In Conversation with Lindsay Denninger
Tell us about your background:
I graduated in the dark times (well, before now) of 2008-2009, and I couldn’t get a job. So I went to grad school, was dissuaded by my professors from becoming a professor because money and time, and became an SEO copywriter at a hospitality marketing company instead. I stayed there for a few years before landing at then-start up for luxury home goods One Kings Lane, where I wrote product copy and eventually got my own editorial stories.
After some time at OKL, I thought I wanted to move agency side, so I did! And I hated it. My clients were Goldman Sachs, BMW, and HomeGoods, to name a few, but I just wasn’t a fit for this agency in particular, so I left after not even a year. It was a really humbling and kind of harrowing experience, but it was important to learn what I did not want out of a job as much as what I did want.
I went freelance on my own after that, working again with One Kings Lane and brands like Solo Rugs and The Kitchn. In the midst of all of this, I teamed up with my then-roommate to write about TV shows like Pretty Little Liars for Zimbio.com, and this led to me pitching and getting my own TV beat at Bustle, where I wrote about shows like The Bachelor, Real Housewives, This Is Us, and Vanderpump Rules. I also did a bunch of celebrity interviews, and it was a nice counterpoint to regular old copywriting. I also beat more than 300 people to become Time Out New York's next food and drink critic in 2016.
The hunting and gathering of personal consulting was tiring for me, and I opted to go back into a brand and landed a role as the head of copy at UNIQLO, where I was responsible for all messaging for the brand: emails, social, push notifications, product copy, website copy, signage... I’m tired just reading this and thinking of it again. I also started their award-winning blog, which I concepted and executed all copy for, 5 posts a week.
After UNIQLO, I found myself as the Editorial Director at Ann Taylor, ensuring key messaging for the brand and overseeing all copy operations for my tiny team. (Again, tired thinking about it.) I was laid off from Ann Taylor in July 2020 due to the great COVID-19 and a bankruptcy. My days of brand copywriting are currently on hiatus, but I still find pleasure in the occasional rant about TV, because I have been watching an awful lot of TV this year. When I’m not looking for new roles or chatting on the co-lab, I’m hanging with my husband, cooking. or eating. Probably mostly eating.
What do you wish you’d known when you started out?
That everything really does have a way of shaking itself out, even if it feels painful or hard to get through in the moment. And also to take some free time for myself — there were times when I was doing 40+ hours a week at a day job and 20 hours a week freelancing, and phew, that was a lot. I thought it made me a hustler, but now I know it made me a little out of my gourd.
Best career advice you've ever received?
Don’t take criticism from someone you wouldn’t take advice from. Also, if you don’t ask, you don’t get — help, clarification, a raise...
What leadership qualities are important to you?
Empathy, understanding, and a willingness to let the light shine on others.
What has been the biggest challenge in your career so far?
Knowing when to hold them, and knowing when to fold them — the inflection point of a job where you’re not happy/not fulfilled anymore but you’re afraid to move onto something new, that’s always been scary for me. But more times than not, I’ve found that when I’m really terrified of doing something, it’s usually a place for extreme growth and success.
And for fun, what is your favorite wardrobe staple?
I have a leather jacket that *might* be the first thing I’d grab if the apartment was on fire. I also have 80000 pairs of cropped, wide leg pants that I wear every day and my husband hates. (And all my friends love.)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsaydenninger
Website: http://www.lindsaydenninger.com
Twitter: @lindsayraedenn
