“Having a background in marketing, video production, and editorial has helped me become a one-woman show,” College Fashionista alum Christina Dun told me. Today, Christina produces, shoots, and edits videos for Refinery29’s Facebook pages. But her career path up to this point has been a mixture of editorial, marketing, and video production—three fields that don’t seem all that related on the surface. However, to her, that mixture of experience is exactly how she’s able to do what she’s doing today, and further proof that what you study and where you work don’t have to determine the rest of your career. To find out more about how Christina made the leap from editorial to video, we sat down with her to chat about what she studied in college, the skills she learned in her internships, and any struggles she faced in changing from field to field along the way. Here’s her “untraditional” path.
On why she chose to study journalism: “I’ve always been interested in writing and storytelling. I wrote for a newspaper throughout high school and really caught the journalism bug. I chose to go to Ryerson to pursue it as a career mainly because of its location—being in the heart of Toronto gave it the edge over other schools for me because I was most interested in entertainment and lifestyle reporting. It was a perfect fit. I gained a ton of experience in Toronto, which helped when I was applying to NYU for grad school. It was a dream come true to make the move to New York, and I’m so glad that I came here with a strong journalism background.”
On the career path she wanted to take while in college: “I always wanted to go into broadcast journalism. I pictured myself as a correspondent for E! or Entertainment Tonight and thought I’d end up somewhere in that field. Throughout college, though, I really became immersed in digital media and video production (and food!), which eventually led to where I am today.”
On her first internship: “My first internship in NYC was with Racked, and I loved it. I had lots of opportunities to write and cover events throughout the city, which opened my eyes to just how exciting it was to be in the media world. My biggest takeaway from Racked was to be up for anything. My assignments changed daily, and I was always enthusiastic about taking on any task.”
On why she chose to intern in fields outside of editorial: “I really wanted to learn different types of skills and be more well-rounded, so I always looked for a variety of internships. I think they all really helped vamp up my résumé because I had a lot more experience. Having a background in marketing, video production, and editorial has helped me become a one-woman show, which helps so much with my job today.”
On the experience that impacted her the most: “My favorite internship was with Refinery29, which plays a major part into why I’m still with the company. I started interning with the editorial entertainment team, and I learned a lot! It was my first intro into the company, and I worked with amazing people. I found the voice of R29 to be inspirational, unique, and empowering. It definitely influenced my career because I was surrounded by so many creative people who pushed me to think outside the box.”
On making the leap from editorial to her current role: “[Now], I produce, shoot, and edit videos that are posted on [Refinery29’s] Facebook pages. My current position is so different from when I was an editorial intern. It’s hard to compare the two, but it’s interesting seeing all different aspects of the company. I was able to learn the voice of the company early on and take that into my role in video. As an intern, I was mainly writing about entertainment and pop culture, and now as a video content creator, I’m a lot more hands-on in the lifestyle and food world.”
On her favorite part about her job now: “I love creating video content for Refinery29. I get a lot of encouragement to experiment with new formats and try different things, which allows me to be super creative. I do a lot in the food and lifestyle space, which I love, and I get to run around the city trying out the latest food trends and newest restaurants!”
On her advice to college students who aren’t sure about the path they want to take: “Get involved! And be open to trying new things. Also, I think everything happens for a reason, so if you’re not where you want to be, something out there is just waiting for you, and it’ll come when the time is right.”
Interested in reading about more “untraditional” career paths? Check out our last installment of My Untraditional Path here.
