Former ACIT student Alexia Del Valle currently has 1.6 million followers on Tiktok and lives in Los Angeles, California. Del Valle graduated in 2016 and has since become famous on social media platforms such as Instagram and Tiktok. As her star began to climb and she started to attract advertising opportunities and red-carpet invitations, Del Valle moved from her little home town near Buena to the City of Angels and nearer to her life-long destination of Hollywood. Recently, Alexia came back East and took the time to visit with the Media & Graphics Academy as a guest speaker to share her experiences with the students. Red Hawk News met with Alexia to learn about her journey and about some secrets to her success. So let’s meet Alexia Del Valle.

RedHawk News: When did it hit you that you were on your way to becoming famous?

Alexia: “I did a video when Stranger Things’ last season came out, and that video got millions of views, I remember at the time I was doing an internship in Washington D.C. for journalism, And when that video started popping off, NPR was the first media outlet that reached out and wanted to interview me.”

RedHawk News: Most of your posts online are skit videos, are there any specific creators that inspire you?

Alexia: “I would say on Vine, I remember watching Liza Koshy who was always unapologetically herself, never cared about what anybody else thought, She just did funny stuff, and she was the one who really inspired me big time.”

RedHawk News: How important do you think it is to remain true to yourself when you’re literally putting your life out there for public consumption?

Alexia: “I feel it’s super important just for my own mental health, Just to always make sure that I’m not letting it all get to me and also for my own creativity, because I always want to tap back into the girl that was in my room years ago that was filming videos, I never want to lose that because that was when I was my most creative, That’s when I wasn’t afraid to try things or to post things, So I always just make sure that I’m taking care of that side of myself and always being authentic, always being real.”

RedHawk News: You said when you started, media wasn’t a program, Was that something you were interested in or was it something you kind of ended up in?

Alexia: “Yeah, honestly, I always was interested in the arts in general, but honestly, at the time, ACIT didn’t have programs for arts, And it felt like that my closest way in was somehow working with computers, because I figured maybe it was going to teach me web design and maybe it will teach me graphic design, And that was something that I always wanted to tap into, was the art side of digital media, I thought there was just no options, but I knew I wanted to have a major, so I just chose IT.”

RedHawk News: Now that we have a media academy, what action would you recommend for these students to take after highschool?

Alexia: “I say it depends on the person and what you want to do, I’ve met directors who didn’t even study film, but they always had this passion, For me personally, I don’t think there’s a right way to do it, I think it just depends on what the person wants to do and how they want to do it.”

RedHawk News: What is your favorite part of the process? Which part would you say is the most difficult?

Alexia: “So I personally enjoy editing, I love editing, always loved it, filming can be a struggle for me, because I can’t see it and I have to record it and then watch it and then hope that it’s good, So I think for me, that aspect can be hard because I could write something, It can look so good on paper, then I film it and I think, this didn’t come out how I thought it was going to look.”

RedHawk News: If someone wants to follow in your footsteps, how often do you think they need to be producing content? How vital is consistency?

Alexia: “It’s so crucial, honestly, in anything that anyone does in life. I always say, An athlete has to train everyday right? …If you’re a director trying to create films, you can create a film and submit to a bunch of film festivals and maybe it doesn’t do so well, but you have to keep creating, Maybe that one won’t hit, but others will.”

RedHawk News: How do you balance out your day to day life? Do you try to set yourself a work schedule? Or do you just kind of go with the flow?

Alexia: “I go with how I’m feeling, I always try to listen to how I feel, because based on how I feel will affect my videos, If I’m not feeling in the mood to film and I try to film it’s not going to come out right.”

RedHawk News: If someone is trying to grow more into the business of media and journalism as a teenager, how could they manage a schedule where they put content out for themself?

Alexia: “Use as much free time as you have honestly, even on the weekends, Use that time to really work on your craft and do it, But also don’t overwork yourself, do it when it feels good for you.”

RedHawk News: You brought up [during the guest speech] how social media is always changing, how do you keep up with the ups and downs?

Alexia: “Having friends doing that same thing really helps…I think having friends in the same industry has helped me not feel alone in a sense, It can be hard when you’re feeling down cause views are down, And no one else really gets it, So having friends who understand what I do really helps because they can relate better, And you can talk about it in a way where you don’t feel judged.”

In the eight years Alexia has left ACIT, she has grown from a typical Jersey girl, to a Los Angeles starlet. Her story shines a bright light on the fact that you don’t need an Ivy League education to be successful in your career. You need consistency and perseverance. Alexia herself even suggests that anyone who wants to pursue any career should start making a portfolio as soon as possible.

For the average person, it’s very common to feel unable to ever achieve something huge. However, opportunity doesn’t come knocking at the front door. Only by seeking out opportunities can those accomplishments be reached. During that journey, people end up in places they’d never see themselves in. Yet, they feel rewarded and are ecstatic about what they do.

Doesn’t that thought make “pursuing what you love” sound thrilling?