By Kalena Reynolds | Arts & Life Editor
From being on the track and field team to building a social media brand, alum Keviah Ealy had no shortage of accomplishments during her time at Baylor. After graduation, Ealy made the decision to take a gap year — a choice that has now led her to starring in the third season of “Vanderpump Villa” on Hulu.
While Ealy has begun to make a path for herself in the media industry, her plans weren’t always straightforward. After a career-ending all-terrain vehicle injury that resulted in a loss of memories, Ealy was forced to medically retire from the track team, leading her to both a loss of identity and life plan.
“To have my accident, lose my memories and lose that part of myself, I found my passion for social media through that,” Ealy said. “I feel like if my accident never happened, I would still be going to med school, I would still be on track, kind of having this corporate life, which there is no problem with, but it’s not what my heart really wanted.”
Ealy said the months after the accident were both emotionally and physically grueling.
“I woke up, and I didn’t even really know who I was,” Ealy said. “I was in my childhood room, everyone surrounding me and I’m like, ‘What happened?’”
Following her accident, Ealy underwent a year and a half of vestibular rehabilitation for complications following the accident.
“I had these blackout headaches where I was like, ‘I cannot move, I cannot do school, I have to go to sleep,’” Ealy said.
Ealy elaborated that the strenuous moments of recovery were really where she was able to reflect on her priorities.
“It helped me realize that my accident did position me to explore myself because you don’t really know what you have until you lose it all,” she said.
Ealy spent the rest of college building a digital platform, quickly realizing that she wanted to pursue social media as a career. After graduation, she received a direct message from a casting director asking if she wanted to be on a reality show.
“I got an Instagram DM, and I was like, ‘Um, sure,’ like this is gonna be a scam,” Ealy said. “So I took a leap of faith and went through all of it.”
After going through an extensive screening process, Ealy was flown out to Los Angeles a few months later to meet the crew and Lisa Vanderpump.
Vanderpump is an English TV personality who has appeared on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and has spearheaded her own shows, including “Vanderpump Rules,” “Vanderpumped” and, her latest, “Vanderpump Villa.”
“Vanderpump Villa” revolves around a cast of staff who work and live at exclusive French and English estates. The cast has to navigate working at the Villa while also managing love interests and high-stakes drama.
“You wake up, you get ready ’cause there are cameras in your room, and you go grab your microphone,” Ealy said. “If you were the morning shift, you’d go and do brunch service … If you were dinner service, it would be the opposite.”
During filming, the cast was not allowed to have their phones and was only allowed 10 minutes of phone calls once a week.
“It was hard, but I think more than anything, you missed your daily routine,” Ealy said. “Anxiety is so high … You’re performing as an elevated version of yourself, so you just feel this anxiety of not being yourself, and you’re like, ‘Am I being myself or am I performing because there’s a camera right here?’”
Ealy said that the thing she wants people to take away from her experience is the importance of “taking the risk and jumping off that ledge.”
“The only way you fully submerge yourself into being truly happy is to chase after your true desires, regardless of what people think about it,” Ealy said.
Ealy’s aunt, Tangela Seals, said some of her family were confused about her being on a reality show; however, they ultimately understood the opportunity that was being presented.
“She’s always been a high achiever and had a lot of career aspirations in the medical field, and so I think some of our family might have been a little confused because this is way the opposite direction,” Seals said.
Seals explained that Ealy’s drive has propelled her to where she is known.
“Once K finds something, she’s committed to it,” Seals said. “Even if she changes her mind, she’s going to fully commit to that. She’s really self-motivated. She’s certainly a self-starter.”
