Get The Gloss Editor-in-Chief : A Day In The Life

Susannah Taylor is Editor-in-Chief of Get The Gloss, the online destination for expert health and beauty. The Get The Gloss team works with leading makeup artists, hair stylists, nutritionists, personal trainers, trichologists and wellness practitioners to bring their readers news and trends in beauty and wellness.

Susannah says:

The first thing I do every morning is go and make an earl grey tea with milk for my husband and I. I also spend a few minutes saying good morning to Maisie our dog, who rolls over and has her tummy rubbed. Three days a week I head into London on the train from Bicester North, so I can work on the train (like I am now!). There are easier places to live to commute into London but we love where we are as it is proper rural countryside. I get up at about 6.30 and get into work at about 9.30, apart from Wednesdays when I am in the gym at Claridges at 8am having a hard-core training session with my trainer Steve Mellor of Freedom2train.

I have always been into fashion and beauty. When I was 12 the walls of my bedroom were covered with pictures of the supermodels in Vogue and I told my mother that I would like to work there when I was older. I am a very creative and visual person so have always painted, styled photo shoots and photographed compositions. However, I wasn’t bad academically at school so I decided I should marry the two. It was a natural progression for me to want to work in journalism, especially within magazines. The most useful advice I’ve ever received is to do what you love. There is no point in following a career path you hate – it will end in utter misery. We only get one shot at this life and you spend so much time at work that you might as well love it. I love being at the forefront of trends as they happen and knowing that our site is helpful and empowering to women in every way. Also the people I meet – as I get older I realise it’s meeting the amazing people in this world that bring me the most pleasure. My least favourite part of the job is the admin- particularly doing my expenses and dealing with invoices etc. My brain freezes over at the site of a spread sheet.

Before launching Get The Gloss, I was the Beauty and Health editor at Vogue and prior to that I was the Beauty Editor of Glamour. In between I was also a freelance consultant and did a lot of styling shoots for big beauty brands. It’s quite difficult to get into this industry, but I always think where there’s a will there’s a way! The best thing to do is to be an intern for a bit to gain any type of work experience. I would also say always go above and beyond at the beginning so you really impress your bosses! I don’t really have role models as such – I think you’ve got to aim for your own personal best and not worry about anyone else. The people I admire the most are often friends who have been through a lot, juggle a lot or achieve great success in the face of adversity.

At lunchtime I try and grab something healthy – normally a salad of some sort. If I’m in London and I’ve had my head down all morning I’ll try and get out for a walk, but this doesn’t always happen. At home I sometimes go for a run at lunchtime which always makes my day! There is a 5km route across to the fields to the next village and back that involves a big hill so it’s great training. My favourite snack is Clearspring tamari roasted cashews – they are beyond tasty! I also pick up nuts and blueberries when I get the train at Marylebone and need a snack on the way home.

My evenings are varied- Get The Gloss is a daily website so it never switches off and neither do I! Often when I leave work at 5.30 I’ll work all the way home on my laptop and phone and pick things up on weekends. This isn’t to say I don’t pack in me-time. I spend a lot of time at the amazing Soho FarmHouse which is 10 minutes away from where I live. It’s heaven – I go there for drinks, dinner, to work and to the gym. It’s a home from home, but my bank account is suffering from it! I probably work out about 4-5 times a week. I love exercising and try and fit it in any day that I can- it’s changed my life and makes me feel amazing. I do a lot of weights and cardio with Steve (he’s the man who got me hooked on exercise to begin with). I can’t thank him enough for helping me realise exercise doesn’t have to be boring or a chore. The key for me is to have a regime at home too- I think you have to work out 4 times a week to see real change.

I have such little time in my week I tend to cook anything that is quick and easy, but always healthy. I live on salads, stir fries and easy pieces of meat with loads of vegetables, herbs and spices. I try not to eat too many processed carbs, but understand the important of carbohydrate in a diet. I don’t think healthy cooking should be laborious or hard.

My top 3 online sources of inspiration are:
– @getthegloss (of course)
– @ameliafreer who is my friend and healthy food expert
– @Amandabisk who is a former Australian Pole vaulter and has the body to show for it