Careers in Writing Panel

Check out this transcript of the Vick's Center's latest panel discussion. Have more questions about a career in writing? Schedule an appointment with a career counselor.

Panelist Backgrounds

Wes Ferguson, Journalist and Author

Journalist Wes Ferguson is the author of two nonfiction books. He writes the bimonthly “Rambler” column for Texas Monthly and is a contributing editor for Texas Highways magazine, in addition to working on his third book. A former newspaper reporter and editor, Ferguson graduated with a journalism degree from The University of Texas at Austin, where he was managing editor of The Daily Texan.

Susannah Frishman-Phillips, Marketing Writer and Editor

Susannah Frishman-Phillips is Associate Coordinator of Quality Standards Communications at Whole Foods Market global headquarters. Susannah received a B.A. in English from The University of Texas at Austin. She was hired as an editorial assistant at The University of Texas Press, and then into the journals division where she managed several scholarly journals. She now sits on the industry-renowned team that creates standards for product ingredients and sourcing, where she works closely with marketing and PR on consumer communications.

Gene Menez, Editor and Reporter

Gene Menez has been the editor of Austin HOME since March 2013. Prior to joining the magazine, he spent almost 14 years as a reporter and editor at Sports Illustrated, where he served as college football editor and oversaw multiple award-winning standalone issues. He also has written for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, ESPN.com, NBCOlympics.com and Sports on Earth and did research for the 2006 film Glory Road. Menez is a graduate of the University of Texas’ School of Journalism.

Rachel Starnes, Author

Rachel Starnes is the author of The War at Home: A Wife’s Search for Peace (and Other Missions Impossible), Penguin Books 2016. She received her MFA in Creative Nonfiction from CSU Fresno and her BA in English from UT Austin. Her essays have appeared in The Colorado Review, Front Porch Journal, and O Magazine, and she was a guest on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross. A native Texan born in Austin, she has lived in Scotland, Saudi Arabia, Florida, California, and Nevada and is no stranger to odd jobs and moving.

Thao Swimelar, Technical Writer

Technical writer. Documentarian. Professional wordsmith. Thao Doan has spent the past 10 years at places like Voxpath, BreakingPoint Systems, and Informatica navigating their engineering ecosystems to advocate for customers through documentation. Today, she is leading the UX writing team at Rapid7, focusing on customer success through self-help and collaborative documentation.

How did your education help prepare you for your career?

GM– My background is in journalism; I went to class in the morning, and applied what I was learning at the Daily Texan in the afternoon. Keep in mind that journalists don’t need to be journalism majors. Many journalists I know are liberal arts majors! My experience was just one path you could take towards a writing career.

SFS- I didn’t decide to be an English major- I just had to choose something to graduate! But I loved to learn and puzzle things out. Having a liberal arts degree exposes you to so many subjects, giving you a broad base to work from. As a writer, you learn what kind of questions to ask. The liberal arts learning environment best helped prepare me for my current career.

WF-I’m from a working-class community and grew up working in the oil fields. I've always loved books and listening to my uncles tell stories around the campfire. Early on, pursuing a career in writing felt unattainable, irresponsible even. But I stumbled into a scholarship to write for my junior college’s newspaper, and within a few weeks I realized it was what I wanted to do for a career. When I transferred to UT, I worked at the Daily Texan. Many of my co-workers weren’t journalism majors - my best friend and co-worker was actually a philosophy and Plan II major!

RS-Liberal arts made me feel like just a number, but that was a good thing. I was surrounded by a whirling mass of opportunities, and I felt invisible. But that was really freeing! I kept threatening to change majors, but I doubled down and stayed. My experiences after college, pinging around to a lot of places helped me learn how to fail, but it also gave me the writing material I needed to succeed.

TS-In my family of doctors and engineers, I was always the dreamer, tending to rely upon my feelings. When I got to UT, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. There was a moment in my sophomore year where my professor cancelled class for the day. I showed up for class, and no one was there and I actually cried! I realized how passionate I was for the subject after that.

How did you get from college to career?

WF-After I graduated from UT, I went back to my East Texas to write for my hometown newspaper as part of the agreement of my college scholarship. I worked as a crime reporter, and then quit in the winters to work as a ski instructor in Vail. After ski season was over, I'd go back to the paper in the summer, and they would plug me into different positions each time.  

A long time goal of mine was to write for Texas Monthly. I constantly pitched ideas to them and got zero responses. Then I did a newspaper series for my hometown paper and it packaged it as a book. I pitched it to UT Press, and got rejected; I tried again with A&M Press and it worked out. The striving I did paid off, indirectly. I went broke in the process, but my book came out and this time Texas Monthly came to me!

RS-I was working at Book People after college but it didn’t pay the bills, so I began working at UT as a staff member. I enjoyed the benefits I received, such as the ability to take classes for free. I enrolled in a Rhetoric and Writing class for free, and I really dug into the work. I loved the workshop environment and learned how to become a good editor in the process. Remember: there’s a huge value in failure. There are events in your life that may feel too big NOT to write about. I’m grateful for those moments; they were quite useful in hindsight.

GM- English was my worst class in college, even though I was good at it. I got into sports writing because I liked sports more so than writing. I had a few editors over the years that took me under their wing when I was in my early twenties. They really shaped my writing. My writing is still evolving. It’s so important to find a mentor.

TS- When I was in the sixth grade, I wrote a story about my family and shared it with my teacher. I felt a high, telling someone else’s story. But I didn’t start my career as a writer. I started as an editor, which wasn’t very glamorous. I wanted to work in tech, where I started out in a support role. I learned that I like helping people, which helped me realize I could help others with my writing. I strive to help people use our products the best way possible.

What advice to do you have for someone interested in writing?

RS- Don’t go to graduate school right away, especially for something like a MFA. Wait until your late twenties or early thirties. Grad school is expensive, and your twenties are a great time to try stuff out, explore, fail, and find things you can write about later.

SFP- Be curious. Learn all kinds of things. I listen to music or go to an art museum to inspire my writing. Find something you enjoy doing so when you’re writing. If you believe in what you're writing, it’ll take you farther. Lastly, play with words. Play scrabble, take a poetry class, learn the power of a single word or phrase. Read everything.

GM- Take in as much as you can. Reading helps shape you and you writing. Your writing will evolve. Understand that it will improve. Find a mentor, someone who will read your writing, and give feedback. Really listen to it and try to improve what you do. There are so many different kinds of writing. Try them all out! Maybe you'll like writing profiles or short funny comedic pieces. Maybe you’re a good travel writer. Maybe you’re more of a newshound. Try different things and see where your strengths lie.

TS- You can take a writing career anywhere and do anything with it. As you are pursuing careers in writing, be open to unconventional roles. Be open-minded and know that you can do anything.

WF- What I’ve learned over the years is that your connections are just as important as your talent. It took me so long to get where I am because I didn’t know anyone in my field. You’ve got to make those connections through those (sometimes unpaid) internships. If you want to go into magazine journalism, having those connections will open doors.