"Shake It Off" - An Interview with Elaine Chaya

What happens when you transition from a traditional upbringing to becoming a trailblazer in the world of fashion and social media? In this episode, we sit down with Elaine Chaya, an influential fashionista from Los Angeles, to uncover her remarkable journey. Elaine opens up about her roots in a tight-knit Iranian Jewish community, her shift from conventional career paths to the glamorous realm of fashion blogging, and the pivotal moments that shaped her path. From her early career in PR and event management to her rise as a social media icon, Elaine’s story is a testament to the power of following one's passion despite societal expectations.

As we navigate the evolving landscape of social media, Elaine shares her insights on the growing prominence of video content, spurred by platforms like Instagram and TikTok. She emphasizes the significance of authenticity, taking us behind the scenes of movements like "#wokeupthisway," which aim to counteract the pressure of curated perfection. We dive deep into the mental health implications of social media, the benefits of vulnerability, and how genuine connections can be a game-changer for anyone looking to grow their online presence.

But this episode isn’t just about fashion and social media. We broaden our scope to explore the rich tapestry of Iranian Jewish traditions and the challenges faced by the community, from the Iranian Revolution of 1979 to modern-day anti-Semitism. Elaine speaks candidly about the emotional toll recent events have taken on Jewish individuals and the importance of unity and support. Join us for a profound conversation that blends cultural heritage, personal resilience, and practical advice for navigating life’s complexities with grace and authenticity.

Follow Elaine Chaya:

www.elainechaya.com
instagram - @elainechaya

Support the show

Episode Transcript

Nicole Kelly (00:03):
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(00:30):
Hi, I'm Nicole Kelly andShebrew in the City and today I
am talking with Elaine Chaya,instagram influencer,
fashionista and Jewish womanextraordinaire.
How are you doing today, Eelaine?

Elaine Chaya (00:41):
I'm good.
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm so excited to chat.

Nicole Kelly (00:45):
I'm very excited to talk to you because I love
your video content and I thinkyou have a lot of really fun
content, but also a lot ofreally important things to say
as well, and we're going to kindof dive into that.
So I usually like to start offby asking where people are from.
I know you're from Los Angeles,like I am, but a different part
of Los Angeles I'm from the SanFernando Valley.
What kind of Jewish community,if any, did you grow up with in

(01:07):
Los Angeles?

Elaine Chaya (01:09):
Yeah, so born and raised in Los Angeles and my
parents moved from Iran whenthey were teenagers here and so
a lot of Iranians moved fromIran to LA.
So we have a really strongIranian Jewish community.
So I grew up with a really bigcommunity.
First of all, all my familyfrom Iran moved here, so we have
big families here in theIranian community and then just,

(01:30):
yeah, like we have such a tightknit group of people who came
from Iran to here.
So that was kind of mycommunity growing up.

Nicole Kelly (01:37):
Did you what?
Did you grow up going to asynagogue?
If so, what?
What kind of denomination wasit?

Elaine Chaya (01:43):
Yeah, so I went to a bunch of different synagogues
I leaned towards likeconservative, traditional, so
kind of synagogues that reallyrelated to that.

Nicole Kelly (01:54):
Did you have a bat mitzvah?

Elaine Chaya (01:56):
Of course I had a banal mitzvah actually because
my sister and I are a year apart, so that means we had it
together.

Nicole Kelly (02:03):
Yes, what was the theme of the banal Mitzvah?

Elaine Chaya (02:06):
I'm so upset because we didn't have the theme
was nice flowers, which is whatthe Imani people said yeah, so
there wasn't actually a theme.

Nicole Kelly (02:15):
We'll get into a little question a little bit
later about what you'd picktoday.
So kind of jumping into yourcareer and you know what you're
really known for.
You started your career as aprofessional fashion and
lifestyle influencer.
Can you kind of walk us throughthe journey of how that started
?

Elaine Chaya (02:45):
a lawyer, and so when I went into college, I
studied both.
I did the pre-med route forthree years and I realized that
wasn't for me, even though Iknew it wasn't for me to begin
with.
And then I did the LSAT to goto law school and I knew that
wasn't for me either, and mypassion was really in the
entertainment world.
I knew I loved celebrities, butI didn't know what that meant
as a profession, and so I knew Iloved doing events and stuff
like that.
So I started in the event worldand worked at a really big PR

(03:07):
company for some of the biggestbrands and doing celebrity
events.
And then social media startedand we started reaching out to
people who had like 2,000followers to promote our
products.
And I'm like wait, I could dothis and I could do it better.
And people would constantly tellme to start a fashion blog
because they're like you dressso interesting and things that
people typically wouldn't wear.

(03:28):
You should take a photo of justyour outfit every day and post
it on the blog.
And so I started to do that.
But my whole point of being afashion blogger was more so
showing that I'm this Iranian,jewish girl who's supposed to be
a doctor or lawyer.
I didn't do either of those.
So through my fashion andwearing these crazy outfits, I
want you guys to embraceyourselves, and whatever that

(03:50):
means.
Wear a crazy top you wouldn'twear, or do a job you are scared
to do, or take a leap insomething.

Nicole Kelly (03:56):
So definitely encouraging people to kind of
embrace their individualityinstead of falling into the
specific, like tropes, of whatwas expected of them.
I love that.
I feel like it's just ingeneral.
You know, there's a lot ofcultures where it's like doctor,
lawyer, that's kind of the onlyoption and I love that you kind
of, you know, embraced what youwere really passionate about.
When you say you were reallyinterested in celebrities, did

(04:18):
you read a lot of like magazinesand or watch, like you know,
e-news and things like that?

Elaine Chaya (04:29):
All of the things Perez Hilton was my number one
website and just Jerry, whichare like I was like an
encyclopedia that I could telleveryone what every celebrity
was up to every day.
I had my favorites like.
Lady Gaga was like my idol, soI would like I felt like I was
her, like unpaid publicist.
I would talk about what she wasup to every day like it was my
job.

Nicole Kelly (04:49):
How, how often would you work on this blog?
Is it something that you wouldliterally just take a picture
every day and then writesomething?
Is it something that you mademore weekly in the beginning?

Elaine Chaya (04:54):
Oh, I was.
When I start anything, I takeit very seriously.
So I committed to this 200% andI was at my job still at the
time, so I had a full time job,but I acted like this was a full
time job too.
So I would post Monday throughSunday, or maybe Monday through
Friday, every day and I wouldhave my parents, who were so
kind to be my photographerswhich no one knew about at the

(05:16):
time and they would take thesephotos that we would drive
around LA and take photos and Iwould take like seven different
photos on Saturdays and Sundaysand then post them throughout
the week and write blog posts.

Nicole Kelly (05:28):
When did you finally make the kind of leap
from blog posting to socialmedia?
I know that Instagram has beenaround for more than a decade,
but only over the last couple ofyears has it really become, you
know, a place where people cannot only, you know be literal
influencers and make a living,but it's just kind of much more
mainstream.
When did you make the jump frommore blogging to more social

(05:48):
media?

