How do I start an editor’s letter for a magazine that will never be published? How do I leave a job that I love, a team I adore and a community of readers that I receive so much inspiration from? How do I step down from an editorship that has meant so much to me?

These are questions I’ve come up against each time I have sat down to write this editor’s letter, my last as editor of Gritty Pretty. I wanted to share this with you because Gritty Pretty has always been about authenticity and that’s a value I keep at home too. What it has meant to me, to show up in this role for the past three years, isn’t something that can be easily defined. All I can say is that coming to terms with this ending hasn’t been easy. It’s taken work. 

But throughout my life, I have learned that right before we have a significant moment of growth, there is usually an ending, often some pain, even some darkness. You feel like you’re being stretched to a brand new edge, like a band that’s going to snap, but instead what happens is we evolve. We get an upgrade. A better version of us comes through. In the place of the thing we have to let go of (the job, the relationship, the opportunity), something even better comes along. And it is always something we would never have even dreamt up for ourselves. 

I hope I have taught people that when we’re faced with difficulty, we can always move through it. If we can remain open, what we can draw from these times is excitement over the level of growth we’re about to experience. Dig for the jewel. Find it. Make it the reason that you keep going. 

It brings me comfort to know that the work the Gritty Pretty team has produced to date will live on, and you can revisit it any time. I’m particularly proud of our last issue—the March 2024 issue with Kita Alexander on the cover—because I feel like it was our strongest to date. It is a reflection of the brilliant, creative, and forward-thinking women who make up my team. Every single one of them put everything into this final issue and I love that it will live on as a symbol of what this magazine meant to us, and to all of you. 

To my team, past and present, thank you. Over the past decade, we have challenged what it means to be a digital publisher. We’ve produced 40 editions of Gritty Pretty Magazine, attracted millions of views to our website, clocked up more than 400,000 Beauty Talk podcast downloads and hosted thousands of people at beauty events across Australia. Maybe you didn’t know that we did all of this with a team of 10? It’s a testament to the inimitable women behind this brand—alongside our visionary contributors—and I am so grateful that our professional paths crossed, and will again.  

Personally, being your editor has been the greatest privilege of my life. It has meant equally as much to me to secure an interview with the biggest Hollywood talent as it has to learn that a writer I trained can identify a dangling modifier in a sentence. From the boardroom strategies to the glamorous press trips, I’ve loved every minute. Being the editor of Gritty Pretty wasn’t what you think—it was even better. 

To our Founder & Publisher, Eleanor, thank you for trusting me with Gritty Pretty—your first baby—and making my dreams come true by putting me at the helm. You have given me the spaciousness required to step into the editor I have always wanted to be and you have taught me so much about what it means to lead with empathy. Stay close. 

And lastly, to our community–thank you for being part of this. It was all for you. 

Danielle X

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