Meet Isis Rivas: Creator of Anthology
Instagram: @isis.sade
#COSIGNed by: @ericcabranch
Website: www.anthologyjournals.com
“As a child I didn’t want to be anything, I didn’t know that I could be anything,” Isis says. “Sure they told us in school we could be president if we wanted, but they also told us Santa was real. I was very turned off of school at a very young age. I loved to play outside finding drainage ditches that I would call creeks and streams, and if I had to be home I’d spend the day cutting things and making them into new things. My mom bought me a sewing kit so I could make my Barbie’s clothes but I didn’t want to be a designer, I just was having fun.”
Isis never found school or a regular job to be enjoyable, she needed a creative outlet. “My first creative job was being a florist, which I did for five years,” she says. “In those five years I became part of a very creative crowd and seeing them create their lives and live for themselves inspired and pushed me to do the same. It took a lot of unlearning, growing, love and patience to find my own thing and when I did I knew it was huge.”
Isis would launch “Anthology,” her artistic handmade journal line. “When I first started making journals it had been on my mind to make a book and learn bookbinding for a long time,” she says. “I was working at a small cafe and I went home after work that day and thought if I wanted to make that book I’d better learn how to book bind, so I did & used all material I had at home. I shared my creation on Instagram and the feedback I got was incredible so I decided I’d turn it into a real thing, I worked for two months developing and when I did release Anthology it started doing well immediately.” And that social media love would also translate into a significant portion of her sales, and allow her to engage with her customers.
Isis finds inspiration more so from her close friends and family rather than any other book makers. In the process of creating and maintaining Anthology, she’s found her biggest struggle has been herself. “The self-doubt, fear of failure, the impending doom feeling. It takes a lot of loving yourself and wanting the best for yourself to always push past it and go farther,” she says. “Fear could’ve stopped me. Spending six months in New York, I knew I needed to be away from Atlanta, I was afraid & when everything hit the fan in New York, having an extended stay in California, I was afraid again. Both times I had no clue what I was doing and I was worried but the biggest thing for me was to learn to operate in a space outside of my comfort zone and that was when the miracles started to happen.”
Nowadays, Anthology has flourished because of her artistic touch. “I’ve done a lot of research on handmade journals and from what I’ve seen nobody does quite what I do,” she says. “I use all kinds of material. I use specific paper. I print the lines myself. And every single one is different. I put a lot of love into my journals because I know how important it is to have a journal that you feel a special bond with so I keep that in mind always.”
Isis’s future looks bright. “Success is happiness and if happiness is success I’ve already won,” she says. Starting Anthology and continuing Anthology has filled me with a purpose I always knew was there but wasn’t sure of its nature. And because I found it, I found me & that’s a huge difference to be where I’ve been this year, apart from the other 23 years of my life.”
We #COSIGN Isis Rivas for creating a new, unique and artistic way to express her creativity and then monetizing it.
Who does Isis #COSIGN?
Chrissy Brimmage @chrissybrimmage
Manny Rivas @NomadicManny
Sage Guillory @artguillory
Quasia Elle @prettyfeather
Gerald Lovell @GeraldLovell
Jurell @turnjurell
Hira Farooq @hira.f
Angie luvara @docangieluv