Elaine Chaya (05:49):
Yeah, so I've been doing this for 11 years.
So I kind of started maybe likea year after Instagram started.
So I was like in the wave ofthe first bloggers who were
figuring out what was happening.
So from the beginning I createdblog posts and I would promote
them on my Instagram, so thatwas always like paired together.
I feel like the shit, like Ihave a website and a blog, still
I do not update it, and I thinkthe shift happened maybe like

(06:15):
four or five years ago, when Irealized that people were more
into like Instagram instead ofgoing on a website.

Nicole Kelly (06:24):
So in regards to to something that I think I was,
I kind of understand now whatpeople are curious about.
I see a lot of on Instagramprofiles.
People will talk a little bitabout themselves and then let's
say, for collabs, you canmessage here or email here.
Can you tell people listeningexactly what that means, why
that's important to collaboratefor influencers?

Elaine Chaya (06:43):
Yeah.
So I think there's two things.
When people say collab with mein their profile, that means if
you're a brand and you want toreach out to them, here's my
email address and you can emailme and discuss a partnership,
which is what I would have on myprofile.
So people have a way outside ofDMing you to like contact you.
But, on the other hand,collaborations, which is a new

(07:03):
tool that Instagram has createdin the past year, is that when
you post a video on your page,it also goes on another person's
page.

Nicole Kelly (07:12):
Yeah, I've noticed that.

Elaine Chaya (07:13):
Yeah, so it's a really good way to get your own
page promoted through otherpeople too.
So when I first startedblogging, I made a bunch of
blogger friends and the wholepoint was for us to take photos
with each other and mention eachother in the captions so people
following their account couldbe like, oh, who's Elaine Kaya?
Tap, wait, I want to follow her.

(07:34):
But now, instead of doing allof that stuff and writing in the
caption, and they made it soeasy where you can have the same
post on each person's page andso both of your followers will
one be engaging with the samecontent, which helps, like the
algorithm show your posts more,but also like people can see
both of your posts and yourprofiles at the same time.

Nicole Kelly (07:53):
So Instagram has made it substantially easier to,
you know, collaborate withother pages.
So, yeah, that's great.
I love that they're kind ofencouraging people who are using
their platform and making it alittle bit easier for them.
Can you kind of walk me throughwhat a day looks like for you,
because you said you do this200%, so I'm assuming this is
like a really full time thingfor you.

(08:14):
Can you kind of walk me throughwhat a typical day, or even a
typical week, looks like for you?

Elaine Chaya (08:19):
Yeah, it's so funny.
I've gotten that question somany times and I wish I had like
a solid answer.
It's so different every day,but generally speaking, like I'm
always thinking about whatcontent am I creating, I try to
post one thing a day, or maybeone thing every other day,
depending on how much sanity Ihave to do it at this point yeah
, it's a lot of work.
It's a lot of work that peopledon't understand and so, like

(08:43):
I'm already thinking aboutJanuary's posts, like what is my
content calendar, as I call itfor January, and coming up with
ideas.
So if I want to collaboratewith someone, I can reach out to
them now, or if I need to shootsomething and I need to get
some products or whatever, I canhave those ahead of time and
kind of brainstorming aroundthat.
So there's a lot ofbrainstorming that happens, a
lot of shooting and editing thathappens and emailing people,

(09:06):
trying to get connected topeople and especially before the
pandemic, I was going to eventslike four times a day, like
breakfast, lunch and dinner I'dbe some other event because I
would get invited to so many andkind of just networking and
meeting people.

Nicole Kelly (09:21):
That's something that is.
It is a lot of work, um, whichkind of leads me to my uh.
Next question.
For someone like me who's juststarting to experiment with
posting video content as opposedto just pictures, which I have
traditionally done, I've startedmaking videos.
What is your advice for that?
Is there a specific program youuse?
Is there like a tutorial peopleneed to look into, because

(09:41):
video editing is verycomplicated and I have trouble
turning on my computer sometimes.
That's not a joke.
So, for someone who may be notas familiar or comfortable with
video editing, what would beyour advice to them?

Elaine Chaya (09:54):
Oh my gosh, they have made the easiest app.
It's called CapCut C-A-P-C-U-T.

Nicole Kelly (09:59):
I'm going to write that down.

Elaine Chaya (10:02):
Write it down it has saved many people's lives,
including mine and basically,like if you're recording a video
on your phone or even, let'ssay, you turn this video we're
doing into a post, you canimport it into this app called
CapCut.
That's free and you can lightenand saturate and kind of change
all that setting features forthe video itself.
But you can add captions to it,like when you see all those

(10:24):
videos that have just likeautomatic captions and people
have different fonts and colorsand whatever it's done, probably
through CapCut, and that alwaysreally helps people engage with
your video.
More you could do titles, youcould do overlay, meaning like
if you're talking about LadyGaga, for example, put a photo
of her in the video as you'retalking about her.

Nicole Kelly (10:43):
I've always wondered how people do that.
I look at these things and thepeople do, and I'm just like I
want to know how to do that.
So now you've given me thesecret sauce.
I'm so happy.
I'm going to try to make somefancy videos.

Elaine Chaya (10:56):
And you can also add music in the background.
There's so much you could do ifyou just play around with it.

Nicole Kelly (11:00):
Why do you think that people have really been
pushing video content as opposedto pictures?
Because I know, you know, evenwith influencers, when Instagram
first started, it was likeposting pictures and then it
became kind of the carousel ofpictures and picking those
perfect pictures.
Why do you think that peopleare really pushing video content
?
Is that something that youthink followers are just
digesting at a faster paceBecause people are just in such

(11:22):
a hurry and they don't have, youknow, a big attention span?
Or is it just because peopleare doing fancy things with
videos that have like more of ahigh production quality?

Elaine Chaya (11:30):
I feel like there's multiple things to it.
One I think that the video onInstagram got created like in
the way that it is, as Reelsonce TikTok started.
So Instagram became acompetitor to TikTok and since
TikTok has been so successful.
I think they've seen that thisis something they can
incorporate and I think, becauseeveryone's so obsessed with
tick tock, I think theyappreciate videos more now, like

(11:53):
that.
But also people have become socreative with their videos,
doing these like cool outfitchanges or like productions,
that you were saying thatthey're really engaging to watch
more than a photo.
And then, for the third thing,I think that people want more
realness in their quality ofcontent, and not necessarily
videos mean more real, butsometimes they do.
Like I do a lot of talkingvideos and I feel like that

(12:15):
shows my personality and who Iam more than a photo.
So I think it's like acombination of things, but I
know people love a good photohere and then there too.

Nicole Kelly (12:24):
Yeah, I like a good photo, but I also like
videos.
So, speaking of you know,bringing realness to social
media in 2018, you started aviral Instagram campaign called
hashtag woke up this way and itasked people to bring realness
back to social media.
Can you explain a little bitabout you know, how this started
and why being real on socialmedia is so important?

