For most of my life, I told myself that I couldn't pursue my dreams. I became a Nuclear Machinist's Mate in the Navy and that set me up for a life in the operations and technology field. After I left the military I spent six years in that industry. I worked as a Field Service Engineer for Lutron, a Data Center Operations Engineer for Amazon, and a Global Program Manager for Microsoft. With each job, and each year that passed, I grew more and more unhappy. I knew I was meant for something more, for something else but I had no idea what that was. When COVID-19 hit, I was faced with many hardships. The stress of my global role tripled, and I became more depressed everyday. I sat alone in my luxury Seattle apartment wondering what the point of it all was. So at the end of 2020, I quit. I thought I'd become a life coach. I actually paid $18,000 to learn how to be a life coach. I spent a year trying to build my business, only to find that I completely despised what I was doing. I still felt as though I was missing the mark. Later that year, I found an intuition training that changed my life. In that course I participated in exercises and meditations that connected me to my heart, spirit, and soul. When I came out of the first course, I didn't want to admit how deeply I wanted to be a fashion designer, author, and performing artist. I spent the next year fighting my intuition, my gut feeling. I spent most of 2021 lost, wondering how I could ever have such big goals and dreams. They felt completely impossible. Thankfully, I had a friend and coach who woke me up. "If not now, when?" No one else was going to share my message. No one else was going to represent me. I had to represent myself. It was extremely confronting, admitting how badly I wanted to pursue my dreams. When December of 2021 came around, I visited Hawaii for the first time and I knew I had to move there. It was February when I applied for UH Manoa. I realized I could use my GI Bill to earn income while I learned the skills I needed in order to direct, act, and design. It seemed so obvious but it took me over a year to realize it. Once I finally started down the path, I realized there was no turning back. As so many greats have said before, I'm willing to die trying to make my dreams happen. I don't anticipate any such sacrifice ever being necessary, but I think my point is made. If I don't live for my dreams then I really feel as though I have nothing else to live for. I spent 31 years living someone else's dream and I have vowed to myself that I'm not willing to compromise who I'm meant to be any longer. I'm here to be an artist. I'm here to help people accept their sexuality, I'm here to help people understand all aspects of themselves on a deep level. It's with this mindset that I know I'll achieve my dreams. I'm here for my heart, and my heart wants to help the world unlock theirs.