A Note from Analisse
Hello all you lovely creatures and welcome to AYA 2.0!
We are excited to have you here along for what is going to be an incredibly exciting time in AYA’s lifecycle. When Lily announced to the team that she would be stepping down from the magazine, I had so many emotions run through me all at once. My first and foremost thought was - how do we keep this going? AYA came to me in the midst of the worst year of my life. I wrote a piece in our 5th issue about reframing self-care as I grieved the losses of both my younger sister and mother who I lost within four months of each other. In addition to those losses, I was laid off from my job in tech and generally was just having an incredibly tough time with my mental health and navigating my new normal.
Then came AYA, I modeled for the Barbie shoot, for issue 3, and from there I knew this was an opportunity to be a part of something special. Meetings with the ladies, helping out on a photoshoot, writing, and promoting the magazine were all the inspo I needed to get my creative juices flowing - something I so desperately needed after the year I had been through and being in a corporate setting for over ten years. The feeling I get from the community of women that Lily built and the overall sense of belonging I’ve gotten from AYA in the short amount of time I have been involved were things I was not ready to give up just yet.
So here we are today - building off of the already amazing foundation Lily laid out for us and ready to see how far our ideas can take us. I am so grateful for the opportunity to continue on with the amazing team we have and to get to include some new additions as well! We hope that as we launch this rebrand, you continue to resonate with us and our overall mission: Creating a magazine that offers a fresh perspective on womanhood, celebrating diverse experiences and voices across generations. Material that empowers women, challenges traditional norms, and reclaims narratives often overlooked or misrepresented. By prioritizing authentic representation and fostering meaningful connections, we aspire to redefine the media landscape and inspire a more inclusive and empowering dialogue for all women.