Elaine Chaya (12:46):
Yeah, so I was doing like the influencing thing
for maybe four years at thatpoint and I could just tell from
like me living and breathingthis platform and knowing my
like personal struggles andstuff that I was going through
and not seeing that, you know,illustrated on social media.
I was like how, not seeing thatyou know illustrated on social
media?
I was like how many otherpeople feel the same way as I do

(13:09):
?
There must be more people thanme and I know that when I would
talk to my blogger friends, Iknew they were going through
things that they wouldn't showon their Instagram.
So I was like I want to have aconversation about this and so I
started really in the fashionworld and this became my shift
of really focusing a lot more onmental health, because I think
that I was super passionateabout it.
So I started this challenge.

(13:30):
I asked 300 people friends,publicists, instagrammers, my
family, whoever to post a photowithout their hair and makeup,
done on a certain day and postedat a certain time, and we said
bringing realness back to socialmedia, and people wrote their
own captions based off of thatconcept and it became really
viral.
You had to tag three people totake it next, and I think that

(13:51):
people really wanted to do thischallenge because at that time
especially, there was noconversation about like
Instagram is not real life andthis was the opportunity people
had to say it.
But like, do it in a trendy way.

Nicole Kelly (14:04):
I really like that you said that Instagram is not
real life, because I know thatwhen, especially when I was a
new mother, I had been followinga lot of like mommy bloggers or
people who were had these whatalmost looked like idyllic
pregnancies and I felt like Ilooked like a baboon half the
time because I was like so hotso I'd be sitting with a sports
bra on my couch and I feltdisgusting.
And there are these beautifulwomen posting these pictures and

(14:26):
they're like glowing.
So I feel like talking abouthow Instagram is not necessarily
real life, especially becauseof photo editing and you know,
stage things like that.
It's so important, especiallyfor you know, now that I have a
child we talk about when shewants to have her own social
media, what you know, what shesees and how that affects her.
I think it's absolutelyrelevant and important to talk

(14:48):
about how, you know, people'smental health can be affected by
this.

Elaine Chaya (14:52):
Yeah, a hundred percent.
I'm really passionate aboutespecially kids and teens and
social media, because I thinkthey don't know anything other
than that and that reallyconcerns me the most.

Nicole Kelly (15:02):
Is there a healthy place where teens, especially
teen girls, can be exposed tosocial media but not have it
affect them?
Growing up in the 90s and 2000s, it was a lot of magazines and
comparing yourself to fashionmodels.
But now it's not just you know,you're comparing your body,
it's also comparing yourlifestyle and your socioeconomic
status as well.

Elaine Chaya (15:21):
Yeah, and it's funny, I'm not a teenager and I
still struggle with comparingmyself to other people.
I've thought about this a lotof like God willing, when I have
kids, I'm like I don't thinkthat I would want them to be on
social media ironically forsomeone who's on social media.
Yeah until they're like 18.
Because I know I was like atthe brink of graduating from

(15:42):
high school, entering college,when Facebook even started in my
space and stuff like that andlike I feel like a different
time, like, I think, yourteenage years.
You're really formulating whoyou are as a person and you're
growing into your looks and allthis stuff.
And seeing other people all thetime who are maybe ahead of you
in whatever category is like Ifeel like it's it can take a

(16:06):
toll.
So yeah, I think like whenpeople get into college, but I
don't know, it's really hard inthese days and age people have a
cell phone when they're likefour years old.

Nicole Kelly (16:14):
Yeah, it's kind of crazy.
My husband, who's like we don'twant our daughter to be on
social media as long as possible, because, you know, first of
all, it's super addicting.
An adult, I know I'm superaddicted to checking Instagram,
especially now with everythingthat's going on.
I'm using it also like as asource of news as well, so it
can be not only addicting butit's also really hard.
It's hard to not come, you know, even as a woman who's almost

(16:35):
40, to not compare yourself oryour life to other people.
Which leads me to my nextquestion how a lot of people are
not, you know, the reallythemselves are even portraying
an accurate version ofthemselves on social media.
Why do you think that a lot ofpeople find that really hard?
And some people, like yourself,are very honest about this is
me, who I am, this is what I'mfeeling.

(16:57):
Why do you think that there'skind of these two polarized, you
know versions of influencers?

Elaine Chaya (17:03):
I think it's so much easier to be fluffy and not
talk about real life stuff thantalk about it.
I mean, when I first made theshift of talking more about like
real things, that was so hardfor me.
I went through a mentalbreakdown.
The first time I postedanything remotely mentioning
maybe I wasn't happy for aminute of my life, you know.
And I still get a lot ofpushback about doing it from

(17:26):
people close to me who are likestop talking about how you're
actually feeling.
This isn't good for you, youknow, like in the terms of like
good PR for you, you know, butI'm like everyone is going
through that stuff, and so Ithink it's easier to just like
post something fun and like justshow a moment that you were
happy, or like act like you werehappy, like I don't know.

(17:49):
I don't feel like people wantto really share what's actually
going on, because why would theyif they don't need to.

Nicole Kelly (17:52):
I don't know if that really answers the question
.
No, no, no.
That makes a lot of sense.
I think that you know beingvulnerable is difficult, even
with people that you're close to.
So being vulnerable with youknow 78,000 people who you don't
know, and some of them areinevitably trolls, and that's
really difficult.
So that makes a lot of sense.
But I think also, you know, Iposted a video a couple days ago

(18:13):
about something really terriblethat happened to me.
It can be also a littletherapeutic and, you know,
helpful to be like this issomething that happened and
maybe helpful to other peoplethat are going through something
similar, and I think that's whyit's important to especially
talking about not having aperfect life.
It's, it's super important.

Elaine Chaya (18:32):
Yeah, I will just say that every time I've posted
something that seems a littlelike oh, vulnerable for me, I've
at least had one person everytime being like I needed to hear
that and that's why I do it.
I do it because I know someoneneeds to hear it other than me.
And I think I also did itbecause, you know, like going
through my phases of figuringout of what I wanted to do with

(18:53):
my career, I had no supportaround that.
I didn't know who I was and Ifelt really alone.
And a lot of this is wanting tomake sure to heal kind of the
inner child in me that feltalone, to make other people not
feel alone.

Nicole Kelly (19:06):
That makes a lot of sense and I love that you're
able to be vulnerable and dothat.
So, let's say, somebody is, youknow, whatever kind of category
that they're looking to.
I mean, maybe they don't evenwant to be an influencer,
they're just looking to kind ofgrow a following, share their
story, maybe.
What is your advice on how todo that?
I've seen certain things, youknow, and I've started doing
this friend people who are inthe same sphere as you, start

(19:28):
communicating with them andcommenting, uh, is that really
the best way to go about doingthat?
Or how would you, you know,grow?
You know, your group, yourtribe on Instagram, so to speak?

