

Welcome to my little corner of the internet!
​I am a storyteller made in Bulgaria, raised in Morocco, and matured in the UK. For the past five years, I have lived in Brooklyn.

I’m a chronically curious storyteller with a passion for niche stories that reveal something broader about how we live, think, and communicate with one another.
Over the past decade, I’ve built a career translating complex ideas—about cities, buildings, materials, and science—into compelling narratives. I am a longtime contributor to Fast Company, where I’ve published over 500 stories.
I also write for Wired, Smithsonian, Condé Nast Traveller, MIT Technology Review, Bloomberg CityLab, Dezeen, and many others across design and culture.
In my 10 years of experience, I’ve conducted 1,000+ interviews with top-tier designers, thinkers, filmmakers, CEOs, academics, scientists--and even my own grandmother! I gravitate towards people who like to push the boundaries of their craft. I myself have been known to anthropomorphize buildings.
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(That's me in the attic)
​My storytelling spans many formats, including:
• Feature journalism & profiles: my reporting often zooms in on the experimental and the unexpected, like magicians designing tricks for people who are blind, or the guy who has pigeon-proofed all of NYC.
• Moderation & live storytelling: I’ve led public conversations on topics ranging from AI and urban resilience to the cultural symbolism of Christmas trees.
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• Editorial direction & strategy: As an editor at OnOffice, I shaped the magazine’s editorial voice and content strategy across print, and digital. Together with a team of three, I published 12 issues on a tight budget with strict deadlines, working closely with the art editor to conceptualize and commission original, compelling covers.
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• Copywriting & editorial consulting: I craft bios, project descriptions, thought leadership pieces, assist with PR strategy or client discovery, and more.
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• Memoir & investigative non-fiction: I’m currently writing a memoir that pieces together my family’s life in communist-era Bulgaria through the objects found in my grandparents' attic.
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• Microfiction & visual storytelling: I run a photo-literary project on Instagram (@vanyo_was_here), pairing 35mm slides taken by my grandfather in the 1960s with original micro non-fiction stories that explores memory, identity, and time.
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• Interviews as narrative art: I treat interviews not just as a fact-finding mission but as a collaborative storytelling —whether I’m speaking with a Nobel laureate or my 93-year-old grandmother.
Whether it is fact or fiction, I’m interested in visceral stories that widen your eyes, speed up your heartbeat, tickle your brain cells.
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Not sure where to start? Here are some personal favorites!​
On Fast Company:
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Inside Ukraine’s colossal task of ‘rebranding’ itself during a war
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Buying furniture online is a terrible experience. So, why are we still doing it?
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From tacky to tasteful: how fake plants are growing into a $1 billion industry
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A wave of new design innovations is finally making the beach accessible for everyone
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How this growing Texas town became a testing ground for flying taxis and Uber-style gondolas
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Here’s what happened when I let AI design my life for a week
Elsewhere:
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The Dust-Covered Objects in My Childhood Attic Tell the Story of Communist Era Bulgaria (Dwell)
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How a 74-Mile Trek in Bali Is Encouraging Visitors to Tread Lightly (Condé Nast Traveler)
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The Long History of Art Inspired by Solar Eclipses (Smithsonian)
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Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Final Performance Is a Virtual-Only Engagement (Wired)
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The pandemic could end waiting in line (The Atlantic)
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How New York City is reclaiming its piers (Smithsonian)