Today we’d like to introduce you to Dre Craft.
Hi Dre, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It all started in October of 2021, for so long people around me would tell me “You should be an influencer” and “I like your style and personality”. I’ve always been pretty shy but I always knew people really liked me and I enjoyed watching other influencers get paid to post so I said why not let this be me?
But also I knew this would be a good chance to see just how far I could go with building my social media.
And today, I am here seeing the payoff of being consistent and branding myself to follow the blueprint of some of my favorite influencers like Jayda Cheaves (@jaydacheaves) and GSUWOO (@gsuwoo) just to name a few. And I surprise myself a lot with the deals I land and the amount I am seeing my social media account grow.
Even though I am not famous, I know my followers enjoy seeing my post and stories. A lot has motivated me to get to where I am today including my friends and family and the support I receive from people I don’t fully know.
My business mentor is a big influence on my career on social media as he is trying to start to get me more active on all social media platforms which is a new chapter for me but it’s a chapter I am ready for.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Smooth? I wish.
Throughout this journey of trying to build a brand from my name alone, there have been a lot of bumps in the road. Mainly with myself not being used to the attention and posting on social media. I get so nervous every time I post because I am a perfectionist and I want everything I post and every deal I take to be genuine to who I am as a person.
One major bump has been my clothing line release, which was scheduled to be released at the beginning of this year but due to some things on the business side of things not being done fully I decided to push back the release to a new date because I want everything to be planned out and perfect.
When it comes to social media posting, I face a lot of bumps along the way with self-doubt, but I will say with every bump or setback there has been a push from an outside source that keeps me going.
I would say my biggest push this year has been hearing from celebrity hairstylist Tae (@arrogant_tae123) and just getting positive feedback from him on my post and motivation for me to keep going and working toward my dreams, developing a friendship where I can call on him for advice and just words of motivation.
So I will say for every bump there has been an even bigger motivation than when I see a storm, to walk through it because there is always something greater waiting for me.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I became known for taking pictures and getting people to like me to keep it simple. It sounds easy but it’s not, there’s a lot to learn and experiment with to see if it works for you as an individual. I specialize in clothing design and creative directing, which are both businesses that will be launching for me.
I am most proud of my upcoming businesses and also business deals with other brands I will start working with later this year. My determination, my drive, my ability to focus and make things happen, my genuine personality, and the need to want everybody around me to win set me apart from others.
I like being me lately, fully me. I am hard on myself about making sure my brand is fully me and genuine to who I am as a person. That’s one of the things I love about myself, I show up like me, I attract the crowd I am supposed to attract and I never try to fit in.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
In order to find a mentor, it starts with yourself first.
You have to know the path you want to go down and find people that had a similar plan and made it work for them. Then from there you reach out and attempt to find the perfect mentor. Networking is key to growing anything. I have always been told “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” and I completely believe that.
It’s important to get out of your comfort zone and speak up for what you want. You’re name being heard starts with you. Being myself has worked for me. Allowing others to learn my story and naturally being attracted to me has been my best bet every time.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/6uandre/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/6uandre
Image Credits
@shotxq
