20 March 2025
King's alum Farrah Storr MBE visits campus to discuss leading change and embracing discomfort
On Wednesday 12 March, the King’s Alumni Relations Team in collaboration with King’s Edge welcomed Farrah Storr MBE (French with English Literature, 2001) to campus in the third ‘How to…’ professional development event of the academic year.
Since graduating from King’s, Farrah has become an award-winning writer and editor. Farrah is now Head of Writer Partnerships at newsletter platform Substack UK, spearheading the recruitment of new UK writers.
Embracing discomfort, leading change and building networks.
In the session, we heard from Farrah about her journey from Manchester to London to pursue her writing career, and how King’s allowed her to meet people from a huge variety of social and cultural backgrounds. Farrah shared her experience of championing diversity in the media industry as Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan and Elle UK, work for which she was awarded an MBE 2018. On diversity in the workplace, Farrah also spoke about how important it is to make sure everyone’s voice was heard to ensure that ideas are the best that they can be.
Farrah encouraged attendees to embrace discomfort to realise and unlock their potential by breaking the situation down, identifying what specifically was uncomfortable, and going in with a plan.
“In my experience, everything that I had found difficult was what actually brought me reward.”
However, Farrah also reminded listeners to be aware of their own limitations and accept support when needed, allowing them to go into situations prepared for what is to come.
“When you put something out in the in the world which feels raw… those are usually the pieces that connect with people. But it's a very hard thing to do.”
Farrah reflected on her own move from fashion magazines into the online space when starting at Substack, adjusting from being a manager of a huge team to working solo and repositioning her skills and experience in a new space.
In the audience Q+A, students and alumni asked how to build networks. Farrah’s advice was to constantly broaden your horizons and take risks, and your networks will grow naturally as a result. For Farrah, making connections is about understanding and articulating how you can help the person you are contacting. No matter what your relative experience, seek to identify how your skills could help them, not just how they could support you.
“It's about finding like-minded people, figuring out how you can help them before you ask for a single bit of help, and then they’re going to keep you in mind”
Finally, Farrah spoke about maintaining her love for writing and creating with her roles in editing and management. To allow her to do so, Farrah spoke about making use of the technology available to keep putting her creations into the world independently and on her own terms.
A recording of the event is available to view below, via the King's Alumni YouTube channel.
Career development support for current students and alumni
The Alumni Relations team can support members of the King’s community from the day they start university for the rest of their life. You can build connections and get career support from over 40,000 alumni and students through King’s Connect, hear from alumni excelling in their fields via our How to… series, or attend our mentoring and networking events to meet our alumni in-person.