Norma Night is the stage name of content creator and musician, Kelsey Ellison. With over 330 thousand TikTok followers, Kelsey has taken the platform by storm in the past year, and shows no signs of slowing down.
I would love to start off by asking, how would you describe yourself and the content you make on TikTok?
I do lots of different things! But I started off with performing,dancing, singing covers, and performing original music. After that, I expanded into creating films, talking about my disability, which is my prosthetic eye. So I create content around that as well, and those experiences, and my LGBTQ life as well. So it's just a big mix of, I guess, my creative things and my own personal experiences in life.
What made you want to get involved in the entertainment industry to begin with?
Well, I've always been in the performing world. I started dancing when I was five years old, and those dancing classes were always super creative. So I started off just being super creative when I was a kid, and it just hasn't stopped since then. Even when I was hanging out with my cousins before TikTok was a thing, before YouTube was a thing, we had this video camera that we used to make music videos. Being creative is just like a really big thing in my life and I like to explore everything. I do love to have my hands in loads of different pockets because now when I go to create something, I can focus and have all of these experiences around me. It also just makes life a lot more fun.
Success on TikTok can be complicated. Have you ever had people in your life who have treated you differently because of your success?
I have friends who are influencers, but we honestly have a common understanding of the whole thing. We treat each other with understanding. Obviously, outside of that, there are some people who might view me as useful to them in a way, because I’m an “influencer”. But in general, those experiences are thankfully pretty unusual.
That’s amazing! What would you say is the main thing you want to accomplish with your content and overall brand?
I think the main thing I wanna accomplish is just believing that you can do things yourself. I come from a very working-class family. I don’t have any connection, I've just, Done all this basically from the ground up for myself. Then on top of that, I have added layers of being disabled and figuring out my sexual identity. So I really want to set an example and make people feel good about themselves.
I think you do a great job of that. Aside from content creation, you’re making a name for yourself in the music scene. Who are your biggest musical inspirations?
Gaga, for sure. She’s a very different artist, and when she first debuted, she was very different to everybody else. She gave me inspiration to actually just be myself and embrace the differences. Her passion is really inspirational, too.She makes me think that if I have a goal , and I really want it, I can achieve it no matter what.
What would you say has been your biggest achievement in your career so far?
That’s a big question! I have so many, so many cool things that have happened. I think my proudest moment was actually getting to talk at Washington State University online. I got to speak about disability in the media. Being asked to be representative of that was really like, whoa, what is going on! It was a big highlight. I really felt like, wow, I did something.
That must have been such a great moment! You’ve made a big name for yourself on TikTok with your music and overall creativity. What more do you think needs to be done to kind of increase the opportunities for people with disabilities that are trying to make a name for themselves in entertainment?
I think the biggest solution is just more representation. More representation on screen, but also offscreen as well. So people in the writer's room, people backstage and on the crew, people in the higher up levels. Having disabled people in those positions and being given those opportunities can really make a difference. Seeing somebody who you can relate to, whether that's somebody doing a job that you really want to do or somebody telling a story on screen, would be great. I think the media does have a partial responsibility to how the public views and responds to things.Storytelling is incredibly powerful. So, to have that correct representation and to have that shown to the whole world, is really, really important.
Are there any projects you’re working on at the moment that you could tease for us?
Well, I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m working on music! I have a couple of performances coming up that I’m excited about, and there are also some other non-music-related things in the works that I can’t say too much about right now. I’m being very cryptic, but the wait will be worth it!