Meet Alexis Joy | Creator of Alexisjoyvipaccess.com

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

Hi Alexis, what is the most important factor behind your success?
There are two things that instantly come into mind – first, it’s passion. Having the utmost passion for your craft is the fuel that will always keep you going. No matter how many obstacles come your way, having passion for what you do will always be the light that guides you and helps you through. I believe a big reason behind the success of my brand is because I’ve always lived and breathed my work. Even when I was a full-time college student balancing multiple classes along with my business, I would always make time for my site, even if that meant writing articles until 2:00 am and having to wake up three hours later for school, because I was so passionate about my work. And, the other important factor is having a support system. I truly owe all of my success to my own support system – my mom, grandma, great-grandma and my Papa Ben, Lola and Ronnie. Having that unwavering support gave me the confidence to always go after my dreams. So, I encourage anyone who is working on their passion to find a support system because it truly makes a difference – whether it’s family, friends, colleagues or anyone who shares the same vision as you, because, behind every successful person is a group of people who supported them to reach new heights.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m the creator of my site, Alexisjoyvipaccess.com, which focuses on the latest news in entertainment, fashion and beauty. I’ve been blessed to cover a lot of extraordinary and incredibly exciting events including the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, the Critics’ Choice Real TV Awards, New York Fashion Week, the Latin American Music Awards, the US Open and many more. Fun fact: I started my site when I was just 14-years-old, so, I built it from the ground up with really just the help of my family and this fire inside me that wanted to make this vision into something tangible. My site will be celebrating its 10th year anniversary this year and to this day, I am the sole-member of my team and do everything for my site – from writing and editing the articles to editing my interview videos, taking care of emails and posting on all my social media platforms. (Since this is the ‘Shoutout’ series – shoutout to my mom who is the camerawoman recording all of my interviews and my grandma who also takes on that role too at many events I cover!) I don’t have a video editor or a social media manager for my site, it’s all me – so any tweet or message of support really means the world to me as it makes all of the hard work pay off. One thing that I’ve always strived to do with my site is make it serve as a happy escape for readers. I know that life can get pretty hectic and overwhelming at times, and what I wanted to do with my site was let it be an outlet where people can take some time away from the busyness of life and just enjoy content about their favorite celebrities or fashion and beauty brands. Respect is something I really value and always incorporate in my site, so, I always make sure that my content and articles are respectful to whoever I’m writing about or interviewing, respectful to their supporters and fans and I never post anything that’s gossip or negative. I believe that that’s what sets my site apart because my goal is to promote what these amazing entertainers, influencers, athletes and thought-leaders are doing, because there are so many people doing so many brilliant things. I think that’s super important to share, the impact that these celebrities are making, how they are helping others – not the latest celebrity breakup. So, for me, what I’m most proud about is being able to give anyone who visits my site or watches an interview of mine some sort of happiness. If you laughed at a speed round question in one of my interviews or if reading an article about your favorite celebrity helped you forget all of the stress happening in your life, or if watching an unboxing video of mine made you smile – it’s the most gratifying feeling knowing I could help at least one person a day feel happy. In fact, I just recently received a very sweet message on social media saying that I helped make this person feel confident and they wanted to thank me for that. Messages like that I will forever hold close to my heart, because that means my goal of making someone feel happy or confident or excited was accomplished. It’s been a long and exciting journey, but one word I can’t use to describe my journey is “easy,” but you know what, I think that’s what makes it all the more fulfilling. I’ve had to balance being a full-time college student taking on several classes while covering events and posting all of my coverage in a timely manner. When I would cover events in New York, I would take a red-eye flight right after the event to make it on time back to school and instead of sleeping, I would be studying some more for a test or doing advanced homework to stay on target. I’ve had nights where if I got three hours of sleep, I would be lucky because I would be so busy at work. It’s been a lot of balancing and hard work, and that’s not even talking about the amount of “noes” I’ve gotten throughout this journey. Let me tell you, there have been A LOT. But, the way I pushed through these