We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kenna Chenille. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kenna below.

Kenna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Picking out a brand/business name was really difficult because I wanted it to be something simple, easy to remember, but still very authentic & true to me. I knew for sure I wanted to use my name somehow but the process of trying to think of something clever was pretty difficult. Then that same day, I spoke with a lot of my friends and went through the various nickname they called me and Kenna Mae stuck out to me. I thought about my sit down interviews, and the whole idea of basically putting locals in the hot seat having a conversation, getting to know and learn them and that’s when I thought of “Talk To Mae” and since then, that’s been my business name.

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

My name is MaKenna, but I do go by Kenna also. Journalism wasn’t always my career choice. I originally wanted to teach but I didn’t see myself doing that long term. But something I did see myself doing was Journalism. I wanted to become an interviewer at a young age but I dropped the idea because I felt I was too much of a shy, timid person for that type of career. It wasn’t until COVID-19 I was able to sit and really do my research and what I truly wanted. COVID-19 did have a big affect on me socially. My freshman year of college, I became a very extroverted individual and wasn’t fearful of speak to anyone! But then being in quarantine, and staying to myself did bring me a bit of social anxiety so for a while, it did put me behind. I then realized no one will get me to where I want to be but me! So I started putting myself out there more, I made a name for myself, I remained consistent in my craft, as well as still being openminded to many possibilities, and it put me where I am today.

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

I wish I knew more information on cameras and lighting. In my mind then, I thought in regards to cameras, camera angles, lights, and set ups I thought I needed a whole camera crew in order to make that happen. It was until I had a really amazing professor at my university that showed me you can achieve these things by yourself with a simple background, and backdrop lights.

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

I have many goals in regards to my career. I want to potentially work with SO HIP HOP in Houston as an interviewer. But one of my big goals is to become an Entertainment / Celebrity Journalist and interviewer. Just to get to have a regular conversation with some of the people we look up to on a day to day would be my dream career.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beacons.ai/kennamae/
• Instagram: Kennamaae
• Linkedin: MaKenna Billings
• Twitter: Kennamae246
• Youtube: Kenna’s Vlog

Image Credits
Previous interviews with IG: 334baby, IG: Charesecreationsllc, IG: Hairbymakaylalee, and PV Students.