Founded by Shad Valley alumni Vipasha Shaikh and Lucy Liu, The Plume is an online literary, arts, news and commentary magazine dedicated to publishing the best work from the international under-25 demographic. First launched in January 2011 in Toronto, Canada, with a signature bent on synthesizing the world, Plume is a mix of arts, culture and politics delivering the fresh and upcoming voices of a rising generation – very similar to our own site, Youth Are Awesome.
Earlier this week I had the opportunity to speak with Vipasha and find out more about Plume.
So, what exactly is Plume?
The Plume is an online literary arts, culture and politics magazine dedicated to fostering talented writers between the ages of 14-21. We are essentially a platform for youth to voice their ideas about the world in a way in a well-respected and a well-articulated fashion. You can think of us as a cross between the Huffington Post – in the sense that we are completely online, no print – and The New Yorker/The Walrus – in the sense that we aim to publish a signature blend of arts, politics, and culture
What gave you the initial idea?
We (as in the the cofounders, Me and Lucy) initially got the idea last year, when we realized that there was no suitable platform for young writers to publish their writing. Most of the magazines we found were very catered to youth-driven topics, and constrained us in terms of what we could actually write. We wanted a platform that gave us no restrictions and let us publish our opinions and thoughts about the world in full flesh. Since we couldn’t find one, we decided to create “The Plume.”
Sounds like a pretty big undertaking, what were some of the challenges involved?
I think with every project you start, it is really difficult to figure out what to do first. Who do you contact? How do you get content? How do you find a good team? Etc. etc. For the two of us, our initial trouble was the fact that we had no experience in terms of website design and creation. We knew what sort of lay-out and theme we wanted, but we were confused about web hosting and our website platform, and initially had no clue how to transform our ideas into the final product – which was the website.
How did you surmount these aforementioned challenges?
We reached out! We talked to people who had created websites before, and we gathered a “tech” team that would help us out in terms of publishing content, website maintenance, and so forth. Eventually, we met a university student who suggested that we use WordPress, and we went from there. Essentially, it was all about talking to people and trying to figure things out, step by step.
Where do you see the magazine going in the future?
Right now, we’re focused on essays and critical opinion pieces, but in the future, I hope we can expand into entertainment reviews of plays/music/movies.
I want to get involved with Plume, how can I help?
Contributions to the magazine can be made through filling this form out. As for joining the team, check out our opportunities page for further instructions and potential positions.
Will you eventually be sending out a monthly publication?
Currently, we’re not going to do a monthly magazine, though we might do something like it later on.
Did your enrollment in Shad Valley have any impact on this project?
I think Shad Valley is a program that forces you to think about the impact you can make by following your passions and interests. The summer before The Plume launched, I was at Shad Waterloo, and I came out of it with an overwhelming sense that I had to do SOMETHING with my life – something what would make it worthwhile. So, with that, I started jumping at good opportunities and ideas – and The Plume was one of the good ideas that me and Lucy (my co-founder) really had. She had also gone to Shad (a year before I did) and ended up feeling the same way. So in a way, I guess Shad helped give us sense of drive to do the things we love and to work hard – which is how The Plume came about, really.
If you could give one piece of advice to other young students out there looking to create a startup, what would it be?
My one piece of advice is this: if you have a viable idea, pursue it! Don’t stand around, stressing over the minute details. Just go after it, and everything will fall into place.
