Meet Bria Manning of 22 West Media in Long Beach

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bria Manning.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
With the help of my grandparents and section 8, I was raised by my widowed mom in a slim, primarily Latino city near East Los Angeles called Pico Rivera. We lived in an apartment complex that can be described as ghetto at best. We lived on the very top floor, apartment 62, and I can still remember the hammering sound of SWAT running down our hallways conducting another drug bust, their pounding footsteps echoing in the air.

As a kid, two people got me where I am today: my mom and my grandma, my mom’s mom. My grandma was—still is—perpetually glued to crossword puzzles, books and word searches when she isn’t glued to the EWTN channel on TV. She was also a teacher’s assistant (a rarity for a woman of color back in those days) at the elementary school I and my hoards of cousins attended, and because of her I was reading by the time I was in kindergarten. Because we grew up with so little money—my mom was putting herself through nursing school while also raising myself and my younger brother, two years my junior—my mom installed at me from a young age that I needed to get to college to get anywhere in life and to get to college I needed to get good grades because scholarships were the only way I was ever going to afford to get there. This was so ingrained in my brain from a young age that my earliest life memory is me arriving to school on the first day of kindergarten, looking at the hallways choked with kids and their parents, and thinking, “Am I in college? This must be what college is.”

Fast forward to the future: I never got scholarships. I instead enrolled in a local community college with the intent of becoming a lawyer. When I transferred to California State University, Long Beach, I did so as an international studies major and I am also now pursuing a minor in political science. At work, when people asked what I was studying and found out it wasn’t journalism or English, I usually got the same reaction; something along the lines of, “What are you doing here?” or “So what are you trying to do?”

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I think, for the most part, most people would say it has not been a smooth road. I grew up fairly poor with one parent and other circumstances that led me to therapy, depression and medication at a young age. But I don’t like to focus too much on that. In hindsight, I certainly appreciate the way it has shaped me to be the person I am today. I consider myself a resilient person—sometimes to the point where it makes me stubborn and I have issues with asking for help—and I believe going through trauma as a young kid shapes you in a specific way. In other words, I’m proud of my bumpy road and the journey it has taken me on; I would never be living the beautiful and unexplored life I am living now without it.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am the editor in chief for 22 West Magazine, a branch of 22 West Media, which is a multimedia production company based at California State University, Long Beach and comprises of three media branches: video, radio, and magazine. I started there last year as a copy editor and now I get to run the magazine, which is a dream of mine in terms of career goals. I am responsible for the overall vision of the magazine and assembling a team of writers, editors and volunteers who are just as eager as me to produce an elegant, thoughtful collection of CSULB students’ work. My goals for the magazine are to incorporate more visual storytelling, such as photo essays, illustrations, prints, political cartoons and more, as well as publishing more long-form journalism. It has been a unique experience thus far managing and producing a magazine entirely remotely with some people I have never been in person before, however I believe I am known to be an upbeat and fun person to work with and I can only hope my staff recognizes this in me and inspires them to creatively collaborate as well.

22 West has been an extremely prideful experience as it is a unique company; it allows the narrative to be placed entirely in the students’ hands and express our stories, thoughts, interests and creative processes to our student community. I have worked with some amazing and talented people at 22 West as well as this is another reason why I love working for this company so damn much—it allows me to be continuously inspired by my peers. As an editor though, I believe what sets me apart from others is not just that I’m good at my job, but also that I know it and I am so passionate about it. Nothing makes me happier than to receive stories from different writers with different styles, read what it is they have to say and collaborate with them to make it the best possible version of their story it can be. It truly is an exciting and honorable position to hold, with people trusting me with their raw thoughts and emotions.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success is defined differently by everyone, even by the same people who all say success equals happiness. Happiness is different for everyone; for me, it means having my family and loved ones, getting to travel, exploring the outdoors, having books around me, in a career I love, being healthy and fit, and being financially stable. Growing up on section 8, I didn’t know what financial stability looked like. Now, as an adult, I don’t strive for excessive financial gains. I have always lived very simply and I want to continue to do so. For me though, success is defined by most if not all of those things I mentioned being checked off my list. I understand life isn’t perfect; I even relish the uncertainty and imperfect nature of life. But so long as I have all of those things as well as my sense of humor and outlook on life, I can’t fail.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://briaalexm.wixsite.com/bria
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @bee.andria

Image Credit:
Photo credit to Moises Marquez

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