In this feature we interview Rachel Bicha, a Biola English alumna who co-founded and runs Eunoia Journal, a magazine project that highlights her local New England community.
Have questions about Eunoia and ways you can get involved? Reach out to their team at helloeunoiajournal@gmail.com!
What inspired you to begin Eunoia Journal?
My roommate (and magazine partner), Gabby, and I began Eunoia pretty randomly! We were both chatting in the kitchen one morning and at some point, she said “You know, I’ve always wanted to start a magazine.” And I was like, “Wait, me too, I’ll start one with you.” We both looked at each other for a moment and then just decided in that moment — like, ok we’re really going to do this. I think a combination of more free time due to the pandemic and a desire to create something fresh and new when so many other things felt stifled really gave us the drive to actually follow through with it.
What makes Eunoia different from other lifestyle publications?
Our heart with Eunoia is not just “lifestyle,” per se, but really providing a place where people can slow down, encounter something beautiful (without a screen!) and connect with other people. Eunoia also has a really local focus, which I think is unusual in this exceptionally virtual time. Most everyone we’ve featured and interviewed so far, from small businesses to artists and so on, are based in New England. Even if you’re not from New England, I like that we’ve narrowed our scope and said like, look, we really care about local communities. If you live somewhere else, we hope you’ll still enjoy Eunoia! Our goal is to inspire readers to connect with the local community, small businesses, artists and people around you, in real life.
How did your English degree and post-grad experiences prepare you for founding a publication?
Well, my English degree prepared me in basically every way — from learning how to craft a narrative, organize an article or an essay, edit others’ writing, choose the best word for a sentence, and so on. I work in marketing, so that’s definitely helped as well. I’ve practiced a lot of writing skills I learned during my English classes in the writing I do as a marketer, and my marketing skills influence my work on the magazine as well. What I’ve learned is mostly that if you pay attention and devote yourself to whatever work is in front of you, nothing will be wasted — it always comes back and serves you again in the future.
What’s been the biggest surprise about starting Eunoia?
It’s been so much fun! And so much work. The first issue involved so much decision-making — everything from choosing fonts to design decisions, what to feature to which images to use, etc., etc. — you get the idea. For the second issue, there’s been much more coordination. Who’s interviewing who, and when, and who’s contributing to which features, and if that person got us that article and so on. I think, for me, finding a way to make working on Eunoia something sustainable — something that I can continue to enjoy without burning out — has been surprisingly difficult. I expected that to just be natural. The magazine requires a lot of time and work, but it’s not my full-time job, so it’s a tricky balance.
What does the process of editing and compiling the magazine look like, and how do you think your background in English prepared you for that process?
We start with a lot of brainstorming — deciding on a theme for the issue and mapping out features, articles and content. Then slowly from there, we divvy up who’s working on which pieces or what we might be able to assign to other writers and artists. From there, it’s everything you can imagine: writing articles, interviewing small businesses for features, editing pieces from other writers, doing the photography for each piece and designing the layout, and so on. It’s very creative work and a lot of it feels intuitive — there aren’t any “right” answers. I think my background in English really helped me to learn how to take lots of diverse, seemingly different ideas and find ways to thread them together into an interesting, cohesive whole — definitely a required skill for magazine-creation.
Are there any ways our current students or alumni can get involved in submitting to or promoting the magazine?
Yes! We welcome submissions — you can see our current themes and topics and how to submit on our website. We’re on Instagram too, @theeunoiajournal. You can follow us ;) and always feel free to reach out via DM or to email helloeunoiajournal@gmail.com.
What are your hopes for the future of Eunoia?
To be completely honest, I’m just trying to take it one day at a time! Eunoia started as a fun quarantine project, and then it kind of took off and gathered a lot more attention than I expected. For now, I still think of it as a fun hobby. I think it’s really easy to get caught up in a culture of, like — everything has to be a side hustle, everything has to be productive, everything has to be advancing your career, or “getting you somewhere.” Eunoia started as a fun pipe dream — what if we could start our own magazine? — and you know what? We did it. It’s okay, I think, for it to stay as something that’s just a fun hobby (for now). I don’t know — I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself.
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