Draya Michele is one of the most popular figures in American media. Whether the medium is television, where she stars on VH1’s hit reality series “Basketball Wives of Los Angeles”, or social media where the 30-year-old mother of one has amassed over 5million total loyalists, or her fashion forwarding ecommerce stores FineAssGirls.com and Mint-Swim.com, Ms. Michele always makes her presence felt. Anyone surfing the web is bound to find this woman’s wave. Impressively, her professional enterprise mirrors her personal expansion. The more Draya learns, the more she earns, immediately applying new knowledge to her business ventures while sharing her experiences with the very fan-base which has supported her rise to success from day one.
Michele’s signature Mint Swim bikini line is the fastest rising beach brand in the nation. Her Fine Ass Girls casual apparel clothing has emerged as a favorite among the dorm dweller demographic. And she recently added dramatic actress to her list of skill sets after co-starring in the TV One original movie “Will to Love”. The ultra-ambitious and supremely confident central Pennsylvania native sat down with editor ToneSwep to discuss growing up Italian, growing her brands into full-fledged businesses, and growing into a woman who is admired by millions.
Written by ToneSwep
Images by: Ben Miller
Styled by: Ali Levine
Hair & MUA by: Anthony Pazos & Cristina Fabian
Location: Mobli Beach House, Venice Beach, CA
(Tone Swep: TS) Take us back to the early days, in Reading, Pennsylvania. That’s considered a midway point between Harrisburg and Philadelphia. What kind of town is Reading? Blue collar, working class?
(Draya Michele: Draya) A small city, but very much a city. It has a true downtown. A true suburban area. And then city-wise, there’s the hood. I’ve always considered it to be a miniature version of Philly. And very multi-ethnic, with Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and Blacks. I grew up in a mixed-race household and in a city filled with people who did also.
(TS) In 2012, the New York Times called Reading the nation’s poorest city. Based on the census, the city has the highest concentration of poor citizens than any other city in the nation. What social climate were you surrounded by coming up?
(Draya) When I was growing up there it wasn’t too bad. Once I graduated high school things started to get really rough. People started to move into Reading for the lower income housing offered by city government. And you know, those families tend to change the neighborhoods a little bit. Areas get crowded. Schools start to have tons of kids who aren’t related and don’t know each other. It began to get rough in the early 2000’s.
(TS) You’ve always reminded me of Kimora in the sense of her growing up in St. Louis, where there weren’t any other girls that looked like her. She had to know she was unique and truly embraced that throughout her career. Comparatively, Reading is not a very Black or Italian town either, right. Mostly White’s and Puerto Ricans. How did that racial polarity shape your identity and self-perception?
(Draya) To be completely honest with you, I feel like the girls from Reading kind of looked like me even though we were of different racial mixes. For example, all of my cousins looked like me. We all had White mothers and Black fathers. We don’t look too different from the Puerto Rican girls, so even though I was Black-Italian we shared many things in common. And I’ve always been able to build relationships. So really we were all friends.
(TS) Who was Draya as a little girl? A young elementary school kid? What types of interests did you have? In what areas did you excel?
(Draya) Growing up in school, I got into trouble a lot. I wasn’t a straight-A student. I was in detention a lot. I would get suspended. I lived in the Principal’s office (Laughs!). I was that girl, driving her mom crazy because she had to leave work and come up to the school.
(TS) Being bi-racial with an Italian mother, how close are you to those European roots? Were you raised Italian? Are you close to the culture?
(Draya) I don’t speak any Italian, but I grew up in an Italian household for sure. Everyone cooks Italian. Family gatherings are extremely important. That’s the ritual, everyone coming together for dinners, birthday parties, graduations, and things like that. Almost every dish coming up was Italian, and I think my Italian roots plays a part in my being drawn to fashion and naturally having a knack for it.
(TS) What women did you look up to? Who were you inspired by?
(Draya) My mom was a big Marilyn Monroe fan, so I grew seeing Marilyn’s memorabilia all around the house, in the car, and knowing she was this iconic woman. As I grew older, I identified even more with Marilyn being controversial, glamorous, and in so many different lanes within the entertainment industry.
(TS) You broke into the entertainment industry through Hip Hop. Working the hottest clubs, playing the love interest in the most popular music videos. How involved are you with Hip Hop now?
(Draya) Oh my God! I love Hip Hop. I am probably the biggest Jay Z fan there ever was. Hip Hop, from the culture to the clothing to the music, the shows and magazines… It’s all so DOPE. The only thing that makes me sad is that the video aspect of it has become so irrelevant. That’s sad because when I played in videos, the artists and the models were really telling a story. I mean, you had to study that treatment. You had to rehearse, show up on set early and ask questions. We used to have meetings (Laughs!). You know, because it was that important to get every detail just right. Now they just turn on the camera and shoot it, post it. Everything else about Hip Hop I still really enjoy. Lots of great music. And the older artists are still hot at the same time the new artists are very DOPE. I like that about Hip Hop too.
(TS) Are you a Hip Hop head? Who are some of your favorite artists?
(Draya) Oh Man! Big fan of Jay Z like I said. I have all of Jay’s music. I like to listen to a mix of his old stuff, like from Blueprint, and his new stuff like the songs with Kanye. Of the new guys, I’ve been listening to a little Fetty Wap. K. Camp has some DOPE mixtapes. Kendrick Lamar, Drake.
