Interview with Solena Chaniago

Solena Chaniago is an Indonesian celebrity whose life and career effortlessly cross borders, disciplines, and expectations. Based between New York City and Jakarta, Solena is an actress, model, and highly respected hairstylist, currently working as a Master Barber at the renowned Paul Labrecque Salon on Manhattan’s Upper East Side while simultaneously building her film career in Indonesia. A self-described dreamer with an unwaveringly positive outlook, she draws strength from the support of her family and friends and approaches every chapter of her life with grace, determination, and curiosity. Her work rhythm reflects a truly global lifestyle, with frequent travel that allows her to stay deeply connected to both the American and Indonesian creative worlds. This constant movement has shaped her adaptability and discipline, teaching her how to balance artistic ambition with professional responsibility. Whether she is on a film set in Jakarta or behind the chair in New York, she brings the same level of focus, warmth, and professionalism.

 

Solena sees creativity not as a single path, but as a dialogue between different forms of expression. For her, success is rooted as much in personal fulfillment as it is in public recognition. Solena’s artistic journey began at a very young age, inspired by her grandmother, who introduced her to the stage when she was just five years old. Acting remains her first and greatest love, leading her from an unexpected discovery in a New York restaurant to roles in films such as Brooklyn’s Finest and The Extra Man, and more recently to a major supporting role in the Indonesian feature film Sahabat Langit. Alongside her work on screen, she has cultivated an international career as a gentlemen’s hairstylist, training at top beauty schools in New York, London, and Los Angeles, and forming lasting relationships with her clients. Open about her transition and thoughtful about the social realities faced by transgender women, especially in Indonesia, Solena speaks with honesty about identity, beauty, love, and responsibility. Her story is one of resilience, authenticity, and a deep belief in dignity, compassion, and the power of simply being oneself.

Interview with Jennifer Maidman

Jennifer Maidman, born on 24 January 1958, is a British musician, singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist whose career has spanned several decades and genres. She is best known as a bass guitarist, but she also sings and plays guitar, keyboards, drums, percussion, ukulele, cuatro, and Chapman Stick. Her work appears on hundreds of recordings from 1976 onwards, collaborating with a wide range of internationally renowned artists including Joan Armatrading, David Sylvian, Paul Brady, Murray Head, Ian Dury, Shakespears Sister, and Robert Wyatt. Jennifer’s contributions have earned her numerous accolades, including a platinum award from the British Phonographic Industry for her work on Shakespears Sister’s album Hormonally Yours. A core member of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra from 1984 to 2007, she toured extensively across Europe, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, performing live with a host of celebrated musicians.

 

Her distinctive fretless bass playing can be heard on key recordings such as David Sylvian’s Taking the Veil, Joan Armatrading’s Heaven and Frustration, and Paul Brady’s The Awakening, while she also contributed guitar, accordion, and vocals on Robert Wyatt’s Mercury Prize-nominated album Cuckooland. Beyond music, Jennifer has composed for film, including the soundtrack for All the Little Animals starring John Hurt and Christian Bale, and has appeared on stage in theatre projects exploring experimental and devised performance. Over the years, she has demonstrated a rare versatility as a performer, collaborator, and producer, working across genres from funk, soul, and pop to experimental and art music. Her career reflects both technical mastery and a deep curiosity for creative collaboration, making her one of the most dynamic and respected figures in contemporary British music.

Interview with Samantha Collins

Samantha Collins is a British criminal lawyer, lecturer, devoted mother, and happily married partner who has become a powerful example of authenticity and resilience. In her mid-forties, Samantha is the proud parent of six children from two marriages and has been in a loving relationship with her wife for fifteen years. She is open about being trans, though she does not let that define her, viewing it as simply one part of who she is, no different in her eyes than having blue eyes or being blonde. Having transitioned at 43, Samantha has navigated the journey with honesty and courage, embracing both her personal and professional life with renewed clarity.

 

Beyond her career in law and teaching, Samantha has emerged as a thoughtful voice in the transgender community, aiming to show that transition can be a positive and fulfilling experience rather than one defined solely by struggle. Her commitment to openness at home has strengthened her family bonds, while her engagement in local politics and public speaking reflects her belief that visibility, representation, and quiet strategic action can drive meaningful change. Known for her practical advice, her support for others starting their transition, and her grounded perspective on life, Samantha embodies the balance of professional achievement, family devotion, and personal authenticity, offering inspiration to anyone seeking to live fully as themselves.

