Special Interview with The New Professional

Woohoo, it’s Monday and time for another interview! Angeline at The New Professional has been a source of inspiration when it comes to looking good at the office. Located in Davis, CA, I’ve felt an instant bond with her (I spent the first two years of my undergraduate career there before transferring to UC Berkeley, and sorely miss it!). She’s a true sweetheart, and I’m excited to “share” her with you all!

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Angeline from The New Professional: An office cubicle has never looked this good!

MV: Tell us a bit about yourself! How old are you, where are you from, favorite band, food, and pass time?

TNP: My name is Angeline and I write the blog The New Professional.  I’m 26 and my day job is working as a communications specialist and magazine editor at a nonprofit in Sacramento, though I was born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in tiny little La Palma, California.  Even though I left Texas when I was 5, I’m still a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan, and was the reason my husband started watching football (he’s more of a basketball guy). My favorite foods change often, although I’ve always had an addiction to french fries and strawberry ice cream.  I love all music, but my favorite bands would have to be MXPX and Nickel Creek (and their side projects now that they’re on a break).  In my spare time, I like to read (mainly magazines but I love books, too), make stuff (I sew, craft, crochet, paint) and just hang out with friends doing anything (or nothing).  I overuse parentheses like no one else I’ve ever known.

MV: Hahaha! I can totally relate, only my issue is with semicolons! When did you start blogging, and why?

TNP: I started my first blog when I got to graduate school in 2005.  It was mainly a random conglomeration of my personal musings, but seeing that I was a tortured journalism-school student living by myself in a big city (3,000 miles away from my fiancé), it consisted mainly of television and pop culture commentary and self-reflection.  I soon started a second blog on my fantasy football experience and the NFL in general.  It was an outlet for me and very cathartic to be able to write every day, even though I don’t think anyone ever read it. As soon as I graduated, I got a job and plunged into planning my wedding, and blogging just stopped, since the outlet was no longer needed.

I began thinking about what would become The New Professional about a year, maybe a year and a half ago.  I am addicted to reading blogs of all kinds (I subscribe to over 220 in my google reader), and I love fashion magazines (they’re why I chose magazines as a career), but I just wasn’t finding anything in those magazines or on blogs that I could actually wear to work, which is most of my day.  It was frustrating, and since I often got compliments at work on my outfits (to which I mutter a quick thank you, blush uncontrollably, and then change the subject), I figured that I should stop whining about it and do something.  And then I let the idea sit another 8 months before I started the blog (March 2010).

MV: What can people expect to find at your blog? What do you tend to focus on?

TNP: My blog is geared toward young professionals–meaning both young in age and young in years in the workforce.  It’s sort of a mashup between an outfit blog and advice blog.  On an average week, I post 2-3 of my outfits, 2 office fashion tips/ideas posts, and 1 office etiquette/professional post; sometimes I also answer reader questions or add in other happenings as they occur (like my cubicle makeover).  While it is currently mainly fashion for women, I hope to include more mens fashion in the future.

Showing off her legs but keeping it classy!

MV: What is one tip you have for bloggers?

TNP: Be true to yourself and don’t compare yourself to others.This includes your scheduling, your content, your tone, etc.  You are unique–embrace it! (I know that sounds like two things, but it’s sort of one.)

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