It is hard to resist those e-zine articles that begin with the \u201ctop picks\u201d of a product category. After all, when you are plunking down your hard-earned dollars for a new blender, vacuum cleaner or planner, you want to be sure you are getting your money\u2019s worth.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, Raena Loper \u201916 is on the case. As the new Weekend Updates Editor at Forbes,<\/em> Loper is working hard to make sure her product assessments bring value to all consumers.<\/p>\n \u201cI think a lot about inclusivity \u2013 in every sense \u2013 when preparing my articles, regardless of the product category I am reviewing,\u201d she says. \u201cI want to be sure that anyone who reads my pieces finds something that they can relate to.\u201d<\/p>\n It is a sensibility that began when she enrolled as a Fashion Studies major at Montclair, and that deepened when she chose a second major in Gender, Sexuality and Women\u2019s Studies.<\/p>\n \u201cI have always been interested in fashion and design,\u201d she explains. \u201cMontclair offered the Fashion Studies major and was so close to New York City. Plus, I was able to enroll through the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) program, which meant I could spend the summer after high school graduation on campus. It was an amazing experience. The EOF team was so supportive right from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n Loper\u2019s worldview was already expanding when she took an elective in women\u2019s studies. \u201cAs a woman of color, it was great to hear about other women\u2019s experiences,\u201d she says, recalling her decision to pursue dual degrees. \u201cThis was different from any other course \u2013 I was developing a new understanding of things that I had grown up observing and experiencing.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, the fashion department, and particularly the sewing lab, offered Loper a second] home as well as a platform for developing her talent for plus-size design. In fact, Loper earned first honors in the department\u2019s Independent Design competition three years in a row.<\/p>\n Loper also credits the Fashion Design program\u2019s internship requirement for getting her career on the fast track. \u201cAn internship with O, The Oprah Magazine was posted, and I decided to go for it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce at O, I drew on everything I learned in my classes as well as all the discipline instilled by my participation in EOF,\u201d Loper continues. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t easy \u2013 commuting, balancing schoolwork and internship. I was working as a student assistant for the fashion department as well. Fortunately, my professors and advisors were very supportive and encouraging.\u201d<\/p>\n After that first internship, Loper\u2019s resume became a who\u2019s who of major fashion and media companies \u2013 Michael Kors, Yoox Net-A-Porter, InStyle, and eventually back to Hearst Magazines and O, The Oprah Magazine, this time as assistant styles editor. Gradually, Loper\u2019s focus shifted from fashion and style to consumer products. \u201cAt O, I worked on Oprah\u2019s Favorite Things, which meant writing about all kinds of products,\u201d she says. \u201cOne week I would be reviewing rowing machines, and the next it would be laptops.\u201d<\/p>\n Loper parlayed that experience to a job as Product and Reviews Updates Editor at Good Housekeeping magazine and finally to her current role as Weekend Updates Editor at Forbes<\/em>. \u201cI do hands-on research about the products that I write about, and I consider the diversity of the people who will be reading my articles,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I am recommending a type of product, I look for options for every consumer.\u201d<\/p>\n When possible, Loper is happy to share her experiences in hands-on product testing and her extensive knowledge of size-inclusive fashion with Montclair students. \u201cI visited campus last year,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was really nostalgic for me, and I think it is nice for students to meet people in industry who look like them, who came from similar backgrounds, and who are close to them in age. I can make a successful career look accessible to them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many success stories coming out of Montclair,\u201d Loper adds. \u201cI have a classmate who now works for Bravo, and another who is at Good Morning America. We were all EOF students. Our accomplishments demonstrate that the program really works.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Forbes Weekend Updates Editor Raena Loper \u201916 brings an eye for good design as well as a commitment to inclusivity to her work. Her thoughtful reviews of products ranging from laptops and vacuum cleaners to planners and portable blenders reach more than 150 million people around the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":326,"featured_media":212166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-76_alumni-news-and-events","category-77_alumni-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/326"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212163"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212192,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212163\/revisions\/212192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}