Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyssia Graves.

Hi Alyssia , so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?

I am an only child which I think is self-explanatory for a lot of who I am today. When you’re an only child, especially with a single parent, you become very independent at a young age. I’ve never wanted to rely on anyone else so I started working as early as I could, went away for college, and have lived in quite a few cities to truly make it on my own and experience life for myself.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

Life is never a smooth road. I’m grateful that my dad worked really hard so I didn’t have to experience too much hardship but that doesn’t mean there were never tough times. For a lot of my early childhood I didn’t always have access and the things a lot of my friends at school but my dad always instilled in me the importance of working hard in your career and getting a good education. I relied heavily on that and also watched him build his own career and because of that we were able to get out of a lot of the struggle we faced early on when I was a child. I was essentially motivated to work as hard as I could in my extracurriculars as well as in school so that I could attend a university and continue to build a steady and good life for myself.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

Sometimes I joke that I don’t even know what I do but overall I’m a freelance journalist/reporter, content creator, and a part-time fitness instructor. I am really lucky that I’ve been able to do really fun things as a job such as hosting digital sports content, working in social, and even getting to teach people how to lift for a living. I do a little of it all and I think it’s such a fun thing at my age to be able to have that flexibility to continue to work but also grow and discover what it is I truly want to be when I grow up. I’m most proud of the career I’ve been able to cultivate for myself at this stage in life. While any job can have it’s rough days, I enjoy the fact that nothing I do is too serious and even when it’s a bad day, I can tell myself, I’m not finding the cure to cancer or saving lives, I can just have fun. What sets me apart is my ability to adapt to any space I’m in. I can lift really heavy things in the gym, but also go knockout a great interview and design and craft and come up with new ideas. Despite everything, I’m never satisfied and always am looking for ways to one up myself and I think those are the things that really define someone from being good and great.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?

I honestly don’t know because my industry changes all the time. 5 years ago I didn’t even think some of the things I do as “work” would even be opportunities now. In my personal life I truly hope to have settled down a little more. I’ve moved around a ton and got to experience living in some great places and travel for work but I’ve come to a point where I’d like to find a place to call home and be more present in my personal life with my friends and family. I want to have balance and peace and just be happy.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: alyssiagraves
• Twitter: alyssiagraves