Glitter and PrOFANITY

I wanted to be a Spice Girl. I’m not even really sure I know why; I think it was the Spice Bus that did it. But, in the summer of 1997, sitting on the stoop of our apartment building with my boombox and stack of CDs, I knew I wanted to be a Spice Girl. That dream bubble was quickly popped by my peers, pointing out I sound like a lost goat when I sing. 5th graders are rough.

“Well then,” I thought between sips of lukewarm Dr. Pepper that we “accidentally” knocked out of the building’s pop machine, “if I can’t be a Spice Girl, I want to be 3 steps behind them calling the shots.”

Being a fangirl was a huge part of my identity during my adolescence. It’s how I identified myself, how I made friends, and, combined with social media beginning to take off in my teens, how I ended up getting my foot in the door to work in the music industry.

The skills you need to be a good marketer are natural traits to diehard fangirls. You need to know not only every minute detail of the band, their lore, their lyrics, and their shows, but you also need to know how it is perceived by your peers, the nuances within your own demographics that separate the Nick girls from the Brian girls, and how to explain it to your parents so they let you stay up late to watch them on Conan.

My love for the Spice Girls led me to digital marketing, which as most marketers know, is an all-consuming world view. I also still feel very strongly about pop culture and what it says about us as individuals and as a society. Being a “fangirl” sometimes has a negative connotation, but it’s also at the root of so much of what we do and why.

As the trends of my generation get repackaged and find a new life, we’ve come full circle. I see the torn teen mag inspo behind the recent design trends and the synth line bounce behind the latest dance craze. I’m here for it and want to talk about it, both as a professional and as a boyband lover who wears a concert t-shirt almost daily.

Here’s to the then 10-year-old who wanted to be a Spice Girl and the now 10-year-old-at-heart who still wants to be a Spice Girl. May you both be represented here.