Rising Stars: Meet Anaya Ford of LA/OC/NYC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anaya Ford

Hi Anaya, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Who are you and what do you do?
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Hi! My name is Anaya Ford and I am an entrepreneur based in NYC. I was born in Northern California, but moved to Southern California and grew up there. I moved to NYC when I was 17 to attend college at LIU Brooklyn under Roc Nation. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do there, but I know that I wanted to do something with my life in NYC. I got dropped off into college across the country without a single connection to the music industry or any friends.

A few months into college, my friends started to notice that I was really good at taking iPhone/Digital Cam pictures at the events we would go to. I thought it was just a fun thing, and I would post them to a spam photo account on instagram. My photos caught the attention of one of my friends, Ryder Lee, who was already an established photographer at the time. He really encouraged me to buy a camera and run with it. I was stubborn at first, but that’s exactly what I did. The day after I bought my camera (Nov 2022), I hit up Skaiwater on DMs and they invited me to their session. I took photos that day in the studio of Skai and their friends and that was my first time ever shooting for an artist. I love Skai’s music, so it meant so much to me that it was my first shoot.

In under 2 years of photography and videography, I’ve worked with some amazing artists, celebrities, and brands. My style is definitely colorful and energetic photos/videos centered on music artists and events. My notable work is shooting photos/videos for popular artists like Sexyy Red, Elyanna, Gayle, Glorilla, Cochise, Lucki, Ayra Starr, Tyla, and many many more! I have also shot for events like NYFW, Shopify, Damelio Footwear, Rolling Loud, and more. I have also been on a nationwide tour with 6arelyhuman alongside Scene Queen for content creation as well. I love to travel, so getting to perform my passion alongside traveling is extremely rewarding to me. I ended up dropping out of college completely to pursue my dreams and entrepreneurship. Of course my family and friends were hesitant, but I knew that God had a plan for me. I could not be stuck working a 9-5 job for the rest of my life.

With photography/videography in the music industry, comes an unlimited amount of opportunity in different categories like marketing, content creation, producing, and casting. I was the youngest person ever hired as a part of the Content Marketing team at Sundance Film Festival 2023. To be in the presence of phenomenal actors and directors like Robert Downey Jr, Christopher Nolan, Victoria Pedretti, Dylan Obrien, and many more.

I started my casting agency, AF Castings in April of 2024. In just 4 months of development/launch, I’ve cast productions with SNIPES, RapTV, Elevation Church, Lil Tecca, NLE Choppa, Flo Milli, Chow Lee, Cochise, AJ Tracey, and more unreleased! AF Castings mainly works with unsigned/non-union affiliated talent to cast them in huge productions and finally put them in the spotlight. It’s a blessing to work with such talented models/dancers/actors that don’t have access to traditional modeling agencies and giving them an opportunity to begin, develop, and thrive in their career. We cast music videos, commercials, campaigns, photoshoots, events, performances, and more. Special shoutout to Jada Blassingame (NY Casting Assist) and Isabelle Cherubin (LA Casting Assist) who have helped me so much especially as the business has taken off! They are just as passionate as me with casting, and I’m so glad I get to work with them.

I love the music industry, and I am an A&R at Cut MGMT, with the most amazing and fun team ever.

Currently, I live in NYC, still doing photography & videography, casting, producing, A&R, social media marketing, and I’d say that I do very well financially especially for a 19 year old.
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What motivated you to build your own brand ?
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What motivated me to build my own brand was the lack of female representation in the music industry, especially black women. 9 out 10 times, I am usually the only woman in the photo pit of a concert venue. 9 out 10 times, I am usually the only woman on a music video production set behind the scenes. It’s funny because sometimes I show up to music videos, and they think that I am one of the models, but I am the one who runs the casting agency. It was clear to me that the music industry is a very male-dominated industry, and I’d like to encourage more women to build their own brands/identity within the music industry.

My single mom is also an entrepreneur, so seeing her run her businesses while raising my brother and I was very inspiring to me. She is a strong woman that conquers any challenges life gives her and thrives. I aspire to be an independent and resilient woman like her everyday.

Where do you see yourself/ your brand in 5 years?
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I see my casting agency in 5 years casting for movies/films, bigger campaigns, editorials, and developing into serving all types of creatives, not just models/dancers/actors.

