“I’m your standard-issue Midwesterner who moved to LA via New York and Paris. I’ve been a writer for mags as wildly divergent as
Paper to British Vogue to the Journal of
Aesthetics and Protest. My personal style always veers vintage-ward, not just in clothing but also in my house, my perfume collection and my music.”
Taken from Pike’s profile on thisnext.com
Similar to a pair of Dolce &
Gabbana pumps Pike wore during the University of Cincinnati’s
Women in Journalism week

• Born in Cincinnati in
1962
• Nine siblings
• Attended the
University of
Cincinnati
• Has been in the journalism field for
25 years
Favorite
Attribute:
Her “naturally” red hair

“I didn't think about [my career] until I was about 18. When I was growing up there wasn't the culture of career discussion and career training for young people like today. I grew up thinking it was a very slim possibility -- that people who had careers were on the other side of a large wall. My mother worked as a cashier, a cleaning lady, a waitress, so her focus was feeding and clothing all her kids -- not helping them decide what career to go into.”

• UC’s The News Record and Clifton Magazine
• LA.com
• LA Times
• Glue
• The Paris Blog
• The Chic Leak
• Clothes Horse
• British Vogue
• MTV’s “House of
Style”
• Paper magazine
• BBC
• KKTV Los Angeles
• Los Angeles Times
• The Journal of
Aesthetics and Protest
• Newsweek
• Los Angeles Magazine

• Each year, Los Angeles
Magazine puts out its “Best of
LA” issue, which is headed up by
Pike
• This special issue contains sections such as hottest new restaurants and shopping destinations, to-die-for fashion and accessories trends and home improvement suggestions

• Paris, France is known as the fashion Mecca of the world
• While a student at the
University of Cincinnati,
Pike traveled to Paris to study abroad… and she was hooked
• She is credited with founding The Paris Blog

•The cost of glue is $2? $3, perhaps?
…Try $100,000
•Pike’s most expensive project to date was her own magazine, Glue, which lasted three years and cost her
$100,000 in damage
$100,000.00

• Haute Couture in Paris
• Christian Laucroix and Chanel shows
• Tom Ford (used to design Gucci)
• Morrissey (first interview in five years) in Hollywood
• Being able to travel for stories
• Manufacturers in the fashion industry

Pike has had great success in the field of journalism, but it wasn’t without a little sacrifice…
 Less traveling/fewer vacation days
 Lower salary
 Must follow work schedule
“Because I wanted to edit at a magazine, I had to agree to full-time work. I would prefer to be freelance and make my own schedule, but you can't do that if you're a senior-level editor at a city magazine. So I had to give up being able to travel whenever I wanted and take days off whenever I felt like it. Another sacrifice was leaving the high salary of TV work for a much lower one in print and web magazines. In the long run I know it was the right decision. I was unhappy with the superficiality of TV programs. Also, my high salary was based on the fact that I was on-air. I knew that as I got older, I risked being taken off the air. At a magazine, on the other hand, you see old ladies running the show all the time!”

A hometown girl at heart, Pike adores her
Graeter’s Black Cherry ice cream!
“I love so many things about
Cincinnati. I love the order and cleanliness and friendliness that is due, I think, to the German heritage. I love the cultural richness that results from the confluence of the African-American, Jewish,
Italian, Greek, Irish and German communities. I love the accents on the West side! I love the lack of pretension and the lack of a sense of entitlement that I see so often in larger cities.”

Pike’s Thoughts on…
“It’s such a double life here. I speak a different language. I smoke, which I never do at home, I eat different foods.
Here my friends are philosophy professors, writers. You kind of have a different identity.”

Pike’s Thoughts on…
“Through blogging I have met a great bunch of people, from artists to academics to fulltime moms. My discovery of blogging was the first time I realized you could turn a hobby or passion into an expertise. It’s an addictive nature that new media has inspired.
I don’t think we’re at the end of good journalism; I think we’re in a very exciting phase.”

• Susan Orlean – amazing storyteller and feature writer
• Anne Garrels – for NPR on Iraq
• Eleanor Beardsley – Paris reporter for NPR, cultural and political writer
• Lynell George – Los Angeles Times “I like writers who, whether they have a beat or not, can really tell a story in a beautiful way; especially on a day when there’s not a lot of time, the women who can go get the story, write it, and there’s still an incredible art to it. I admire that.”

Chic Leak blog: http://www.lamag.com/shop
Theparisblog.com