Beyond Backdrop: Catching Up With Buckingham
Story by Helen Widman
A conversation with a Backdrop alumna on health writing, marathon training and self-improvement.
Cheyenne Buckingham is an Ohio University alumna who previously wrote for Backdrop Magazine.
Photo provided by Cheyenne Buckingham
As a current college student studying journalism and trying to determine my path after graduation, I decided to chat with Ohio University alumna Cheyenne Buckingham to learn more about her exhilarating career in New York City.
Buckingham graduated from OU in 2017 where she studied journalism and specialized in nutrition. During her time at OU, she wrote for publications including Backdrop magazine and “Her Campus” and was the vice president of the nutrition club. This is when she began focusing her writing on food injustice, local businesses and overall food and health.
After graduation, Buckingham started working in New York at “24/7 Wall St.,” then “Eat This, Not That!” She is currently the staff editor for activity growth content at Nike and has freelance stories in “Runner’s World” and “GoodRx.”
Helen Widman (HW): If you weren’t a writer, what would you be doing instead?
Cheyenne Buckingham (CB): There’s like, so many professions that I'm genuinely intrigued by so I think just because of the things that I studied at OU … I would say dietetics for sure. Like I would definitely love to have my own business as a registered dietitian and helping people actively construct a food plan — I don’t even want to say diet because you know what I mean, I don’t want like “fad diet” to be associated with that — but like a food plan that suits them in a way that they can enjoy most foods and not have like any stigmas associated to any of them.
HW: I mean, it works too, because now you can write about those things too. And you have a little bit of context with your own education, so that’s really cool. So, the next one is if you had to narrow it down, what would be your favorite thing about being a journalist?
CB: No, I love this. Okay, so my favorite part about being a journalist is that it satisfies this endless curiosity that I have about people, about specific subjects within science, within culture within … anything there, right? I’m genuinely curious about everything. Let me backup — in college, that’s what I loved about Backdrop is I got to pitch stories about people within the community … I’m a people person through and through, and being able to write about them in text that’s imagery driven and hopefully inspiring to some … How cool that you get to just do that for your local community or your audience, whatever your publication is.
HW: What would be your favorite piece that you’ve ever written and why? Like in your entire writing career?
CB: So, I have two actually that come to mind. I would say the first one was at “Eat This, Not That!” I did this deep dive into food deserts. I tapped into that first in college and being able to do that at the national level was pivotal in my career, and being able to interview food policy experts from Johns Hopkins and Hunter College and reputable universities and as well as interviewing people from [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] SNAP or Feeding America … That was absolutely amazing.
Another one was more recently; it was in May or June of 2021. I had always wanted to write for “Runner’s World,” and I had hired somebody as a writer for me at “Eat This, Not That!” and she — I know she had a column at “Runner’s World” and I had just finished a marathon and I hadn’t run one in six years for numerous reasons, but I was just feeling extremely sentimental about it … So, it was really beautiful to have this first-person essay be my first debut into “Runner’s World” … That was just a huge confidence boost and it also felt super therapeutic.
Cheyenne and Mackenzie Smith pose with copies of Backdrop magazines in September 2015 at the College Green in Athens, Ohio.
Photo provided by Cheyenne Buckingham
HW: I didn’t realize how helpful that is to explore that side of writing in addition to the traditional magazine or news story. But that kind of leads into my next question, which [is] how do you overcome writer’s block? Like overall, whether it’s something personally you’re writing about or just a regular story that you’re doing.
CB: Something I’m noticing is that I feel like, maybe this is wrong, but I find that writer’s block might be directly linked to confidence.
And I find that on my days that I feel confident about me, about my skill set, about where I’m at in life … I find that I can construct sentences more clearly. I can get to the point more quickly … But I find if I’m not feeling in a good headspace to write and I know that I have time under a deadline, like you know what, tonight’s not the night; we’re not even going to try and push this because I know that I’m not feeling it. Also, I work way better under a strict deadline, like an intense one. I have to get in the zone.
HW: Exactly. So, then my next question [is] what would be the biggest piece of advice you could give to young writers, aspiring writers, anyone that wants to write or edit or be in your position someday?
CB: I think my biggest advice is to always remain open minded, perceptive and willing to accept feedback in a joyous manner because it’s a gift to be able to learn from a mentor. I’m currently learning from the mentor of my dreams right now and it means everything to me because she’s challenging me in ways that I’ve never been challenged. It is thrilling, and being able to approach hard tasks and challenges with low ego, I think will take you far … And knowing that you’re not going to be the best writer coming out of the gates of college.
HW: My last question is, what has been the biggest challenge that you’ve faced in your career so far, whether it’s mental, physical, any challenges?
CB: Probably the most difficult challenge was moving to New York three weeks after graduation, getting the second job I was offered [at “24/7 Wall St.”]. And it was a huge challenge because it was essentially like a data journalist, feature-oriented position … The challenge is that I had no experience with Excel and now I had this job that required me to analyze trends and find correlations within data to make a story about it, an evergreen story about it. And so, having to learn that and you know, just accept that, okay, I’m gonna have to ask for support on this and it’s gonna make me uncomfortable because I don’t like asking for help. That was former me, you know? Now I love asking for help.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
To read more about Cheyenne Buckingham and her work, visit cheyennebuckingham.com.