Being senior editor of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit takes MJ Figel Day ‘97 around the world in search of beautiful places in which to photograph gorgeous models. She also finds time for adventure, such as in Rajasthan, India (above), where she posed with a cobra.
MJ Figel Day ’97 has cuddled a koala in Australia and lounged with a lion in the African nation of Zambia. The senior editor at Sports Illustrated Swimsuit has traveled to Tunisia, Turkey, and Thailand, to Costa Rica, Canada, and Croatia, stepping on every continent except Antarctica in just over a dozen years.
As a college freshman, Day had never so much as boarded an airplane. Childhood vacations were confined to the East Coast. Day chose the University of Mary Washington in part because it reminded her of her small hometown in New Jersey.
“Bigger universities scared me,” she said. Plus, “I didn’t want to go to a party school. I was in it for an education.”
Day made up her mind after one tour of the picturesque campus. “I’m an aesthetic person. I was drawn to it. Academically, it was a really good match. I didn’t go on any more college tours after Mary Washington.”
Day, who had planned to become a lawyer, majored in political science.
But a trip to Chicago to visit her college roommate’s family – and a second trip to the Bahamas – “flipped a switch in me,” Day said. “You have all these ideas of what you think you should do with your life. It’s almost impossible to know.”
A UMW study-abroad tour of European capitals with John M. Kramer, distinguished professor of political science and international affairs, and Porter R. Blakemore, associate professor of history, followed.
“It became my priority to see as much of the world as I could before I died. It was kind of like a reawakening. It forever changed how I viewed my life and the world,” Day said of the study abroad. “I never would have had this understanding of this passion if I hadn’t done that.”
Day set her sights on New York and publishing – a fast-paced and ever-changing industry. She landed an internship at InStyle magazine right after graduation.
Her next job was as an editorial assistant at Sports Illustrated working on the swimsuit edition. Along with serving coffee and returning bathing suits, Day said, “I got to go on shoots” to those exotic, faraway places.
She worked her way up to assistant editor, then associate editor. As senior editor, Day runs the largest-selling, single-issue magazine in the world.
“Honestly, I attribute everything I’ve become professionally to Mary Washington,” Day said.
And after all that travel, she said, “I have yet to find a prettier place than Fredericksburg.”