For almost a decade, Alison worked as an art historian in galleries and archives around the world, rooting out ephemera about the lives of famous artists. In her spare time, though, she closed her books on Raphael and Manet and imagined tagging along side journalists Russell Baker, Gay Talese and Robert Hughes. In 2000, Alison gave up her seat in the archives (site of so much daydreaming), blew the dust off her clothes and set out to become a journalist. Four years and many unacknowledged pitches later, she was in! "I broke into journalism right at the tail end of the Golden Age," she says, talking about her time at Toronto Life (as an intern) and Elle Canada (as an editor). "I'm glad I got a taste of that world before print media collapsed." One thing she's learned since chaos became the norm, however, is that good storytelling and the work it takes to be a compelling writer hasn't changed one bit. "Our platform may have gone from paper to pixels, but the time and effort it takes to craft a story is still the same, and so is the thrill of reading a good story!"