One simple email steered alumna Felicity Warner on a path from campus writer to national editor

By Savannah Tindall

In the fall of 2014, first-year Florida State University student Felicity Warner received an email from the Department of English about joining the online publication Her Campus FSU. She became a staff writer that year, and her involvement increased each semester, eventually landing her the coveted, top position of editor-in-chief by her senior year.

“This position taught me a lot about leadership and management that prepared me for a full-time career,” says Warner, who earned two majors at FSU, one in English (with a concentration in editing, writing, media) and second in media/communication.

Her Campus, “dedicated to, written by, and focused on empowering, college women,” according to its national website, has chapters spread across college campuses around the U.S. and around the globe. After graduating from FSU in the spring of 2018, Warner read a job posting for an assistant editor position at the national headquarters for Her Campus in Boston.

“I saw an opening and just went for it,” Warner says, recalling with excitement, how she felt when she discovered the position. “Her Campus was a huge part of my college career, and it made me feel more comfortable stepping into a company I already had experience in. From the beginning, I already knew the company’s values, goals, mission, and overall voice, giving me a leg up in already understanding how the company functions.”

In August of 2019, Her Campus promoted Warner to associate feature editor. Though the company is the same, working for the national branch compared to a collegiate chapter is an entirely different experience.

As a member of Her Campus FSU or other university chapters, the focus is on improving the specific chapter’s content, attracting more readers, and developing relationships with your collegiate readers. Working on the national level requires concentration on the bigger picture—Warner’s current position with the publication focuses on promoting the publication’s brand and creating partnerships.

“I work on a larger magazine scale, working with clients and partners and managing writers from all over the world,” Warner says. “The biggest challenge of my current role is having to juggle a lot of different moving parts in project management—this includes contacting experts, assigning articles with writers, editing them, coordinating social promotion, working with the design team in creating graphic designs, etc. My favorite part is just that—being able to work on all these moving parts and collaborating with other teams while doing so.”

She says another aspect of the job she enjoys is her work on projects such as the publication’s Mental Health hub and Sustainable Style hub. This experience has allowed her to connect with experts in those fields and this connection has made her a loud advocate for these movements.

Warner likely never expected the profound effect that general interest email about Her Campus from the Department of English would have on her professional life. There is no doubt, however, that Her Campus will keep having a positive influence on her life.

“Her Campus has definitely made me value (even more than I did before) women’s spaces,” Warner says. “I feel like a lot of amazing things have come out of this company and for my own empowerment and mentorship gain from having incredibly strong and passionate women by your side.”

Savannah Tindall is a junior double majoring in English, with a concentration in editing, writing, and media, and public relations.

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