Name, Age, and State: Russ Bravo, 51, West Sussex, UK

Job-title: Editor, Inspire magazine  Creative & Development Director, CPO (Christian Publishing & Outreach)

Web/blog site URL: www.inspiremagazine.org.uk    www.cpo.org.uk

Give us your job description in 25 words or less. I edit the UK’s largest reach Christian magazine (around 200,000 readers) and help CPO create dynamic resources for UK churches to share the Christian message with their communities

Describe a typical workday. There is no typical workday! My time could be spent writing news stories and features, commissioning freelances, editing copy, choosing images, updating our websites, managing our social media channels, developing ideas with designers and writers for our mail order products, travelling out to build partnerships with other ministries and organizations, working on management and strategy for our company and much more besides

What led you to realize that you wanted to do this type of work? I studied English at university and it was only in my third year, working on the student newspaper that I realized journalism and the media was where I wanted to work. I ended up working in weekly, regional and daily newspapers in the UK for 14 years, and God then called me into Christian media work for the last 15 years or so.

Did you have any heroes or mentors in your industry that you admired? Not names you would have heard of: local newspaper editors, writers and sub-editors with a passion for their communities, a love of truth and the role of the media, and a commitment to writing and communicating with intelligence, integrity and a sense of fun.

What type of education or training was required to land your job? I trained on the job, studying shorthand, law, newspaper practice and local government, leading to a professional journalism qualification – the NCTJ certificate. But journalism is about a love for people and a hunger to communicate, rather than bits of paper

What do you love most about your job? Meeting ordinary people with extraordinary stories, as well as high profile people. I love words and their power to communicate. And I believe wholeheartedly in helping the Christian church share the greatest message the world has ever known.

What one part of your job do you wish you could hire someone else to do? Trawling through endless emails! I know a day out of the office is likely to leave me with 100-150 messages to wade through the following day …

What advice would you give to teenagers wanting to get into your field of work? Start a blog. Write regularly about things that you care about. Pester local newspapers, magazines, websites, radio, TV and the rest. Learn from others. Persevere – if you want it badly enough, you will make a career in the media.

How does your job allow you to use your God-given gifts? I believe God has gifted me to write, to edit and to communicate in a wider sense. All these come into play in my work. I love people and enjoy meeting all kinds and types of people. And I like using humour in communication – it takes people by surprise, and can sometimes let you say things you’d never get away with without a smile on your face!

Do you have any hobbies or off-hours pursuits that teenagers would find of interest? I run a comedy club in our town that started life three years ago as a one-off church event, and is now the town’s only regular family-friendly comedy club. We also launched the town’s first ever comedy festival last year. I love a bit of performance, whether it’s music, poetry or stand-up. I’m also a great lover of sport, and am a season ticket holder at Brighton & Hove Albion FC, currently making a great start to life in the Championship. And I love all kinds of music – from indie and rock to blues, jazz and gospel.