We recently connected with Kaylah Nicole and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kaylah, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
Building resilience has been a bit of a journey for me. Truthfully, that journey began right after COVID. I was studying to be a teacher in University going into my second year. I’d known for a while that it wasn’t what I wanted to do, but what I thought I “should” do. My time during quarantine helped me find clarity on how I really wanted to live my life. I wanted to take risks and live out my greatest dreams without abandon. I decided to leave university and audition for Acting Schools in New York City.
That decision came with its challenges. I was accepted to a conservatory that I thought was my dream school. I’d withdrawn from University and everything that followed was absolutely difficult. My family weren’t happy with that choice, out of state financing fell through, lack of qualifications for loans, and etc. I ended up not being able to attend that school. It took me a month to get out of my funk. I let myself feel everything and I really took the space to myself to think about how I could still achieve my dream. I researched schools and auditioned throughout that summer. I found my work payed off when I was accepted to two schools with scholarships that covered majority of the balance and I was able to attend an Acting Conservatory in NYC for the fall.
The first year was tough with working to pay off my monthly plan, balancing a ton of school work, commuting between New York and New Jersey, dealing with constant family disputes due to my new life changes, and an unexpected death in the family. The changes were really tough, but I never gave up. My resilience came from my vision. My vision of the life I so desired. The life that I knew I was capable of achieving and excited for. When I think of resilience, I think of the question “Are you willing to downgrade your lifestyle for a year for the life you want?” I was completely willing to go through a few tough years so that I could have the career of my dreams, find my found family, and have a peaceful home and abundant life. Plus, I managed to prioritize therapy as well. Having that person to talk to with a non-biased perspective and could offer me understanding and advice really impacted my life.
A few years later, I am still building my life. I’ve gained so much that I am eternally grateful for everything that I’ve gone through, every choice I’ve made, and every lesson I’ve learned with the main one being resilience. I have amazing friends, a book club and community that brings me joy every month, I’ve been working on my acting reel and I’ve had the opportunity to work on many wonderful projects. I’ve also began to explore my creativity with fashion and social media as well as writing and it brings so much fulfillment to my life. If I could offer someone advice, I would say to keep going. If you have the vision and you see it for yourself, you will get there as long as you keep going no matter how hard things may get.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
There are a few different businesses I am working toward. I graduated last year and currently, I’m a working actress in NYC. I’ve spent the past year and a half building my reel and resume. There’s been a lot of auditioning and I’ve been blessed with a few projects I’ve been incredibly lucky to work on. I’ve done quite a few short films, background, and a couple of plays. It’s been exciting to spend the past year working on sets with people like me who are building their reel or getting started with their process. I still taking acting classes as well and I hope to start looking for representation soon.
In terms of projects, there are two short films I’ve filmed earlier this year that are currently in post production, so be on the lookout for those. The first being “Dinner and A Mystery” which I filmed back in February and it’s a horror whodunnit short. The second being “Auroris” which is a post apocalyptic, sci-fi love story. These genres are my absolute favorites and I’ve watched lots of Horror/Sci-fi/Psychological Thrillers growing up, so I knew I wanted to prioritize telling those stories. I also have a new project I start filming in a couple weeks which I won’t say much about yet, but stay tuned.
Outside of Acting, I’m also a screenwriter and I have a few script ideas that I’m currently developing. I’ve also started content creation on social media. I create fashion and lifestyle videos and I recently started doing UGC (User Generated Content) which has been a little tricky to get into, but I recently scored my first paid deal which I’m excited for.
It’s definitely a lot to balance, but I’m a freelancer and I get to explore different sides of creativity which is fulfilling for me. I was once told I have to choose one thing and stick to it, but I don’t agree with that. We see people with multiple careers and passions everyday, so I believe that you can do anything you want, just make sure you find time for yourself.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Having resilience, optimism, and consistency has made the most impact in my journey. The ability to take whatever punches are thrown at me and push forward has led to me achieving whatever I put my mind to. For example, if I gave up after my first school opportunity didn’t work out, who knows where I would be and what my life would be like. Right now, I know I’m getting closer to my goals every single day and that fills me with joy and makes the journey worth it.
Being consistent is so important because a lot of times, especially, as an artist, it becomes a numbers game. You can do twelve auditions and you may not hear anything back and then you do another and you get it or a casting director remembers you and all of a sudden, an opportunity comes. It may take more or less, but as long as you keep going, you’ll find that at some point the opportunity will present itself. This is also why optimism is important. Not just as an artist, but in life. If your mindset is telling you it won’t happen then you are setting yourself up for failure. Changing your mindset changes how you do things and will ultimately attract what you want to you.
If you are early in your journey, give yourself space to feel what you need to feel and even talk with someone about it, but never stop pursuing it. If you keep going, you have a greater opportunity of reaching your goals. If you quit when things get hard, you end that opportunity altogether. Organized your life and keep a gratitude journal. Manifest want you want, stay consistent and it will come to you.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
Finding my community of friends and having therapy consistently helps me build everything I need to be successful. My friendships and therapist keep me aware, safe, and supported as well as accountable. I learn so much from them and they are my supportive circle. When things get hard, it’s nice knowing I have people to turn to which is so important.
When I first moved to New York, my therapist encouraged me to join clubs or activities and to go consistently. I really didn’t implement that until after I graduated and it completely made a difference in my experience. I found a community as well as an activity I love. I have a relationship with my family still, but for those who don’t, I’d advise you to put yourself out there and find your circle. Finding your community will help make your journey a bit easier.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/itskaylahnicole
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itskaylahnicole
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