Rising Stars: Meet Paizley Lee of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paizley Lee.

Hi Paizley, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Despite being raised in the SGV, I grew up around a lot of people and a lot of noise. My dad gamified everything, so I got used to reading whatever room I was in. I became fascinated with subcultures, groups, and the ways people created their own systems at an early age. School felt like just another system. I was expelled in my freshman year, but I finished my studies through independent work and managed to escape at 16. Since then, I’ve been building whatever felt like it should exist but didn’t yet. Lately, that’s looked like creating games, experiences, and spaces where people can move in ways they’re not used to.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Lol no. Nothing about how I operate is smooth. It’s messy, it’s chaotic, and it doesn’t usually make a lot of sense, even to me. The thing about wanting to try everything is you end up failing a lot and winning in weirder ways.

I spent almost six years in early cannabis, dealing with raids and regulations. I moved into beauty, which came with its own weirdness (trends, celebrities, whatever). I got into screenwriting, sold a show, and ran headfirst into how insane Hollywood is — then boom, writers strike. And that’s just work. My personal life has had just as many trainwrecks.

It’s never been smooth, but every piece of it has been worth it. The wild west of cannabis bred some of the most intuitive and agile business people you’ll ever meet. Beauty taught me how creative teams are built and how what you see in music, TV, and culture starts behind the scenes. And screenwriting? Well, if you ever need to learn how to take a goddamn note, Hollywood’s the place. You rewrite it a hundred times, then you rewrite it again.

I’m not trying to win at any of it. I’m just building space for things that didn’t exist before.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Right now, I design experimental games. Think anti-games. About a year and a half ago, I accidentally created Post Apocalyptic Los Angeles — basically a 7-day IRL GTA meets Dungeons & Dragons, but actually nothing like either of those. I’ve run five rounds of it so far, and I’m about to open up a second game style in New York and Toronto. We’re going international, baby.

I don’t think I’m known for anything, really, except pushing people and opening doors to new things. I don’t hand out opportunities the way a company or a celebrity might. But if you hang around long enough, you’ll probably see someone throwing fireworks around like they’re baseballs. That doesn’t make any sense, but it’s fine.

I think if anything, I’m just known for trying. I just try. And we all get to see what happens next.

I’m obsessed with web culture and the weirder corners of the internet. I’m comfortable enough with who I am that I’m willing to explore all of that publicly and force a few people along for the ride.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
One of my favorite childhood memories is when I weirdly quarantined off part of the playground and sold tickets for people to watch the cool girls dance. I think there were actually physical tickets drawn with crayola markers. I didn’t think it was weird at the time because to bby Paizley, it just made sense. There was a crowd, there was demand, so why not organize it? Honestly, that’s kind of the story of my whole life in one afternoon.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://worksucks.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kidgrandma