Being a big sister is my superpower, and has shaped me in every role I’ve played in my life. I know how to be a leader and I know how to follow. I know when to speak up, and when to listen. I’ve become a chameleon to whatever environment I’m in and what its needs are. These learned behaviors stemmed from the birth of my first sister, when I was four years old.

Being so malleable has both hurt and helped me along the way, but I’ve finally hit a point in my life where I see its value. In my real life, I’ve played a million roles: choreographer, teacher, confidant, sister, lover. On stage I’ve played the roles of presidents, strippers, the girl next door, and even a little stone. Truly, I’ve learned to transform into whatever I need to be. Maybe it’s a survival technique? I think it’s a superpower.

Working in higher education early on in my post-graduate career taught me crisis-management skills, and exposed me to the inner most thoughts of young adults going through their most transformative years of life. Experiencing these things in such close quarters allowed me to learn empathy on a new level. I found myself processing the experiences as if they were my own. These years started to open my eyes to the beautiful diversity of our world, and how everyone’s path is simultaneously unique and connected with those around them.

Now I take that superpower with me everywhere I go. In my band This or Them, I write lyrics from my heart and once we hit the studio, I let my voice do the rest of the talking. Working on set, I find a way to connect to each and every person around me so I know where I stand, and who I am as a character inside and out.

As an artist I’m constantly trying to learn about the world around me, and the people in it. As a big sister, I learned that until you open up and expose your heart to someone else, you’ll never get that courtesy in return. The end result: never truly knowing them. My vulnerability, my superpower, my genuine love for the world around me is how I step into my art, each and every time.