By: Maria Manuela

“Your journey is yours, it’s your truth, unique to you. Never compare yourself to others.” Sydney Ballesteros—founder, creative director and editor-in-chief at Territory Magazine—voices this mantra as a piece of advice she would give to herself 10 years ago, in 2010. 

Reflection feels particularly poignant as the decade has just turned when Sydney and I connect for this story. She gives many answers to my question about what advice she would give herself, but the aforementioned one seems to most fully encompass her way of being. 

Your journey is yours, it’s your truth, unique to you. Never compare yourself to others.

Born and raised in Tucson, Sydney is driven by the desire to shine a light on the region she grew up in. Seeing the lack of publications in the Southwest, she recognized a void that needed filling. A lot of creative content coming out of this area is produced by visitors, and passersby who haven’t steeped in the culture, or sun, long enough to truly understand what it’s like to live here, or produce work that connects with people who do. There’s miscommunication between the desert images that proliferate Instagram and wanderlust travel blogs; and the truth that exists for people who have histories rooted here. 

 “I felt that we (in the SW region) were in need of more representation in a publication with more thought-provoking depth, culture and story-telling, with diversity in content and heritage, beyond a surface level of beige color palettes and straw hats. when you dig a little deeper, things can be so much more colorful than that. Colorful meaning the culture, heritage and history.” So, she founded Territory Magazine in 2015. 

The annually printed magazine is filled with pages of beautifully curated content which tells real stories about the southwest. Stories which celebrate art and architecture, design, style, history, culture, cuisine, and travel. Elegant and effusive, Sydney also styles photoshoots and consults for other publications, artists and brands, which has helped her build a network of creatives who live and breed their work in the desert and around the world. 

Sydney’s works speak to her individuality. The images she produces in her publication and through her styling work are polished and timeless. They aren’t dominated by cliché ephemera like cowboy hats and sand dunes, but feel bound to the region they’re born in. Through Sydney’s eyes, you will see the desert anew. 

Territory feels more like a coffee table book than a magazine. In a world of instant media and constant publication, she seeks the slower path. “I wanted to create something that required people to slow down and take time to sit with and read and really absorb. Something that readers could keep coming back to over and over again. Something that felt collectable vs. disposable.” 

Her deep roots in Tucson are partially responsible for her narrative. If she’d left for Los Angeles or New York, she may not have the same reverence and commitment to her home. “I think the fact that I developed these big visions as a young girl, but grew up in a smallish town with limited resources, and the fact that my life priorities shifted when I became a mom at 19, just pushed me harder to create my own path and work within the constraints of what I had. It instilled a strong and positive work-ethic inside of me. To overcome stereotypes and to not fit into a perfect box of a traditional path to “success”, whatever that means.” 

She feels like Mexico is part of the southwest network, and she wants to highlight that connection more prominently in future issues. “Mexico is a part of the southwest, it was the southwest, and should feel just as much our neighbor to the south as bordering states NM to the east and southern California to the west. We’re all trying to fight the negative effects of the border wall, and it’s my intention to include Mexico as a bigger part of the content and stories we share as a whole region united. Bridges, not borders." 

To maintain a full creative tank, Sydney does many things. One is a morning ritual that starts early, during a time when she often feels most creative. She starts each day with a prayer of gratitude for all the people, experiences and opportunities in her life. “This is a ritual that my mother instilled the importance of to me as a young child, and I still practice it to this day. If you set the presence to focus on what you have to be thankful for and opportunities you’ve been given and what you have accomplished, it will make you less focused on what you don’t have and less anxious about what you are still trying to achieve.”   

I wanted to create something that required people to slow down and take time to sit with and read and really absorb. Something that readers could keep coming back to over and over again. Something that felt collectable vs. disposable. 

Both of Sydney’s parents are musicians, so she’s been in a creative environment her whole life and says music is the one thing she needs most in life. That without it she would “literally shrivel up and die.” She writes me a list of other things she does to refuel: 

Soak 

Drive 

Sing 

Unplug and hide in nature 

Therapy session in my garden, buy more plants

Dance my ass off 

Family time 

Wander through antique shops 

GTF out of town 

Watch old films or read old magazines 

Bury myself in an interesting research project 

Walk away from it ( whatever “it” may be at the time) and come back with a fresh perspective

Finding oneself is the true project of each of our lives, and when someone achieves it, the world can tell. Sydney knows herself, and she uses that knowledge and confidence to build a platform that showcases a deeper truth about the world she lives in. Another thing 2020 Sydney wants to tell 2010 Sydney—“You created your own world out of hardship and love with only what you had. From nothing into something beautiful to you. You beat the odds and all the statistics and stereotypes. You raised and nurtured a good human, who can contribute love, kindness and empathy in a challenging world. You’re a survivor. You’re a warrior.” 

Follow Territory Magazine @territorymagazine on Instagram and keep an eye out for an announcement about the release date for the next issue.