We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emily Dray a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Emily, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Learning something new always takes patience and time, especially in a creative field. You can go to school for filmmaking and acting but you have to take the initiative and apply yourself. Dedicate your time and never give up. In high school, I took a TV class where I discovered Adobe software. From there I watched tutorial after tutorial on Youtube on how to master editing software. Of course, there is still so much to learn and I never stop immersing myself in information. First you need to know the basics and master them, from there you take your own creative spin on it; whether it be making music, a video, or acting, there’s always technicality and originality. Nothing stands in the way of learning except yourself. Always take on new challenges and opportunities.

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 Emily Dray I’m currently 19 years old and I’m an actor, editor, and artist. I’ve always loved movies and the BTS of how they were made. My dream is to inspire others through my storytelling and be on the big screen one day. I got into singing/rapping in high school when my English teacher assigned us to make a song based on certain vocabulary. I found it to be easier than my other classmates and from there I wrote a diss track on some people I didn’t like. It was honestly funny to me how easily I could roast people in a catchy way and others liked it, so most of my rap music is satire. I’ve now transitioned into rock and singing because I’ve always loved to sing and want to challenge myself. I’m a huge anime fan and started editing fan edits of characters I loved on After Effects. I’m proud of all my work I’ve dedicated a lot of time and energy to it. I had no idea where to start and I figured it out on my own. What I want people to know is that my work is always authentic and true to myself and my beliefs. I can recognize that some people won’t agree with it but some people are ugly. I always want to empower women and people who are struggling to fight against whatever is holding them back.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

One time in school everyone was assigned a group project to create a short video. I had my group and last minute everyone canceled. So I was left to write, film, act, and edit all by myself. I didn’t opt out and quit like the rest of them, I stuck through it. I wrote it, set up a tripod, hit record, and edited it all by myself. I was nervous to show the class because there was no one else to fall back on if it was bad. All aspects were on me and to make things worse another class joined in to watch the videos. Not only was my class of 50 kids watching, but the other upper-division class was also watching. My video played and I was in the back of the class. By the end of it, everyone was laughing and clapping. I felt so accomplished and happy that I didn’t give up and it gave me the motivation to know I could pull through on my own.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

The pandemic was probably one of the lowest times in my life. I was stressed about college and getting a good SAT score, my family getting sick, and not having any social life. I became depressed and didn’t want to do anything. What I did do was edit and watch anime. Then I would go on Tiktok and start posting and that’s when everything changed. I quickly grew on Tiktok and would post more than 10 times a day. I was always inspired to keep up with trends and make people laugh. My advice is to not get so sucked into it and to remember that those people don’t really know you. The internet can be a brutal place and it can be a great one. Don’t let it consume you. Don’t obsessively read the comments, or get upset when something doesn’t get that many likes. Make sure to stay grounded and humble. Always be yourself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/emilydray
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emily.dray
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmilyAD7
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrW3gz2kKrgDZFH8sEadMZg?view_as=subscriber