Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey Budd.
Casey, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
Born in a small uninspiring suburb of New Jersey, I always knew that the creativity in me couldn’t survive there. The Christmas of my freshmen year of high school, I was gifted my first DSLR camera and it was a wrap from that moment on. Being able to show others my perspective of every day subjects was fascinating to me. Photography completely stole my heart. After high school, I was off to Tampa, Florida where I studied advertising and public relations at the University of Tampa.
Upon graduation, I was interning at a rather bland job as a digital marketing coordinator. A camera was still in my hands pretty frequently but it was more or less a 9-5 cubicle style job. After interning the entire summer after graduation there, I was being told that I was pretty much guaranteed a full-time position. That’s when the biggest plot twist that caused a sobbing phone call to my parents became one of the best blessings that’s ever happened to me. Long story short, someone was more qualified than me and received the position, and honestly, I am so glad they did.
I’ve now been in Atlanta for a little over a year, living with 2 friends of mine, one of them being a best friend from high school who attended college here. Life has a funny way of working out and the timing of everything just sort of aligned. Once the full-time job didn’t happen as expected, I decided that it wasn’t meant to be for a reason and that’s when the entrepreneur spirit kicked in. I’ve been seriously pursuing my YouTube channel for the past 3 years and it has connected me with some incredible individuals and also allowed me to express my creative perspective in various ways. I also still occasionally do photography as well as digital marketing for various brands and companies on the side. I am grateful to say that I am a full-time entrepreneur and some days are definitely brighter than others but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I am a content creator and visual communicator. I create YouTube channels on various topics such as fashion, social issues, health, daily vlogs, and travel. My channel would be considered a lifestyle channel (if I had to put it in a box). My overall message is actually about not being put in a box! I always want people to embrace who they are, as cheesy as that can sound sometimes. Unity within diversity is something I strongly believe in.
My channel started out with me discussing the life of being a fair-skinned mixed girl and dealing with the daily identity battle that society put me through. It was weird because I definitely thought I’d just make one video about being mixed just to “get it out the way” because I figured people would ask the “what are you?” question eventually. When I realized there was a whole community of people who could relate who didn’t have someone voicing their thoughts, I was honored to be that person and continue speaking my truth. It made a problem that I once felt so alone in, seem not so bad after all because there were so many people that had similar stories.
My YouTube at points can feel a little all over the place (at least to me) but I think that’s another way of delivering my message of embracing who you are. I’m not necessarily a fashion blogger but I have plenty of thrifty videos. I’m no travel influencer but I’ve got about 9 stamps to my passport and some fun vlogs to follow along with. I think there’s something for everyone on my channel.
What would you recommend to an artist new to the city, or to art, in terms of meeting and connecting with other artists and creatives?
I feel like I’m FINALLY breaking through this struggle. I definitely recommend searching hashtags that similar to what your content is. #ATLCreatives, #ATLYouTuber, #ATLPhotographer were just some of the few that I’ve spent time searching to find local artists. Also, this might not be most people’s advice but: GET OFF THE INTERNET. I know the world can be a scary place but you’d be surprised who you can meet if you just start going to random events. I’m always on Eventbrite looking up events that might have an interest to me and that’s usually where I find myself meeting some really interesting people that I have the potential to Collab with.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
https://www.youtube.com/thecasefacee
https://www.instagram.com/_cbudd/
http://www.c-budd.com/
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.c-budd.com/
- Email: cbuddinquiries@gmail.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/_cbudd
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CBUDDCREATIVE/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_cbudd
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/thecasefacee
Image Credit:
Justin Boone
Casey Budd
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
