Now on Video from In/Visible Talks 2020: Indhira Rojas on “Going Beyond a Personal Passion Project”
Anxy’s Creative Director Indhira Rojas talked about what she experienced when her idea for a magazine became a global phenomenon.
Indhira Rojas is often asked “Why did you start Anxy?”
It began as a personal project, with a desire to create something that would use art and design to humanize mental illness and allow contributors and readers to reclaim their lives from trauma. “Many of us carry stories with us, and we pretend everything is okay,” she said during her talk at the In/Visible Talks conference in January 2020. “But what we don’t address, we don’t alleviate.” In Indhira’s case, the unaddressed trauma stemmed from a story of surviving trauma in her childhood.
With evident emotion and tremendous courage, she shared with us how she channeled her own experiences to guide her and her team as they created a publication “focused on true understanding without judgment.” Inspired by a teacher who had helped her realize she had a voice, Indhira encouraged others to share their honest, personal narratives through interviews and photo essays.
Anxy quickly became something bigger than she had imagined: an award-winning independent magazine with a global following. With just four issues (Anger, Workaholism, Boundaries, and Masculinity), the creative process was a personal journey of healing for Indhira, one that included recognizing when it was time to let that work go.
Hear more about Anxy’s impact and Indhira’s story in the video of her talk below or on Vimeo here.