Elaine Chaya (19:38):
I think definitely like talking and connecting
with people who are of your samevibes.
Like right now I'm, for example, like so focused on Israel and
the Jewish community, so I'mlike connecting with different
kind of people and accounts who,like, are talking about the
same stuff, to kind of elevatewhat I'm talking about even more
.
And in terms of your content.

(19:59):
I think the most importantthing is to figure out who you
are and what are you bringing toyour page and to your people
and who you want to attract,because I think we all get
really trapped in seeing like somuch of the same stuff or, like
you know, like there's so manyviral TikTok, sounds and trends
and there's like 20 millionpeople doing the same iteration
of that you know.
So we've become reallyunoriginal.

(20:21):
So what makes you you like?
Why are you creating thecontent that you are?
And once you can find thatniche and to understand like
what you, who you are and whatyou want to post, I think
that'll also attract people tounderstanding what they're
following about you and alsomake it more clear to you who
you should be reaching out with,to maybe connecting with on
like other podcast episodes orother content you guys can do

(20:43):
together.

Nicole Kelly (20:44):
Interesting.
I think it can be hard to bevery specific into what your
point of view is, especially,you know, when you're like I'm
just, I'm a mom, or I'm Jewish,or I am a chef, and being
specific obviously helps.
I know the people that I likeare very unique, so I guess you
know just finding your own voiceis a big part of that.

Elaine Chaya (21:05):
I will add to that , though, as someone who's been
doing this 11 years, I've hadlike 20 million iterations of
what my page is and who I am.
Even right now I'm figuring out.
I'm like, wait, I'm suddenlylike a political activist, like
this was not me two months ago.
So like just post, just postwhat you're passionate about in
that moment, something thatlights you up, and keep going,

(21:25):
and as you continue to post,you'll be more clear about what
the direction is that you'regoing.

Nicole Kelly (21:32):
So, transitioning a little bit to what you do post
on, a lot has to do with travel.
So do you have a favorite placeyou visited or a trip that
you've taken that kind of standsout to you, because even just I
was looking in like the past,like year, you've been to a lot
of really cool places and posteda lot of interesting content in
regard to that.

Elaine Chaya (21:51):
Yeah, I will say, as of recently, a special travel
trip for me was to London.
I relocated there for threemonths, which I've never lived
anywhere outside of LA, so thatwas really special.
I fell in love with the cityand the people there and it was
just such a nice time and Ithink maybe I loved it so much
because I like really went outof my comfort zone to do

(22:13):
something I was reallyuncomfortable with of like
moving my life for a few monthsand I really made the most of
that experience.

Nicole Kelly (22:21):
Why did you end up doing that?
What kind of is the spark thatmade you make the decision to
move there for at least a yearnow?

Elaine Chaya (22:30):
I've never lived anywhere else and I've always
been very regretful about that.
Even I didn't study abroad, Ididn't dorm when I was in
college, and so I'd always belike, oh, I never got to do that
in my life.
And someone who's in her 30sNow I had, like I've been
talking about this for a fewyears in the pandemic, like why
can't I just move somewhere fora few months, like I don't have
a commitment right now, and thenI was like I'm in my 30s, I

(22:51):
keep saying it's never the righttime.
When will be the right time?
Never.
And so I'm just going to do it,and I need to.
I want to stick to my word anddo something that I've always
wanted to do, because who knowswhat the future will hold.
And like right now, I know thatI can do this.

Nicole Kelly (23:07):
What part of London were you in?

Elaine Chaya (23:09):
I was in Golders Green.
If you know the area, it's likevery Jewish, it's like in the
suburbs.

Nicole Kelly (23:18):
I've been to London a few times, but I've
stayed kind of in the centralarea where all the tourists are,
so it's convenient to getplaces.
But London is also one of myfavorite places, so I definitely
feel like I'd love to do whatyou did and spend an extended
period of time there.
A big thing in London is thepub culture.
So is there a favorite likehangout that you found that you
were like you kept kind of goingback to, because the bar

(23:38):
culture is very different inEngland than it is here.
I feel like you kind of go todifferent places consistently,
especially in New York.
People always like well, we'regoing here, then we're going to
go here and we're going to gohere and we'll end the night
here.
But I know in London you kindof have a place.
It's almost like Cheers, that'syour place and you go there
with your friends.
Did you have a place like that?

Elaine Chaya (23:56):
I didn't have a place like that because I think
I was just up to so manydifferent things every day, but
I did get to go to a few but itwas fascinating because I would
walk around during the day.
It's like 2 pm and it's packedwith people from work at a pub
and I'm like what is going on?
So like there were a millionpubs that and it was cool, it
was nice to see.
Is and it was cool, it was niceto see.

Nicole Kelly (24:14):
Is there another city that you'd be interested in
moving to, at least for alittle while?

Elaine Chaya (24:23):
You know I thought about New York.
New York has been my number onedream in life, and then I
altered to London and so I'vealways had New York as an option
.
But I was ironically there onOctober 7.
So I had a very last weirdmoment with New York because it
was just not the same as Itypically would go and do.
But yeah, I've always had likea heart for New York.

Nicole Kelly (24:42):
What part of the city do you like the best?

Elaine Chaya (24:46):
You know I've stayed in different places each
time.
This past time I stayed half ofthe time at Upper West Side and
the other half Upper East Side.
It was like around Central Parkand I love Central Park.
I feel like that vibe is funfor me.
But I also went to West Village, which was really cute and, I
heard, really fun.

Nicole Kelly (25:03):
Yeah, no, the West Village is where all the fun
bars and restaurants are, but Ilive in the Upper West Side and
we're about a block away fromCentral Park and especially when
the weather is nice, just beingable to walk around I would go
and take my daughter for likehours during the summer and just
kind of wander around, so it isalso one of my favorite parts
of New York City.
So in the past you've done redcarpet interviews and event

(25:26):
coverage.
Is this something that you'd beinterested in pursuing on a
more full time basis, you knowas like an official commentator
or somebody who would workingfor like a television show?

Elaine Chaya (25:37):
Oh God, you know my calling girl a hundred
thousand percent.
My dream has always been to bethe reporter, uh like, for
e-news on all the red carpetsfor, like, the golden globes and
Oscars.
Um, I just feel like sopassionate about that.
I used to watch TRL, if youknow the show.

Nicole Kelly (25:54):
I love TRL.
I would come home every dayfrom seventh and eighth grade
and watch TRL and I know myhusband did the same thing.

Elaine Chaya (26:01):
Same girl, literally.
I think TRL like established myentire personality, because my
dream was never to be likeBritney Spears, but was to be
the VJ.
I'm like, I am like this is mycalling in life.
So, yeah, I also for like redcarpets, like when big award
shows happen.
My friend and I, before shemoved back to London which is
why I chose London she and I hadlike a podcast show where we

(26:23):
would.
It was called fashionably latte, which we were like the
millennial fashion police.
We would call ourselves wherewe would be like like making fun
of all the people's outfits onthe red carpet.
So I do that still on Instagramstories when like like shows
come about and everyone's likeyou need to be on camera and
doing this.
So it's like the Joan.

