I recently met up with a non-industry friend whom I haven’t seen in a couple years, and he asked if my job was like the protagonist’s in the film The Devil Wears Prada.

It wasn’t the first time I’ve gotten this question, and it always makes me chuckle. The parallel is understandable- the protagonist, Andy, and I both work at New York-based magazines and are relatively new to the team and industry.

But this is where the similarities end. In The Devil Wears Prada, written by a former Vogue employee (and surprisingly enjoyable- especially the movie version), Andy contends with an utterly tyrannical boss, Miranda Priestly- believed to be based on Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. Andy is given little responsibility, asked to run personal errands, and generally barraged with insults on a daily basis.

As is probably somewhat apparent from these blogs alone, my experience at JCK couldn’t be more different from Andy’s. Mine is a stimulating place to work (not to mention a strategic venue for free snacks), and I have had amazing opportunities to write, travel, and influence the look and feel of our book. My co-workers and superiors are friends and teachers (would be lost, computer-wise, without the extensive patience and knowledge my cubicle neighbor, Assistant Art Director Bacilio Mendez, for example) and our publisher Mark Smelzer is, well, the man.

The jewelry industry as a whole is similarly enjoyable to work within. While Andy deals with snobby, competitive fashion industry players who insult her style and attitude, I continuously meet warm, interesting manufacturers, retailers, and designers. Barbara Cohen of Barbara D’Oro and Haj Yazdiha of Alex Woo, are just two of the industry members whose collections and conversation I’ve recently enjoyed.

I’m not writing this to suck up (after this is posted, I’m expecting senior editor Rob Bates to tell me again that blogs are traditionally edgy forums; ah well) or because I’m promoting the movie, but because it’s true and seems appropriate on the heels of the recent blog by my boss and JCK’s editor-in-chief, Hedda Schupak (approachable, fair, and very un-Miranda-like, by the way)…this is a great industry to call home.

JCK