We were lucky to catch up with Ashley Velez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I wish I would have started sooner in my career. As a kid you would think anything is possible and it would have been beneficial to gain more experience. I started a couple of years ago auditioning and was not immediately selected at the time. At first I did not know what it was I wanted to do just as of yet and at the time I was trying to decide what works best for me. I started out with modeling because I loved fashion. Even as a kid I was memorized by all these flawless women in the cover of a magazine. I told myself that one day I wanted to be just like them and hopefully be on a cover of a magazine. I went to a couple of modeling auditions and was selected to be in a fashion show. I had attended a couple of modeling rehearsals. It was pretty hard at first because it was not at all what I had expected in the beginning. I kept practicing with other models that were very encouraging anf helped get better at being confident in myslef. As for singing, I was around six when I owned my first radio. Even when I was supposed to be doing my homework. I would get distracted and start singing to any song I knew that came on the radio. Sometimes I would be singing with my friends on the way to school or just anywhere that we were driving to. In middle school is where I joined band and played the clarinet for a couple of years. When I entered high school is where I took up chorus and drama classes. In the beginning I took these classes because of my friends. Afterwards I started having fun and gaining a different perspective. These classes helped me enhance at better perfecting my craft in both singing and acting.

Ashley, 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?

When I entered into the industry I colloborated with like minded artists and creators who decided to work with me. When it came to modeling I had alot of vendors that needed certain models to display their clothing. After speaking with alot of vendors they looked at the attitude of the person that walked across the runway. I had the opportunity to work with alot of vendors that liked what I provide when walking the runway anf how I representated myself at each fashion show. Also, had the chance to enhance each designer clothing with my own unique taste. As far as for singing I colloborated with other like minded artist to create songs, lyrics, and beats. There was alot of different ideas that were tossed around about how we wanted most of our projects to turn out. As far as for my Album that is currently out at the moment. Is based upon romance, break up, and other personal experiences that I was undergoing at the time in my life. The one song I can say that is my favorite out of all the songs from the Nova Girl Album is Nova Girl. The reason why I wrote the song is about girl from another planet that fell astray from her home. Now she is forced to vanquish all evil. A guy from earth becomes fascinated by her that he ends up falling in love with her.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

What I wish we had back then growing up that we have now is social media. At the time social media was not around. The only other way to get your name out there is by auditioning in front of talent agents, even if you did not get picked you still had to keep auditioning and hoping you would get picked. With social media everything that you put gets viewed by alot of different people from any part of the world. In a way it also gives you a chance to express yourself and your creative projects. It does not have to be all in one setting. It can be in various platforms. Also, there are websites such as background casting. There is alot of platforms that can help you get your name out there.

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

My goal is to become a well known artist and if not then a well known model. I like being on stage and being able to be heard and seen. Its something I enjoy doing and its where I can have a creative mind space. I can think about what I want to portray with each project. On stage it feels like I can be anyone that I want to be. At the same time your working with others to try to perfect your work. Even if your working with a team or collaborating with other artists.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleyvmodel/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@shadowalkerprincess22?si=TZg2HN-OGsq5l7hK
• Other: Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/artist/46dgWw5Ci7tnVMiJYeJKxi?si=Aw-h-djlQLaHFTp3h7x0pg

  Apple music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/n%C7%92va/1790933470?ls