Meet Aja Sigourney

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aja Sigourney.

Hi Aja, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Hi, thanks for having me back. Well, I completed a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Utah in 2014 after deciding that writing was the path that made my heart skip a beat with excitement. An English degree will take you to unexpected places. After graduation, I ventured out to work in an art gallery doing writing, marketing, and event planning. The art gallery was followed by my first job as a copy editor, splashed with duties as a writer and an events manager for a career coach. My thirst for creative writing in multiple realms and different capacities birthed the idea of becoming a freelance writer. After a few years of freelancing, I was offered an incredible opportunity to take a full-time position as a content manager with a company I had worked with since the inception of my freelance business. With this newfound role, I have the gift of free time for creative writing outside of my day job, so poetry has returned to my sphere as a healing and creative outlet.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The obstacles in making a writing career are as insurmountable as you allow them to be. My tactic in cultivating a stable path from a creative process is consistently seeking learning experiences and opportunities. I began with content writing and grew into editing with the help of grammar courses through UC Berkeley. Next came the process of learning copy through real-life experience and research. Now, my focus has shifted to learning the ins and outs of email funnel marketing and nurturing a role in an incredible California-based artist collective called Pando (https://pandoartcollective.us/).

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My love for writing began as an admiration of the feelings that literature and poetry evoke. To me, writing is synonymous with processing by abstraction. It’s the opportunity to reframe, understand, and explore in a creative medium. There are specific authors and poets I credit as the source of my ambition and faith in writing. If you’d like to nerd out on authors and poets with me, please add me on Instagram so we can chat: @ajamoonwrites. I’ve been told I have a knack for finding the music in what needs to be said. That’s such a tremendous compliment in my eyes because it suggests I’ve refined the balance between logic and artistic license.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Being part of the Pando Art Collective has been a gift. In the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to show my poems in San Clemente and Los Angeles at the Pando “Passion” events. The collective’s mission, which I’ll share below, is very close to my heart. I hope you’ll check them out on Instagram and attend an event.

“Pando is a collective of artists who are passionate about real human connection.

We believe true art connects us. We believe that art has a unique ability in our culture to remind us of how we are not alone. Ever see a piece of art or listen to a song and say to yourself, “It really gets me.” We strive to emphasize this anomaly and make the art that causes it, easier to engage with.

Our primary goals are to increase accessibility in art, connect individuals to themselves, others, and the world around them.

Accessibility is important so we are able to maximize connection. Art and museum/gallery settings can be scary. Sometimes you may not know how exactly to engage with a piece or maybe you just feel like the work is some sort of “inside joke” that everyone understands but you? We use conversational language, various art forms, and try to be transparent with everything we do, with the hope that we will be more inviting and let you focus on connecting with the art, the artists, other people, and yourself.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ajamoonwrites.com/
• Instagram: @ajamoonwrites

Image Credits
All event photos courtesy of @pandoartcollective Headshot courtesy of @kineo.iris_photography