We are Anxy
Nearly half of American adults develop a mental illness in their lifetime; depression affects 350 million people worldwide. Yet the struggle to be well is still a shameful secret so many of us lock away—despite the fact that it drives us.
Anxy is changing that.
Anxy is a beautifully designed magazine about our inner worlds—the ones we often refuse to share, the personal struggles, the fears that fool us into believing that the rest of the world is normal and we’re not.
We launched on Kickstarter in 2016, raising money and support from hundreds of people who feel the same way as we do. Now we've created the magazine that dives into the real stories of how we live.
Each issue uses a central theme—“loneliness” or “boundaries”—to build an original, insightful, and creative perspective through interviews with folks we admire, personal essays, reported features, visual stories, and recommendations for what to read, watch and download to round out the conversation.
This isn’t your therapist’s scientific journal. It isn’t some self-help manual. And we aren’t telling you how to “fix” an issue. We are Anxy. Aren’t you?
This is a magazine for culture makers and the people inspired by them who are tired of feelings ashamed of their emotions and mental health.
Anxy is for people who crave open discussions about coping with anxiety, depression, fear, anger, trauma, shame, and all those other wildcards that alter the direction of our work and our lives.
The Team
We come to Anxy with an openness about our personal baggage. Occasionally, we can appreciate it—and even joke about it. But we’re just tired of pretending it doesn’t exist, and we’re committed to ripping the stigmas off our challenging emotions.
Indhira Rojas is the founder of Anxy, and creative director and principal at Anagraph. For over a decade she has worked in the intersection of branding, editorial, and interaction design for The Bold Italic, Modern Farmer, Atlas Obscura and Medium. Read her founding story >
Bobbie Johnson, Anxy’s editor-in-chief, is editorial director and principal at Anagraph. He was previously head of editorial and curation at Medium, and the founding editor of Matter, the ASME-winning, Pulitzer-shortlisted, online magazine. Before that he was a reporter and editor at the Guardian. Read his founding story >
Jennifer Maerz is Anxy’s editor-at-large. She’s the program chief and editor-in-chief at Lean Startup, and former editor-in-chief of Gannett’s digital experiment The Bold Italic. She's a longtime music editor, and writes for publications including RollingStone.com, Cosmopolitan.com, Salon.com, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Read her founding story >
Katie MacBride is an associate editor at Anxy and a freelance writer. Her work has appeared in Rolling Stone, New York Magazine, and The Establishment among other outlets. She is a contributing editor at Book Riot. Read her founding story >
Michelle Le, Anxy’s director of photography, is an award-winning editorial photographer and photo editor specializing in investigative reporting and in-depth enterprising stories. She's a former photo editor for Medium and her work has appeared in WIRED, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Bloomberg and the San Francisco Chronicle. Read her founding story >
Madison Kahn, Anxy’s senior editor, is the content lead at Light. She was previously a senior editor at Medium and Matter, and worked on the editorial teams at Outside and Boston magazine. Read her founding story >
Kati Krause, Anxy’s editor, is a writer, editor, and maker of magazines. She is the Berlin correspondent for Monocle and develops digital storytelling strategies for media companies. Read her founding story >
Livia Foldes is Anxy's senior designer, as well as a senior designer at Anagraph. She works somewhere between art and design, and has done so for Jensen Architects, Heath Ceramics, Elixir Design, and numerous clients in the arts and nonprofit worlds.
We count on an inner circle of mental health professionals and advisers who will collaborate with us and help guide the content around specific issues. These include:
Natalie Harvey is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the Bay Area. Her clinical experience and practice centers around working with adults, adolescents and families toward healing relational, internal, psychological, and traumatic wounding. She believes relief and healing often come from the power of story, experience, human connection, and access to knowledge.
Natasha Vianna is head of communications at Honor and the co-founder of #NoTeenShame, an award-winning national movement illuminating the need for stigma-free support for youth across the nation. She has been featured in Latina Magazine, New York Magazine, The Nation, and shared a TEDx talk on the culture of shame.