Meet Rae Ama-Camylle Chesny | Author & Founder of Zoraphile

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rae Ama-Camylle Chesny and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rae Ama-Camylle, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
At the center of all of my work with women and children of color is storytelling. I tell stories of my own and those that represent people with black and brown skin. Though storytelling is a skill used for entertainment purposes, it is also a source of educational opportunities at the same time. I am lucky to do both and to use my roles to teach predominantly BIPOC children and women to unlock their natural gifts of storytelling. Once they embrace the gift of storytelling, they have a tool for creatively sharing their experiences and views with the world.

Some of the women and children I work with experience more confidence in their voice and some will become authors through programs I have created. Both are beautiful outcomes. But admittedly,  I really love seeing the life-changing impact of an individual holding a book that they wrote for the first time. It is indescribable. It is almost like watching a miracle before your eyes as they transition into this new space of knowing they can take their ideas and voice and make them into something tangible. It affects every area of their lives and those they interact with.

This year, I spent the pandemic mentoring and coaching a 6-year-old girl who created a story using a few words and pictures. Her parents were surprised that she worked on it more each day, but reached out to me on Facebook asking if I would work with her. They weren’t sure if she was too young or if anyone would take the time to understand her ideas and turn them into a book. Well, we did. To make it even better, she put everyone in her immediate family in the story, much to their surprise. When I revealed the book to the little girl and her family, they were all so amazed and proud. Additionally, they were so excited to see characters with their names who looked like them in the book. That family is forever changed and so will everyone else they know. As for the little girl, she is doing better in school. has gained more courage in using her own voice, and is even showing impressive improvement in reading and academic performance. I am confident that this little girl, the 5000 other children I have worked with through my storytelling-based programming, and the women I work with will change the world as they carry the torch of telling stories of their own.

Another way I use storytelling to change the world is by saying yes to projects that can be made more meaningful with the use of storytelling. Currently, I am a Literary Consultant with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. A research team is developing a prevention program for black youths whose parents have experience with substance abuse. I was brought in to develop relatable characters and stories that the program participants can connect with as they move through the program curriculum. This is groundbreaking work that will change the world lead by scientific geniuses. I feel extremely honored that my gift of storytelling and my pledge to use representation in stories spoke to them as a way to better reach the program participants.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am an author and storyteller. I focus on creating stories that serve as a reclamation of the experiences of BIPOC women and children. My stories capture triumph, overcoming obstacles, building strong relationships, and highlighting the joys and pains of the human experience. Storytelling is a sacred art to me because it gives voice to those who may not otherwise have a safe space to share their lives or feel able to articulate their experiences. Additionally, it is an act of resistance to a singular stereotype by adding a depth of diversity within the people represented in a group. Lastly, it is a freedom of expression to use words to convey our innermost feelings and to connect people across cultures, locations, and generations.

The thing that makes me unique, perhaps, is my deep belief in multigeneration connection. I spend a great deal of my time honoring the legacy of ancestral storyteller Zora Neale Hurston, while simultaneously working to empower children to tell their stories in their own voices now, as well as in the future. In short, my work touches on all timelines of life-past, present, and future. Many writers credit Zora with being at least one of their main inspirations in their career. But for me, Zora is an inspiration on how to live my life, dedicated to telling my people’s stories in a myriad of forms no matter what obstacles come up in my own life. Daily I am actively researching, learning, and understanding Zora so that I may bring her contributions to the everyday person. I do Zora Talks on college campuses, for cultural institutions, and other educational spaces around the country. I am the founder of Zora’s Garden, which is an organization cultivating a love of the land through gardening, a love of literacy through storytelling. and a love of community through collaboration.

I think in my life, I am most proud of my determination to find what is right for me over and over again. Choosing this path has certainly not been easy. I was raised to go to college and get a good job, which I did. But at 23, to the alarm of my friends and family, I decided to walk away from my “good job with benefits”. To them, I had seemingly given up everything that I had worked for. However, my desire to do something meaningful in my own vision was calling me. When I made the decision to leave my job, I had to fight to follow my own instincts and what I knew my soul was calling me to do. Many times the path wasn’t clear and I had to experiment. Eventually, I rediscovered my love and talent for storytelling. I began as a children’s author in 2014 and this year I have completed my first YA novel manuscript. Honestly, I really wanted to start out writing novels, but I was too afraid to fail. Despite not putting a novel out at that time, I am grateful I didn’t because I got to serve over 5,000 children around the world with Social Education Programming based off of my children’s books. And in return the children I served taught me how to be daring and dream big again.

I would love people to know that storytelling is truly my lifeblood. It has given me so much power and agency over my life. With each story I have written, I learned something new about myself or had to ask myself some hard questions. In life, we often hear about “changing the narrative” of our lives, but I had begun changing the narrative and living my life on my terms a decade ago. Something still felt off for me. There was this distinct resistance to seeing the name I was given at birth on my work (work that I was proud of) and hearing people introduce me. It didn’t feel like me. There is this concept of “working titles” when an author starts a project. But often, the title gets changed by the time the work is completed and ready to share with the world. Like many of my working titles, my birth name didn’t resonate with the story of the life I had been building or the vision I have for myself. So like a working title, my birth name needed to be changed. This year, I embarked on naming my soul. I found one that I feel overjoyed to share with the world. That was a huge part of my evolution and is one of the things I am most proud of.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I don’t live in Atlanta so this would be more of a girls’ trip. We would start off with yoga in Piedmont Park. We would then grab smoothies at Jutox. After smoothies, we would walk The Beltline to Ponce City Market and shop at the Village Market ATL to support the Black-owned shop that sells Black-owned products. By then we would likely be ready for a shower and a nap, so we would grab a quick bite to eat at Bar Vegan, which is Slutty Vegan’s bar. Then head home to shower and rest. Later that evening we might chill at home and order in while catching up over wine and cocktails.

The next day, after a late wake-up and a slow morning, we would have a day on the town. We would start with brunch at Nana’s Chicken-n-Waffles. Next, I would take her to check out the latest exhibition at Zucot Art Gallery in Castleberry Hill. We would end the evening at Copper Cove in Buckhead.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I am so indebted to the many mentors and individuals who encouraged me to follow my heart. Thanks to them, I was led back to my love of storytelling and writing. I would like to recognize my husband who has been with me since the very beginning of my journey into “authorhood”. He has sacrificed and supported me selflessly. I know that without him by my side, living the dream would never be as sweet. I would also like to thank my storytelling and writing mentors, Yvelette Stines and Monice Mitchell Simms who both give so much advice and encouragement as I walk this path. They are living testaments to the power of storytelling and persistence. Additionally, I would like to thank Dr. Kevin L. Brooks, who has supported and contributed to my vision by challenging me to step through the doors he has opened for me. Lastly, I would like to thank Zora Neale Hurston for existing and living so courageously. Over a century later, she has inspired me and given me the courage to put my work out there at every step of my journey. It is my honor to spend my life bringing her legacy to those who may not otherwise know of it.

Website: raechesny.com

Instagram: @raechesny

Image Credits
Evan Chesny Photography for all