We had the good fortune of connecting with Shantella Ray and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shantella, what do you want your legacy to be?
I want my legacy to be that I stayed true to myself and succeeded without kissing anybody else’s ass, faking friendships, and acting like other artists are my competition. I just want to be me and do me and not conform to anybody else’s views or ways to make it or be known in this industry. 

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I no longer label myself as one thing I just call myself a artist. I have a passion for anything artistic. I dance and teach but I also love photography. I take all of my own photos and videos and I can spend hours on end editing and adding effects, etc. It makes me happy to create. I recently became apart of the Tiktok Creator Program and that helps me create even more for myself or others. My videos are now getting attention from brands that reach out and want me to create videos for them and thats a huge goal for me. I just started but Im manifesting 2021 to be a big year for me with that. My dance class is called Ray Vibes and its always a challenge to be honest. There are tons of sexy dance classes in Atlanta, and it attracts a lot of customers but I do not like to be sexy all the time. Im not the heels dancer thats into the hair whips and sexy moves 24/7 i want to flip in my heels, perform in my heels, anything I can do in a sneaker I want to do in my heels. Unfortunately thats not the case for many women, so I’ll be honest I struggle sometimes with my class but that’s when I say I will not conform and just stay true to myself. The universe will bring the right people to me and I will succeed no matter what.

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.
To be honest, I am the most homebody person you will ever meet. Lol plus its a pandemic. 2 places I can recommend though are 6 feet under pub and fish house they have really good fresh seafood and El Rincon Salvadoreno in marietta has the best pupusas.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
A lot of things and people have contributed to me being in this current chapter of my artistic journey. Having my son at 22 pushed me into a “Now or never” mindset. I knew I wanted to be both a mother and a dancer and having my son early gave me the chance to keep dancing even when my peers started getting older and having families of their own. I’ve been in 2 Companies; Atla Connect and Groove2Musik. Both helped me learn the tricks and the trades of the dance industry. They groomed me and helped me with finding myself as a dancer, and realizing where I wanted to go and how to go about it. Lastly I’ve had some really great individuals who give me the best encouraging words ever. I struggle with severe anxiety and doubt myself often as a bunch of artists do but the people in my life gas me up and never let me quit.

Website: https://linktr.ee/Shantellaray

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