How Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt convinced a writer to abandon her fashion industry dream
A British writer recalls how in 2017, after 18 months of unpaid fashion internships in London, a TV comedy gave her the courage to quit. She has since built a career in film and TV.
A British writer describes her experience in 2017, when at age 23 she worked unpaid internships in London's fashion industry while living in £12-a-night hostels and taking on extra night jobs to cover costs.
She recounts the difficult conditions: sleeping in a dormitory with 14 other people, surviving mainly on bread and peanut butter sandwiches, and carrying all her belongings in a backpack since nothing was safe to leave at the hostel. In one instance, her only pair of shoes fell apart and she taped them back together in the office fashion closet.
Each unpaid internship came with the suggestion it could lead to full-time work, but after more than a year, she noticed the interns who advanced already had industry connections.
The turning point
One sleepless night, she watched an episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt titled "Kimmy Gives Up!", in which the show's relentlessly optimistic protagonist finally cracks. A character offers advice that sometimes the hardest thing to do is simply quit and walk away, paired with a parody song about giving up on something that isn't working.
The moment made the writer realise she could no longer keep pretending. The next day, she told her boss she had run out of money, was living in hostels, and could no longer work for free. Her boss responded with indifference, making clear the writer was easily replaceable.
Since then, the writer has built a career in film and television, mainly working on comedies. The show's song remains something she turns to whenever she is torn between staying in a situation or leaving it.
