Reno’s Grace Hayes: A Rising Social Media Star

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Using her platform for the greater good. Grace Hayes is receiving national recognition for sharing her art on social media.

Right before Thanksgiving 2021, social giant Tik Tok and multi platform media company MACRO, awarded 10 Black Creators $50,000 each, to help craft their visions into reality.

One of the recipients is 25 year old Grace Hayes, a native of the Biggest Little City.

This effort is apart of Tik Tok’s Black Creatives Incubator Program which launched last year to support those who say their work is being overlooked or that they’re not receiving proper credit.

Hayes has been making videos for almost a decade, she calls herself an accidental comedian and a singer-songwriter.

“You can get a green screen, you don’t have to go somewhere, you can produce things on your computer, so I feel like for artists, we are finding new ways to make new things and we don’t have to break the bank or like, go get external sources to make what we really want to make,” she states.

Tik Tok’s program helps Black Creators elevate their business model and learn more about the platform and industry as a whole. She was one of 100 chosen, then she was selected for the $50,000 grant opportunity, by pitching a kids show that she came up with years ago, majority of her following are kids and teens, as she details, “Just doing the full time and part time job thing and on top of that, doing my Tik Tok stuff so for me, this gives me the freedom to be bale to make more and be able to make this my job, so that is just life-changing.”

Hayes’ father teaches at a private middle school in Sparks. She discusses growing up Black in an area where many people don’t look like her or her family, as she recalls a childhood story, “He was kind of crying and his sister was like, hey, I can get you out...and I said hey can I help? And she said, I don’t know about that because you’re a “blackey” and I’m a “whitey.” “Who tells their kid, we don’t hang out with “blackeys?”

Hayes tells us about the need to increase proper compensation and recognition efforts, adding, “With a lot of the dances that have been innovated by Black creatives, yeah we do see often times that they are not credited when they are creating and innovating like you said, so I do look forward to more Black voices being uplifted and yeah being heard in new ways.”

She says that is all the more push, to stand tall and continue to follow her passion. “I think we need to sit in discomfort as Americans and have conversations and listen to perspectives that aren’t our own,” Hayes says.

It’s clear her greatest love, is making someone else’s day a little brighter and letting future generations know...they have so much power and space, “Life is heavy and right now everything is heavy and I think there are ways we can express those emotions but also inspire people through them,” the singer states.

Here is the article announcing Hayes’ grant selection: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/tiktok-macro-black-creatives-grant-1235047296/

To connect with Grace Hayes and support her endeavors, here are various links to follow:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/graceorsomething

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Graceorsomethin

Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@graceorsomething?lang=en

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