Interview with Simone Whitlow

Simone Whitlow is a New Zealand–based singer, guitarist, and transgender activist whose life and work beautifully intertwine music, authenticity, and courage. Best known as a former member of the progressive hard rock band Ishtar, Simone helped shape the group’s sound during the 2000s, drawing inspiration from classic stadium rock icons such as Led Zeppelin, Queen, Black Sabbath, and Van Halen, while also weaving in influences from Muse, Rush, and Dream Theater. For Simone, music has always been about painting scenes with sound, exploring rich harmonies, narrative depth, and an ever-evolving palette that ranges from heavy rock to folk, roots, and 1960s-inspired songwriting. Her artistic path, however, has never existed in isolation from her personal journey. Simone approaches creativity with a deep sense of honesty, shaped by growth, self-reflection, and lived experience. Transitioning allowed her to move from writing behind characters to writing more openly from herself, bringing a new emotional clarity to her work.

 

She speaks candidly about the challenges she faced, from workplace discrimination to the fear of losing relationships, while also emphasizing the profound relief and joy of finally living authentically. Supported by family and strengthened by resilience, she describes transition not as an end point but as a process of becoming fully present in her own life. This openness gives her voice, both musical and personal, a rare sense of sincerity and depth. Beyond her musical journey, Simone speaks openly and thoughtfully about her transition, her experiences as a transgender woman in New Zealand, and the importance of visibility, healthcare access, and human rights for trans communities. Passionate, creative, intellectually curious, and firmly committed to living her truth, Simone Whitlow is a compelling voice whose story reflects both personal resilience and a broader cultural journey toward understanding and acceptance.

Interview with Joann Prinzivalli

Joann Prinzivalli is a lifelong New Yorker, transgender activist, lawyer, and thoughtful voice at the intersection of law, politics, faith, and human rights. Raised in a working-class Italian-American family, Joann knew from early childhood that she did not fit into the expectations placed upon her, a realization that shaped decades of resilience, self-reflection, and ultimately courage. Her journey toward authenticity was neither linear nor easy, unfolding against a social and medical landscape that often denied the very existence of transgender people. After a brief encounter with psychiatry in the 1970s left her without answers or support, Joann returned to living in hiding, building a life that outwardly conformed while inwardly exacting a heavy toll. The death of her younger brother in the late 1990s became a turning point, forcing her to confront the cost of postponing her own life. Coming out brought profound losses, including her marriage, her home, her job, and painful estrangement from parts of her family.

 

Yet these hardships also clarified her sense of purpose and strengthened her resolve to live openly. With remarkable clarity, Joann chose authenticity not as an abstract ideal, but as a daily, lived commitment. Drawing on her legal background, Joann has played a pivotal role in advancing transgender rights in New York, including drafting the original version of the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act and challenging discriminatory birth certificate policies that helped bring lasting legislative change. Her activism spans local and state advocacy, civil liberties work, political organizing, and pro bono legal support for trans people, all guided by a deep belief in justice, love, and shared humanity. Joann’s story is one of persistence, intellect, and compassion, and her voice continues to shape conversations about equality, dignity, and what it truly means to live openly and authentically.

Interview with Imanni da Silva

Imanni da Silva is one of Angola’s most compelling and multifaceted cultural voices, a model, painter, and beauty queen whose presence radiates elegance, strength, and artistic vision. Splitting her life between London and Luanda, she has built a career that reflects both her cosmopolitan spirit and her deep connection to her roots. Her journey through the fashion world has been anything but conventional: once considered “too androgynous” for the industry, she later emerged as a celebrated figure, eventually being recognized as the first transgender model currently working in Africa. Her success is not only a personal triumph but also a symbol of shifting attitudes within fashion and society at large.

 

Beyond the runway, Imanni is an accomplished contemporary artist whose exhibitions in Angola and England have earned enthusiastic praise. She brings the same sensitivity and boldness to her canvases that she brings to her public life, using art as another way to express her identity, her heritage, and her vision of beauty. She has also stepped into media work, from radio presenting to television appearances, always embracing new challenges with the determination that defines her. Imanni’s story is one of resilience, self-belief, and a refusal to be limited by others’ expectations. She is a spokesperson for human rights, a cultural ambassador for Angola, and an inspiration to many who see in her a reminder that authenticity and courage can open doors once thought closed. Today, she joins me to reflect on her path, her passions, and the dreams that continue to guide her forward.

Interview with Yasmin Lee

Yasmin Lee is a woman whose life seems woven from threads of survival, artistry, and quiet revolution. Her story begins not on a stage or a film set, but in the dense Cambodian jungle, where she entered the world as her family fled a brutal work camp, born into rain, danger, and the fierce determination of a mother who refused to let go. From that first breath, Yasmin’s life has been shaped by resilience, by the instinct to move forward even when the world feels impossibly heavy. Years later, she would transform that resilience into art. Before Hollywood ever called her name, she was a make‑up artist crafting beauty for others, a drag showgirl lighting up coastal stages, and a young woman navigating her transition at a time when transgender visibility was nearly nonexistent. She stepped into adulthood without role models, without a roadmap, and often without the safety nets so many take for granted.

