My family built me. They made me the strong, resilient, loud, opinionated, compassionate person I am today and I am so thankful for each and every one of them. Their unwavering support and love are a continual reminder to be thankful for every day I have and enjoy the journey.

I have opinions. We all do. I have never been afraid to say what I think; but I am also not afraid to listen to others who have a different perspective. Regardless of your age, how you identify, your socioeconomics or ideology, honest and respectful conversation is the only way to grow as a person and move forward as a society. I love engaging people who have different views and learning why they think the way they do. I truly believe that empathy is our superpower.

I love watching people in the wild, going about their daily life. It’s a weird reminder that we’re all doing this world for the first time and we’re making it up as we go.

Every day, social media bombards us with information about injustices occurring around the world. It’s easy to brush it off if it’s not happening to you. But we’re way more interconnected than we realize. Many people buy fast fashion, justifying by saying other people do it. I challenge that thinking.

Traveling the world and seeing up close how people live, makes the headlines in the media real. It humanizes the people in the sweatshops making your Shein top. I’ve spent time in rural Utah, the southern bank of the river Seine, and many places in between. It has exposed me to new (to me) cultures and afforded conversations with people who have a completely different lived experience. And for that, I’m grateful.

Makeup is a meditative experience for me. It is time alone with myself when I get to relax and be creative. I cherish the freedom to create for myself, by myself.

Lizzy McAlpine and Wrabel are just two musicians that I aspire to be like. They are honest and vulnerable, and that comes across in their work. Wrabel’s use of word choice and melodic structure takes you on a journey that is both gut wrenching and cathartic. Lizzy’s melodies are always unexpected. She is so honest in her pain and unapologetically truthful. I strive to create art that affects people the way these two artists have affected me.

(Honorable mention: Yebba. Because of course.)

I love trying different foods from different cultures and I randomly found “Pho Pho” in Birmingham’s Pizitz Food Hall. It was my sophmore year of college, and I’ve never looked back. I never loved something so fast. It not only helps me warm up my voice, but it also has health benefits as well! Where can you go wrong with that?!

I first learned how to play Sudoku when I ventured out to my grandparents porch one rainy afternoon. My Nana (the lovely lady pictured above) taught me how to play. Whenever I visited my grandparents, there would be a Sudoku book waiting for me on the porch chair next to her. I loved learning the new little tricks to get better. I remember Nana and I switching books whenever we got stuck on a puzzle (another set of eyes is always helpful). Nana passed in 2018, but I still play and will never forget the first time I finished a Sudoku puzzle without anyone’s help.