Daily Inspiration: Meet Ansley Layne

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ansley Layne.

Hi Ansley, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m Vegas-born and raised. I’ve always been into haunted and historical places. My dad is a Vegas true crime historian, so growing up I’d always go to a lot of haunted places. My parents are both really into history and wanted to expose me to as much of it as possible. I saw my first ghost in the mines of Mt. Charleston when I was around eight years old. Every time I’d go back (a lot of birthday parties were held there), I would see her. I’d always wander into the mines by myself, looking for her. My other friends would be in the petting zoo they had. None of them were brave enough to wander into the mines. My grandpa was a famous high-stakes poker player, so I’d spend a lot of time at older hotels in Vegas. I’ve seen, heard, and felt things I can’t explain.

Since then, I’ve always believed in the paranormal. My family always thought I was a strange child because I’d watch Ghost Adventures all the time and other shows like that. I’ve always been fascinated by it. I had a really weird upbringing mixed with middle class and very rich. My parents have been divorced since I was two years old. I have a wealthy mom and a middle-class dad; both have taught me lessons on who I want to be in this world. My mom likes nice things and designer stuff. My dad, I’m pretty sure, wears the same thing every day. Lol. My mom taught me that working really hard will lead to success, which is something I’ve taken to heart from her. She has worked really hard for her money. I work extremely hard, maybe too hard sometimes. My dad taught me to pursue my true passions no matter how weird or crazy they are and to never stop doing so. Although he may not have much money, he is truly happy with what he does.

At the end of the day, I want to be happy with what I’m doing. I’ve never wanted to work for someone else or be in a job that has good money but doesn’t make me happy. I definitely am a mixture of my parents. I want to work extremely hard to achieve financial stability, but I also want to be doing what I love doing. I’ll never stop. I think it’s funny to point out that this also comes back to food. I can proudly say I am one of the biggest foodies in the world. My mom used to take me to the most expensive restaurants in the world, and I honestly didn’t really like most of them. BUT, I was exposed to many different crazy cuisines at a very young age. I’ve traveled to many crazy places in my life. I first had escargot when I was six years old on a cruise. I loved the idea of eating snails. I ordered them every night on that cruise. My mom would get mad at me because I would always order the craziest things on the menu. I loved getting frog legs, elk, shark, you name it. “Can you just order something normal?” she would always say.

Meanwhile, my dad would cook at home and take me to places like the 99 cents store. There are actually some treasures in the freezer section at the 99-cent store. He also exposed me to the magic of fast food. Can’t go wrong with that Arby’s Beef N Cheddar. I try everything; I’m open to ANYTHING. I don’t care if it’s a Michelin star if it’s a truck on the street, or straight from the depths of the grocery store freezer. ALL food is exciting to me.

I started Spooky Foodie a little more than a year ago. I went to college at Chapman University and got my BFA in Screen Acting with a minor in criminology. Growing up, I always wanted to be an entertainer. At Chapman, I had the privilege of learning all aspects of film production, which has really helped me in content creation. When I graduated, I felt extremely lost. I was a working actor and tired of the “no”s and waiting to hear on a “yes”. It really took a toll on my mental health. I missed entertaining. I’ll never forget where I was when I came up with spooky foodie. I had a horrible day, and my boyfriend and I went to get burgers. I felt so lost at where I was. My boyfriend asked me, “If you want to create a niche, what are two things you love in this world?” and I said…well… FOOD and GHOSTS. And boom it hit me. I should go to haunted restaurants and bars. And the next day, we did the first video. My boyfriend filmed it. We went to Clifton’s in DTLA. I heard many ghost stories about it and thought I’d give this idea a try. I remember the anxiety attack I had before I posted the video. I never put myself out there like that in my life. I kept thinking about what other people were going to think. Is this weird? Is this cool? … but I posted it. I went to bed, and it was viral overnight. I haven’t stopped since then.

