Meet Zay Dante | Content Creator

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

Hi Zay, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Community, no question. Nothing gets done without having people in your corner. Having that mutual love and respect for those you’re working with makes the product so much better and everyone so much happier. Not to mention bringing in other people’s talents and strengths just makes sense. I’m so proud of how making videos on YouTube has progressed, and it only happened because my friend Cassius Pettit was like “did you still want to do that at some point? I can help with it” randomly one day after I had expressed interest in it a while back but didn’t know how to start. Immediately I was like, “oh, yeah, we can make that happen right now.” Like a month and half later we had 200k subscribers. They’re a lovely community of people who just love music as much as I do, it’s everything I could ever want, and it only happened with the help of the talented people around me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started doing content creation with TikTok videos in 2020. I graduated college that year in the midst of the pandemic, and I was studying theater so I quickly realized that there wouldn’t be opportunities to do that for a while. To be honest, I was doing TikTok because I really believed I could figure out how to turn it into a job one day. I desperately wanted to move from my hometown in South Carolina (with love to Charleston! Always repping 843) and hearing that people were making money on TikTok made me think I could do it as well. I found success relatively quickly, I had one million followers within a year, and I had made enough money to move to Los Angeles and live by myself, which I’m definitely proud of! However, the ‘job’ mindset led me to taking the fun out of what social media is supposed to be, and led me to chasing viewership, clout, and fame in a way that makes me deeply uncomfortable now. I’m so proud of what I’ve done in the past year. Focusing on making content that I’m actually passionate about, and finding a community of people who love it like I love it. Starting on YouTube this year and growing as fast as I did really made me realize something that I wish I had known when I started, and what I hope other people can take from this: if you do what you love authentically, people will come. You can succeed and still be yourself, and honestly if you have to become someone you don’t like to be successful, question whether or not that success is actually worth it. It’s so much better to get there just being who you are.

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?
Oooh this is interesting because usually you have to cater the trip around the vibes of the person visiting. Since I don’t know you very well Shoutout LA, I’m going to assume you want to do a little bit of everything. I think we’ll start spending a day hitting some cool views around the city, my favorite is Angel’s Point at Elysian Park near Dodger Stadium. You can see all of LA, a picnic there will get you right. Then we can hit up Echo Park, Sticky Rice is this dope Thai food spot and my second favorite restaurant in the city. At night, if you want to dance we can go to Bar Lubitsch, if you want to vibe we can go to Mama Shelter, Lemon Grove, or Ace Hotel Rooftop Downtown. All the mentioned vibe spots are rooftop bars, I love views. You also have a beach day, Zuma Beach is super nice and empty, but truthfully I love just riding bikes at Santa Monica Pier, sometimes the classics are nice. Some fun activities could be Pharaoh Karaoke in K-Town, riding horses at Griffith Park, or going to The Broad/any museums in the area. Regardless, at the end of the trip that morning we hit Tacos Villa Corona in Los Feliz, my favorite restaurant in the city. Best breakfast burritos ever and they’re $6!!! Life is good. I hope that’s a fun itinerary and if not then we can do whatever you want do I’m cool with anything 🙂

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?
All of my incredibly talented friends! This community in LA is unbelievable. My friends Maria Smal, Rishi Mahesh, Rami Kablawi, and I did a play in our backyard in October, and it’s the best example of just how amazing everyone is. Our friend Jacob Skoda did the lights and sound, it took the play to a completely different level, and our friend Shari Gaynes did the set design that elevated it in a way we could never imagine, then our friends Cassius (from before) and Alex Tomko recorded it. We have the whole production team for a show living in one house and/or within driving distance of each other. Never experienced something like that until I moved to LA. A lot of ideas didn’t get brought to life until I moved here because there just wasn’t access to the resources to be able to do cool things. Shoutout to all my friends, you’re amazing.

Website: https://www.tiktok.com/@zayydante?lang=en

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zaydante/?hl=en

Twitter: https://x.com/zaydante

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@zaydante

Image Credits
Cassius Pettit