Today we’d like to introduce you to Mansi Tanna and Jessica Wise.
Mansi and Jessica, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Audacity was an idea we conceived while working multiple jobs and internships just to make ends meet. As star millennials at our companies, we were expected to know everything about online media from social media marketing to graphic design, yet we never saw a penny in bonuses, raises, or promotions to offset our low wages, even though our efforts brought in major revenue.
Not only did we experience these inequities, but we observed them in the treatment of other people our age and even mid-to-senior-level collaborators who were being taken advantage of for their skills and talents. Wages are simply not matching the drastically rising cost of living in Atlanta, and the millennial generation that is already burdened with nearly six figures of student loan debt is most at risk. We saw that this was no longer a case of teenagers not being able to get summer jobs. This was and continues to be a crisis.
So, we chose to venture out on our own, starting a magazine completely from scratch that addresses what today’s workforce lacks and how we can navigate it towards positive change.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Absolutely not. I (Jessica) was an unemployed graduate with a master’s degree that I felt was laughing in my face. I had to pack up my apartment and move back to my parents’ house in Columbus, Georgia for almost a year, all while starting a new business. Mansi was knee-deep in a tough senior year of college and full-time management role, and with me being out of town it was hard to schedule meetings to strategize.
Then, you have the logistics of starting a business — the LLC, getting funding, the EIN, creating a budget and seeing that everything costs way more than you projected. They don’t teach you that stuff in school. We first had this idea in June 2018 with a target launch for September 2018. Now, we look back on that and laugh. We launched in June 2019. It always takes a lot longer than you expect, so you have to give yourself time.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Audacity Magazine & Events – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
We can’t very well change the workforce structure we’ve been pushed into, but we can change how we approach it and make it work for us. So, we considered what our generation needed most of out of a new magazine:
-Editorial Content: Articles, interviews, and videos created by millennials and for millennials. Our generation has been taking a beating in media, and it’s created a stigma that is really unfair. Our content moves in the spirit of educating and encouraging millennials to build the lives they choose instead of tearing them down to make them fit in the “American Dream” box.
-Affordable Events: Opportunities where millennials can network and make connections without paying an arm and a leg. Most of Atlanta’s networking events that have big decision-makers in attendance cost at least $100 for a seat. We’re a generation of student debt, high rent, and low wages. Millennials face the dilemma to either pay $100 for a networking event where they MIGHT make a valuable connection, or they pay the bills. We have taken a pledge that a ticket to any Audacity event will never cost more than $35.
-Professional Development: Public school has failed a lot of us. We go onsite and teach the real-life skills that we didn’t get in primary education. That includes personal finance, resume building, professional wardrobe, etc.
Authenticity and empathy is what makes Audacity most unique. We’re professional, but we don’t put up a facade to our audience that all your dreams will come true if you work hard and “just believe.” Sure, that’s part of it. But if we lack authenticity about our struggles and lack empathy for the struggles of our generation, then we’re just another magazine trying to make money. We’re proud to have built this completely from scratch, and we’ve been able to accomplish that because we’ve been real.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Oh my goodness, so many things! Ultimately, we want this to grow to a national level, but for now, we are focusing on getting the word out here at home. We would love to build more collaborative partnerships. We have recently partnered with a rep at Northwestern Mutual as well as a local consulting firm. We’re super excited about bringing them in for upcoming events and sharing more VERY soon.
We also want to expand the brand with more options for content and visibility. This fall we launch a video channel where we host panels, interviews, and special features with local entrepreneurs. We will also begin featuring some more regular themes with our articles, both Millennial Spotlights for young entrepreneurs and Mentor Spotlights for GenX-ers and boomers we believe can be a positive influence on our readers.
Pricing:
- One-Time Donations of any amount are always welcome! All monies go towards paying our writers, putting up events, and costs of operations.
- Sponsorships starting at $100.
- Advertising Packages starting at $300.
- Onsite Workshops starting $100.
Contact Info:
- Website: audacitymagazine.org
- Email: audacitymagonline@gmail.com
- Instagram: @audacitymagonline
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AudacityLLC/
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