Alexandra Emanuelli, alumna UNISG, shares her experience as a Food Writer and Editor.
Where does your passion for gastronomy come from and what brought you to enroll at the Master In Food Culture Communications and Marketing at UNISG?
In my family, like many families, cooking and sharing food is one of the most basic expressions of love. Most people have fond memories of a family meal or holiday connected to food. Then I went to Panama for my undergraduate degree to study malnutrition and understood food on a different level. This experience pushed me to learn more holistically about our food systems. Why do some folks have so much while others have so little? This curiosity has continued and serves me to this day.
Can you sum up your path after Pollenzo and what values did you carry with you that enriched you during your time as a student?
Anyone studying in Pollenzo knows it’s a magical experience and can excite the imagination. It took me a little while to shift through all the ideas and experiences to figure out how I wanted to apply the new knowledge, so I tried various jobs after graduating. I think that was useful because I got to see what I liked, what I was good at, and what I didn’t like and gained more skills. Ultimately, I worked as an editor at a health and food magazine in Toronto, Canada.
You have been working as a contributor writer for so many different magazines/platforms what are the main issues that you face and what would you suggest to someone who wants to start a similar career?
Editorial is a pretty competitive industry, but don’t be dissuaded. A piece of general advice is to have grit – everyone in this industry has received hundreds of no’s and rejected pitches. It’s often not personal or requires more effort and experience. Those who stick to it are the ones who succeed. I started by writing for really small publications and building my resume slowly.
I would suggest someone start/continue to build their portfolio. A portfolio is just a selection of articles that they have written that have been published. A portfolio is valuable when pitching new publications that don’t know your work and can be helpful when applying for an editorial job, especially if you don’t have any previous experience to demonstrate that you can write.