Anastasia “Asia” Dennis-McCray knows how to move in two worlds without losing herself. One minute, she’s lacing up boots for her U.S. Army job. The next, she’s standing in front of her camera, ready to share a hair routine or wellness tip with thousands. To outsiders, those identities may seem like a contradiction. For Asia, they are complementary; two sides of the same story shaped by discipline, resilience, and the refusal to dim her light.

It began on the yard of Florida A&M University. Self-expression through fashion and beauty is a staple at an HBCU, so when Asia decided to shave her head and rock a buzz cut, it wasn’t just a style decision, and it became an intentional act of self-definition.

That choice didn’t just spark curiosity among her peers; it set the foundation for the journey that would later shape Asia’s presence in the beauty and wellness industry. Classmates had tons of questions about that decision: How are you going to regrow it? What products are you using? Once her Instagram profile began to blossom, Asia turned the platform into her diary. What began as documenting her hair journey evolved into her earliest steps as an influencer.

But influence alone wasn’t enough to carry Asia through school. As a first-generation college student, she joined the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps [ROTC] to help cover the costs of her education. That decision introduced her to the structure and discipline that would eventually shape every part of her life, including how she navigated being a beauty influencer.

Asia credits the Army with teaching her the art of balance. “Discipline and scheduling: those are the two things I would take with me anywhere,” she explains.

In the Army, Asia serves in a healthcare role, and as one would imagine, that work became intense during the height of the pandemic. The onset of COVID-19 brought that idea home in a real way.  Regulations shifted daily, soldiers depended on her leadership, and her personal time was stretched thin. She learned to manage chaos with structure, leaning on strict routines to stay grounded.

Asia maintained that discipline and applied it to her creative career. She treats content creation with the same seriousness as Army assignments. If she sets a deadline to film or edit, she follows through. That accountability is the thread connecting her two careers, ensuring neither overwhelms the other.

In a beauty and wellness landscape packed with curated feeds and polished reels, Asia’s approach is simple: take up space and do it authentically.

“There’s only one me,” she says. “Even if we have the same hair type and use the exact same products, the way I talk about it is going to be completely different from the way someone else talks about it. The way that we express ourselves is always going to be unique to us.”

If Asia senses comparison creeping in, she steps away. On those days, she edits but doesn’t film, refusing to produce content that doesn’t feel like her. That level of self-awareness, paired with her refusal to manufacture an image, is what truly sets her apart.

Ask Asia what she wants her legacy to be, and she doesn’t hesitate to tell you it’s all about resilience. She doesn’t sugarcoat her story or pretend the journey has been smooth. She admits she’s fallen plenty, but she always gets back up. That mantra grounds her, and it’s the energy she wants to pass on to every young woman who looks at her life and sees possibility.

“No matter what anyone says, there’s always joy on the other side. And if you aren’t feeling joy yet, you just haven’t made it to the other side.”

These days, Asia is finishing her master’s in digital marketing and planning for her next act. She’s newly engaged, preparing to share more of her personal life with her audience, and considering how to grow her wellness and lifestyle content into something bigger.

Asia’s life is proof that duality is not a contradiction; it’s a possibility. It’s not all glamorous, but it’s the same principle that has carried her through the Army, through influencing, and through the balancing act of being fully herself in two very different worlds. She never has to ask which version of herself is the “real” one. She embraces them all. And that, perhaps, is her most powerful influence of all.

That duality feels even more tangible now that the Army has updated its grooming and appearance standards, opening new space for self-expression. Women can now wear ponytails or braids within set limits, keep hair colored in natural tones, wear clear nail polish, and sport a single pair of stud earrings outside of field environments. Men can maintain natural hair colors and keep nails neatly trimmed. 

For someone like Asia, who built her influencer identity around natural hair, authenticity, and self-expression, this kind of change matters deeply. It deepens the meaning of what it looks like to thrive in both lanes and softens the tension between uniformity and individuality. Asia can walk into formation with earrings that feel like art, hair that honors her culture, and nails that speak to her femininity, proof that her whole self belongs in every room she enters, on duty or off.

Explore more stories celebrating the lives and journeys of the men and women who serve in today’s U.S. Army by visiting the Blavity x U.S. Army Content Hub.
The post Army Officer By Day, Influencer By Passion: Asia Dennis-McCray’s Story Of Duality appeared first on Blavity.



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