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Tavi Gevinson has done more before graduating high school than many people accomplish in a lifetime.
At the age of 11, Gevinson started a fashion blog, Style Rookie; at the time, she was emulating a friend’s older sister who she thought was cool.
“I saw fashion didn’t have to be this oppressive thing, it was more a form of self-expression,” Gevinson said. “I really admired her and this community of other girls who were doing that and wanted to be a part of that.”
The blog caught on with a devoted group of readers, and the 12-year-old found herself invited to sit front-row at fashion week in New York and Paris and is now a staple presence.
“Through writing every day, I actually became a good writer, and was able to turn it into an outlet that was really helpful to me and just growing in general,” said Gevinson, a suburban Chicago native who speaks with a loping mid-Atlantic accent.
By her sophomore year, Gevinson started an online magazine for teenagers, “Rookie Magazine,” which was pitched as “Sassy” re-imagined for modern teenage girls and attracted its founding editor Jane Pratt as an adviser. “Rookie” is now profitable with four editors and three million monthly readers and has become the 19-year-old’s “full-time job.” She has no plans to go to college.
Even as her publishing empire is flourishing, Gevinson has begun indulging a new passion: Acting. With the help of her agents at United Talent Agency, she has appeared on an episode of NBC’s “Parenthood” as well as in the Kenneth Lonergan play “This Is Our Youth” in New York and Chicago.
“People have told me enough my position is really unique and lucky,” said Gevinson. “It’s insane … it’s such a unique path that I’ve had.”
Here are some video highlights from the conversation:
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