I see my photography/videography in magazines, campaigns, album covers, and being used to inspire young photographers/videographers to build their craft.

I see myself growing with Cut MGMT in artist & repertoire work and connecting with different artists, producers, and songwriters along the way.

I see myself producing big music videos & TV shows.

I see myself speaking at high schools, colleges, and public events sharing my story!
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How would you want the readers to benefit it from this article/story?
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I encourage readers, especially young aspiring entrepreneurs, to use their resources. Every business starts with an idea. You’ll never know the outcome if you never start. The hardest part is starting. It’s ok to be self-conscious, because that means you care.

Create a balance if you want to pursue multiple businesses. My photography/videography connections merge with casting, and I am able to take professional photos/videos of talent on set & digitals. Producing and social media marketing help me run my casting social media. My photography/videography helps me reach artists which also helps me be a better A&R and create a personal connection to whomever I’m interested in offering a deal with. You get the point, but subtly, all of my businesses have a connection so my head isn’t in 6 different industries.

If you are having a hard time figuring out what you’re passionate about, look at what you liked to do as a child. I am a firm believer that our true passions align with what we enjoyed when we were innocent and before life became stressful. Your passion is job you would enjoy doing, even if you weren’t being paid. For example, I was really into planning my own birthday parties with the help from my mom. I found so much joy in picking a venue, theme, attire, time, guestlist, sending invitations/RSVP, etc… That enjoyment I felt as a kid is the same enjoyment I feel when I am producing a podcast or music video. I just love to plan things and know the details/logistics.

Another example is when I owned a slime account at the age of 12 and grew the account to 60K followers in under 5 months. I was receiving PR packages from random squishy companies, selling slime, and making content from my own bedroom. Not a lot of people know about this so if you’re reading this, you’re lucky. Those social media marketing, content creation, and business skills that I learned while running the slime account at 12 years old really helped to advance my current businesses.
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With all your great success, what advice would you have given your younger self to Get to where you are now ,if they wanted to quit on their dreams?
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Well I am still pretty young (according to some), but what I would say to 17- year old Anaya who just got dropped off to college across the country is that it’s okay to not know what you’re doing. Trust that God has a plan for you, and follow what you really desire instead of what everyone else around you is doing. It’s easy to follow society’s trap of going to college for 4 years and wasting an essential time of your life. I am a firm believer that college is not necessary to achieve success.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Has it been a smooth road? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?

I feel like entrepreneurship can be incredibly lonely at this age. Once you realize that you are what you attract and surround yourself with, friendships and relationships need to end in order for YOU to elevate. It may seem sad in the moment, but you’ll realize that a certain friendship or relationship had to end in order to fully pursue your dreams and ambitions. It is never selfish to put yourself first of course. It just feels lonely for me because there are not many 19-year olds at the same state of their career that I am in. Of course I surround myself with successful individuals- but they tend to be a lot older than me– usually 21-28 yr olds. A part of me feels like I’m missing being a true 19-year old–going to college parties, sororities, homecoming, just basically not being financially independent and in college. But, I always remind myself that this is God’s plan for me and I am blessed enough to know my passion and make a living off of it.

What separates you from your competition?

I feel like I am underestimated a lot, especially being a young black woman in the music industry. I feel like what separates me from my competition is that I am a young spirit, starting multiple businesses without any degree, mentor, or industry connections to begin with.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite childhood memory is probably going to conventions with my mom. My mom used to go on work trips a lot, but since she was a single mom- my brother and I got to tag along with her sometimes because we didn’t have anyone to watch us. She used to go to conventions like CEO Space and Secret Knock- based in Las Vegas and California. It was so cool getting to meet talented entrepreneurs at a young age like the CEO of Ugg, CEO of Make-a-Wish Foundation, etc.. I used to brag about meeting them to my friends in elementary school but literally none of them cared haha. To me, I always admired their entrepreneurial spirit at a young age and I knew that was the path to living a joyful, successful, and abundant life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.af-castings.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/anayaford
• Other: https://instagram.com/afcastings

Image Credits
PLEASE CREDIT FOR PERSONAL PHOTO:
Photographer: Kimberly Norrod/ @norrodkimberly
MUA: Precious Osuji / @adorethemua
PA: Oriol / @hashruns

GROUP AGENCY PHOTO:
Jonatan Amaya @jonatanxamaya