Abby Gardner is a freelance writer and editor currently based in Indianapolis. In PATTERN terms, she is what we would call a “boomerang.” You know, that midwestern phenomenon where a person moves away from Indiana, but winds up returning years down the line. Gardner has been back in Indiana for six years now following an extensive New York City career in women’s magazines and digital publications. You might have read her stories in Marie Claire, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, or Fashionista. Since making the move home, Gardner has spent her time in Indy editing, copywriting, and sharing her thoughts on all things pop culture via her newsletter and corresponding podcast, We Have Notes.
Gardner initially left Indiana for college, and after her studies at Duke University, she set off to NYC. It wasn’t a move born out of Midwestern teenage angst—instead, she found herself chasing career opportunities. “I always loved that I grew up here,” Gardner says. “Whenever I left, it never felt like running away from anything. There were things I wanted to do and experience that didn’t exist here for me.”
Since she’s been back, Gardner has witnessed downtown Indianapolis blossom, with increasingly more space being made for local creativity. We were curious how her Indy experience compared to her NYC escapades, so we invited her over to the PATTERN office for a Q+A sesh. Read the interview to hear how she made the transition to NYC, what sparked the return home to Indiana, and how the two cities compare.
Katie Freeman: Was there any kind of culture shock that came along with the move?
Abby Gardner: It always felt comfortable to me. The first time I actually lived in New York was when I did an internship at Interview magazine the summer before my senior year in college. I had to find a place to live. I went and stayed at my friend’s parents’ house in New Jersey, took the train into the city, got the Village Voice, started going to the classifieds, and found a short-term apartment. Looking back, I don’t know how I knew to do that. It didn’t feel intimidating to me.
I think there is a thing that draws a certain kind of personality to New York City. It’s not an easy place and living there doesn’t make anyone better than anyone else. It’s just the kind of person that feels comfortable and like thrives there, especially when they’re coming from not growing up there. But I did have friends in college that were from Manhattan. That was wild to me. It felt like I’d only seen it in the movies. Growing up in the city—to me—was like the coolest thing I could possibly imagine, but you’re always looking at the thing you don’t have as being romanticized!
KF: Speaking of romanticization, I feel like being a beauty editor was very much the movie it-girl career in the 2000s. And you did that! How would you compare the New York lifestyle to being in downtown Indianapolis?
AG: It’s different. I love being downtown because lifestyle-wise, it doesn’t feel as dissimilar. I can walk to things and I don’t always have to get in my car. But when you’re a beauty or fashion editor, you have so many events and things to go to. I do a lot less now. I think that’s also a product of being older. Not because I can’t, but I’m like, “I did it, it’s cool.” It doesn’t bother me.
New York is a very different lifestyle. There would be nights when I’d have three events in a night. They were work-related, but also cool and fun. In my twenties, that was great. Junior magazine people don’t make a ton of money, so you eat up on those fancy hors d’oeuvres and get those free cocktails! It was a time when magazines and advertisers were much more flush with money and there was more spending on editorial photoshoots and car service and events and press trips. And then I lived in a tiny apartment with my roommates. It was the juxtaposition of going to an event at a fancy, very cool location and then going home to my three-bedroom, sixth-floor walkup that probably should have been a one-bedroom. My life is quieter now, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
KF: You’ve been back in Indiana for six years now. What made you feel it was time to come back?
AG: I thought about it for about a year before I actually did it. There were a lot of factors. The industry had changed a thousand times and I felt like we had gone through another change. I couldn’t imagine a dream scenario anymore, like “This is what I want to be doing here.” I was like okay, is it worth it? You spend such an exorbitant amount on your rent, and it leaves less for travel and other things. It used to totally make sense, the sacrifices you make to live in a city like that, because you get all these other things. But I was doing less of the other things and it started to feel out of balance.
Then there was family. My dad is here. My brother and his wife and kids are here. And I don’t know, I was like “It might be nice to have a bigger apartment!” I was looking at all Indianapolis has to offer someone like me, who’s single and child-free and happy about that. Downtown Indy has become so much more vibrant.
KF: Indy has changed a lot in the past two decades. Is there anything about the city now that you wouldn’t have anticipated seeing downtown twenty years ago?
AG: There are so many residents! Not that there weren’t always people living downtown, but there’s obviously been a huge influx of construction and new buildings and young people downtown. When I was a kid, my dad worked downtown. There were a couple of restaurants that I went to, or we’d come down and go to a Colts game. It felt like you came in and you did the thing and you left. That’s a very north side perspective, but I don’t know that I could have anticipated how vibrant it is. I enjoy it. The growth of the creative community in Indy is exciting, even if I’m not always in the middle of it in the same way. It’s not like there were never creative people, but when I was growing up, it felt like I had to go elsewhere to find that kind of community. To see it in Indianapolis makes me so happy.
KF: Is there anything you miss about NYC that you’d bring to Indy if you could?
AG: Listen, you’re never going to beat the food in New York City. There’s so much great food in Indy, but there’s some restaurants I would love to have here. And I like the faster pace, which might sound weird because I’ve calmed down a little, but that mentality that made it easy for me to slide into New York is still in there. So sometimes I’m like, “Let’s go faster! Why are we taking so long?” Not in a rude way, just efficient. And then I miss seeing my friends that live there regularly. I miss some of the perks of the media job in New York. I used to go to a lot of film screenings. I miss a beauty closet. I do miss that creative collaboration of being in an office sometimes.
KF: What are some tips or tricks you’ve learned from your NYC experience that have been helpful in your career? Any lessons you’re still living by?
AG: The cliche “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere,” I do believe that’s true professionally and personally. New York is not an easy city, and I say that with all of the love in the world. Not just the expense, but in the dead of winter you’re gonna put on your coat and walk four blocks to the subway. It can try to wear you down, and when it doesn’t, you just know how to deal with shit.
I got to work around some of the most creative people, people who are so good at what they do. Kind of by osmosis, you take some of that in. People work really, really hard in New York. There were times when I was really out of balance, but I can get it done. I am fast! When you can get stuff done fast, it gives you more time for the other things.
