IN THIS EDITION OF FOXTALES WE CATCH UP WITH OUR FAVORITE BEAR NAMED TROY!

If you're not familiar with Troy Solomon, he is a great friend of ours that we did a Foxtales interview with just about a year ago. We were lucky enough to get some time with Troy during his personal "Pre 4th of July Weekend Party" to catch up and see what's been going on in his world.

Hey Troy!

Thanks so much for letting us join you during your personal "Pre 4th of July Weekend Party" Its been just over a year since our last interview and we'd love to hear what you've been up to... 

Has anything changed for a day in your life since our last interview?

SO much has changed! I'm working now more than ever creating content and attending different events and traveling and whatnot. I have a live show every Wednesday at 7:30PM called Wine Wednesday Live where I get to interact directly with my followers. I've also begun dabbling in designing my own clothes (with the help of my incredibly talented boyfriend, Ian). It's been an amazing ride this passed year and I can't WAIT to see what happens in this next year.

That's awesome! We love wine and clothes too! No wonder we like each other so much.

So, I see you've become verified on IG.. How'd that happen/ make you feel?

Becoming verified on Instagram was a literal dream come true. I had dreamt about that happening since the day I joined Instagram, but never thought it would actually ever happen. Then, as my following and brand continued to grow, I began to think that maybe this was a possibility and sure enough it happened! I won't lie, I cried the second I saw that little blue check next to my name.

Do you get any weird or funny DM's now that you have so many followers?

Can you share one with us?

Aside from unsolicited dick picks, my DM's are not so much weird, but inspirational! I get people direct messaging me pretty regularly saying how great I make them feel and how confident they are because of me and that whenever they're feeling down they just come to my page for a big dose of happy. I can't believe the kind of impact I have had on people - it's almost too overwhelming to process, but it brings me so much joy because all I've ever wanted and set out to do was to make people feel confident in their own skin and to love themselves. 

Any new favorite hangouts in LA?

My living room couch! 😂 I truly can't get enough of my downtime at home watching Real Housewives. I feel like I've been so busy that going out has become less exciting and staying home with a great bottle of (cheap) wine and a movie brings me so much happiness. Don't get me wrong, I love a fun night out with my friends around West Hollywood (as documented by my Instagram Stories) - we sometimes end up at this club called Nightingale.

Did you say cheap wine and Nightingale? Count us in! Speak of the devil, you came to our AW17 "Kidnapped" fashion show at Nightingale.

How'd you like the show/ pieces from the AW/17 collection?

Any favorites?

THAT. SHOW. WAS. EPIC. The creativity and the story behind that show was next level. There was that mesh pink jacket that said "Damned If You Do Bored If You Don't" on that back that I died for. 

Thanks so much, we're so glad you liked it! That's one of our favorite pieces too, we just love that saying.

How about our current collection SS17 ? Any favorites?

This current collection is EVERYTHING! The long sheer kimonos with the birds on it are SO CUTE. And I'm obsessed with the blue lips dress. It's all so fresh and PERFECT for summer. You guys killed it.

So it's been a year, music has changed a bit.

What are you listening to music wise these days?

I literally can't stop listening to Lorde's new album, Melodrama - have you listened to it yet?

As a matter of fact, I have listened to it. I believe we played a few songs from it during the photoshoot, after we figured out that Spotify was on shuffle...

What are your plans for this next year?

Any events coming up or goals?

This year I'm really focusing on just continuing to build my brand and seeing really where it takes me. I'm trying to focus more on producing TOP quality content and only working with brands I really love and respect. I'm always trying to find new ways and outlets to get the message of self-love and body positivity out into the world and I think through some of the opportunities coming up this year that will definitely be happening more. I can't exactly say specifics right now, but stay tuned because it's gonna be a LOT of fun in the world of ABearNamedTroy.

What are you doing for the 4th of July?

I hope to be laying by a pool, wearing as much red, white, and blue I can find in my closet, and eating at LEAST 4 VERY charred hot dogs with all my closest friends. I know a lot of people are talking about skipping the 4th of July this year, but I think we need to do the opposite. I think we need to celebrate all the hard work and efforts we have put into using our constitutional rights to fight back against hatred and negativity. Let's celebrate the America that we are fighting so hard for. The America that we know CAN be great and CAN invoke positive change. 

Charred hot dogs sounds pretty patriotic to me. Sign me up for a few.. 

Finally, any updates on where we can find you on social media?

I am still @ABearNamedTroy on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter :) You can head to my website: www.abearnamedtroy.com for more updates and to access my "Bear Necessities" store where I sell official merchandise!

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview/ photoshoot! We had such a fun time working with you again and can't wait to see what you have in store for 2018. Congratulations on all your success and and hard work, the best is yet to come!

If you happened to notice Troy was wearing a pair of Snapchat Spectacles in these last images above. Check out the video below to see his his Snapchat story from the shoot!