We were lucky to catch up with Simone Nicole recently and have shared our conversation below.

Simone, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I cannot remember a time in my life when the arts were not something that I was passionate about. Some of my first memories were of me being put up on the kitchen counter in front of my entire family at a party to sing a gospel song that was way too mature for me at the age of 3. My father used to be a music producer, and I would sit in his lap all day while he worked. There are even some tracks where you can hear my hair beads in the background when the vocals we’re muted. Another core memory I have is being cast in my first independent film. I had never thought about acting, but my sisters saw a flyer for an Indie film being filmed in my city, so they asked my mom if I could audition. I had never auditioned for anything before, but I ended up landing the role. I remember being in the audition room, I was no older than five, and I remember that acting just felt so natural for me. By the time I was 15 I’d try to audition for the “X-Factor.” All throughout elementary and middle school, I was always in talent, shows, choir, band, and even orchestra all at the same time. By the time I got to high school, I’d decided to join the Speech and Debate team and rediscovered my love for acting. I used to do a category called Dramatic Interpretation. While giving my speech during the state final round I remember thinking “I want to do this for the rest of my life“. That year I ended up placing 3rd in the state, and went on to place 1st in the state and 16th in the country my senior year. Then I went to college for acting, graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Theater Performance, and now I am a full-time content creator and producer.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Simone! I go by Simone Nicole across my socials. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, but currently live in Atlanta, Georgia. I graduated with my degree in theater performance, and have been working in media and entertainment ever since. Currently, I am working on building my social media presents, but this year I will start moving more firmly into the acting realm. I also have a show called “Swipe Talk”, where myself and my co-host talk about everything to do with online dating.

My largest platform at the moment is my Youtube channel, which I started back in 2016. I have worked very hard on building up my audience across all platforms since then. I use my platforms to encourage the people that follow me to be kind to themselves and to others. I want everyone that follows me to participate in radical self acceptance. There is not enough kindness in this world, and starting with kindness to yourself, and changing your mindset, and the way that you look at the world is imperative to personal development, and I am deeply invested in the well-being of my followers, and helping people along in their journey. While also having a laugh or two along the way.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I believe that people that are not in the creative space struggle to understand that it’s not as easy as it looks to be a creative. In all forms of art, when you look at somebody and have a want to do what they do because they “make it look so easy“ that is a large indication that that person is very good at their job. Nobody wants to watch someone or something that is painful to watch. It’s not hard to tell when someone is struggling with something or hasn’t mastered their craft quite yet. But the people that have put in the hours, that have put in the consistency, the ones that have worked tirelessly to perfect their craft. Those are the people that “make it look easy“. So actually, the easier someone’s job looks the more dedication and hard work they have put into it. It takes a tremendous amount of effort and talent to make things look “effortless .”

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The first thing I dedicated myself to doing before I chose what I wanted to do in my life, was figuring out my “why.” I have been observing people in my field for a long time, and I read a lot of books about how to find your purpose. I learned that you have to find your “why” because you’re “why” is what’s going to sustain you. Even on the days where I don’t want to get up, and I don’t want to show up and do my job I keep going. Because I have a very clear “why.” When I was a little girl, I saw little to no one that looked like me. I was a dark skin girl that never saw myself reflected in the media. And especially not in the space that I wanted to go into. I’ve always wanted to be in entertainment, and from a very young age, I knew I wanted to be an actor. Fortunately for me, no one in my life has ever told me no, and has never tried to belittle my dreams. But I understand that having an environment like that is the case for the minority of people. I have a deep passion for acting and entertainment, but my “why” is the fact that I want to show little girls that look like me that they can do anything that they want. I understand that being a successful person in entertainment is a one in 1 million shot, so why not be that one?

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonenicolee__/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SimoneNicole
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@simonenicolee__