Real Talk 2nd October 2018 by Cara Croke

‘Together STELLAR And I Grew Up, And Now We’re Closer Than Ever!’

As it's been 10 years since STELLAR first hit shelves, we're proud of how relevant it is to us ladies a decade later.

 

At 22, I’m currently the youngest and newest staff member employed in STELLAR HQ. However, I have a long history with the mag, as I’m sure most of you do, too.

I was 12 when the first issue of STELLAR launched, meaning I was far too young to get in on the mature goss that lay within Ireland’s newest glossy mag. However, luckily for me, KISS was still around – a mag most of you will remember and one we still refer to here as STELLAR’s younger sister.

Reading KISS introduced me to the world of magazines we didn’t often get a good look at back in the 2000s. There were no other Irish magazines aimed at young teenage girls back then, and it sparked an interest in writing that I carried with me my whole life. Who knew back then that I would end up where I am now, eh? One of my most vivid memories of the KISS days is winning a competition in the mag all the way back in 2009, when I was just 13. I was on holiday with my family when a friend text me to say I’d won a shite load of Twilight merch in KISS mag. It was, in fact, the best day of my life.

Fast forward four years or so and I’m 16 and reading my first ever issue of STELLAR (still probably too young for it’s sexiness, but we won’t tell). The maturity of the magazine excited me, I was unofficially old enough to stop reading teen mags and get into the good stuff. And so, together STELLAR and I grew up, and now we’re closer than ever!

While studying journalism in college, I knew magazine publishing was the area I wanted to work in.

Being able to write and chat about things that affect me and most other women my age sounded like the dream job, as did combining my love of fashion and beauty with my every day work. In the current job market, I thought I’d have to do lots of crappy internships in places I hated before I got to somewhere I really loved. STELLAR was the ultimate career goal, and amazingly I made it here a lot quicker than expected.

As it’s been 10 years since STELLAR first hit shelves, we’re proud of how relevant it is to us ladies a decade later. Unfortunately, the issues we faced as women ten years ago are still very much around today: we still have boy troubles, our skin is still problematic, and we’re still fighting for our equal rights as women. These days, however, our mag is all about making gals feel good about themselves, embracing all things Irish (heya to our Irish cover gals) and living our best lives. What could be more relevant than that?

Thankfully, STELLAR has only grown with the digital age. We have our fab website, if I do say so myself, where myself and our Online Editor Valerie are able to update you with the goings on daily, so you can have a little bit of STELLAR while you wait for the next months issue to roll around.

As for the Insta age, where would we be without our beloved gram? It’s how we give you lot a behind the scenes look at what exciting new gal we’re shooting this month, what we’re up to on the daily, and most importantly, it’s where we keep in touch with the main thing that keeps us ticking over – our readers (that’s you).

So as our birthday rolls around, we’re looking back on the last 10 years with big heart-eye emoji’s at all we’ve achieved so far. What’s left to come? Sure we’re only young yet.

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