Today we’d like to introduce you to Lana Rae
Hi Lana, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I began creating short form content on TikTok in June of 2020 when Covid hit. The reason being is because we were all locked up at home and I had so much free time and I thought it would be fun to create gaming content on one of my favorite games. At the time I was training to become a professional ballerina and they had canceled all in-person classes. So my training was now by myself at home on zoom call classes. During that time I was slowly losing my love for dance because it wasn’t the same and I wasn’t able to perform on stage in all the shows. So my energy and focus was shifting towards the content I was creating on TikTok. After a year I hit 1 million followers on TikTok, got verified and I signed to Palette Management. I started receiving brand deals and my management team advised that I open a YouTube channel. So I began uploading all my short form content onto YouTube because they had just launched YouTube shorts. It took a while to see growth, but 6 months later my channel started to blow up. People really loved my content and wanted to watch longer videos, so that’s when I decided to try out long form videos. At the time I was already streaming on TikTok and decided to incorporate live streaming on YouTube. Since then I have not only been able to work with amazing brands & companies but I have also been able to travel to places like New York & Japan! I’ve also dabbled in some modeling & was invited to Walk in New York Fashion Week last March & hope to do it again in the near future!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No it has not always been a smooth road. On TikTok I experienced a period of slow growth for about 4 months due to my videos not being pushed onto the for you page because of spam reporting done to my account. That created a lot of frustration because I was producing content everyday, my account was not growing, and my account wasn’t being seen like it had been the previous year. Thankfully I continued to post everyday and finally one day all my videos began to blow up again. I was finally able to gain 1 million followers in just 3 days. But that period almost led me to quit.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc.
– I currently create short form and long form gaming content on TikTok and YouTube. I also livestream gameplay on TikTok and YouTube as well. I upload 1-2 shorts a day, one long form video a week, and I maintain all my social platforms which include: TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat where I post various stories of my day along with behind the scenes, and Instagram where I post pictures and popular shorts on Instagram reels.
What are you most proud of?
– I’m most proud of the growth I’ve experienced on YouTube and TikTok. Recently my views on my long form videos on YouTube have been doing extremely well. That was something I had always struggled with because my strength is in short form content. So I feel extremely proud because my audience is enjoying seeing the longer content I am creating.
What sets you apart from others?
– I always strive to be creative and different from my peers. I was the first to do dancing with my Roblox avatar and the first to create a music video style about relatable Roblox skits. I’ve always made sure to incorporate my love of fashion, makeup, and hair into the look of all my videos. I know that made me stand out, however… there are so many Roblox content creators doing exactly what I have done and created to try and stand out. So know I am currently looking at other aspects to continue to make myself stand out. However I feel there will always be copy cats no matter what I do.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Some lessons I learned due to the Covid-19 Crisis is how to better prepare for an upcoming crisis. I also learned how to use my time and be more creative & also experienced peace as well because there was so much down time. Lastly, it was amazing to see the use of technology during this time with all the zoom classes and apps like door dash, Uber eats & instacart experiencing huge growth and also all the online friendships that were formed during this time.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lanaraee
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvICJHzZEwb_9ckAMohAqzw
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@lanaslifeee / https://www.snapchat.com/add/lanaa_raee
