Interview: Felisshaa
Her socials: TikTok | Instagram | Podcast
“I always strive to be better than yesterday.”
-Felisshaa
bb: I get the impression that you’re at sort of a reinvention/influx point in your life. Tell us about it?
F: Yes, I have done some inner healing and worked on my mental health over these past years. Growing up I didn’t have the best cards dealt, so I had to do a lot of rewiring to unlearn a lot of unhealthy behaviors. I’m very proud of how far I have come. However, there is still much more to work on. I always strive to be better than yesterday.
bb: The video posts on TikTok you make have almost what I guess you could call a gun metal hue over them. Do you grade/color grade your videos or does that just occur naturally because of the location?
F: The videos I post have a dark tint to them yes! Unfortunately, TikTok seems to favor iPhones, which I don’t have. My video quality doesn’t appear like my phone’s when I post the videos. So I added a dark filter which helps the quality and makes it dark and edgy exactly how I want it for my gym videos.
bb: Almost since we first started corresponding you’ve come across as having a fierce work ethic. Where do you think the drive comes from?
F: I think my work ethic comes from my mom and dad. Growing up I lived with my mom and grandmother. My mom took care of my grandmother, worked full time, and took care of our family who struggled with substance abuse. My mom never complained about being tired, she woke up every day with a smile on her face and pushed herself to her limits. She was always busy with either work or taking care of the family, so I learned to take care of myself. My dad worked nonstop and always taught me to work hard for what I wanted. I have also seen my family who struggled with substance abuse become homeless time and time again, and I always told myself that I would NEVER end up like them. In my eyes to never end up like them I had to push myself to my limits, work hard for everything, and also NEVER GIVE UP.
bb: I noticed the ink on your arm. When did you get your first tattoo, and do you remember what drew you to do it?
F: I got my first tattoo a year ago! I always wanted tattoos when I was younger but never knew what I wanted. My first tattoo was planned for about 2 months. It is my lightbulb with flowers and a heart in it, it’s my favorite one! I decided to get this tattoo because that was the point in my life where it started to change. This tattoo represents the person that I want to be. At that point in my life, I was helping a handful of people. This tattoo means to be a light in a work full of darkness. Growing up I was in complete darkness, alone, and hopeless. I never had anyone there for me, and I would never wish that upon anyone. So the idea of the tattoo is to be there for others because you never know what someone is going through.
bb: It’s your ambition to help people succeed. Is that what drew you to the mental health field?
F: I explored the mental health field on my own. All my life I have always helped everyone with their problems, and I never thought anything of it. I was going through a breakup from a very bad relationship and I wanted to change and work on myself. I decided to get into reading self-help books, listening to podcasts, getting a therapist, and doing a lot of inner work. With the knowledge that I learned I started to use it to help my friends and strangers. Still not thinking anything of it. Then eventually I realized that this was something that I love and that a lot of people are struggling with mental health. I knew that this was something that I could do for the rest of my life. That was when I decided to change my career.
bb: Which gym day do you like the most?
F: My favorite gym day is back and biceps!
bb: What’s the craziest thing you remember anyone saying to you in a live?
F: Honestly, there have been so many crazy things that people say in my live that I can’t remember. I try not to focus on the negatives of my live because I only do them to talk with others and help them with anything that they need. Its also great practice for when I start working in my field.
bb: Tell me about your podcast
F: My podcast is just a mix of mental health, life, college, and (what I find) inspiring. I have a co-host named Maggie (socials?) who I met in college. We have great conversations and decide it would be awesome to share with others. Maggie and I are adult learners in college and we both have been through a lot of trauma. We want to help others navigate through life, and show them that they can start college at any age, and just taking those who want to listen on our journey though life. We are hoping to motivate and inspire others through our podcast.
bb: Do you have a favorite guilty pleasure movie?
F: I don’t have any guilty pleasures. Everything that I do in my life I try to make it so it benefits me. I rarely watch TV, and I try to stay off of social media. If anything I’d say probably reading romance/fantasy books. Although I look at reading as a benefit because I’m learning new words and forcing myself to focus which is hard for me sometimes because I have ADHD.
bb: What’s the last book you read, then?
F: A Court of Mist and Fury.
bb: Favorite food?
F: Sushi and pizza.
bb: The last song you listened to?
F: “This War is Ours” by Escape the Fate.
bb: Any fitness/dietary tips for people trying to get in shape or stay there?
F: (My) tips would be if you’re starting you should start small. Make a plan to work out three days a week and do some at-home workouts. Look up on TikTok or Pinterest for great workouts. Once you get comfortable doing that and consistently working out those three days, start to add more. Then when you start to outgrow the home gym consider signing up to a gym. The diet I would say depends on what the goal of the person is. Just make sure you do a lot of research online it’s a great tool!
bb: How much does your ADHD impact your day?
F: Honestly, I’m not sure how much my ADHD impacts me because I’ve lived my whole life with it. I’ve only noticed maybe one or two things. The one thing I’ve noticed probably is anything that has to do with school. I find it very difficult to study and understand the material, it takes me a lot longer than everyone else. I have found some ways that have helped me such as listening to music with no lyrics. Something else I’ve noticed is when I’m talking with people in person I tend to focus on things going on around us so it makes it difficult to stay focused on the conversation.
bb: You’re a photographer, mostly, it seems, of nature? Can you talk about your approach and which subjects inspire you most?
f: Yes, I take photos of nature and sometimes buildings. When I was a kid, my mom got me a camera and I took that thing everywhere. I first started out taking pictures of my cat and dog, then I started taking pictures of things outside. There was a creek in the middle of our apartments that had a ton of flowers and butterflies everywhere, I took pictures of them and I think that’s what started my photography journey. I unfortunately don’t have a camera right now but my phone takes great pictures! Photography is just something that I love to do. I love showing people things that they may not see because they don’t stop and just look around for a second. This world moves so fast and sometimes it’s nice to just stop and look around, you miss some beautiful things if you don’t look long enough. What inspires me is showing people how beautiful things are and their reactions to the photos that I take.
bb: You’re from PA. The Dallas sports fandom: how and why did that come to be?
F: When I was younger I was watching the Eagles and I could never get into them. They played the Dallas Cowboys and I instantly fell in love. I love the colors, I loved that they won the Superbowl the year I was born and I loved the players. Dak Prescott is what mostly made me love the Cowboys the most. He came from nothing. lost his mom to colon cancer and pushed through it all to get to where he is now. He was a huge inspiration to me. After loving football so much I started getting into other sports and figured I’d just stick with Dallas sports.
bb: Do you have any pets?
F: I have a dog named Ryker, and two leopard gecko lizards named luna, and Spyro.
bb: Thanks for doing this, and good luck.