obstacles was because of my passion for what I do. As I mentioned in the question regarding the most important factor to the success of my brand, passion for what you do is the gas that keeps your engine going. Loving what I do so, so much made me turn every “no” into a “okay, I’ll just work even harder to one day make that a yes.” Passion makes it hard to ever give up no matter how many times you may be knocked down. Throughout this journey, I’ve learnt so much and have grown so much through all of these life lessons. I’ve learnt to just go for things no matter how far-fetched something may seem. You can’t be afraid of getting a “no.” Great things come from leaving the fear of the word “no” behind. What I want the world to know about my story and take away from it is… hard work does pay off! I know it may sound cliché and I know it may be hard to believe when it’s taking some time to see results, but hard work is the key to great things.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oh my gosh – I absolutely LOVE this question! I moved here from New York in 2016 and living here in LA still gives me butterflies. Just getting to look at a palm tree when I drive down Melrose Avenue, I still find myself saying ‘wow, I live here.’ That’s the thing that I adore about Los Angeles – there’s always an endless amount of things to do and places to go and visit. The funny thing is, when my friends visit, I always bring them on a food tour instead of the normal tourist spots. Being the ultimate #foodies, my mom and I would always take our friends from one yummy food place to another. So, make some room (lol!) because while we’re still eating breakfast, we’re already thinking of where we should take our friends for lunch. 😜 So, let’s go on a trip around La La Land, shall we? For food, my absolute favorite place is Urth Caffé. I’m obsessed with ALL of their scrumptious foods on their menu from their waffles to their pizza and caprese sandwich, and of course, their GREEN TEA BOBA – a must!! Some of my other favorite food places are Krispy Rice, Toast Bakery Cafe, Blu Jam Cafe, Larchmont Bungalow & Café, and Mel’s Diner (I’ll have some mozzarella sticks and an Oreo shake please!). For dinner, I’d take my friends to either Nobu, Katsuya or Catch. I also LOVE bringing my friends on a little tour of Lisa Vanderpump’s restaurants and we go to each one of them – TomTom is my fave!! Of course, we can’t forget about dessert (this is my favorite part because I’m the biggest sweet tooth!) – I always take my friends to MILK (I drool over their ice-cream sandwiches) and Milk Bar on Melrose is another favorite — I have so many heart-eye emojis over their truffles. Oh, and BOBA!!! You can always count on a boba trip with me. For places to visit, I always enjoy taking my friends around Malibu. I’ve visited the Getty Villa so many times and each time is absolutely magical. It’s like a trip to Tuscany right here in Los Angeles. I love bringing friends to The Getty Museum and all of the other awe-inspiring museums in LA. And, hands down, some of my favorite places to go with friends are the beaches. Each beach has its own vibe – Venice is eccentric, unique and so colorful, Santa Monica is so fun with the Pier and Third Street Promenade, Manhattan Beach is super relaxing – I have the best time bringing my friends to all of them and seeing which beach is their favorite. Los Angeles is such a beautiful place that you can never run out of fun things to do!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I always have to begin by giving a shoutout to the four most influential women in my life – my mom, grandma, great-grandma and my Lola. So many of their inspiring qualities were passed down to me and make me who I am today. I’m so proud of being a combination of all of them. They all taught me so many valuable lessons in life – from working so hard (and then after that, working even harder!), to always being strong no matter how tough life can get, to having respect for others, having respect for myself and showing class – which are all things I continuously try to emphasize in my brand and business. I constantly say this, but because of them, my dreams have become a reality and that’s because they are always there to root for me. They constantly motivate me to always dream big, to take chances and just go for things. They are there to celebrate every win with me – no matter how big or how small, and that love and support they have for me is what makes every part of this journey worth it, so I’m forever grateful. And, this leads to another group of people I want to shoutout – all of the #BossLadies. Throughout my journey, there have been so many amazing women that have come into my life who have genuinely supported me, uplift me and those around them, and serve as great role models. It’s truly a wondrous thing to see what happens when women support women. Being surrounded by so many remarkable ladies in my life – from my family to my mentors and friends – is so encouraging. So, shoutout to all of those ladies who are always determined to rise, who empower others, who are building their empire and who are leading by example.

Website: https://alexisjoyvipaccess.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thealexisjoy/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexisjoyvipacc

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/alexisjoyvipaccess