Meet Tiger A.j. Ray

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tiger A.j. Ray a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tiger A.J., so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others developed certain skills or qualities that we are struggling with can be helpful. Along those lines, we’d love to hear from you about how you developed your ability to take risk?

I stopped leaning on my security blankets. I didn’t want to comfort myself into complacency anymore. Risk taking is about deciding to do the thing after recognizing that your “it” is worth doing. I moved to LA with nothing but a few saved dollars and a dream. I was terrified, I didn’t know if it was the right decision–but I knew that the rest of my life depended on it. Could it have all gone up in flames? Sure. But I would have always wondered “what if” if I didn’t take the risk. Failure can happen, but so can success. I can live with either, but I can’t live with regret.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a director, author and screenwriter. Storytelling and escapism is so important to me. When I was very young, I realized that I could create worlds with words where I could visit anytime I needed a break from reality. When I reached my thirties, I finally gathered enough bravery to begin sharing my worlds with others. Now, as a filmmaker and author I have the opportunity to involve others and bring that same sense of escape to them. I released my first romance novel under my given name earlier this year, “Unbreakable by Amaria Janelle” and I am releasing my first romantic short film, “Hours.” to the public this fall. “Unbreakable” is about best friends that enter into a marriage of convenience and how their love story unfolds from there. “Hours.” is a 24 hour romance about two emotionally unavailable co-workers that decide to throw caution to the wind after running into one another outside of work.

I LOVE love. Writing about it, witnessing it, being in it. There is nothing more powerful than love on this earth and I may never tire of creating worlds that center on it.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Listen, Learn, Study. I’m both wise and unwise enough to know that I don’t know enough. As much of a riddle as that sounds like, it’s what keeps me going. Becoming good or great at anything requires one to remain a student. When I have the opportunity to be around another director, writer, or anyone I admire, I ask questions and soak up as much information as I can, then I put into motion what I have learned as quickly as possible. People always say, “lead by example,” but I also do my best to “learn by example.” LISTEN to the experienced, LEARN the best [and worst] practices, and STUDY the area you want to master. Never ever stop being a student.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

The BIBLE! Honestly, I am very devout in my Christian faith, but for both the believer and the unbeliever there is so much wisdom in the Bible. I don’t know where I would be without the lessons I have learned from my faith. Taking heed to some of the most basic of principles like having kindness, love, patience and self control has kept me in a position of peace and contentment in the middle of calamity, hurt, failure and darkness. This world has so much trouble, but with my faith in novel form on my bedside every night–I am reminded that I’m living for more than just me and that I have purpose on this earth. As far as impactful nuggets of wisdom? I’ll give you the most important one to me:
“Love your neighbor as you love yourself” taught me to hold myself to a higher standard. It taught me to increase the capacity of love that I have for myself, so that it is easy to love others. When I overflow with love, it is hard to be mean to people around me.

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Image Credits

Chinedu Oji, Latashia Gordon, Micah Hamilton

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