We were lucky to catch up with Chloé Arnold recently and have shared our conversation below.

Chloé, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

I am happier as a creative person. I believe I was born for this. Being creative in every aspect of my life allows me to express myself and my emotions as cliché as it sounds. It has always been hard to verbalize my feelings, especially in a comfortable setting. Feeling out of place, the black cat, if you will, in almost every environment and space I have been in takes a toll on you. When it came to the dance space and any environment centered around being a creative outlet, I instantly felt at home, peace, acceptance, and comfort. It took me a while to truly embrace where I belonged; it is almost as if the place where I knew it fit like a glove still didn’t feel like I belonged there. I lost my mother when I was 18, back in 2019, and I was extremely lost. It was the spring of my senior year of high school, a few weeks before prom, college dance team tryouts, graduation, and summer intensive. I was dancing and working in California for the summer. For me, dance saved me that summer. It saved me emotionally, physically and mentally. It was the one thing that instantly made me happy during the most painful time of my life. So to me, I believe I am happier as a creative rather than just an artist because I am an artist being creative. I am many things being creative, and that’s what makes me happy. I can create when I am sad, happy, lost, grieving, excited, or scared, creating movements, art, music, videos, pictures, or anything artistic. It is simply beautiful, and I love it!

Chloé, 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?

My name is Chloé Arnold, and I am 23 years old. I grew up in Charlotte, NC, and recently graduated from the University of Kentucky in May 2023 with a degree in Communications with a track in Sports and a Minor in Dance. I started dancing when I was 2 years old and have yet to stop. Growing up, I danced at various studios in the Charlotte area while competing on competition teams, traveling the country, working with various Choreographers and Dancers, and being a company member at one studio. During my summers, I spent time in NC, Miami, LA, Atlanta, Santa Barbara, & NYC, training with numerous choreographers to polish my craft and hone my training. I was captain of my high school dance team in my senior year and became the manager for the University of Kentucky Dance Team in my freshman year. During my sophomore year of college, I decided to take a year off dance and try something new. One of my best friends was doing influencing at the time and mentioned how she thought I would be good at it and I should give it a try. I was initially unsure, but she reassured me I had the personality for it and that it wouldn’t hurt to try. I ended up applying for an influencer agency and got in! I immediately started working with brands, and the rest is history. I am now 4 years old and have become more of a content creator than an influencer. I have worked with some of the biggest brands like Savage X Fenty, SKIMS, Lulus, Good American, Olaplex, YSL and! I always had a passion for videography and photography. I always made home videos growing up, but it wasn’t until high school that I started making vlogs, YouTube Videos (that are now deleted), travel vlogs, Get Ready With Me’s, and editing, all for fun! Being a content creator has allowed me to do that as my side job now and expand on my knowledge and craft. I have met so many wonderful people through this journey, and I love the community I have started to create on my pages. I never thought I would have people this interested in my life and me in general, but it makes me happy knowing I am being my 100% authentic self, and people gravitate towards that. I am most proud of how open and honest I am online with my followers. Throughout the years, social media has dictated a lot in our society, beauty standards being one of them and putting on a “show” just for the sake of views. I knew from the start if I were to continue sharing my life online, I would be as open, honest, and transparent as possible (to my comfort level). I am a very public person but still maintain a private life. My followers know that I will always be open with them about anything. I want to be a figure people can admire, be motivated or inspired by, and feel a sense of community. I also know being open and honest can help someone else out. I have been very vocal regarding my grief journey with my mom, the things that I have learned from losing a parent at a young age, and how that has affected my life. I have been open and honest about my eating disorders and now love my body, anxiety, depression, struggles, and everything. I am proud to create a safe space for others on social media.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative person is knowing that, at the end of the day, I’ll always have happiness and freedom. There are no limitations to art…art is a feeling; it’s a passion. You can’t put me in a box; I simply will not allow it. I am a free spirit, and I love that. There is no right or wrong to me. At the end of the day, it’s not about the money or the accolades or praise; it’s about doing something for me, myself, and myself, making other people’s day and inspiring someone through my creativity. That is a reward in itself, and that’s all I need.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I graduated college, I thought I was going to be working in sports right away, working in social media. That did not happen whatsoever. This made me feel lost and confused, as I did not know where I wanted to go in life. I still had content creating but wasn’t making anymore; I didn’t know if I still wanted to dance, so that led me nowhere. I knew I needed a job, so I got one at a boutique in Charlotte. This was the best decision ever. I could style people, meet people, create content for the store, polish my fashion style, and play around with it. This also gave me time to focus more on new collaborations with brands, create more content on my pages, and more. Eventually, it led me to get the job I have now, which is a corporate marketing job, but I have the ability to be creative in creating marketing campaigns for my clients. I now get to go dance when I get off work, create content on the weekends (or during lunch breaks), and, to put it all together, create sports content as the football season rolls around. Patience has been my best friend. I am not where I thought I was going to be, but somehow I am somewhere better. I am so happy I allowed things to unfold how they were supposed to. Now I am able to put my love for dance, content creating, and sports all together, and I am so lucky!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chlooebrooke.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chlooebrooke
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chloe-b-arnold/

Image Credits

Ariel Perry Photography