The 9 Most
Frequently Asked Questions
After hitting the one million follower milestone on Instagram a couple of weeks ago, I decided to do a Q&A to see if anyone new to our community had anything they wanted to know and so many of the questions were ones I have answers to here on the blog.
Then I realised the last time I updated my FAQ here was October 2017 and maybe it was time for an update!
According to the previous FAQ, Alex and I aren't even engaged yet let alone married, Boe doesn't exist and we still live in the centre of London - so much has changed in the last few years and what a few years it's been!
So this is the new and updated Inthefrow FAQ (version 2.0 if you will) and if there's anything else you want to know or think would be important to add, then leave me a comment below and we can update it as we go together.
PS - Hello to the 2023 version of me realising this needs updating again ha!
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Who are you?
My name's Victoria Magrath, I'm currently 31 years old (born on the 18th July), I'm 5 feet 7 inches tall with blue/grey eyes. I currently live a couple of hours outside London in a place we like to call Frowhome with my amazing husband Alex and our Dachshund pup Boe. I was proudly born close to Wigan in the North West of England.
I moved to Manchester at the age of 18 to study ‘Design Management for Fashion Retailing’ at the University of Manchester and undertook several internships mainly based around online and digital marketing but also the PR industry as a whole. After graduating with a 1st class degree, I continued my studies by choosing to complete a PhD in ‘Fashion Consumer Behaviour’ looking at the impact of mobile commerce on the fashion consumer. For those who wonder how I didn't have to complete a Masters before starting my PhD - it was simply the route my personal journey took and I know others may need to or also may not want to. During the completion of my thesis I was published twice in the Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management and then began my career as a lecturer at the University specialising in ‘Fashion Marketing’.
By 2015 my blog www.inthefrow.com (a hobby started in 2012) had unexpectedly gained traction and I made the decision to move to London to see where and if it could take me anywhere exciting. As for my personal life, Alex proposed in Vancouver Canada in 2018, we were married in France in August 2019 and here we are in 2021 building a life and a home we dreamed into being!
What's Inthefrow?
Inthefrow is a shortening of the term ‘in the front row’ and it's also an Alanis Morrisette lyric. 5 stars if you know it. You might have heard the word ‘frow’ before too, which is a shortening of the words ‘front row’. It's a term often used in relation to being sat in the front row at a fashion show during fashion weeks across the globe. I usually spell it Inthefrow (all one word and capitalised) although you'll often find it noted in different ways online, In The Frow primarily. The original aim of my moniker was to be short, snappy and memorable to those who came across it and I think, almost 9 years down the line now, it's done what it was made to do!
You'll find me across most social media platforms @inthefrow and I'd love for you to come join me and the over 2.5 million strong community we've built of like minded individuals who share in my love of fashion, beauty, homewares, food and everything in-between!
What Does Alex Do?
Alex studied Graphic Design & Animation at the University of Salford and carved a successful career at an award winning motion design company in Manchester before we chose to move to London together in 2015. He carried on his career in graphic design for our first year in London while diving further into his hobby and love of photography and teaching himself the basics through YouTube tutorials. As Alex’s love and skills in photography grew, we agreed to take the plunge and Alex became part of the Inthefrow team for good. He now works full time alongside me creating almost all the incredible imagery you see on the blog/Instagram/campaigns and generally helping to bring my never ending ideas to life. You can follow him over on Instagram if you want to see more of his photography and also pick up some amazing photography tips if you're learning too!
What Breed is Boe?
Boe (an alternate, Viking origin spelling of Beau - meaning handsome sweetheart) is our beautiful pup who we added to our family in October 2020. He's a longer haired miniature dachshund with Shaded Cream fur and dark highlights on his ears and his tail - so hes technically dappled. I realise everyone will say this about their dog but he's honestly just made mine and Alex's lives a million times better. We'd spoken about adding a pup to our family for quite a while and after the huge change of moving to the countryside and the unexpected turn that 2020 took for us all, we realised that actually a slower pace of life and less travelling was something we needed in our lives. Enter the right place at the right time and Boe became ours! If you want to see more pictures of the cutest dog in the entire world (I'll hear no arguments about it haha!) you can follow him here on Instagram.
