Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Terra Necessary & Be Necessary & Sarah Hughes of Aurora

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Terra Necessary & Be Necessary & Sarah Hughes. Check out our conversation below.

Hi Terra & Be & Sarah, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
Teaching and inspiring people to make their own art. I (Terra) have always taught art through organizations such as City of Aurora and Pop Culture Classroom, and all three of us want to do everything to make the w0rld better. With PCC closing, and the current world we live in, we realized that for us, the best way to get that is to get people enjoying and making art. We can’t solve world hunger or war, but maybe we can help the people who can have a happy moment that recharges them, maybe we can make our community a little better this way.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
The Atomic Pixies are a group of three artist who found each other through the Denver nerd scene, and realized they wanted to make something beautiful together. Brought together by a love of science, magic, and art nouveau, the three of us started creating art together and quickly all moved in to one household so we could create better. All three of us have our hands in every project, from brain storming to creations to selling.

Terra and Be are high school sweethearts who have lived in Aurora most of their lives. Sarah is the wild card from Grand Junction who the other two met at a local anime convention and instantly bonded with. Terra brings a deep love of art and passion started the group, Sarah’s love for space and organization helps keep us focused, and Be’s quirky taste and hard work keeps us running smoothly.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I think a lot of our success is giving the finger to who the world told us we had to be. We often say “My 13 year old self would be so proud of me.” and I think keeping that part of ourselves intacted, no matter what the world throws at us, has been very important. None of us has ever had illusions we could rest on a laurels, this whole journey has been hard work, side jobs, sacrifices…but keeping that joy in mind, and wanting to give a little piece of that joy to others helps. None of us were going to be Disney Princesses, and we all knew it from a young age. Plenty of people were ready to tell us how little all of this mattered, and how we needed to grow up and get real.

We didn’t accept that it had to be either/or. All three of us wanted to look at the world with hope and push towards that hope in active ways.

Growing up with things like Sailor Moon and Star Trek, the moral is to always assume the best of people and help them become that best version of themselves. Through Atomic Pixies we want to hold up a mirror that shows that happiness and beauty doesn’t have to be some out of reach goal, that we can have a little bit of it every day, and teach ourselves to see it everywhere. Our world is stressful and scary, and we have all known that our whole lives. You have to cultivate joy, and all of us have felt that struggle, chosen to see it and share it with others.

We aren’t trying to escape into the simpler stories of our youth, we’re trying to bring the hope and optimism from them into this world. The world is rough, we don’t have to be.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
I think the essences of what I imagine most of us would say.

“It’s gonna be ok.”

Specifically, it’s gonna be ok to be yourself. I don’t want to paint a picture like we were all bullied nerds, but this world is a hard place to be yourself, aggressively, in. We were lucky to hold on to that, and to be able to turn it into something that sustains us. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t an active struggle at times for a million reasons.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Terra & Be & Sarah
It’s hard to assign any single aspect of yourself the “real” you. We don’t really post a lot of personal content to the web, some of that old internet safety habits. I don’t think anyone who knows our public persona would be shocked about what they would see if we did, however.

We’re a trio of nerds who care maybe too much about somethings and too little about others, but who generally try to be cool dudes making the world a better place. Our little house is packed with original art pieces next to Funko pop figures, cats cuddling with anime plushies, and academic tones shoved in next to comic books that range from Persopolis to Pokemon. We love exploring the world around us, and we want that world to be the best it can be. And we want to share all that we love with others, and show them how beautiful it can all be, from a common weed like a dandelion all the way to the sparkling cosmos.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
We mentioned wanting to make the world better many times, but the way I think we hope to make the world better the most is individually. Not a great, single story, but a lot of little ones:

They made me want to make my own art.
They helped me like the way I look, the person I love, the person I am.
They inspired me to make my own story.
They taught me to care about this animal, this issue, this piece of the world I hadn’t considered.

Of course getting famous and having a huge impact could be wonderful. But every person who encounters us and love art a little more is wonderful, too.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.atomicpixies.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atomicpixies
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/atomicpixies
• Other: https://www.patreon.com/atomicpixies