 

Yet she carved out a place for herself, with talent, with courage, and with a spirit that refused to dim. Her journey through the adult film industry, and later into mainstream cinema with roles in The Hangover Part II and Red Ice, reflects not only her versatility but also her willingness to step into spaces where transgender women had rarely been seen, let alone celebrated. Yasmin’s presence on screen has opened doors, sparked conversations, and challenged the boundaries of representation. She has lived boldly in worlds that were not built for her, and in doing so, she has helped reshape them. But beyond the spotlight, Yasmin carries a profound emotional landscape, marked by family loss, personal reinvention, and the ongoing work of healing. She speaks openly about love, identity, and the weight of expectations, offering a voice that is both vulnerable and strong. Her advocacy, her artistry, and her lived experience make her not only a performer but a storyteller of rare honesty.

Interview with Victory “Vi” Lê

Victory “Vi” Lê is a woman of quiet strength and luminous presence, living and creating in the ever-restless heart of San Francisco. A transgender singer, performer, and student, Vi first stepped into the public eye as one of the women featured in Cecilio Asuncion’s documentary What’s the T?, a project that captured not only stories of transition, but the courage it takes to exist openly in a world that so often demands conformity. Since then, her life has continued to unfold as a careful balance between artistry, purpose, and self-discovery. By day, Vi is completing her degree in psychology and working with the Department of Public Health, guided by a long-held dream of becoming a doctor, a healer in both mind and body. By night, she takes the stage at AsiaSF, the legendary San Francisco cabaret where transgender women are not only servers and hosts, but stars. There, Vi lends her voice to bluesy and jazz-infused songs, singing with a warmth shaped by lived experience, heartbreak, resilience, and hope.

 

As the venue’s only live singer, she does more than perform; she weaves emotion into melody, and community into family, standing alongside women she proudly calls her sisters. Vi’s beauty, like her artistry, is not ornamental but deeply rooted. It grows from self-ownership, from years of searching, questioning, and learning to love herself without apology. She speaks of transition not as a single moment or destination, but as a personal, evolving journey, one that belongs to each individual alone. Her words reject rigid narratives and embrace choice, patience, and compassion, reminding us that there is no universal path to becoming oneself. At her core, Vi believes in visibility, not as spectacle, but as truth. She envisions a world where transgender women are seen simply as human beings navigating love, family, ambition, and belonging, much like anyone else. Grounded yet dream-filled, reflective yet playful, she embodies the idea that standing out is not an act of defiance, but an act of survival and grace. This interview is an invitation into Vi’s world, a space where song meets science, softness meets strength, and identity is not explained, but lived.

Interview with Giselle

Giselle is a young and inspiring trans woman from Minnesota who courageously shares her journey of transition on YouTube. Giselle balances a full-time career as a Web Business Specialist in Minneapolis with a vibrant personal life that includes friends, family, fashion, photography, travel, and even the occasional relaxing glass of wine. Open-minded, easy-going, and curious about the world, she decided to document her transition online to support and guide others navigating the often complex and emotional path of gender transition. Having been on hormone replacement therapy for over a year and preparing for gender reassignment surgery, Giselle speaks candidly about the physical, mental, and social challenges she has faced, as well as the moments of triumph and self-discovery that have shaped her journey.

 

Giselle is deeply passionate about authenticity, visibility, and representation, emphasizing how important it is for trans people to tell their own stories. Her perspective spans a wide range of topics, from fashion and beauty to love, politics, and self-acceptance, offering both inspiration and practical wisdom for transgender women and the wider community. In today’s conversation, Giselle shares her experiences, her hopes for the future, and her thoughts on what it truly means to live boldly and authentically as a trans woman, reminding us all of the importance of courage, empathy, and staying true to oneself.

Interview with Ingrid Ung

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Ingrid Ung, a Finnish visual artist based in Helsinki/Turku and Berlin/Leipzig. Hello Ingrid!

Ingrid: Hello Monika! Thank you for inviting me and kind words!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Ingrid: Well, I could say that I am quite a happy person nowadays because I'm able to do what I really love and have passion for, and at the same time, perhaps give people a bit of inspiration and hope.

Interview with Ellah A. Thaun

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Ellah A. Thaun, a transgender woman, an artist from France, singer & guitarist, co-founder of the electronic duo Valeskja Valcav and playing solo as a folk songwriter. Hello Ellah!

Ellah: Hi Monika!

Monika: When did you decide that music will be your profession?

Ellah: I was 5 or 6, after watching the documentary "Imagine" (about John Lennon) with my mother, I think. I remember being deeply moved without knowing why exactly. I started my first band at 13 after listening to 'Nevermind', like a lot of teenagers born in the eighties and I haven't stopped playing since.