Interview with Anne Marie Graham

Monika: Anne Marie Graham is my lovely guest today. Anne is an American author, and Vietnam Veteran serving in the U. S. Navy on a nuclear submarine. She transitioned her gender in mid-life while in a senior role for a major corporation. She had a professional career in both genders in the semiconductor and solar industries. She is happily married and retired where people who love mountains and wish to avoid Oregon’s famous rain reside. She has just published her memoir “Tall Annie: A Life in Two Genders”. Hello Anne! Thank you for accepting my invitation!

Anne: Thank you, Monika. I appreciate the opportunity to chat with you.

Monika: Before we touch upon your career, let me start with congratulations. In a couple of weeks, you are going to celebrate the 20th anniversary of your marriage! All the best to you! How will you celebrate it?

Anne: My husband and I have a tradition by now of not exchanging gifts for occasions. We give each other ‘experiences’ instead. This occasion involved a 2-day stay at a historic hotel in our downtown and a balloon ride over our hometown in the frigid weather. He may only get partial points for this experience as the balloon ride got canceled at the last minute.

Interview with Marissa du Bois

Monika: Today my guest is Marissa du Bois, an American software engineer working on AAA Games for a fortune 50 company. She is an award-winning LEGO maker and contributor to CodeProject.com. She is the inventor of multiple DIY LEGO electronic devices including two point-and-shoot cameras, a digital picture frame, a LEGO computer, and a self-orienting panoramic camera. Marissa has contributed multiple props for a series of commercials for the LEGO group. Marissa is an Ally-Award winning corporate LGBT employee resource group leader and helped influence an Amicus Brief in support of Bostock vs. Clayton County as well as the Business Statement for Transgender Equality. She is an avid gardener and lives in Oregon with her husband of 10 years. Hello Marissa!

Marissa: Hi thanks for interviewing me. I read your interviews frequently and I appreciate the candid first-person perspective of the people you feature.

Monika: How are you holding up in these crazy pandemic times?

Marissa: Doing well, got my first vaccine dose, and hopefully seeing the light at the end of the tunnel soon. The quarantine has allowed me to focus a lot of my energy on engineering, gardening, and 3D printing hobbies, but I’m looking forward to getting out and spreading my wings soon.

Interview with Denise Chanterelle DuBois

There are women who live many lives in one. Denise Chanterelle DuBois is one of them. An actress, environmentalist, businesswoman, and author, Denise has carved her story with grace, resilience, and the kind of radiant strength that comes only after walking through fire. Born in Portland, Oregon, she bloomed into her truth later in life, transitioning just shy of her 50th birthday. But what might seem like a late arrival was, in fact, a bold and beautiful rebirth. In her unforgettable memoir, Self-Made Woman (2017), Denise opens the curtain on a life shaped by trauma, addiction, survival, and ultimately, transformation. With honesty and elegance, she recounts her path from turmoil to triumph, refusing to let the shadows of her past dim the light she now shares so freely with the world. Whether as Margaret le Plage in The Auteur or Sunshine the Barfly in Rid of Me, Denise’s screen presence is as magnetic as her real-life authenticity.

 

Beyond the spotlight, she is a passionate advocate for trans rights, a lover of fashion with a West Coast flair, and a woman whose inner peace radiates in every carefully chosen word. She writes, acts, and lives with intention, always mindful of the power of representation and the importance of being seen, not as a spectacle, but as a full human being. Interviewing Denise feels less like asking questions and more like stepping into a room filled with light, courage, and kindness. She is, in her own words, “fortune’s favorite daughter”, a phrase that captures both the miraculousness of her survival and the gratitude that defines her every day. And perhaps that’s her greatest gift to all of us: a reminder that no matter how late it may seem, it is never too late to become yourself.

Interview with Paula Nielsen

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Sister Paula Nielsen with whom I would like to discuss the role of religion in the life of the transgender community. Paula is also known as America's foremost transgendered evangelist. She was born in Portland, Oregon. In the 1980s, she performed a regular nightclub act at the legendary drag club, Darcelle XV in downtown Portland.

After starting her career as "the world's first trans-evangelist", Paula was invited to a series of television shows including the Joan Rivers Show, The Daily Show with Craig Kilborn, and Saturday Night Clive for the BBC. Her Sister Paula Show was also seen on cable access stations in Seattle and Los Angeles. She is the author of The Trans-Evangelist: The Life and Times of A Transgender Pentecostal Preacher (2012). Hello Paula!

Paula: Hello Monika!

Monika: You have just published your autobiography titled “The Trans Evangelist”. How would you recommend the book to the readers of this interview?

Paula: It is a chronicle of seven decades. The 1940's through the 2lst Century. What it was like to grow up trans in the 1940s and 1950s when the word trans was unheard of. It has a history of religious movements and the changing explosive times throughout the decades.

Transitioning my identity to Paula in 1963 was much different than it is today. I am hoping that future generations of trans youth will appreciate what trans pioneers went through to pave the path for them.

Interview with Abbie Pope

Monika: Today I would like to invite you for my chat with Abbie Kathryn Pope, a transgender lady and the author of the blog titled “Threads of Gender”. She currently lives in Portland, Oregon where she works in the high-tech industry as a computer engineer. Hello Abbie!

Abbie: Hello to you too!

Monika: What are you doing these days?
Abbie: Well, a lot! I’m moving to Portland, OR from LA in a few weeks. I started a new blog at somebeautifullife.com which is less trans-oriented and more geared towards personal and spiritual growth. And you know, just keeping the wheels turning to survive as a trans woman in America.

Monika: You are a computer engineer. Could you tell me why there are so few ladies that are successful in the IT business?

Abbie: It’s really quite unfortunate. I think there is a ton of cultural bias against genetic women pursuing careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math) fields. One of the few silver linings of growing up trans is that there were never barriers to pursuing these fields.