Spooky Foodie has grown into so many things. It provides education about history through ghosts; it’s helped small businesses, I could go on. I’ve gone to so many cool places and done some crazy paranormal investigations. My content is all about having fun. In the paranormal space right now, there’s a lot of seriousness and selling fear. My content is the complete opposite. I’m having a good time and hanging out with ghosts while eating food. It’s a great time. Sure, some conversations I have with spirits are scary, but most of the time they’re hilarious and fun. I am so grateful to be where I am now and can proudly say this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I am so happy now. I’ve stayed consistent because it’s something I actually love doing, and no one can tell me yes or no. I’m my own boss, and it’s a great feeling. I’ve formed an incredible audience, and I’m so grateful for where I am.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Content creation has not been smooth for me. Sure, I have grown really fast in one year, but I am constantly pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I’ve had to learn more about business, about editing, and reaching out to places. I’m learning all the time. I’ve had to learn how to make a schedule between my paying job and my content, but I’ve figured out how to stay consistent with both. I’ve had to figure out how to deal with haters and people who comment awful things on my page. I’ve learned that not everyone is going to like me, and I’m okay with that. I’m putting myself out there, and my content is reaching a bunch of strangers. Of course, some of them are going to be mean. It really hurt me at first, but now I’ve learned that it’s part of the job. My current struggle is breaking out into YouTube. It’s a whole new platform for me, but I’ve been studying a lot of other creators and figuring out how I can make my content different- how to stand out. I’m extremely excited for this new challenge and so grateful to keep going. I’ve learned that my best content comes from being my genuine and true self. A few months into my content, I felt like I was following a template and was limiting myself. Something clicked for me recently that I can start showing myself more, and I’m happy that I have. Completely not giving a damn, and being myself has helped my page grow even further and has helped me mentally.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
It all started with going to haunted restaurants and bars. I go to the restaurant, interview employees about ghost stories/history, and try the food/drink. Then, I’d make a video combining all of the info I gathered. It’s now branched out into a lot more. I go to haunted/abandoned places and I bring food with me and talk to ghosts. I also am an amateur mixologist, so I make cocktails at these haunted places as well. It’s so much fun. I’m not perfect at mixology in the slightest, but I’m always learning, practicing, and figuring out what tastes good. I also go to a lot of spooky-themed experiences throughout LA. I do a lot of content with Fever/Secret Los Angeles and have done collaborations with historical places like the Queen Mary and Yamashiro. My content has helped historical places and their stories get more traction, and that has been extremely fulfilling for me. I love educating people about history and places less traveled. There’s a lot of trendiness and glitz in LA, but I tend to stay away from that. I like going to more underground places and finding out interesting facts about them.

For example, there’s a dive bar called Monty that’s in Downtown LA. I went there and found out a lot about their history. It used to be a street car garage and a brothel. But no one would really know that. People just go there for drinks. I think explaining the history and ghosts of these places brings a whole new experience for the patron. They have something to talk about. What I’m most proud of is my recent collaboration with La Golondrina, one of the oldest Mexican restaurants in LA. The building is extremely historical, built in 1850. It sits on historic Olvera Street. The restaurant has been closed and is under new ownership. The owners cannot open due to some plumbing issues that are the city’s job to fix because they’re the landlords of the entire street. This has been an ongoing battle, and these new owners are facing eviction because of it. They can’t pay rent because they can’t open. It’s a whole mess. I could go on about it. I went to their eviction committee meeting a couple of weeks ago to speak to the committee about the importance of La Golondrina for Olvera Street. It’s a huge piece of real estate on such a small street. Small vendors are struggling due to the closures of these larger places. The families on Olvera Street are the only people that can lease properties on Olvera, which is why all of this is an issue. If this family gets evicted, the restaurant will become a ghost. No one will be able to afford the repairs. It’s not their responsibility. Hearing the concerns of other vendors on the street during that meeting broke my heart. I knew I had to do something to help.

So, I posted a video and collaborated with Secret Los Angeles. The video is now at 1.3 million views, and La Golondrina has now raised over $30,000 through donors to help with their legal fees as they combat the city on this huge case. I do not want to see another piece of history die. People ask me why this all means so much to me, after all, I’m a white person. I’m not Mexican. These places are the soul of Los Angeles. Los Angeles is losing its soul. I live in Downtown LA, gentrification is happening all around me. All around the city in general. Olvera Street does not need to be gentrified. It can be innovated. History can be innovated; it does not have to be taken away. I felt like it was my duty as a creator with a semi-large platform to say something about this. I travel all around LA going to different restaurants; I wanted to give back and help this street. This goes back to the idea of stepping out of my comfort zone. As an “influencer”, I could’ve stayed silent and comfortable. I couldn’t do that. I had to help. That’s what all content creators with large platforms should do. I feel like a lot of content creators stay silent because they want people to like them and they want to be comfortable. Well, this job isn’t all about being comfortable. It’s about helping others, breaking boundaries, and raising awareness. We have large platforms, so let’s use them.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
In the paranormal industry, I think the idea of selling fear will go stale. It gets boring hearing everyone talking about demons. Ghost investigations are fun; that’s why we all do them. Why are we acting like they’re so scary all the time? It’s an adrenaline rush, it’s a shared experience, and it’s a great time. That’s what I want to get across in my videos, and I want my followers to feel like they’re there with me. I think there will be a lot more innovation in ghost equipment as well. There’s constantly new equipment coming out. None that I can afford right now (lol), but eventually I want to experiment with everything. For now, I stick to the cheap basics and still get great evidence.

When it comes to food, food will always look great on Instagram. That’s a fact. But I think there will still be a huge shift. People will start following foodies for the FOODIE, not for the food. It comes down to the person and their personality. I think we’re already seeing that now.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spookyfoodie/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086279214999
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@spookyfoodie/videos
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@spookyfoodie?lang=en

Image Credits
Nate Meadows Mykeseye