Interview with Victoria Rubio

Monika: Today I have the pleasure and honor of interviewing Victoria Rubio, who works in the field of recovery, and a proud transgender American woman that shares her transition story on social media. Hello Victoria!

Victoria: Hi Monika! It’s such a pleasure to speak with you today.

Monika: I am so happy that you have accepted my invitation. You are such an inspirational woman. Could you say a few words about yourself?

Victoria: I was born in Kansas City to a military family in 1976. There are eight siblings in my family. My father passed when I was only five years old. My beautiful mother became my heroine.

I came out as transgender in the very early 90s. I come from a mostly Latin background so my family had no idea what it meant to be transgender. I have an identical twin sister that is also transgender.

I was on a talk show called Montel Williams. I used the show to help educate my family and the world about what it means to be transgender. I found all these talk shows just made fun of trans women, so I wanted my participation in the show to educate others. I was only 16 at the time. In addition, I was able to speak at colleges and universities after the show aired to bring education to future teachers and professors as regards transgender individuals.

Interview with Samantha Pearsall

Monika: Today I would like to introduce to you Samantha Pearsall, an inspirational woman from Manchester, England. Samantha is a transgender educator, and speaker, known for her Deaf Transgender Awareness workshops. She is the author of "The Woman I Am: My Journey from Richard to Samantha", a biographical book that has been published recently and is available on Amazon. Hello Samantha, thank you so much for accepting my invitation!

Samantha: Hello Monika!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Samantha: I was born profoundly deaf and grew up in the Northeast of England. I’m also a post-operative transgender woman, and now living in Manchester.

Monika: Your story was widely covered by the British media. Were you happy about the way it was done?

Samantha: Sometimes, it depends on the media. Most of the British media approached and check with me to ensure that the articles is correct etc. Whereas for some media, they’ve gone and created the article when the language appropriation can be incorrect at times.

Interview with Iden Crockett

Monika: Today I have the pleasure and honor of interviewing Iden Crockett, an American trans female artist working in collage, pencil, and ink, and a former firefighter. Hello Iden!

Iden: Hello! I am so excited to do this. It is an absolute pleasure to speak with you.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Iden: Well, I am a forty-two-year-old bi-racial trans-female artist and writer. I work in pencil and ink but what I really do is make collages. Most of my drawing is in service of my collage work and I incorporate all of what do, the drawing, the poetry, into those pieces. I have three wonderful children and one amazing (A M A Z I N G!) wife, and we all live here in the U.S. in a small town called Yellow Springs.

Monika: How would you define your art?

Iden: Confessional. I was recently asked to write an artist's bio and I believe that I used the phrase "deeply personal." I came to art as a way of working through the difficulties I was experiencing with my mental health. I believe strongly that by being as open and candid as I can be about my own struggles, I can not only heal myself but also empower others to leave behind their secret shames as well.

Interview with Pia Notoriyas

Monika: Today we are going on a journey to the United Kingdom where we are going to meet a talented female artist. Pia Notoriyas is a Filipino-born singer and songwriter, model, YouTube vlogger, social media influencer, and transgender activist. Pia is known for The Euphoria Song Project, a song about the discrimination and the empowerment of trans lives, which in 2020 became the transgender anthem of the year. Hello Pia, I am so happy that you have accepted my invitation!

Pia: Hello Monika! Hello everyone!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Pia: My name is Pia Notoriyas. I’m a transgender singer-songwriter and producer, Filipino, and based in the United Kingdom. 

Monika: Why did you choose Pia for your name?

Pia: Choosing your name is probably one of the most important stages in our transition, I wanted something that meant something to me and a name that embodied femininity and my culture, Miss Universe is a beauty pageant competition that celebrates femininity and countries from all around the world compete for the crown, in 2015 the Philippines won miss universe and she happens to be called Pia, and at that moment I knew that as the name I wanted, it represented strong femininity and my culture.

Interview with Mylee Blake

Monika: Today I have the pleasure and honor of interviewing Mylee Blake, an American immersive experience designer and experiential gender and sexuality coach from Colorado, the USA that shares her transition story on social media. Hello Mylee!

Mylee: Hello! Thanks for asking to interview me. I love sharing my story, as other trans women's stories helped me along the way through my transition.

Monika: What does an immersive experience designer and experiential gender and sexuality coach do? Could you say a few words about yourself?

Mylee: Well, as an immersive experience designer, I create worlds and stories for participants to explore, play, and transform their perceptions of "reality". As an experiential gender and sexuality coach, I sort of do the same thing, just with a focus on exploring one's gender and sexuality, with exercises, real-life games, and a little bit of active listening.

Interview with Saigon Le

Monika: Today I have invited Saigon Le, a Vietnamese-born former model, actress, and now aesthetics nurse from the sunny state of California, USA. We will talk about her amazing life experiences and challenges related to her transition. Hello Sai!

Sai: Hi Monika it’s a pleasure to be a part of this so thank you for recognizing your fellow sisters.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Sai: My name is Saigon, I am a transgender female from California. I’m the youngest of nine children but I feel because of my unique circumstances l have the oldest soul.

Monika: You can boast over 10 years of experience as a nurse. Why did you decide to become a nurse?

Sai: Well, first I’d like to emphasize that this career was not born out of self-belief. I had a very troubled upbringing and was on my own at age 17, I found a “tribe” of drag queens and queer club kids that performed at club ARENA and hung out, performed as well as lived together. I wasn’t very good on stage but I was just happy to be there. There was an electrifying and talented performer named Barbarella, she and I became very close. She was my drag mother and taught me how to wear eyelashes, corsets, and wigs.