(TS) What type of career had to you planned to pursue prior to deciding to try your hand at the entertainment industry?
(Draya) I went to school for cosmetology, to be an esthetician. The goal was to work in the field for a few years while saving enough money to open up a salon or a spa. But I started getting calls for the magazines, the videos, and that created other avenues for me. At the same time, studying cosmetology helped me have an appreciation for how much work these makeup artists and hairstylists put into what they do, especially the preparation.
(TS) During those rebellious teens, early 20’s, what was your focus?
(Draya) That’s just it, Tone, I wasn’t. I wasn’t focused. In my early 20’s I was very confused. I was still trying to find myself. I didn’t discover what I wanted to do until I was around 26 or 27.
(TS) People embrace you, especially young women seeking girl-power inspiration. What life altering experience or situation made you tough and tenacious enough to navigate the industry and achieve success?
(Draya) I think with my being drug through the mud on national television, it planted a seed of courage. Over time I just kept fighting, in ways you know, and each time I would become more courageous. Because to make it you have to be. The risks you have to take, sometimes only you and a select few others believe. You have to invest your own time and money, especially at first.
(TS) Mint Swim is on fire. The brand has grown so fast.
(Draya) I was in Pennsylvania and I knew I wanted to design. I had all these ideas but needed to execute my plan. I knew I couldn’t do it there. I needed to get to LA, all I needed was one reason to be there. A job that would take me to LA. Bam! Basketball Wives of LA became an opportunity. I made the most of it.
(TS) Fine Ass Girls is hot too. The college girls love it.
(Draya) We might open up a store, Fairfax or Melrose. Something like that, we’re still in concept on that. We’ll keep creating more and more pieces in the meantime. We have a demand amongst the college aged kids. They keep us going.
(TS) You are acting now in a scripted TV movie. “Will to Love”, you play Candice Koleto. What’s she about?
(Draya) Candice is a girl who is not who she seems to be. It was great for me to be able to play this person because she had two personalities, so it made me work. I had to master one side of Candice, then try and be just as good at portraying her other side. I get to be sweet and then deceiving all at once. It was so much fun.
(TS) When did you decide to get into acting?
(Draya) My first season on Basketball Wives, back in 2011. I tried acting classes on the show, but I wasn’t ready. I was doing so many different things and didn’t have the command and time management like I do now. But timing is everything and now is the time.
(TS) Talk about some of the challenges. What did you have to learn?
(Draya) When I first discovered that I wanted to act I didn’t think I needed acting classes. Now I know and I am very grateful for the process. It takes a lot of work away from set, which wasn’t something I was used to. Now I’m always thinking about my character, even in different situations like ordering food or making travel plans. You think, how would my character react to this scenario?
(TS) What is the ideal role for you?
(Draya) I would like to play an attorney or police officer. I would just need to really nail the cop lingo and the legalese, all of that attorney language that confuses everybody (Laughs!).
(TS) We need you to have a daytime talk show. You get the streets, men, fashion, single motherhood, but also relationships and entrepreneurship. You know what women go through. Who would be the perfect male co-host for you?
(Draya) I would say Terrence J. He and I could really make a good talk show team. We’re close in age, we both started outside of New York, then worked in New York, then moved to Los Angeles. And we’re both Hip Hop heads at heart.
(TS) You turned 30 back in January. What does 30 mean?
(Draya) You feel different. Mature. More confident. More composed. It’s time to start seeing more of the world as a woman. Travel and learn new cultures.
(TS) You and your son are very close. You’re a great mom. What is one unique or unorthodox parenting tip you can give other parents that has worked for you with your son?
(Draya) I don’t really curve my language too much (Laughs!). I’m just myself. He goes to a Christian School, so they are always, always using the most articulate language. Always saying, you know, the politically correct thing. Then he gets the inappropriate, straight-forward talk from mom. And maybe in some way that prepares him to embrace and love a woman who speaks her mind when he becomes a young man.
(TS) Is it tough as a single mother, especially with balancing your many engagements?
(Draya) It is definitely a balancing act, and very tricky. You have to prioritize your time. I put time away for my son. And set time away for myself. Then try to schedule everything else around those two slots. It isn’t easy, I work from my bed before I even get out of bed (Laughs!). When you have web-based businesses you can do that.
(TS) Has he reached that age, that point where boys with that fine mom are like “Stop looking at my mama!”?
(Draya) (Laughs!) Luckily not yet. Because that’s not for me. Those little boys look at the ground when I arrive to pick my son up from school. They better not. I’ll go mom on them (Laughs!).
(TS) Draya, with so much violence and danger surrounding young Black males today in America, many times at the hands of law enforcement in our own communities, what important insights do you think are vital for Black mothers to teach their sons?
(Draya) I try to keep my son off of social media as much as possible. No Instagram or Twitter, he doesn’t have accounts. And that, to me, alters his world and how he sees things. That keeps him a child as long as possible. Kids deserve to be children, to have their childhoods. So I think as parents we should try to make childhood last as long as possible.
(TS) What’s next from you?
(Draya) Just continuing to work on Mint Swim and Fine Ass Girls. I’ve also been auditioning for different film and TV roles. I would love to continue acting.
(TS) Decades from now, when all is said and done, how do you hope to be remembered?
(Draya) I just t want to be remembered as the girl that wasn’t afraid to try anything!
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