Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Marissa Combest. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Marissa, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I have always been interested in the arts ever since I was a little girl. I was told by family members that I was always dancing, singing, modeling, etc. I would throw random outfits together trying to express my interest in fashion and play around in high heels that were too big for my little feet. I do recall a lot of those moments and there are plenty of pictures and videos to prove it. Whenever I was asked what I wanted to be in the future the answer always was something pertaining to the arts. I would usually say a fashion model, fashion designer, or dancer. As I got older I started to realize I really wanted to do it all whether it was acting,singing, hosting a television show,etc. because it was all amazing to me. I specifically remember this one moment in class where we had to choose our dream career and they gave everyone options to pick from and nothing related to arts/entertainment was listed on the paper and that’s when I realized that a lot people did not see an artistic path as a real career and that your chances of making it were slim but that never discouraged me. I insisted on adding to the list and writing entertainment business on my paper because I refused to be placed in a box and forced to pick career fields that was deemed acceptable to society.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

When I was younger I attended a dance academy that taught different genres of dance like ballet, hip hop, tap, just to name a few. At the time I was very shy and wasn’t comfortable there so I decided to stop attending. Even though I wasn’t attending an actual dance academy at the time I still continued to dance. I decided to give dance another chance when I saw that they were offering dance class at my middle school but it wasn’t what I expected. It was just a general dance class that wasn’t too detailed and easy enough for everyone to follow along. Even though it was not what I expected I still kept the dance class on my schedule for all three years of middle school. Attending that class most likely contributed to me being more comfortable to perform in front of others and getting me out of that shyness that I dealt with when I first attended a dance academy. During this time I was also looking into pageants and talent scout auditions, I did attend a few of them but I wasn’t as consistent as I should’ve been. I do look back and wish that I would’ve taken what I wanted to do a little more seriously because I believe I would be further along now but at the time I was only in middle school and mainly concerned about my schooling and just being a kid. Fast forward I took dance my second year of high school up until I graduated and I enjoyed it a lot. Even though this was also a general dance class, we were able to learn choreography and perform at least 3 dances per show for a winter and spring dance concert. I took this class more seriously since we actually had to perform for an audience and we would also have solo/group dances that we had to perform for our dance teacher for a grade. This helped me become very comfortable on stage and performing in front of people and helped me explore my passion for dance. While in high school I was on the dance team and I started attending talent scout auditions/competitions again and even made it to the finale and was able to model, dance, and do runway modeling although I did not win overall. I received a certificate saying that I am officially a freelance model but didn’t really put it to use because while being in high school I was running a YouTube channel where I gained a lot of supporters. I started my YouTube channel with my best friend which is called “Diamond Dollz” and we currently have 10k subscribers and I just started a new channel that goes by the name of “Rissathediva” with 136 subscribers. On both channels I have done everything from acting, dancing, reviews, fashion, singing, etc. while doing this I have gained a lot of attention from celebrities and influencers that I look up to and admire such as Janet Jackson. Being a YouTuber has given me many opportunities like being invited on stage at concerts and getting free merchandise. People have trusted me enough to pay me for promotion which is something I am very grateful for, it still amazes me that people believe in me enough to help out their business while helping me out at the same time. Pursuing a career in entertainment has not been the easiest, after high school I went to college and balancing an influencer lifestyle while trying to maintain my grades would often crash at times. There has been many times where I felt overwhelmed and felt like I wasn’t getting acknowledged for my hard work but I didn’t let any of those feelings discourage me from following my purpose. This is still only the beginning and I have much more to accomplish and I can’t wait to see where my journey goes.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is receiving positive feedback. I never wanted to pursue entertainment just for the money although I would love to be compensated for my services like anyone else but that is not the reason why I’m doing this. I truly feel the happiest when I see that people are enjoying the content that I’m creating, especially when it’s people that I’ve been admiring for a long time.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I often feel like non-creatives do not understand how hard we work. Many people have said that creatives have it easy because we do not work a 9 to 5 and get to do what we want but that is not the case. In my opinion we work as hard as other people who work a regular job, some creatives even work a regular job while creating on the side. When you are employed by a business you get to clock in and clock out and will be guaranteed pay but when you are trying to be an entrepreneur and build your own empire everything is on you. You must show up for yourself every day and learn ways to improve yourself as you go on. Even when your really talented and work really hard sometimes you may not get the results you thought you would receive. There has been many moments where I worked really hard on content and did not get the results that I wanted but I had to keep pushing. So many people think it’s easy to use your talent and get famous or rich but it’s easier said than done.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://youtube.com/channel/UCR3tZCiCBVYNTUfLg5jqzuw
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rissathediva/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marissa.combest.92
• Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/rissa_the_diva
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCoSMwrgJEfMc2fGiuCgZaJQ

Image Credits
Marissa Combest, Diamond Dollz, Rissathediva, The Weeknd, Vogue, Met Gala