Carol Wright started NYOTA Magazine to build her portfolio and pursue her dream of becoming a professional photographer. Beyond that dream, she wanted to create a publication that gave a voice to up-and-coming talent rather than featuring the same people frequently seen on magazine covers.
The name NYOTA (meaning “star” in Swahili) aligns directly with the magazine’s mission to feature up-and-coming stars in music, fashion, and culture. While being a professional photographer is no longer Wright’s goal, giving diverse talent a platform will always be central to the publication.
Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Carol Wright is a graduate of American University with a BA in journalism and a minor in business and entertainment. At a young age, she became interested in telling stories through photography, eventually leading her to create NYOTA. Her passion for storytelling has allowed her to pick the brains of musicians, actors, and influencers worldwide.
Art Director
Nicole Cox is an American University graduate with a bachelor’s in Graphic Design. Nicole has a deep passion for the arts. From writing stories to painting objects that she observes in nature, she loves finding different outlets for her creativity. Thanks to her wonderful professors at AU, Nicole has found another passion in the arts and is currently pursuing a career in graphic design.
Graphic Designer
Sadie Trainor is a recent graduate of New York University, where she majored in Media, Culture, and Communications, with minors in Digital Art & Design and Journalism. She has a deep passion for the arts and is dedicated to creating and designing work that reflects her personal values and identity.
Staff Writer
Eleanor Weber is a writer, artist, and current MBA student at William & Mary, based in New York City. She holds a BS in Anthropology from James Madison University, where she wrote for several local publications and discovered a love for interview-based storytelling. Now a staff writer at NYOTA, she’s passionate about music, curating creative spaces, and exploring sustainable, business-minded ways to support working artists and creatives.
Staff Writer
Raissa Sapardan is a writer and brand strategist. After two degrees and a small number of jobs, she realized her passion is consuming media and writing about it. She especially loves all things movie and wants to build a community of movie lovers through NYOTA.
Staff Writer
Grace Kinter is your typical (but not average) Los Angeles multi-hyphenate. She is a soul singer-songwriter who has been making and performing tear-jerking R&B tunes for over a decade. She has a finance day job that allows her the flexibility to pursue her passion in entertainment. She does this by producing shows around LA, dabbling in entertainment PR, and contributing to NYOTA Magazine. Though she specializes in reporting on music, she enjoys telling the stories of anyone or anything that evokes soul. She found her creative footing and voice in Chicago, but has been in LA for about 5 years because she loves the sun and jacket-less outfits.
Staff Writer
Sandra Ictech is a current student at Boston University, majoring in Journalism and minoring in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. She is passionate about communicating through diverse platforms and with diverse audiences, and about sharing her love of storytelling with English- and Spanish-speaking audiences. She has a passion for working in entertainment and with those who have talent and a story to tell. She is committed to collaborating effectively with others and takes great pleasure in conducting interviews, aiming to truly understand people on both personal and professional levels.
Intern
Britt Starghill is a senior at Loyola University Chicago, majoring in International Business with a passion for exploring the intersections of fashion, culture, politics, and history. His interest in fashion began through deep research on the surrealist art and fashion movements of 1930s Paris, which sparked a deeper intrigue for the fashion industry’s cultural and creative influence on the world around us. This curiosity led him to examine multiple contemporary runway collections, specifically the world-renowned Italian Fashion House Elsa Schiaparelli. Through his writing, Britt seeks to capture the complexities of fashion by engaging in its social significance and exploring the ways that fashion reflects identity, challenges conventionalism, and connects with culture and social justice.
Intern
Deanthony “Dean” Nachampasak is currently a journalism graduate student at Boston University. Ever since he was young, he was interested in magazines—specifically fashion, food, and travel ones. During his youth, he also enjoyed watching fashion-related television shows such as (but not limited to) “Fashion File,” “The Look for Less,” “Project Runway,” and “Fashion Police.” For his undergraduate education, he attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa and completed a bachelor’s degree in English and a certificate in Spanish. He also attended the New York University Summer Publishing Institute program in 2019. As a first-generation college student and a child of immigrant parents, he desires to give a voice to people who come from modest and/or minority backgrounds. He was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Intern
Madison O’Neill is an undergraduate student at Drew University, majoring in Media and Communications, based in Jersey City. She has a deep passion for performance, all things music, and working with others creatively!
Intern
Oscar Ortega Morales is a writer and filmmaker based in Anaheim, California. He holds a degree in screenwriting and currently freelances in set design. When he’s not writing, he enjoys collecting cassettes, reading, and watching films.’
Intern
Hadley Balser is a music journalist with a bachelor’s in writing and rhetoric and an educational background in entertainment management, editing, and publishing. They love getting inside an artist’s mind, reviewing cultural and social perspectives on music, and connecting with others by having genuine conversations.