Who's Your Team?
When I first moved to London in 2015 I signed with a talent agency called Gleam Futures and although I had several amazing years with them and met some incredible people who impacted my career in the best of ways, I decided that in January 2020 I'd venture out on my own and take things 'in house' so to speak. The team I often refer to has changed slightly over the last year but right now I have Alex, Rebecca and Briony who work with me on a full time basis. Alex is my Lead Creative and Editor - he looks after everything related to imagery and video, photography, editing and shoot direction. Rebecca (also best friend of 15 years and was my maid of honour) is my personal Communications Officer - technically my highly efficient right hand woman, organising my diary, plans, communications and PR, amongst all the rest. And then Briony joined the team as Director of Comms; she manages the team, drives the business strategy, leads the external business projects we're working on and is the lady behind the commercial success of this business. I genuinely could not run Inthefrow without any one of them at this stage. And I suppose, with all of these cogs, what do I do? I suppose my title would be Creative Director. I usually design the creative for campaigns, I coordinate the direction of the brand and I am the one posting on every single social channel daily.
That paragraph took me a while to write. It's seemingly very hard to explain the inner workings of a well oiled machine.
I'm sure I could so easily write multiple blog posts about what I've learned over the years, our unique team dynamics (I know so many people who have found it hard to build a team they trust - especially so when you're self employed) and the bigger picture involving needing great lawyers and accountants in the mix too, but I'm not sure I wouldn't bore you to tears if I did.
What Do You Actually Do?
This! I am extremely privileged and so very proud that my hobby turned into a career path for me. I loved being a lecturer and never say never to going back into a similar career in the future, but for now this wonderful and new female led industry is my day to day job. I don't mind what term you choose to describe it but I prefer to use content creator because I feel it covers all the aspects of what I do. I get to work with some of the most prestigious and established brands in fashion, beauty and beyond by teaming up alongside them to launch, celebrate and promote their products and causes. I also spend a huge amount of time creating organic content like so many of the editorial blog posts, YouTube videos and Instagram creations you see on a weekly basis, and the paid campaigns I take part in allow me to continue to produce so much organic content in-between.
What Are You Most Proud Of?
If this is in relation to my personal life then I'm proud of every thing Alex and I have achieved together from the home we've made together to bringing sweet Boe home but if we're talking about career milestones - then it's definitely hard to choose. However I'd say there have definitely been some defining moments over the years such as:
- - Graduating with my doctorate from the University of Manchester
- - Moving to London to work on Inthefrow full time
- - Writing my Amazon Best Seller book 'The New Fashion Rules'
- - My first ever collaboration with the amazing team at Strathberry
- - Becoming the first ever UK Accessories Ambassador for Bvlgari
- - My Jewellery collaboration with Edge of Ember
- - My Clothing edit with Holland Cooper & Jade Holland Cooper
- - Reaching 1 Million Instagram Followers after 8.5 years
- - & so many more things I can't even tell you about yet!
Should I Start a Blog Too?
Absolutely. There is always room for new creatives, new opinions, new takes and new passions in this industry, so if you find yourself looking for a sign let this be it - go for it. If you have the time, a subject matter you're passionate about, the ability to create and the excitement to put yourself out there then I say you have everything you might need. You can head here for some more blogging tips as well as a chat about exactly why there's always room for more bloggers to enter the blogosphere!
What's Next?
That would be telling haha! I'm only half joking but there are actually some things I can't yet tell you about and some other projects that you might find out about in 2021 as the year goes on! But in general I'm excited to continue in this creative career with this amazing community we've built together, I'm hoping to continue working with my favourite brands for years to come and I'm thrilled that I can continue to give back as this whole journey teaches me more about this life. Manifesting so much more for the next few years, so ask me in 2023 if those dreams have come true or not!
Thankyou for supporting me today, yesterday or for the last 8 and a half years! x
