We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anastajia Pettis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Anastajia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I’ve always known that I wanted to be a content creator, whether that be influencing, being a super famous 13 year old YouTuber, or just making fun fashion videos on TikTok. I’ve always had the dream to blow up or use my platform to encourage others to be positive about their body or focus on being happy, and helping those who have mental health disorders. I was body shamed a lot when I was younger, and I was a pretty happy kid who didn’t let that affect me at all. I would embrace the mean words people would say to me. I’ve always wanted a platform to tell people who went through the same thing, that it’s OK and that you’re beautiful. Don’t listen to what those people are saying.

Anastajia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hello, my name is Anastajia I am a fashion, beauty/lifestyle, travel, content creator. I want to use my platform to spread positivity about bodies and showing people that they are beautiful and that they are loved no matter what they are going through right now. I currently use my platform to show black girls how to do their own hair and instead of paying other people to do it, fashion videos; showing other people how to find their style and how to feel good about what they’re wearing, and travel. I’ve always wanted to travel from a very young age and I actually got to do that for the very first time this year August 2023. It was my first time leaving My Home State, Minnesota, my first time visiting Florida, and my first time on an airplane. That showed me that I really love travel, and I want to travel my whole life.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Well, a lesson that I’m still currently learning is that numbers don’t matter. The amount of views or likes you get on a post does not matter. It doesn’t mean that your content is bad, it doesn’t mean that you’re giving no value to your audience. None of that matters. As long as you’re creating quality content over quantity, you’re good. I’m really trying to stick to this myself because I’m sitting here, refreshing my Instagram and my TikTok page seeing if I posted that one video that’ll blow up and I need to grt out of that bad habit! Content creation should be fun! Don’t post for the numbers, post for yourself. Post high-quality content that you love.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I would definitely say the most rewarding thing is when people reciprocate that positivity back. I LOVEEEEEE positive comments! It makes me so happy and I feel so rewarding. Especially when it’s something like “Thank you so much. This helped me feel confident” or I”’m going to follow this journey with you”. LIKE UGHHH!! I love it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/slayystajiaa?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/@anastajiapettis
• Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@anastajiapettis?lang=en
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/23apetti/