Life & Work with Ali Sene Castro of Los Angeles / OC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ali Sene Castro.

Hi Ali, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Right out of college, I graduated with an associate’s degree in performing arts. With $6000 I’d saved working three jobs while in school, I moved to Los Angeles with just my clothes and my car. I cramped into a two-bedroom apartment with four other roommates.

From day one, I refused to let myself get comfortable. I only accepted creative jobs, because I believed that if I settled for something I didn’t enjoy, I’d get stuck there. I was young, and I’d already moved to a new state, so why not take every risk I could?

LA rewards that kind of hustle. I did music videos, modeling, stage work, background roles, audience filler seats, and so much more. I face-painted for children’s parties for a while. I nannied for two families who hired me specifically because I was creative and they wanted someone to make art with their kids. It also gave me time to work on my own art while getting paid.

Eventually, I landed a three-month residency at VaynerMedia that turned into a full-time job. Over three years, I worked my way up to senior creator on brands like Indeed, Chosen Foods, Lands’ End, and Thomas the Tank Engine. I was getting pretty good at graphic design and video editing, and I got to use that acting degree.

But marketing wasn’t my end goal, just a stop on the path. I want to tell stories and someday create my own animated series. So when I got the opportunity to schedule my meeting with the company’s CEO, Gary Vaynerchuk, I pitched him character ideas for his passion project, Veefriends. He is building a Comic book company, and he hired me.

At Veefriends, I taught myself animation, made animated reels, and even got to direct a team of animators from my own storyboards, an opportunity someone with my experience barely gets. Then I set my sights on the writers’ room.

I didn’t wait to be invited. I read every comic we’d published. I gave notes nobody asked for, and may have stepped on a few toes… I won’t lie. I pitched many characters and stories, and I was loud about it. I’d rather be told no than to wait for someone to give me a yes. My ambition and passion were noticed, and after a year, I officially got myself on the Comics team to write and illustrate.

I’ve released two comic books under Veefriends. and I’m now working on a comic I pitched myself, with plots and characters I’ve developed and refined. It’s a big opportunity, and hopefully one of the first of many stories I have to tell.

My dream is to create an animated series called The Great King, something like Barbie meets Game of Thrones. My work explores hyperfemininity alongside the complexity and moral grayness of being human. As a biracial woman, I find comfort in the in-between spaces, and I love exploring the perspectives of the people around me. Representation matters deeply to me, and I want it at the heart of everything I make.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’m not sure what I’d consider smooth. I have been fortunate enough to grow a little bigger every year. As I said, I moved here in a beat-up car and lived in a two-bedroom with 5 people total. Now, I live in a spacious studio apartment with a parking space and a pool. I feel blessed, and I recognize my hard work. What made it feel easy was that I always made sure I was moving toward my end goal.

Fake it till you make it works. Or call it the law of attraction. Think about it this way: I had no experience as a professional artist, but I always drew. My passion is illustration and animation. Even when I would introduce myself, I always said I was either an Illustrator or an animator, or even just an artist. I told people who I was, not who I wanted to be. So whenever there was an opportunity that came up that needed an artist, I was among the people who would come to mind.

I asked for what I wanted; I took chances others ignored. I reached out to people who didn’t know me. I didn’t wait to create; I am a creator; I created.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m best known for a Disney Princess series I did that went viral a few years back, where I would redesign each character to have a different body shape. Body inclusivity is also something I wanted to see in animation. I’m quite feminist. A lot of my work is hyperfeminine, which developed after a lot of deconstruction of old beliefs and challenging norms. One of my biggest guiding lights is the idea that we don’t have to sacrifice feminine aesthetics to experience complex plots.

This may not sound like an original idea, but it’s most certainly not popular. I’m an avid gamer, and I get sick of how the most funded and popular games were all games that appeal to men, even though in 2026 just about half of gamers globally are women. Look it up. I’m seriously sick of men being the default. I was agitated looking at the endless girl movies about friendship, but not fully exploring human highs and lows until the recent Barbie movie that featured Depression Barbie. Wonder if that’s a factor in why most women make friends in the girls’ bathroom so easily. HA.

The Great King is my Game of Thrones. It has flawed characters, a giant world, religions, politics, action, gore, magic, and plenty of sparkly princesses. You can find it on @tgk_TheGreatKing on YouTube or TikTok. I’ve posted so much content; it’s hard not to get the vision.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
My friends. No one who has friends is ever truly alone. Chosen family is still family; they love you not out of obligation, but because of a deep connection. I cherish my friendships. I build deep bonds. Even though I’m in California, my best friends are still my high school girl group from Arizona. Of course I’m also blessed with another strong sister-like friendship with a woman I met later in life. They remind me who I am and pick me up when I am down. Life sucks, but love is everywhere.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artsyali_/?hl=en
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-sene-5884a11a0/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGreatKing_TGK
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@alisene