Nicole Kelly (26:41):
Rivers of the 21st century kind of doing that sort
of thing.
I have a friend who doessomething similar on Facebook
that whenever there's an awardshow and she'll just post single
.
It's like she'll post someone'soutfit and make a comment as a
single post but she'll do itthroughout the evening and it
just gets like funnier andfunnier.
And I think that you knowfashion is fun and I think that

(27:01):
sometimes people taking risks,you know you can be fun about
that.
So it's not necessarily anattack and I think there's a
place for making comments on onfashion and I think that you
know it's fun, it's fun.
You know it's fun, it's fun.

(27:22):
So, kind of pivoting to Judaism, so you mentioned that both
your parents fled Iran asteenagers.
What part of Iran are from, arethey from, and would you share
a little bit of their story andhow they ended up in the United
States?

Elaine Chaya (27:30):
Yeah, they're both from Tehran.
They actually didn't know eachother there.
They met in LA but my dad leftwhen he was 13 and, ironically,
also moved to New York.
He lived in Rochester byhimself, which is utterly wild
to me, like I don't even knowhow he did that as a 13-year-old
.
He had to find an apartment, hehad to get himself a job and
all of this stuff.

Nicole Kelly (27:49):
What year was this ?

Elaine Chaya (27:52):
This was probably in the 60s or maybe early 70s.
It was before the Iranianrevolution.
I know that for sure he wentbecause he got, I guess, like
some kind of raffle prize to goto America.
But I think also, if you livein Iran, uh, you have to go into
the army, is what I understood.
So I think it was a combo likegetting away from going into the

(28:13):
army and also he got this liketicket to go to America.
So, yeah, that was his journeyand then slowly some of his
siblings came to New York withhim and then they all moved as a
family to LA and I think hisparents even came after them to
LA.
And then my mom came during theIranian Revolution in 1979.
She came when she was 18.

(28:34):
And she went to UCLA.
She came when she was 18 andshe went to UCLA and she left
her entire stuff and life andeverything to come here and her
brother, her younger brother,was here and her parents came
here afterwards.

Nicole Kelly (28:54):
So it's wild to me that they as teenagers they had
to like literally figure outtheir entire lives when they
didn't know English as well, andmake it.
I have a very similar story,but with my relatives.
They were escaping EasternEurope and you know the pogroms
and the extreme violence thatwas happening there and I think
a lot of people don't realizefirst of all we'll go into this
that Jews come from the MiddleEast, like Iran, and you know
there was a thriving populationthere and that this is very

(29:16):
recent that people have been.
I think everyone kind of knowsabout Jews escaping Eastern
Europe, but Jews in othercountries have been doing this
in the last 50 or so years.
That's crazy that your fathercame when he was 13 years old
and basically had to figure outhow to support himself.
Was he the first member of thefamily to come over?

Elaine Chaya (29:35):
He had a sister that had come over as well.
He was older, but she had justgotten married, she had a few
kids and she was like living herown life, and so it was really
them two, but it was really himby himself.

Nicole Kelly (29:49):
That's insane.
I can't imagine, as a 13 yearold, first of all making a trip
just even for fun like that bymyself, let alone, like you know
, coming to a country where youdon't speak English and you're a
literal child.
So you said you grew up a lotof around around a lot of other
Iranian Jews.
Did their families have similarstories that they came around?
The same period of time, youknow were a lot of your Iranian

(30:10):
Jewish friends you know, firstgeneration born Americans.

Elaine Chaya (30:14):
Yes, 100% to all of that.
Funny enough, because myparents are still friends with
some of, especially, my mom,with the friends that she had in
Iran, and some of them all cametogether with her and all went
to UCLA with her.
So all of the kids my age arefirst born Americans and all of
the parents had some similarstory, I think most of them
other than my dad, who had thisunique experience.

(30:36):
I think most of them cameduring the revolution.

Nicole Kelly (30:39):
Can you tell our listeners a little bit about the
revolution?
And I actually don't know a lotabout it either, so I'm curious
to find a little bit more aboutthat.

Elaine Chaya (30:47):
Yeah, so they had a king called the Shah, which
they absolutely loved.
He loved the Jews and then hegot taken over by I think his
name was Humayun and heabsolutely hated the Jews and he
threatened the Jews and itbecame suddenly a very dangerous
place for Iranian Jews to be,and so they saw the future of

(31:08):
that.
I think they killed I think mymom was saying they actually
killed like one Jew and they'relike oh, this, this ain't gonna
go well for us.

Nicole Kelly (31:14):
Yeah.

Elaine Chaya (31:15):
So people quickly saw that it was not a safe place
and that they had to leave.
And even before that, when theShah was in power, the one that
they liked, like they werealways.
I was like well, where is itever unsafe for you to be an
Iranian Jew?
And they're like it wasn'tunsafe.
But they would always remind usthat we were the minorities,
like we were the minority group.

Nicole Kelly (31:34):
That's.
That's really scary.
I can't imagine you knowpost-Holocaust post, you know
all of that living in a placeand somebody taking over power
who's very outspoken againstJews.
I know a lot of Iranian Jewsended up in the United States,
but also a lot of them ended upin Israel as well.
Correct?

Elaine Chaya (31:52):
Maybe I'm not sure about where they dispersed.
I know a lot of went to LA.

Nicole Kelly (32:09):
I know people went to New York.
People went really everywhere,but I can imagine that they went
to, I don't know.
I want to say, carried this alittle bit of paranoia about
being Jewish or did they feel,now that they were in the United
States, that it was a safeplace to be Jewish?

Elaine Chaya (32:25):
It's so funny because I actually asked my
parents this recently and alsothrough my observation all of
these years the Iraniancommunity does not harp on
victim mode.
They harp on survival mode.
They've never heard themcomplain, be upset and be like
this is what my life was likeand I had to leave.
They all like don't even wantto think about Iran, they're
like peace out, we don't evencare about that place.

(32:46):
And they've never been upset.
I don't think they ever evenwere like self conscious about
being Jewish.
I think they were like oh, thisis what's happening.
We got to go.
But, ironically enough, witheverything that's happened in
the past two months, I saidinitially, after October 7th
this was the first time in myentire life my dad was like
we're taking down the mezuzah,I'm scared.
I'm like this is what makes youscared when you literally fled

(33:07):
a dangerous country.
So they've actually nevercarried it.
If anything, people have beenmore established in their Jewish
community here.
Not all Iranians are superreligious and we didn't grow up
super religious.
I keep Shabbat now, but thatwasn't what I did growing up.
But Iranian culture, no matterwhat religious level you're at

(33:27):
Shabbat with your family andyour cousins on Friday night, is
a must, even if you want to goout afterwards.
Shabbat, friday nights is astandard thing if you want to go
out afterwards, like Shabbat.

