We were lucky to catch up with Anna Storm recently and have shared our conversation below.

Anna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

I feel like I’ve always been misunderstood because I’ve always been a little bit quirky and eccentric. When I was a kid and everyone was trying to fit in, I went against the grain and so all my peers thought I was weird. I remember in my preppy high school, I would constantly change my style a lot, and one phase I had was where I was “emo/scene.” A lot of the kids in my school thought I was super depressed because I dressed “emo,” even though I really just dressed that way to experiment with my personal style and be different. One girl in one of my classes was convinced I cut my wrists, so she asked me to hold up my wrists in front of my whole class. It was extremely embarrassing for her to do this to me, and they only did this because they misjudged me. They put me into a label. It’s been very easy for people around me that didn’t understand my creative nature to reduce me to no more than a label and a stereotype– to ignore my traits as a human. It’s easier for people to put others in a box than to take the time to truly get to know them– we fear what is foreign to us, what we don’t understand. However you really don’t know a person just judging their appearance, as we can change our appearance from one second to the next, yet the person inside is what can stay constant.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an Emmy award winning pop star and social media influencer with 210K following on IG, 27K following on TikTok, and 22K following on Facebook. Two of my songs, “Confident” and “Versace Shade” are on Lizzo’s highly acclaimed Amazon Prime Show, “Watch Out For The Big Grrrls.” We just won a Critics Choice Award, 3 Emmy Awards, and an NAACP Image Award.

I got into this industry after getting a college degree and doing the whole 9-5 thing. Even though I am an academically gifted person, my love and true calling was always entertainment/music. I actually got fired from my last office job and they told me to find something I loved to do, and that I would excel at it. Through fitness, I got introduced to a Hollywood music producer and we started working on building my brand and on developing music. I started posting to social media religiously and building my following of fans, “Stormtroopers,” who tuned into my witty, adventurous, and goofy humor on IG. My motto, #Slaylife, urged people to live life to the fullest and love themselves regardless of other people’s opinions.

My music reflects my brand– it is self-empowerment based, upbeat and infectious. It is a blend of pop, R&B and rap– everything is meant to be very danceable and fun. I want listeners to love themselves a bit more, to know that they can achieve anything, and to be confident. There is immense power in one, and I want more people to see the beauty of that.

I am most proud of the my confidence, strength, resilience and self-determination towards my goals. Despite the obstacles, I have managed to push through and create powerful pieces of art which people resonate with– I have impacted people’s lives. That is a wonderful and fulfilling feeling. This has manifested in certain monumental achevements/milestones in my career: 1. Being on Lizzo’s show 2. Winning Emmy Awards 3. Being Forbes published 4. Gaining 10 Million views on TikTok for my song, “Confident.” Whenever I set my mind to something, I have laser focus and am relentless in the pursuit of my dreams. I listen to myself and my own intuition, and never take “NO” for an answer.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The goal which is driving my creative journey is to urge my followers, aka Stormtroopers, to #Slaylife! I want to show everyone the importance of self-love, and to empower them to discover their own self-worth. Self-love is power, and when you possess it, anything you want is yours! My first single, “Confident,” which is my most popular song is all about my own journey to find self-love. There’s so much negativity in the world and society is constantly trying to tear us apart, but I want to be the light which allows others to shine brighter. I want to use my art to raise the frequency and vibration of the world– to make the world a better place!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is having the ability to shape the world and create new realities. I love being able to open people’s eyes to a new way of thinking, to a new and fresh perspective. It puts a smile on my face when someone DMs me and tells just how much they look forward to seeing my content everyday, and how it brightens their day. To know that I have the power to make others happy is so special to me!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/itsannastorm
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/annastormslaylife
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGostna5EKqQ0ZgBhylldoQ
• Other: www.tiktok.com/itsannastorm

Image Credits
Michael Ivory Photography