught up in what is a very different blogosphere now. You have to love telling stories and be open to change, because the industry is ever changing.