An Inspired Chat with Ana Gomez Bernaus of West Side

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Ana Gomez Bernaus. Check out our conversation below.

Hi Ana, 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 makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
Last year, I started a personal project focused on the practices, behaviors, and attitudes that build motivation, enhance creativity, and create fulfillment. It’s called Raising Moxy, and I released it on January 1st of this year. It came about after going through a difficult period, my house was broken into, which triggered a lot of anxiety. To pull myself out of that state, I turned to reading about mindset.

As I moved from book to book, I noticed that several authors kept highlighting similar ideas. I started taking notes, and over time a clear set of recurring concepts emerged. As a visual communicator, I’m trained to consolidate information and translate it into distinctive, lasting forms. That’s how Raising Moxy was born: a collection of principles distilled from my mindset deep dive, summarized into concise insights and represented through visual metaphors.

This project has been pulling me in very intensely. The research was enlightening, and now creating the artwork to represent each concept truly makes me lose track of time. What makes the process especially meaningful is that I’m actively practicing the ideas I’m illustrating. It’s quite a meta experience, and very invigorating. Each piece becomes a journey of discovery, I start with an intention, but once I’m in the 3D space, modeling and composing the scene, it feels like navigating a world as I create it, discovering what works in an organic, intuitive way.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Ana, and I’m a visual artist. I work as an Associate Creative Director at Buck, and I maintain a personal practice focused on experimentation and self-driven work. This year, that practice evolved into Raising Moxy, a project that brings me purpose and creative fulfillment. By sharing it publicly, I aim to create work that resonates and invites others into a more intentional way of showing up, sparking the same sense of motivation and clarity it sparked in me.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
Moving to New York made me feel powerful—and scared. I crossed the world to start over on my own, and once I arrived, there were many moments when I felt defeated while building a life in a new country. Each setback, however, pushed me forward and led to a new sense of strength. Looking back, I hold that time with warmth and deep gratitude for the effort and tenacity my younger self showed.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Going through hardship has taught me that I have the ability to overcome it. Unlike the challenges that come with success, which are often voluntary, difficult moments arrive uninvited. They bring involuntary hurdles, setbacks, and constraints that demand deliberate effort to grow through. The other side of that coin is that moving through rough patches builds resilience and a sense of achievement that can become a driver of future success.

The robbery at my home last year was one of those setbacks. For a long time, I felt intense anxiety whenever I left the house. I didn’t rationally believe it would happen again, but the fear lingered and limited my sense of freedom. That experience may always leave a trace of worry, but I’m proud that I used the need to heal as fuel to create a project I truly believe in, that helped me process the experience and has the potential to help others as well.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
Publishing Raising Moxy is my commitment to creating work that feels meaningful. My intention is for it to encourage a sense of empowerment in people, with each artwork acting as a visual memento of a core principle. It took about six months of reading, note-taking, organizing, and refining ideas until I landed on the 18 core concepts that consistently stood out. That phase was deeply educational, but also very inward-focused.

Making the project public has shifted that energy outward. With all the concepts now live I’ve essentially commissioned myself to create 18 3D pieces, one for each idea. It’s a lot of work but it feels like a strong, intentional way to start the year.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Are you tap dancing to work? Have you been that level of excited at any point in your career? If so, please tell us about those days. 
I love this question probably because I’ve been feeling joyful quite often lately. I call this mood effervescence: a light, bubbly feeling that seems to arise on its own. I believe it comes from being more intentional about where I invest my energy, and from deliberately applying ideas around focus and choice to my day-to-day. Working on this project has pushed me to reflect deeply on the principles I’m illustrating, and they’ve gradually permeated into my approach to life.

Even if it sounds cliché, I genuinely enjoy the small things. When I wake up before sunrise, I feel lucky to watch the sun come up behind the mountains from my dining room. When I walk my dog, I can’t help but smile at the way the tips of her pointy ears flop back and forth as she walks, sometimes in sync, sometimes alternating. It’s always funny to me.

I’m deeply grateful that my personal creative practice brings so much joy and satisfaction into my everyday life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://raisingmoxy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anenocena
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anagomezbernaus