Behind the scenes: Shermaine Heng tells her struggles and fun to be in a ‘glammed-up’ fashion world
At the age of 23, Shermaine Heng has completed six internships in the area of fashion, marketing and public relations (PR) within two years. As a fresh undergraduate, she now furthers to climb on her career ladder within the fashion industry.
Shermaine works as the Senior Account Executive of a high-end Australian publication, ‘Poster Magazine’, established in Australia and Pan-Asia. The magazine pioneers to inspire people with high disposable income through exposure of the latest in luxurious fashion, design, automobiles, travel and global affairs. The job requires her to write proposals and present them to clients, which encourages collaborations with Poster Magazine through involvement in editorials, advertisements and photo shoots.
After her graduation at the end of 2010, Shermaine decided to pursue her dreams. She stepped out of her comfort zone, left her family and friends in Perth and explored the glamorous city life in Sydney by herself.
‘Fashion and design is something I’ve always wanted to do, since I was a kid,’ Shermaine says. This has brought her to a sophisticated and networked hub of professionals, artists, models as well as well-known businessmen.
When asked if her boss resembles with the demanding boss of a fashion magazine as portrayed in the movie ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, she smiles, ‘well, most of the people I’ve met are nice. But I do get extraordinary requests and asked to do things that I’ve never heard of before. ’ She often finds herself getting thrown in the deep-end, leaving her rather clueless but figures it really is the best way to learn. Google often helps, along with shout-outs over the paintings of seascapes used as a barrier between herself and her fellow workmates.
She then continued with interesting stories of her internships: ‘It was an ‘eat pork’ campaign. The producers wanted to place wings on cooked pigs under a cloche so I had to hunt around a shopping centre to buy all the available wings…from crafty, glittery wings to big, dress-up angel wings.’
There was another time when she spent six hours arranging shoes, from high heels to Converse sneakers, in a perfectly colored coordination on the shelves. She also organized the coat hangers in the showrooms and ensured that they were ‘perfectly and evenly spaced with exactly one centimeter apart’.
There have been other unusual encounters along the way. When working for a fashion festival, she had to frantically search for appropriate background videos and music for a runway show, just a few minutes before it began. She also had to ask her father, CEO of Refresh Pure Water, to drive the company van and personally deliver boxes of bottled water to a fashion bar at midnight as there were no other suppliers.
When it comes to the most unforgettable experience is, she recalls ‘running around the entire city to look for a Diet Coke in a glass bottle because her boss absolutely refused to drink Coke from a can.’
‘Of course I don’t like all of the work that I have been required to do. But because of my passion, I don’t feel like I’m wasting my time at all. For most of the time, I enjoy what I’m doing!’
The job only provides her with a basic monthly salary and her longest extended working hours were from 9am to 1am, without extra pay. However, Shermaine does not see this as a disadvantage, ‘It’s like that In this industry. People don’t get paid very well in the first few years. Money shouldn’t be a priority if you want to be part of the fashion industry. It’s all about connections, networking and the experiences that you gain.’
Regardless of all the long hours and low starting pay, Shermaine gets to travel around the world and is invited to numerous A-list events and parties, such as the Vivid Sydney launch party, concert after-parties, product launches, as well as art gallery exhibitions and openings.
She remembers one of the best moments as ‘getting inspired by all the successful people I meet. It’s amazing how talented people like artists and professionals can work seven days a week not for money, but for their passion and be motivated all the time. As one said, “It’s not considered work when you love what you do.” ’
Alone in Sydney, struggling for her career, Shermaine does not regret any bit of her decisions. Instead, she is grateful to be granted the opportunity. ‘It is very hard to get into the industry. But once you’ve started and worked hard enough, you can excel.’
Shermaine replies to whether she thinks she is successful, ‘no, not at all. This is just the start of it.’ Quickly finishing her lunch, she looked at the time from her Blackberry and then hurried back to her office to make up for her half-an-hour lunch break.
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