“Everything is story.” These are the words that Amy Aniobi lives by.
Whenever something occurs in her life – be it unexpected or unwarranted, she channels that into something productive. Everything is a story. We all have stories that differentiate ourselves from others, and that make us incredibly unique. They can only be heard when we have the courage to broadcast them.
HBO teamed up with Wieden+Kennedy to create an immersive and interactive exhibit in New York City. HBO’s ‘Inspiration Room’ is aptly named as it showcased real women’s diaries. The Inspiration Room displays true raw, unedited stories in celebration of Women’s History Month.
“HBO has a long history of bringing female characters to life in a way that is honest, relatable, and often unexpected,” said Dana Lichtenstein, director, consumer marketing, brand and product at HBO. The entries come from all across the U.S and feature a wide variety of women. Each one having a different story to tell. It is not often that we get a large diverse selection of women’s stories.
On March 22nd the Inspiration Room hosted ‘The Writers Workshop’, presented by ‘Girls Write Now’. ‘Girls Write Now’ is a nonprofit organization that advocates and mentors women’s find their voice through writing. HBO writers Amy Aniobi (Insecure, 2 Dope Queens, Silicon Valley), Carly Wray (Watchmen, The Leftovers, Westworld) and Lila Byock (Watchmen, The Leftovers) sat down to talk and share their own stories and the way they’ve each have manifested their passion into a career. Each one of them describing their upbringings and their triumphs and defeats they’ve experienced in each of their lives. On the topic of battling on the quest to success, the writers had more than a few words of advice to say on the matter. “Turn the clock off”, said Carly Wray, “I would zero in on the person that had what I wanted and would get so worked up, I realized I had to relax and enjoy the journey of writing and what it is”. Aniobi also added on the matter, “It’s Darwinian to be jealous. You think, “They have what I want which means they’re eating and I’m not, which means they live and I die” Success is not pie if they get a slice it doesn’t mean there’s none left for you.”
“There are so many different ways to tell a story. Whether you’re a writer or designer or makeup stylist – you’re still telling a story,” said Aniobi.
More often than not we familiarize ourselves to a smaller selection of stories that are predisposed to us. However, HBO’s exhibit is all inclusive and nondiscriminatory towards all women – and that’s what makes it so special. Women of all kinds coming together to inspire others. Women are complex, brave, and unlike any other – we are valid and proud of the experiences that make have crafted us all. The exhibit was not only composed of diaries but also; compilation books, large-scale installations and audio recordings, as well as other forms of self-expression.
