Creating a platform where women can find their voices
Melissa Hawkins is an English with Publishing graduate and creator of a successful online platform, Disgraceful, for women to share their stories
I was literally in a queue for Tesco, and I thought, I'm going to make a magazine. And I don't know how I'm going to do it, but it's for any woman who has a story to tell.
Melissa Hawkins, BSc (Hons) English with Publishing
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Owner of Disgraceful Magazine
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?BSc (Hons) English with Publishing
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?MA Journalism
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?Journalist
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?Marketing manager
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?Champion for women in media
I’ve always loved writing.
As a kid, I used to write poetry and force my family to listen to it, then as a teenager I had a blog that I would spill all my secrets into. After college, I fell into a marketing internship with Ways of Words Literature Festival, which gave me an insight into publishing world, so I started going down that route.
Early steps into publishing
I secured an internship with Penguin Random House and that really affirmed that I wanted to work in the marketing and publishing industry. It was really fast-paced and different being in London compared to my Devon hometown! But when I decided to do a degree – and so few places offered publishing in the UK – I was so pleased to see it run at the University of Plymouth.
I ended up studying English with Publishing, but I'm glad I did because that allowed me to explore things like creative writing and journalism, and that's obviously a massive foundation to where I am now.
Drawing the positives from a bad relationship
Before I started university, I was also in the process of getting out of a really bad relationship. It was emotionally and physically abusive and throughout it, I was a shell of myself.
I was constantly told that what I was doing and trying to achieve wasn’t good enough, and I didn't have any belief that I could be or do anything significant. But I got out and started making steps forward – including getting the support I needed and rebuilding the pieces that made me, me.
I actually started writing about my experiences via an Instagram blog and realised how the honesty that I shared online resonated with so many people. And I thought, OK, I want to do this on a bigger scale, writing, sharing and reading stories to help people share their experiences and help themselves too.
A happy accident
So I was literally in a queue for Tesco, and I thought, I'm going to make a magazine. And I didn't know how I was going to do it, but I decided that I was going to make a magazine. I decided anyone will be able to write for it – it's for any woman who has a story to tell. Then I started it, and it's completely propelled from there. It was a very happy accident in some ways.
It was an accident that came at exactly the right time, as COVID-19 hit during my first year of uni. Everything kind of came to a bit of a halt and a lot of the in-person opportunities I had lined up just came to a complete stop. So, after a virtual internship, where I met some really supportive women, and after growing my personal brand by continuing to publish my content on LinkedIn, I realised I'd have to make my own opportunities.
I'd written for the University magazine, INK, and am also really grateful to Plymouth lecturers Russell Evans and Miriam Darlington for their teaching on the journalism and creative writing modules. They instilled in me the belief that I could write well, and really helped to shape my direction of travel.
And it was one day during my first year I wrote a random LinkedIn post saying "I've got this idea for a magazine…" and within a couple of hours I’d had hundreds of emails from people wanting to be a part of it. I felt so underqualified to be leading a team of women who just wanted to tell great stories! But we built up a team of 40, wrote the content, and within three months we started publishing.
Publishing Disgraceful
We decided to call it 'Disgraceful' as that's what many women have been called when they're outspoken or don't conform. Publishing the first edition was a very, very surreal experience, and I remember sitting at my laptop with these incredible articles, ready to start putting everything together just before my second year of university. The sheer size of this publication really hit me, and it was such a crazy moment when I had this massive shipment of magazines delivered to my student house. And then from that, it's just kind of grown.
The magazine was going really strong but we decided to ditch the printed element, firstly because it was quite expensive, and secondly because the way people were consuming information was changing. We had to adapt to the fact that people wanted to be outside post-COVID and only had time to read something short on a commute or between meetings. So we published, and continue to publish, articles regularly online.
From there, the company morphed into a community interest company. I didn’t want to create a massive, glossy publication that made lots of money from advertising, it’s never been about that for me. It was about creating a platform where women could tell and share their stories, no matter who you are, how much writing experience you've had, or even how well you can write. Obviously, there are a team of us who have writing and journalism experience, and we can help a lot of our writers tell their stories in their way, but it’s about helping and empowering them, not editing or writing for them.
Helping our audience
We’ve also done some powerful things to help our audience. When Sarah Everard was murdered in 2021, we created an anthology of lived experience. We invited women to anonymously, or otherwise, share their own experiences of feeling threatened or unsafe. The articles were so heartbreakingly honest, and I felt privileged that only a few months into our journey we were trusted with sharing them.
We published the anthology alongside a toolkit of resources to help women tell their stories, and it was received really, really well. That’s one of the few editions we went on to print, and any profits went to Women's Aid. In addition, with every issue, we included a piece of paper with a seed in it, encouraging people to write their stories on that and then plant them and watch them grow into something a lot more positive. When we saw it published, it was just incredible. I still keep a copy on my bedside table and it's one of my proudest achievements so far.
Be innovative
To be successful, I think you have to be a little bit innovative.
I don't think the traditional route of university straight to employment really exists anymore, you have to take a chance and experiment a bit. You have to show that you're a bit entrepreneurial, apply for opportunities, go for everything.
I’ve been lucky but I've also built my brand by growing my presence on LinkedIn. You know, I wouldn't be in the job I am or doing the things I am doing without just taking a chance. And I think you have to just be crazy with it. The worst thing that's going to happen is you're going to get a 'no', and that's fine. But you might make a really great connection who might benefit you down the line.
Alongside the magazine, I'm still in paid employment. I managed to get a marketing job in my second year of university working for a copywriting agency here in Devon, and I started as a social media manager a couple of days a week, which eventually morphed into a full-time marketing manager role. Alongside being a marketing manager, I decided to do my full time MA, which was probably a little bit insane, but I was very lucky in the sense that I could weave a lot of my assignments into the 'Disgraceful' stuff.
I could have studied marketing and it may have got me on my current career path a bit quicker. But I've got lots of experience in other things, so don't think that you have to stick on the straight and narrow. I officially describe myself as a digital storyteller because it kind of encompasses everything that I do.
Going forward, we in the 'Disgraceful' team are hoping to work with more universities and colleges, helping young women gain this experience in the journalism industry, while giving people a voice when they might not otherwise have one.
We have such a different approach to journalism from the one that exists in the wider world, where everything's about click-through rates and page views. I don't look at the analysis – I know how many people read the magazine, but if 10 people read our stuff and really, really resonate with it, that's success for me. Journalism needs to come back to making things a bit more real and telling proper stories, and not just be about making money.
Opportunities, confidence, transformation
I feel so lucky to have had many opportunities as a result of the magazine.
We've had some really crazy people on the covers, from big directors to Olympians and reality TV stars, and it's been really exciting. I've been able to go to movie premieres and walk red carpets and do crazy things that I never thought I would do.
When I started university, I was terrified to go into my seminars and speak to people and make friends, as I felt like the least confident person in the world. But working with these women and doing what I do has completely transformed me as a person. And so being able to help other people do that too is really, really special.
Find your voice through a degree in English
Studying on one of our degrees means you’ll learn by doing alongside leading academics, researchers and expert practitioners, equipping you with the most relevant skills and expertise in English and creative writing.
We want to give you a flavour of how you’d use your studies in the real world and of the value they bring to everyday life. More than this, we want to give you opportunities to add that value yourself by getting hands-on in the community and with industry partners throughout your degree.
