Sian Meades, 29 // Editor, author and Domestic Slut
Sian Meades is Having A Moment. As founding editor of excellent lifestyle site Domestic Sluttery and Wedding Editor for The Times online, with a brilliant book deal to boot PLUS a wardrobe bulging with delectable dresses, it’s enough to make us go a rather unattractive shade of envious green…
As it is, she’s really rather lovely (I should know, as a Sometime Slut) so we invited ourselves over to Domestic Sluttery HQ for a cuppa (gin) and to pose the question: Sian Meades, how does one go about bagging YOUR job, then, eh?
WWYJ finds out…
When people ask you what you do for a living, what do you say?
Freelance writer. It’s almost always followed by ‘who do you write for?’ which almost always means ‘have you written for anyone I’ve heard of?’
What did you want to be when you were little?
An author. Since I could read books I wanted to write them. I also dabbled with acting when I was a teenager and I’m hopefully going to start doing some again soon. I’ve got an audition on Monday and I’m bloody terrified. I haven’t stood on a stage for ten years.
Tell us about life pre Domestic Sluttery?
I was working in ad sales. I actually really liked my job. I’m still fascinated by advertising and will happily dissect the ads in a magazine (that’s handy, given that there’s often more ads than content these days). I was writing for Londonist on the side, and then got a freelance job at Yahoo! and realised that yes people would pay me to write stuff I enjoyed. I quit my job when I could pay my rent with writing work.
It sounds really easy, doesn’t it? Quitting so soon was a huge mistake – I had no experience, I had no idea how to pitch an article and I fell on my ass (probably a good thing, I was massively arrogant about how easy freelancing would be, I was such a little freelance brat). I took every job I could because I was terrified of not having work, burnt myself into the ground doing 16 hour days and basically had a nervous breakdown.
Freelancing wasn’t working, but I didn’t have a job I could go back to (stubborn much?), and I didn’t have enough experience for a full-time writing gig. Then something changed. I got a couple of interesting, more stable jobs. Things picked up.
And then Domestic Sluttery happened.
Yes. When did you have the light bulb moment for DS?
When I was hungover and drinking a cuppa. I’d just lost my main job, I should have been really grouchy and I realised I wasn’t. I was in my home, which was the place I’m happiest (that’s still true). I explored that idea a bit (I still love that ‘exploring’ and ‘research’ just means playing about on the internet when you’re hungover) and realised that the the UK didn’t really have a website that covered interiors and food. I didn’t understand why as the two are so closely linked. Commercially there was a rare gap in the market, and so started Domestic Sluttery.
That was only meant to be a working title, incidentally. But after three months of typing away in secret, it stuck.
One thing we’ve learned from WWYJ is that successful people work their arses off! How do you manage to fit everything in, e.g. holding down a job to pay the bills + juggling DS + a social life?
Hah! As mentioned above, I’m probably not very good at it. I treat Domestic Sluttery like my main job – and it is. I don’t juggle Domestic Sluttery, I fit everything else around it.
After working for yourself for a few years, you start concentrating on the stuff you wanna do. You do the stuff you need to do first, the stuff you wanna do follows very closely after. If there’s still time, you go for a beer. If anything else gets pushed to the wayside, it doesn’t matter.
Prioritising makes you realise what’s really important. It’s probably not the freelance gig that bores you to tears or the boy who made you cry.
OK. The burning question: how did you bag the book deal AKA the VERY BIG DEAL?
A little bit of serendipity mixed with a bit of hard work. We already had a book pitch, we knew there was a book to be written. We’d been approached by a few agents and publishers and had meetings and nothing came of them (I still don’t have an agent). Then Anova got in touch directly after reading our book reviews of their books. The process was made a lot quicker by me being able to email back with a pitch immediately. That was a year ago. They’re amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better publisher. And their office is an old magistrate’s court and there are prison cells in it. That’s pretty cool.
What do you know now that you wish you knew in the formative years of your career?
I don’t have to try and do everything all at once. There’s time. On the flip side of that, 29 sneaks up on you really bloody quickly. Entrepreneurs are getting younger, I feel ancient when I talk to some of them.
Oh, and I wish someone had taught be how to deal with tax. They need to be teaching that stuff in school. Screw simultaneous equations, kids need to know how to run their own business and do a self assessment.
Career highlight so far?
The book. Absolutely definitely. The first book I signed was to my best friend in New Zealand. I was blasé about it until I did it. It was pretty magic. I really should post it, I’ve totally missed the Christmas deadline.
I also work with the most gorgeous team and them being proud of the site makes me happy every single day. My inbox is honestly a treat because of them.
Oh, and gin in the post. There aren’t many jobs where you get free gin in the post.
How do you spend your time when you’re not working?
Sleeping. Lovely, lovely sleeping. And dimsum. And taking photos. Bit more sleeping. Next year will hopefully involve more dancing and kissing boys.
You have a penchant for dresses. Which style is top of your wish list right now?
Quite literally everything in French Connection right now (rare I say that, I’m usually a Miss Selfridge girl, but they’re rocking the Christmassy dresses). Especially that long metallic number they’ve got for mega swishing about in.
Tell us one ‘super ingredient’ (or two) everyone should have in their kitchen cupboard at all times?
Garlic. In everything. And crisps. Squares please. Red bag.
Song that best describes your life?
Obviously I’ve now forgotten every single song I’ve ever heard of. Aces.
Love Steals us from Loneliness by Idlewild always gives me happy goosebumps. It’s a shit video, though. Don’t watch the video and think I’m loser, it’s a really good song.
What would you like to do before you die?
I tend to just get on and do stuff when I fancy it. This week that’s standing on stage potentially making a fool of myself, next week it’s probably exploring ghost towns in the UK.
That said, I’ve never had lobster with all the shell on and that gubbins. Quite hungry (always hungry, actually), so that might be fun. Yeah, ghost towns and Shakespeare and lobster. That’d be an ace day.
Domestic Sluttery: Cheat Your Way to the Perfect Lifestyle, £9 from Amazon
B&W image via the Strobist
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