Interview: Darcy Miller

How did you first get involved at Martha Stewart Living?
Wedding CakeI saw the first issue of MSL and decided that would be a great place to work, but there was one glitch: they didn't have an open position. So I decided to get as much Martha-related experience as possible. I interned at Art & Auction magazine, I assisted in the visual department at Bloomingdale's doing window displays, I worked with a chef a few hours a week, I took a computer design class at SVA, I worked for the talented event designer Robert Isabel (often just lighting votive candles), and finally I landed a job at MSL as an editorial assistant. I actually wasn't hired right away. I interviewed with Gael Towey, who hired me on a freelance basis to oversee the production of creating four vignettes for the 41 Madison Avenue tabletop lobby displays during tabletop market. I ran around gathering everything from cloths to seashells, including packing up china from showrooms and also at Martha’s house in Westport. When I look back at that time, I can't believe they actually hired me to do that. Pulling together all these table settings from the magazine, having had zero production or styling experience—but guess it all worked out, because after the tabletop project was over, Gael hired me to be her assistant, and that was over 21 years ago.
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