Nicole Kelly (33:36):
Friday nights is like a standard day.
Oh, okay, do you do?
Iranian Jews celebrate Shabbatthe same way as Ashkenazi or
Sephardi Jews would?

Elaine Chaya (33:49):
I think so.
I mean we do the same prayers.
We like the challah, thecandles, all that stuff.
I think we have somethingcalled gondi, which is like a
matzah ball meatball type thing,which is like Friday nights you
have some gondi and we call itabgust, which is like a.
It's like a saffron, like justlike a yellow soup, but it's
like made with the gondi and themeat.

Nicole Kelly (34:05):
So that sounds good.
I'll have to figure out how tofind that or have someone make
that for me, because I'm not agood cook, so I wouldn't trust
myself to do that.
You say you keep Shabbat.
Now what inspired you to startdoing that?

Elaine Chaya (34:19):
Ironically, full circle because of Instagram, but
actually, at the same time,when I was like Instagram is not
real.
I want to talk about mentalhealth, like obviously, that was
inspired by my own mentalhealth struggles, of feeling
just really overwhelmed witheverything going on on social
media and what you were sayingbefore, like comparing myself to
others and feeling like I'm notdoing enough, I'm not being the

(34:42):
best enough on here, as, likesomeone who's creating content
all the time, like I become myown worst critic in ways that
people are like the things thatyou see about yourself, like no
one else sees, you know, and itwas taking a toll and I was like
I need to take a break fromInstagram.
And so I was like, huh, whydon't I just like, in the honor
of Shabbat, friday nights, likefor a few hours, when I'm at

(35:03):
dinner, not use my phone, andI'm like I kind of like that.
Why don't I start maybeincorporating it on Saturday
mornings?
And I was like, wait, I kind oflike that.
And I kind of progressed andprogressed until the pandemic,
when I was like on the edgealready about like maybe wanting
to do it full time.
And then I'm like, well, I'mnot going anywhere now.
So now I don't use the lights,I don't use my phone, I don't

(35:23):
get in a car Most of the time.
I'll make exceptions a fewtimes, um, if I'm going to
Shabbat, if I'm invitedsomewhere for Shabbat, like I
don't want to miss out on anopportunity to be social.
But I only do Shabbat relatedthings do you, uh, keep kosher.

Nicole Kelly (35:39):
I know you said um , you weren't super religious
growing up, do you?
But do you keep kosher now?

Elaine Chaya (35:43):
so we keep as a family and myself I keep kosher
in the sense that I don't eatunkosher meat or shellfish or
dairy and meat together, but Iwill go out to like a normal
restaurant and eat likepescatarian style that fits with
that diet.
So more of like a kosher style,eat like pescatarian style,
that fits with that diet.

Nicole Kelly (35:57):
So more of like a kosher style than like keeping
like severe kosher Gotcha.
So we talked a little bit abouta specific food that Iranian
Jews eat at Shabbat Are there.
You know, different ways thatIranian Jews celebrate holidays
or specific traditions that arevery specific to Jews from Iran.

Elaine Chaya (36:18):
Yeah, yeah.
So for Passover, when we do theSeder, we have something called
Dayenu where we get I thinkit's called, like leeks I'm not
sure what it's actually called,I think it is.
It has, like maybe a little bitof a leak at the end.
Anyways, you go around and youstart hitting everyone with it,
like as the slaves would hit, isthis?

Nicole Kelly (36:38):
is this to get your frustration on your jewish
relatives out, or how did?

Elaine Chaya (36:41):
it start yeah that is what it's led to.
I'm like who do I hate the mosttoday?
Bam, bam, very seriously, I getscared of them, but it started.
It's supposed to be like arepresentation of when the
slaves got whipped by the okaythat makes sense, I'm gonna
start doing that in my house.

Nicole Kelly (36:59):
I'm just gonna hit everybody and say this is, this
is a representation of the ofthe horrors of the slaves in
egypt.

Elaine Chaya (37:06):
But this is also me getting frustrated you didn't
take out the trash, um peoplecome down to dayenu and grab
like 25 of the things and andit's really scary.
I try to hide sometimes becausepeople get really upset.

Nicole Kelly (37:19):
I'm obsessed with this.
So, other than that, what otherthings, what other things you
know would people findsurprising or interesting, like
different traditions?

Elaine Chaya (37:29):
I think I actually learned this recently.
I didn't know this was a thing,but when we like say the prayer
for challah on Friday nights Inthe Sephardi tradition, you
throw the challah to someone,not like pass it around on a
plate, and I think we do RoshHashanah.
We do Rosh Hashanah, seders.
I don't think you guys do.

Nicole Kelly (37:45):
What do you mean by like seders?

Elaine Chaya (37:47):
Similarly to how you have a Passover seder, we
have a seder for Rosh Hashanah.

Nicole Kelly (37:51):
Oh really, because my family would always just
kind of meet and we'd havewhatever you know brisket or
chicken or something you knowlike a traditional, like
Ashkenazi meal, and then we'dhave apples and honey, but that
was basically it.
It wasn't like a huge to do.

Elaine Chaya (38:06):
Interesting.
No, yeah, we all sit around thetable like how you would at a
Seder.
There's prayers.
You have to say for each thingwe have, like zucchini, we say a
prayer.
Pomegranate apples, honey, likewhatever else, we say a prayer.
Pomegranate apples, honey, likewhatever else.
There's a few other things andthey all represent something and
it's like a full on Sederthat's.

Nicole Kelly (38:22):
I did not know that until today.
That's one of the things I'mloving about kind of connecting
with people and, you know,especially talking to Jews who
come from a different background, because where I'm from in LA
it's very Ashkenormative, whichis a word I've become obsessed
with, so everybody's looks thesame, everybody's family's from
the same area, and even you knowwhere I live now it's the same

(38:42):
kind of thing.
Everybody kind of comes fromthat Eastern European background
.
So I don't really know evenknow a lot of, if any, sephardi
or Mizrahi Jews.
So one thing I'm superinterested in is learning about
what they do, and we did it.
We just recorded a Hanukkahepisode last night and, talking
about you know even the Shemeshon the Hanukkiah, how people

(39:03):
light it differently.
So it's very interesting to mehow you know we're all Jewish,
we all celebrate things likeRosh Hashanah, yom Kippur and
Passover, but because of,possibly, the regions we're from
and you know what we wereexperiencing things are
different.
Um, is there something that youthink people would find
surprising?

Elaine Chaya (39:22):
about iranian jews ?
I don't, I don't know.

Nicole Kelly (39:23):
I think we're really extra about things
sometimes are you familiar withthe um the comedian modi on uh
instagram?
So he, he, his whole thing is.
He loves to joke about thedifference between safari and
ashkenazi jews and how SephardiJews are always like extra over
the top.
They're always celebrating andAshkenazi Jews are just kind of

(39:43):
like it's really funny, youshould look it up.
He's doing a comedy tour rightnow, so I definitely get like
the extra.

