Who Gets to Be a Writer with Pilgrim Founder Ashley Halligan

Today's guest is Ashley Halligan, the founder of Pilgrim Magazine, an idea born in the Peruvian Amazon. She has been published in places like Backpacker and Alaska Magazine and worked with outdoor brands like Patagonia and North Face. Ashley's a skillful storyteller, and our conversation is probably one of the most soulful conversations you’ll hear on this podcast, but that's only part of the reason why I want you to listen to this episode. I want you to listen because Ashley does a very important thing. She liberates us from the pressure of pitching, creating, and producing constantly. In our world, the legitimacy of who gets to call themselves a writer, a photographer, a storyteller, a creator comes from doing it full-time. In this episode, Ashley and I break that apart and lift that expectation from our wary shoulders. Ashley is not only the founder of Pilgrim Magazine, a photographer, writer, and storyteller, but she's also a content designer at Instagram and a content strategist for brands. She says, “You don't have to be published to call yourself a writer. You don't have to have an exhibit to call yourself a photographer. As long as you commit to your art in some capacity, you are in that thing, and you can be many things. You don’t have to be just a writer to be a writer.” And I love that so much. Beyond that, we discuss what working with Pilgrim magazine looks like and why, if you have even the slightest kernel of an idea, you should absolutely pitch Ashley. We also talk about the Portuguese island of Faial in the Azores and why it's Ashley's favorite place on earth. This episode is one of my favorite episodes to date on our podcast, hands down, and I hope you enjoy it.