Joey Leszczynski ’23 had a dream. “Since freshman year, I had always thought about creating a Vogue-inspired fashion magazine,” he says. But, as he learned new things and met new people during his time at Bryant, his ambition grew. “It began to hit me,” he says. “I realized ‘Okay, this could be bigger than fashion.’ It could be a magazine that would tell important stories about the people around us that the entire Bryant community can draw from and learn from.”
Motivated by a desire to create and to elevate student voices, Leszczynski formed a team that shared his goals and established a Bryant student organization dedicated to inspiring others. The result of his dream, and his team’s hard work, is Thrive Magazine. The inaugural issue of the 40-page publication, released this spring, showcases the diversity, talents and aspirations of Bryant’s students through features, columns, interviews and photo spreads.
He’s excited to have had the opportunity to share something new with Bryant readers and grateful for the community that supported his staff, and his dream, along the way. “Being able to create your club and create your own project makes students feel that their passions are valued and supported—and that they are capable of success,” he says. “One of the reasons that I love Bryant is because it's so rewarding to go to school here—if you put the effort into something you care about you will succeed.”
An important outlet
Bryant offers more than 100 student-run clubs and organizations, including performing arts groups, professional development organizations and affinity clubs united by a common interest. More than just a fun diversion, the groups help students develop their confidence, interpersonal skills and leadership abilities and aid them in developing lifelong connections with one another.
“The advisor’s role is to be an advocate for their club and to help them understand the structures of the institution and how we can all work to make sure their voices are heard.”
“Student involvement outside of the classroom is foundational for the college experience,” says Nicole Rigby, Assistant Director of Bryant’s Center for Student Leadership and Inclusion (CSLI). “Student organizations provide a great opportunity for students to learn about themselves and their interests as well as how they work with others.”
Because they’re student-run, the clubs also reflect student interests. “It’s always a great experience when students bring something new to Bryant that represents the members of our community,” says Rigby, who notes the University is always launching new organizations. “A big part of our mission in the CSLI is to offer the space for students to explore outside the classroom through different interests and hobbies, and to develop creative new ideas.”
Staffers assemble
Leszczynski found assistance from a supportive network of staff and fellow students. Luke Lamontagne ’24, the Vice President of Student Organizations for Bryant’s Student Government, worked with him to shape his aspirations. The CSLI office helped him obtain funding and establish Thrive Magazine as a fully recognized student organization.
“We sat down with the people we featured in the first issue and asked each of them, one-on-one, ‘how would you like to be featured, what would you like to say?’”
He then assembled a talented team from the students he had met over the course of his time at Bryant. ”I try to go by the philosophy that you should always work with people that are smarter than you,” he says with a laugh. A friend who worked with him in his Global Foundations of Business course to create a viable business plan became the club’s secretary. Another student he had taken an Information Systems and Analytics class with, and was talented with numbers, became the club’s treasurer. A fellow Orientation Leader became their chief media officer and brought a brand-new sensibility to the project. Reaching out to the Bryant community yielded two talented first year student designers who helped to lend the magazine its distinctive look.
“Bryant fosters a culture of networking, of reaching out and seeing how you can collaborate together,” Leszczynski reflects. Pooling their talents, he says, the newly established group was able to accomplish far more, and imagine far more than they could individually.
He also reached out to Tory Atkins, Assistant Director of Student Events and Orientation Programs, who he had met as a Bryant Orientation leader. Atkins agreed to be the club advisor for Thrive Magazine and helped Leszczynski with setting up the logistics that would help the magazine achieve its goals, including assisting with the drafting of a constitution and mission statement.
Atkins was excited to assist the fledgling group in getting started and serve as a guide and sounding board as they led the charge. “The advisor’s role is to be an advocate for their club and to help them understand the structures of the institution and how we can all work to make sure their voices are heard,” she notes “The students are the ones that come in with the new ideas and innovation. They’re the ones who say, ‘this is something that we and other members of the community are really interested in,’” she notes.
"It's fantastic to be able to help people tell and share their story. It feels like you almost have a responsibility to help them do that.”
In addition to practical advice, Leszczynski says that having Atkins as club advisor provides a key sounding board for testing ideas. “She provides us with a different perspective,” says Leszczynski. “It’s so important not to get tunnel vision, so having someone else’s insight is refreshing.”
Making it work
With the team assembled, the hard work began. “So much has gone into putting the club together and putting out our first issue,” says Leszczynski. “Our team really burned the candle at both ends.” They learned by doing, acquiring transferable skills that will give them an important edge post-graduation.
The most important step was finding students to profile and ways to elevate their voices. Leszczynski and his team reached out to a wide range of fellow students, seeking to illustrate how the diversity of Bryant’s community makes the school special. “We sat down with the people we featured in the first issue and asked each of them, one-on-one, ‘how would you like to be featured, what would you like to say?’” he says. For each feature, they helped the subject focus on something about themselves they were proud of and wanted to share, from their heritage to their talents to their dreams and hopes for the future.
“I want them to think about who they are as a person and how they thrive. And I want them to ask themselves ‘what do I want to bring into the world and how can I make that happen?’”
“It's an amazing creative outlet to be able to have 40 pages of opportunity every semester,” says Leszczynski. “It's fantastic to be able to help people tell and share their story. It feels like you almost have a responsibility to help them do that.”
It also gave him and his team a chance to test themselves both practically and creatively. “A big part of our work with Thrive is pushing all of us to try new things and go outside our comfort zones, because that helps you grow so much,” Leszczynski states. He credits his coursework with helping him hone the skills needed to lead his club and make Thrive a reality. “I’m using a lot of what I’m studying in my strategic management course, where we’re learning how to innovate, understand new products and new processes and make new ideas happen,” he says.
For the community
Over the course of a semester, the club shepherded Thrive Magazine from a spark of an idea all the way through design, production and printing. It was sometimes a challenging process, Leszczynski acknowledges, but by working together, his club was able to produce something amazing. “The camaraderie we developed was so important, we all knew what we wanted to accomplish, and we all knew it was going to be worth it,” he says.
Holding the completed print edition in his hands, he says, was an incredible feeling. “It felt like I was holding my child,” Leszczynski says.
The magazine’s staff is already nearing completion on a second issue, this one focused on the thriving women of Bryant. Leszczynski hopes to leave behind a legacy through Thrive Magazine, which will continue on after he leaves campus, that will inspire others. “I really want our readers to think about themselves when they read Thrive,” Leszczynski says. “I want them to think about who they are as a person and how they thrive. And I want them to ask themselves ‘what do I want to bring into the world and how can I make that happen?’”