Elaine Chaya (39:52):
Interesting, I wonder.
I feel like just Iranianculture.
They're very like show theiremotions through, like being
extra.

Nicole Kelly (40:02):
They don't necessarily show their actual
emotions but they show likethey're just very, they're very
hyper and loud.

Elaine Chaya (40:08):
Yeah, like even at Jewish Iranian weddings it's
very well known for the mostpart People dance down the aisle
.
It's like a whole freakingconcert and party and I think
people are just like lively likethat.
I don't know if it has to dowith leaving Iran.
I feel like maybe in Iran itwas like that similar kind of
vibe to maybe with the Iranianmusic is like that and there's

(40:30):
just a lot of like yeah, likepeople are a lot more out there
in that way.
I don't know if I have anecessarily good answer for this
, but that is kind of what Itake from it.

Nicole Kelly (40:41):
Gotcha.
What are some of the things youfind challenging being a Jewish
person in America who is notfrom an Ashkenazi background?
Because I feel like for me, I'mvery Jewish looking and you
know how, like the Chabad people, they'll usually approach you
and ask if you're Jewish, andthen they'll approach.
Last week I was in the LowerEast Side and he literally just
started with Shabbat Shalom andasked if I had candles.

(41:02):
He didn't even ask.
So, like I am a walkingAshkenazi Jew.
It's very obvious, and I feellike I've heard from a lot of
other people, whether they don'thave traditionally Jewish names
or don't look stereotypicallyJewish, that they sometimes have
to.
You know people want to be likewell, you don't look Jewish,
prove you're Jewish or you knowthings like that.
Is that something that you'veencountered?

(41:23):
Or even online, you know.
You know you say on yourInstagram page you're an Iranian
Jew and I think there's stupidpeople who may not think that's
really a thing.
Is this kind of a challengethat you have encountered?

Elaine Chaya (41:37):
It's so funny because I did a post about being
an Iranian Jew and also notbeing a white Jew and first of
all so many people are like butyou look white, and so that was
like a whole thing I got.
And then someone was like Ithink you're confused, there are
no Jews in Iran, there's nosuch thing as an Iranian Jew,
and I was like I cannot engagewith this.

Nicole Kelly (41:57):
So I think you're, I think you're confused about
your own background.
Correct, people are reallyballsy.

Elaine Chaya (42:04):
I can't.
People are fascinating thesedays in like the worst way.
I think.
Growing up though I actuallydid a post about this the other
day I grew up in a very Americanculture.
Like all of my friends were notIranian, they were just
Americans.
They weren't necessarily Jewish, and I felt the distinct
difference.
Like I would bring my Persianfood to school for lunch.

(42:24):
They eat peanut butter andjelly sandwiches.
I did Shabbat, they would go toarcades.
Like I distinctly felt thedifference of being different.
But, I don't know, I think.
But at the same time I was soimmersed in an Iranian community
that was outside of my schoolculture that I didn't feel like
I was alone ever, because I knewthere were so many other people
like me.
But when you're immersed in,like even in a work environment,

(42:47):
like even when I was at a PRcompany like fancy PR company
like I was the only Iranian Jew,there were like barely any Jews
and there was definitely no onethat was Iranian.
So I noticed that difference attimes.
But I also I think, because wehave such a strong community
that we got established as I wasborn, that like I know that I'm
not like the only one at thesame time, if that makes sense-

(43:08):
yeah, is there a lot of pressurewithin the Iranian Jewish
community to marry another Jewof Iranian heritage?
I think, growing up, for sure, Ithink that's what, like every
parent wanted, and I think somefamilies are still very specific
about that.
I think my parents are, likecan you just get married please
to anyone?
Like at this point we're down,you know, but also like

(43:30):
specifically with me.
I think my parents understandI'm not the typical Iranian Jew
and so maybe that isn'tnecessarily a match for me, but,
of course, like I think,because they left Iran, because
a lot of them only speak Iranian, or my parents speak English,
but they, you know, feelcomfortable speaking in Farsi,
that they people prefer thatbecause it feels familiar versus

(43:51):
some different culture that'snot their own.

Nicole Kelly (43:53):
No, no, that makes complete sense.
I think you know, especiallymarginalized groups, we tend to
cling to each other.
You know, I always feel likewhen I find out someone's Jewish
, I'm like, oh, now we havesomething in common and even
within, like the subsections ofJudaism.
That makes a lot of sense to,or feeling the weight of

(44:18):
everything, even if they don't,you know, have any direct ties
to Israel.
You've been very vocal aboutthis on your social media.
Why do you think it is soimportant to be vocally
supportive of Israel and to talkabout the hostages and talk
about the terrible things thathave happened?

Elaine Chaya (44:31):
Yeah, I just feel like if I don't post about it,
of course other people that Iknow that are Jewish are posting
about it, but I have a lot ofnon-Jewish followers and I have
even a best friend that I've hadsince the eighth grade and
she's not Jewish and she's likeI literally only follow, like
fashion and travel accounts.
You're the only Jewish person Ifollow.

(44:52):
I don't know any like.
Maybe she knows what's going onin the world, but like she
doesn't see these posts unlessI'm posting about it.
So I feel like my posts are notfor the Jews, because all the
Jews are on the same page aboutwhat's going on these posts are
really yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,not everyone, I can't generalize
, but, um, but these are reallyfor my followers and friends who
aren't Jewish, as a way ofunderstanding and also hopefully

(45:15):
getting this out to people, thehaters, which maybe they'll
think about it twice, orprobably not because they're
crazy, but I think it's.
I think it's important rightnow.
I can't, like I before that Iwas posting my travel stuff and
a lot about Taylor Swift.
I made my job to be aboutTaylor Swift and I haven't More
than, more than Lady Gaga, morethan.
Lady Gaga.
We moved on from Lady Gaga.

Nicole Kelly (45:37):
On to Taylor Swift , more than Lady Gaga, more than
.

Elaine Chaya (45:38):
Lady Gaga.
We moved on from Lady Gaga Onto Taylor Swift, like, yes, so
much to say about her, thoughfor another time but I just feel
like I can't live life normallyright now because of everything
that has happened.
I'm such an empath, and I thinkmost Jews can't live normally
right now, but I would not feelright posting about things that
weren't about this, becausethat's not what I'm passionate
about, and I think it also harpson this feeling of like.

(46:00):
My whole point is to want tomake people not feel alone, and
I feel like the Jews feel veryalone right now because there's
no one else supporting them.
So I feel like I need to do mypart to make even the Jews that
feel alone see my videos and belike okay, she gets it.
It helps make me feel bettertoo.

