bˈɜːd wʌz sˈɛvəntˌiːn wɛn ʃiː stˈɑːɹɾᵻd wˈɜːk fɔːɹ dˌiːsˈiː tˈɑːmsən ɪn dˈʌndiː wˈɜːkɪŋ ˌɔn tˈiːneɪdʒ mˌæɡɐzˈiːnz ænd ᵻvˈɛntʃuːəli bɪkˌeɪm ðə pˈɑːp ˈɛdɪɾɚɹ æt dʒˈæki mˌæɡɐzˈiːn.
Bird was 17 when she started work for DC Thomson in Dundee working on teenage magazines and eventually became the pop editor at Jackie magazine.