Today we’d like to introduce you to Anath Genus.
Anath, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m from Treasure Beach, Jamaica, a place many describe as a ‘small fishing village’ on the south coast of the island. Overall, I had a very humbling childhood and for a while, my biggest highlight would be my academic success. Throughout most of primary (elementary) school, I was at the top of my class and this eventually allowed me to be rewarded with a full scholarship from the Treasure Beach Foundation to attend high school. That scholarship took a huge burden off of my father, as it covered everything I needed for school. In Jamaica, you had to ‘pass’ for schools in the same way you had to ‘get into’ colleges in the states and the school I passed for was my 1st choice. It was Hampton School for Girls, ranked 4th in the entire island during the time I attended. As the name suggests it was an all-girls school and their primary focus was academics, which was an area I had no issue excelling in. However, I still had an interest in the arts but wasn’t able to explore it much in school. Luckily, I found it elsewhere.
At around age ten, I was finally old enough to attend a summer camp led by Jeanne Genus (my aunt-in-law) through the Treasure Beach Women’s Group. I fell in love with performing through singing, dancing and acting. It was my creative outlet and when I started high school and had to be buried in books, I longed for summer to come around so I could attend summer camp. While many of my classmates set out for the more traditional route, I wanted to pursue my passions. I decided that moving to the states would provide me with the most opportunities and in 2014, I made the big move.
My mom, who is from Kentucky, was already living in the states so this made the transition seamless. I attended 12th grade at the local high school and was cast in my first ever, full production play! For college, I flew across the country to attend the University of California, Irvine where I studied acting. After completing my freshman year I had to transfer to the University of Kentucky to continue my degree in Theatre. While at UK, I was mainly involved in student productions while working part time and maintaining a 3.9 GPA.
Around the end of my sophomore year, I met Abdoulaye Ndiaye and soon after we started dating. We’d always watch Couple Channels on YouTube and at the end of our Junior year, he suggested we start our channel. We came up with the name “JamEgal” to pay homage to our home countries (Jamaica and Senegal) and posted our first video in September 2018. In May 2019, we both graduated and by the end of July, we had moved to Atlanta.
For me, the move to Atlanta was primarily for my interest in the growing film and TV industry here but the warmer weather and the larger Caribbean community were are also great perks. Since moving here, I’ve gotten to collaborate with Yardie Cosmetics (@yardiecosmetics on Instagram) which is a Jamaican cosmetic line, and I’ve also dabbled in some modeling! For now, I’ve mainly been focused on working on our YouTube channel and it’s amazing to see how much our JamEgal Family has grown. Today I proudly wear the title of an actress and YouTuber who occasionally models!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When it came to studying Theatre in school, my biggest struggle was not having much exposure to it in Jamaica. Students and professors would often reference plays that ‘everybody’ knew, and I would have no idea what they were talking about. At times, I felt behind but I soon learned that my differences made me unique. As for the YouTube channel, there was a time when we had to stop posting for four months. That especially devastated me because I hated letting people down and by that time, we had already gained a couple of hundred subscribers. Other than that, sometimes it gets difficult to make time to film and edit, as Abdul and I both work full time, but I try to stay motivated because I know that our hard work will pay off.
Please tell us about your work.
JamEgal is a YouTube channel that follows a girl from Jamaica, myself, and Abdoulaye Ndiaye, who is from Senegal, West Africa. It follows our journey as a multicultural couple navigating life in the United States. Our content consists of vlogs, story times, challenges, pranks and more. What makes us unique is how different we both are, Abdul is West African, Muslim, trilingual in Wolof, French and English, and the more laid back one of our duo. While I am Jamaican, identify more closely with Rastafarianism, speak Patois and English and I’m very dramatic. When those differences collide, you get a never-ending source of entertainment.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite childhood memory would probably be at one of the Treasure Beach Summer Camp’s end of camp performances. This was the second or third year I came back to the camp as a Drama counselor and one of my close friends and I had created a play called “Summer Disaster”. In one scene, my character was having a conversation with her deceased mother at her graveside and was moved to tears. I remember feeling so connected to my character and simultaneously feeling the audience stand still. After the play was over, an older woman in the audience approached me to applaud my performance and encouraged me to pursue the art. Up to this day reflecting on that memory boosts my confidence.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jamegal
- Email: anathgenuscontact@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itzzz_annie/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamegalfam/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/jam_egal/
Image Credit:
Ravej Studios
G-Snaps
Anna Poteet
Hannah Phillips
Hannah Phillips
Treasure Beach Summer Camp
Ravej Studios
Ravej Studios
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