The latest addition to our Rock Star Squad is Tehrene Firman of Love Twenty Magazine. Tehrene has already set her sights on her big Dream and made it a reality with the launch of her online magazine Love Twenty, which focuses on college, career and everything in between. Enjoy!
Tell us a little about yourself:
I’m currently a senior Public Relations major and Journalism minor at the University of Northern Iowa dreaming of moving to New York City and breaking big into the magazine industry. I’m in love with anything related to pop culture and teen media and my ultimate goal is to work at Seventeen magazine. I feel like I’m getting closer and closer to that dream every single day.
Other than my love for magazines and running Love Twenty, I keep busy in my college’s show choir, Vocal AmmUNItion, supporting girls’ education through She’s the First, working as the Campus Life editor of my college’s newspapers, the Northern Iowan, and playing with my adorable fluffball of a dog, Trixie.
Did you go through a quarter life crisis? How was your transition into the “real world”?
I wouldn’t say I went through a quarter-life crisis, but going off on my own was definitely a huge change. I’ve been very fortunate to have my family only a thirty-minute drive from where I go to school, but doing everything for myself took some getting used to.
I won’t feel like I’m living in the “real world” until I graduate and receive my degree, but one great thing about this time is that as a twenty-something, I’ve really discovered who I am, what I want, and what I want to become. It’s hard figuring yourself out in high school, but once you go off on your own it’s easy to see what you want to be.
You have achieved quite a bit at a young age. You even have your own online magazine! Can you tell us more about it and what propelled you forward to accomplish your dreams?
After writing for numerous online magazines, I saw a need for something that wasn’t there – somewhat of a “best friend” for not only twenty-somethings in college, but also those who are going off into the “real world” for the first time, finally living on their own and working towards their dreams.
I decided to start up Love Twenty for that reason. Love Twenty is an online magazine for those twenty-somethings, specializing in college, career, and everything in between. We’re there for you 100% – every step (in killer heels of course) of the way.
We want to live life to the fullest and help our readers through any obstacle that may come their way, whether it’s working towards loving their body, acing their first interview, or just plain not knowing what to wear for a date they’ve been excited about forever.
We focus on the positive in life and love supporting a great cause. Each week, we have a “Cute for a Cause” item up on the website that supports an awesome non-profit and just put our “Show Your Love” tees up for sale, which have the adorable Love Twenty logo on the front and give $1 of each purchase to She’s the First.
What false belief did you have to get rid of in order to really move forward?
Well, there are a lot of online magazines that have been up and running for a long time and are already extremely successful. Some people are afraid to try to get into such a competitive field, but I felt I had something different that could really become something fabulous.
I decided to start this magazine for fun, not knowing exactly what would come out of it, and took the iniative and went forward with my plan. I’m so glad I did because we now have a team of over 70 writers from all over the world, an editorial team, are on our second set of killer interns, and are partnering with some really awesome people.
If I wouldn’t have taken the leap, I wouldn’t have been able to meet and get to work with any of the wonderful people I’ve been lucky enough to encounter.
How are you now living life on your own terms?
I feel like I’ve always lived life on my own terms. I’ve grown up with amazing parents and a sister who have always believed in me and supported me every second of the way, have never given into peer pressure and have kept my morals, and have great friends and a fantastic boyfriend who I know will be there for me no matter what happens in life.
I like having control of my life and doing what I want to do with it. There’s nothing better than having people in it who stand behind me on every decision I make.
What’s the hardest part about following your dream? What was the easiest?
The hardest part about following my dream is honestly the time it takes to do so. It’s tough when I want to give my dream 100% of my time when I still have to fit in time for everything else I’m involved with, let alone all of the school work I have to do every day. Being busy is tough, but when you love what you’re doing, it’s all worth it.
The easiest part about following my dream was how naturally it came to me. I love magazines and writing, so striving towards combining those two passions was the most logical choice I could make. I can’t see myself doing anything else in the future, and because of that, it’s easy to keep pushing for what will make me the happiest girl in the world.
Do you have any advice for anyone who has a big goal but is unsure of how to go about achieving it?
When people ask me this, I always say just put yourself out there and go for it. If I wouldn’t have tried to start my own magazine because of all of the competitiveness in the field, I would have never experienced all of the success of it. If I wouldn’t have attempted to contact the celebrities we’ve had featured in Love Twenty, we wouldn’t have had those interviews. Life is all about taking that big leap of faith, and if you don’t, you’re always going to wonder what could have been.
I decided a long time ago that I never wanted to wonder that. I wanted to give everything my all and see exactly where it takes me. I feel like anyone else with a big goal should do the same.
Thanks Tehrene! I love her determination and passion. I love her advice about life being about taking a leap of faith. I’m sure we’ll be seeing big things from Tehrene in the future. Be sure to check out Love Twenty Magazine or catch them on twitter. You can also stay up to date on all of the happenings through the Love Twenty Facebook page.
Are you taking your life by the reins and living on your own terms? Then I want to feature YOU! Email me – nblades[at]gmail[dot]com – if you’d like to be the next Rock Star in our Squad.
