Rising from switchboard operator at CLEO to Editor of DOLLY Magazine, Tiffany Dunk is the perfect example of working up through the ranks to a dream job. Ambitious and passionate about DOLLY’s vision, Tiffany is an advocate of enthusiasm and hard work.
An inspiration to the team at RESCU, we asked Tiffany about how she made her break, her favourite career moments and the DOLLY Model Search.
RESCU: You have many people’s dream job! How did you get your start in the magazine industry?
Tiffany Dunk: It’s my dream job too – if you’d told my 16-year-old self this is what I’d be doing I would have laughed in your face. My start was totally a case of right place, right time. I’d just dropped out of uni (which I definitely don’t recommend to our readers!) when a friend told me they were looking for someone for the front desk at CLEO. I applied and – after impressing then-editor Lisa Wilkinson with my amazing abilities on the switchboard – landed the job. I’ve never looked back.
RESCU: Did you have an ‘aha’ moment that cemented this was really what you wanted to do?
Tiffany Dunk: A few months into my job I was a little bored with just doing admin work and put my hand up to help anyone and everyone in the office. I’d always loved to write at school, so I especially loved helping the writers with their research. Once I was given my first little break out box to write up and saw my name in print I was totally hooked and started actively looking for ways to improve my skills and get my foot into the door of the features department.
RESCU: What’s been your biggest career highlight to date?
Tiffany Dunk: I’m blessed to have had many, but last year brought quite a few that I’m particularly proud of. First up, DOLLY was the winner of the very first Positive Body Image Awards, which were given out by the Australian Government. My team have worked very hard on promoting positive body image in the magazine and our extensions so we’re all delighted that our efforts have been recognised by experts in this field. And having DOLLY crack the top 20 highest selling magazines in the country this month is also a massive accomplishment for us. On a personal note, getting an email from my first mag boss Lisa (herself a former DOLLY editor) congratulating me on landing this job back in 2010 was a total “mind blown” moment.
RESCU: Do you have any advice for future editors?
Tiffany Dunk: Working across all areas of magazines from the ground up has given me a bunch of different skills that have definitely helped my career – put your hand up for everything because you never know when the experience will come in handy. But the best piece of advice I’ve been given is to always ask yourself, “What could I do better?”. I might drive people mad with last minute changes, but by relooking at every layout and asking myself this question I feel like the magazine ends up being awesome every month as opposed to “good enough”.
RESCU: The Dolly Model Search is known for picking some of Australia’s biggest names. Can you tell us a little about some of what goes in to organising the competition and give us some insight into why you think it is so successful?
Tiffany Dunk: When we decided to bring the Search back last year after a 10 year hiatus, we really had to think long and hard about how it would fit in with the ethos of DOLLY today. Our mission is to empower young girls and promote body confidence, so we made certain this was reflected in every aspect of the competition. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the thing that makes our finalists and winners truly beautiful is what’s on the inside. We don’t ask the girls about their weight, clothing size or other physical attributes – we ask them about their interests, their dreams for the future and their confidence tips. We prepare a list of positive body image tips for each entrant to practise prior to the event and we run a body image workshop for our finalists before their very first photo shoot with us. The winner of the competition goes on to be the DOLLY Ambassador for the next 12 months, so she needs to be a relatable role model for our readers – we’re very lucky that we have Miranda Kerr as an example of a former winner who has a healthy and well-balanced approach to life as well as a desire to help teens achieve self-love and respect. I think this point of difference from other modelling competitions is what has made the event such a success.
RESCU: Thanks to reality TV, competitions have become a viable career step in many respects. In your experience watching Dolly Model Search hopefuls, do you think the competition process is valuable even if you don’t make it through to the finals? If so, why?
Tiffany Dunk: Our overall aim for the DOLLY Model Search is to make sure that every person who comes along on the day – regardless of whether they go through to the final stages or even if they decide just to come along and watch – has a great time and leaves feeling good about themselves. What a lot of girls told me at last years’ roadshows was that they found the experience a really positive one which gave them a confidence boost. The judges have a good chat with each and every girl (and the occasional guy!) who comes up to see us and it was such a pleasure to get to hear their stories. In fact, quite a few ended up appearing in DOLLY so they could share their stories with our readers as well!
