Speculative Bio
Who did I want to be in second year?
My “A” grade submission for this assignment
In my second year of Fashion Journalism and Content Creation studies, we were tasked with writing a Speculative Bio. In simple terms, it is the opposite of an obituary. Instead of talking about the life we have lived, we write about the life we are going to live as if it has happened. Basically, a vision board as an essay. This was written only a year ago and I have already achieved some of these things and gotten clearer on others. This tea is personal, but I hope it can inspire you to do the same.
My name is Sakina Sule Ali and I am a globally influenced journalist with a focus in fashion.
The fashion capital of red buses and untamed creativity known as London, is where I was born and currently reside. Here, I attended London College of Fashion for three years studying Fashion Journalism and Content Creation where I graduated with a first degree.
During those years I did not just learn about the media industry, but made sure to experience it with various internships in publications such as Evening Standard, Vogue and Drapers, where I had my work published. My degree taught me foundational skills such as how to find stories and write them in a way that is tailored to particular audiences. Whereas, the work experience enhanced my taught skills by showing me how to apply it in practice.
I also took time to intern and work in other practices such as PR and styling to embrace the ecosystem that fashion journalism is a part of. Initially I accepted that as a journalist, my only job is to write, but when learning about content creation I tapped into a part of myself that enjoyed and understood the multiple ways to create content and share information. For example, I often fuse political and fashion journalism into digestible pieces of social media content that my audience otherwise would not have engaged with.
I have also grown an online community that I started during my university days documenting my journey to becoming an established journalist and educating others who want to do the same.
From using platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, I noticed that there was a need for younger generations to be educated on journalism, particularly fashion journalism which is why I am so open with my journey and share advice to be the example that I wanted to see when starting out. I use my social media platforms to inspire younger generations and welcome those who didn’t have extra opportunities to get into an industry that is often a closed circle.
One person who inspired me to do this was Emilie Hill who assisted on my course during my second year whilst continuing her own career. She freely gave guidance and genuine advice to my peers and I which was so valuable, given she did what we were experiencing at the time and is currently doing what we wanted to do career wise.
In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “the best way to predict the future is to plan it”. I plan to widen my audience and diversify my platforms to more in person settings. I will do this by hosting in person focus groups and large scale interviews where I will act as a bridge between other leading journalists and aspiring journalists. This way, I will be providing access to others to ensure that there is diversity in the journalism industry.