Nicole Kelly (46:17):
I agree, I think I've kind of I don't know what
it's called on Instagram, butI'm only seeing everybody I
follow.
I'm not getting any suggestions, because the suggestions are
coming up.
However, inevitably, threadswill come up on my Instagram
feed and the first one's alwayslike a crazy person and of
course, I want to see whatthey're saying, so I'll click on

(46:39):
it and it's not good.
It's not good for my mentalhealth, it's not helpful, but
seeing all of these people whoare feeling very similar to how
I feel and talking about what'shappening it does make me feel
like I have a community outsideof my direct people in my
everyday life.
So it is super important andbrave.
Which kind of leads me into.

(46:59):
Since October 7th, a lot ofJewish influencers have been
dealing with extreme antiSemitism.
Is this something you'veexperienced and how do you
handle it when somebody who itsays something you know even
stupid, like there's no Jews inIran or something extremely
hateful that you know is evencalling for the genocide of the
Jews, which I have seen onlineextremely hateful, that you know
he's even calling?

Elaine Chaya (47:19):
for the genocide of the Jews which I have seen
online.
Yeah, I mean, my favoritecomment was someone was like you
need an area code for your noseand I was like okay, I like to
highlight the stupid comments, Isee, because I actually find
them funny.
Like I can't take it seriouslybecause these people don't know
me, people are just hating, tohate right now and you know what
.
Like it's not okay.

(47:40):
But like these people don'tknow me, I think that some of
them make me upset, like someonemocked one of my videos one
time, and again that persondoesn't know me, but like I'm
posting also like vulnerablethings about myself.
So, obviously, like I'm human,it might hurt me, but then I
made a Taylor Swift shake it offvideo in response to the haters

(48:00):
and being like haters are gonnahate and it was fucking funny,
and so I tried to make funny,like, make it funny and like, um
, yeah, I've lost like 1000followers throughout this time,
which is wild and bananas to me,and people being like I didn't
know you were Jewish and myactual followers being like I'm
confused because you have alwaysposted about being Jewish, yeah
, so yeah, but you know what?
Then I found new people whohave followed me and have

(48:22):
reached out to me like I'veconnected with you because of
this and all this stuff, andthat reminds me of like we don't
want those kinds of people evenengaging with me anyways, or I
don't, I don't care about those,because the people that really
matter are the ones that areconnecting with me, and this is
who I'm doing it for anyways.

Nicole Kelly (48:38):
I think that's such a healthy and beautiful way
to think of this.
I take everything, even frompeople I know in my real life,
very personally, so I don't knowif I'd be able to be as healthy
about, you know, dealing withthis.
You know, because I see thesecomments on other people's pages
and I feel like it's beingdirected at me because in a way
it is.
It is so it's.

(48:59):
It's kind of crazy how bravethese so-called social justice
warriors and trolls get behind akeyboard or a phone and they
say things that you would neverI mean, hopefully, hopefully
never say to a person to theirface.
But they feel like they've been, you know, they're emboldened
in some way.
That's crazy.
Is there anything that you'vebeen surprised by in your kind

(49:21):
of career as an influencer thatyou know something happened?
You're like this is amazing orcrazy.

Elaine Chaya (49:27):
I've had a few really cool things that I've
done that I'm very proud about.
One of them was the Woke Upthis Way challenge that we
talked about.
I didn't know that it would beas successful as it was, like so
many celebrities took part init, like Cindy Crawford.

Nicole Kelly (49:40):
And I was oh wow.
I feel like I remember this.
I mean, I wasn't following youat this time, but I remember
seeing a picture of CindyCrawford without makeup and
being like she's still beautifuland it's really cool that she's
willing to share that.

Elaine Chaya (49:51):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So there's been, like I createdsweaters during the pandemic to
raise money for a local foodbank, but then all of these
celebrities that I gifted it towore them and those became
really successful.
I created a few murals that I'mreally proud of, like I've done
a few really cool things.
But I will also say like a fewweeks ago I spoke to UC

(50:12):
officials about anti-Semitism oncampus and I went to UCLA
Hillel, which is where I likewent to college and even little
things like that meant like I.
I put that on the same list asthe woke up this way challenge
like that is such an honor to meand such a big thing for me.
So I've done like a lot of I'vedone really gone to really cool
events.

(50:32):
I've met really cool peoplelike I have 11 years worth of
stories of crazy stuff I've done.
But these little things thatlike really tie into the message
of like not being alone andwhat I'm passionate about, I
think mean the most.

Nicole Kelly (50:46):
So this next section is there's short form
questions in the style of theactor's studio.
So what is your favorite?
I'll say Yiddish or Hebrew word.

Elaine Chaya (50:59):
Um.
So what is your favorite?
I'll say Yiddish or Hebrew word.
Um Yiddish, I would say oy, vey, right, Cause it's so funny.
Um Hebrew word I actually haveit on a bracelet that I'm
wearing Um it's emunah, whichmeans faith, and I wear this
every day because I thinksometimes that we all get lost
in having faith that things willwork out for us in whatever

(51:19):
that is, because we all gothrough struggles in life, and
so I always remind myself abouthaving emunah during those times
, because I'm a very bigbeliever in God and have a very
close connection to God, and Ialways remind myself that God
has my back, and even if I can'tsee it now, I will see it later
.
So I always say emunah.

Nicole Kelly (51:36):
Do you have a favorite Farsi word?
I will see it later.

Elaine Chaya (51:40):
So I always say Amunah, do you have a favorite
Farsi word?
Um, I probably have a betterone, but like.
The one that comes to mindright now is Toro Chora, meaning
like, toro Chora.
Chora means God, but likeprobably like to the love of God
, but which really means likecome on, please.

(52:01):
You say Torah Chodah, like comeon.

Nicole Kelly (52:02):
What is your favorite Jewish holiday?
Sukkot, wildly Sukkot, Ihaven't gotten that one yet, but
Sukkot's fun.
I think it's underrated.
Yeah, okay, yeah, if you wereto have a bat mitzvah today.

Elaine Chaya (52:17):
What would the theme be?
Taylor Swift the heiress to her.
If you were to have a batmitzvah today, what would the
theme be?
Taylor Swift?

Nicole Kelly (52:19):
the heiress dwarf.
What profession other than yourown?

Elaine Chaya (52:25):
would you want to attempt?
I always wanted to be a teacher.
I became one during thepandemic, so that has always
been a dream.
But I also think something inpsychology, like a psychiatrist
working with kids, maybe childpsychology.

Nicole Kelly (52:44):
If heaven is real and God is there to welcome you.

Elaine Chaya (52:45):
What would you like to hear them say?
I'm so proud of you.
You've done such a good job.
Anything you want to plug, Iguess my Instagram is my biggest
platform right now, where Ipost really everything, so make
sure to find me on Instagram.
Elaine ChayaE-L-A-I-N-E-C-H-A-Y-A.

Nicole Kelly (53:04):
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much forjoining me.
This has been lovely andeducational for me as well.
So, like she said, followElaine on Instagram.
She's amazing.
Thank you so much for joiningme.

Elaine Chaya (53:17):
Thank you so much for joining me.
Thank you so much for having me.
This was so fun © transcriptEmily Beynon.