A Q&A with Suyin Haynes: Head Of Editorial for gal-dem

Image Credits: Evgenia Arbugaeva, Suyin Haynes captured by Christy Ku, gal-dem

Thumbnail Design: Bethany Hutchison

Suyin Haynes is a freelance journalist and media consultant based in London. Suyin’s writing and reports set out to cover the intersections of identity, culture and underrepresented communities. This is most keenly evidenced during Hayne’s head of editorial position at gal-dem which was a new media publication founded in 2015 committed to telling the stories of people of colour from marginalised genders. Suyin’s work has been published in The Guardian, openDemocracy, ELLE and she has had the opportunity to write cover stories for TIME featuring Greta Thunberg. In addition, Haynes is also a visiting lecturer on the MA Magazine Journalism course at City, University of London (Haynes, 2024) (Unknown I, 2022)

Image Credit: Petros for ELLE, Evgenia Arbugaeva photographing Greta Thunberg for TIME

As I am interested in working in the publishing industry, I decided to explore roles which stray away from editorial design (my main interest) to see if any other roles within the industry would appeal to me. So, what does it mean to be the head of editorial? In a 2021 job advertisement by Selfridges the head of editorial position reports to the director of multimedia creative and editorial. Often these individuals will be working in large groups compromising of individuals such as editors and copywriters. In addition, the role requires strong leadership skills alongside skills in copywriting and brand positioning. The profession is essentially a leadership role with individuals tasked to ensure that individuals within the corporation are effectively managing their workflow and are continuously developing their skills (unknown II, 2021).

This role does not personally appeal to me as it appears to be heavily focused on logistics and business whereas I am more of a creatively driven individual who enjoys working to a brief as opposed to creating the brief myself! However, I do fit some elements of this criteria as since studying at university I have learnt about subjects such as brand positioning via my BA1b marketing report. Although I am not particularly interested in this side of the fashion industry having these skills are nevertheless incredibly beneficial.

A Q&A with Suyin Haynes

In order to learn more about Suyin Haynes and her position at gal-dem I decided to contact her to ask some questions. Although Haynes was only able to answer a select few of the questions posed to her I think that her first-hand insight is incredibly beneficial to me (an individual looking at where her creative learning experience can take her in the future).

One of the first questions I asked Haynes was what her day-to-day life looked like whilst working at gal-dem to which she stated that ‘as Head of Editorial at gal-dem [she] oversaw [her] team of seven editors and [their] daily digital journalism as well as [their] annual print magazine. It was an incredibly busy and fulfilling job where there was no ‘typical’ day. Among the things [she] did were lead investigative campaigns, executive produce [their] podcasts [and] collaborate with their social media and membership team’.

Although Hayne’s specialises within the business side of the industry, I still believe that the expertise which she is willing to share is invaluable. As an individual looking to go into the fashion industry it’s important to have a voice and the confidence to speak efficiently and eloquently within a group of individuals whether this be pitching ideas, asking questions or giving feedback. I believe that being passionate about the industry will open up many doors. This is something which I hope to refine at university as although I am passionate about the industry, I sometimes find it difficult to voice my opinions especially when surrounded by strong, confident characters. I hope that as my creative learning experience progresses I’ll be able to find my confidence whether this be found by working within group projects or by being confident within voicing my own ideas.

I then asked Hayne’s about the journey which has led her to work in this sphere. Hayne’s journey with gal-dem started shortly after the publication was founded in 2015 when she was at university. ‘Through volunteering with the group (everything was voluntary at the beginning), [she was able to] start [her] journalism. After graduating, [she] went on to work at TIME in both Hong Kong and London as a journalist for five years before returning to gal-dem in 2021 as Head of Editorial’. Since the magazine’s closure in 2018 Hayne’s has been full time freelance where she ‘report[s] and write[s] stories at the intersections of identity, culture and underrepresented communities’ In addition to working as a visiting lecturer and as a media consultant for ‘values-driven organisations and charities’. Hayne’s states that she is ‘very proud of her career over the last nine years’ and believes that ‘none of it would’ve happened without that first step into this world through the door that gal-dem opened for [her]’.

The start of Hayne’s career echo’s the start of my creative learning experience at university with both myself and her volunteering for publications with myself as an editorial member of NUA’s student led publication Storehouse. I hope that the experience which I gain from Storehouse will allow me to learn the intricacies of the industry which I hope to progress into whilst simultaneously building a portfolio of editorial work which I can show future employers.  

Pages from gal-dem- INTRANETGIRL The UTOPIA/ DYSTOPIA Issue

Image Credit: Bethany Hutchison

As someone looking to work within the publications industry one of the most pressing questions, I had for Suyin Haynes was to ask if she felt print was dead. To which she responded that ‘print is not dead, but it needs new innovators and new ideas. My advice to people looking to break into the industry is to seriously think about who you are and the stories you want to tell. A mentor once told me that they wrote down three things a day, whether that’s news stories, Instagram posts, pieces of pop culture, or anything else, that caught their interest. Over time, they started to notice that the things they were drawn to had commonalities (similarities), and that was a great way of generating stories.’ Haynes continued to state that she still ‘use[s] this technique now whenever [she] feels a bit lost. Being a journalist, you need patience and perseverance. Rejection is part and parcel of the job, and you do get used to it after a while. That’s why it is so important to build up that conviction in yourself- you have to believe that the stories you are telling matter, because they do.’

Although, through the process of writing this blog post, I have decided that a head of editorial role is not suited for myself there are still many takeaways from this blog post which I can utilise to shape my own creative learning experience. As Hayne’s mentioned in the previous question it is incredibly important to be sure within your own identity and the matters which are important to you. This is something which I hope to continue to explore and develop whilst I’m at university as I acknowledge that when you feel passionate about a subject work feels more purposeful and therefore tends to be more successful. In addition, I also hope to take advice of Hayne’s mentor and use the facilities available by the university (such as the library and sites offered by the university such as WGSN) in order to expand my knowledge on current events. By being knowledgeable on current events, I can ensure that my works remains innovative and relevant and will subsequently appeal to a larger audience of individuals.   

Overall, I really appreciate the time Hayne’s took out of her busy schedule to respond to some of my questions. Although this research fortifies my disinterest in the business and operations side of the fashion/publication industry I still believe that I have been provided with a great breadth and depth of knowledge which I can implement in order to enhance my university experience.

Bibliography

Unknown I (2022) ‘About us- what is gal-dem?’ Available at: https://gal-dem.com/about/ (Accessed 21.02.24)

Unknown II (2021) ‘Selfridges & Co. Head of Editorial’. Available at: https://jobsearch.selfridges.com/jobs/job/Head-of-Editorial/2266 (Accessed 21.02.24)

Haynes, Suyin (2024) ‘Suyin Haynes- About me’. Available at: https://www.suyinhaynes.com/about (accessed 21.02.24)