Interview with Kay

Monika: Today I have invited Kay. She is an American whitewater kayaker, urbanist, dad, and pizza lover that shares her transition story on social media. Hello Kay! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Kay: Thank you, Monika, for inviting me to chat with you.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Kay: of course, I’m a 47-year-old trans woman, who started transitioning in 2021. I live in a rural part of New York State though I grew up in NYC and spent about 10 years in Washington DC.

Monika: Whitewater kayaking sounds like a challenging hobby.

Kay: It really isn’t. I’ve been kayaking since 1990. Like many things it takes practice - nobody starts off being comfortable upside down, underwater encased in a kayak. But learning to kayak is a process of confronting fears, planning outcomes, and figuring out what went wrong so that we do better next time. We start with easy water and build skill and confidence as we work up to more and more challenging whitewater. The point is that it should be fun at every stage.

Interview with Mia Karolys

Monika: Mia Karolys, also known as Mia Maquilon Karolys, is my lovely guest today. Mia is an Ecuadorian businesswoman, fashion designer, model, beauty queen, and social media expert. She is the founder of DRESSMEBYMIA, an online boutique with on-trend jewelry, clothing, and accessories, based in Athens, Greece. Hello Mia! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Mia: Hello Monika! Thank you for having me! I’m going to be an open book for you and your audience.

Monika: Great! Let’s read it through then! Could you say a few words about yourself?

Mia: I’m Mia Karolys, just a simple woman with a lot of dreams and the stamina for achieving them.

Monika: How did you choose Europe as your place to live? 

Mia: Well, that’s quite a question! I choose Europe because I wanted to seek a new life, luckily I fell in love with a European man, so I ran away from my country because of the danger of being an influencer as a trans woman.

Interview with Meja Foss

Monika: Today I would like to introduce Meja Foss, a British woman, fitness and fashion blogger living in Norway, documenting her transition on social media. Hello Meja! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Meja: Thank you, Monika, the pleasure is all mine! 

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Meja: Sure! I’m Meja, I just turned 47, and I started HRT 2 years ago on the last day of May 2021. I live on a farm in rural Norway with my partner and two children.

Monika: What inspired you to share your intimate life moments on social media?

Meja: Trans representation is so important - I know because it was something I myself desperately needed to see when I was pre-transition, in order to understand who I could become post-transition. It’s very difficult to be what we can’t see. So now I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to give back to the trans community and be a middle-aged, visibly trans woman happily living her best life in the hope I can inspire and give courage to other trans people, who have perhaps yet to make the leap.

Interview with Nyke Slawik

Monika: There are some moments in the history of the transgender community that could be defined as game changers or landmarks that allow us to measure how successful we have become as a community as well as change the way we are perceived by society. The year 2021 was a special moment in Germany where Nyke Slawik and her fellow politician Tessa Ganserer together became the first openly transgender people elected to the German parliament. Today I have the pleasure of talking to one of them, Nyke Slawik, a German politician and member of the Bundestag representing the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on the Alliance 90/The Greens list. Hello Nyke!

Nyke: Hello Monika!

Monika: It has been almost two years since you became a member of the German Parliament. I guess you must have had some expectations about the job. Did something surprise you?

Nyke: Yes, how little time there is to get everything done. Time and priorities are of the essence, especially if you don’t wanna burn out. In my first year in the Bundestag, I was a bit overwhelmed by everything.

Now I’m focussing on just a few projects that I can handle. First of all the ‘Selbstbestimmungsgesetz’ (self-id law) for trans people in Germany, the national action plan ‘Queer Leben’ (Queer Life) that is aimed at improving the lives of LGBTIQ people in Germany and making public transport more accessible to everyone.

Interview with Dana Paige

Monika: Today I have invited Dana Paige, an American lady that documents her transition on social media. Hello Dana! Thank you for accepting my invitation. 

Dana: Thank you for asking!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Dana: Sure. I'm a 63 yrs old Trans Woman. I started my transition during the middle of the Covid shutdown in 2020. In some ways, that seclusion was helpful to me in my transition. I moved rather quickly, because within my first year of transition and starting HRT, I had multiple gender confirming surgeries. Yep, it was fast. For me it was like, the minute I knew my truth I thought to myself “I’m 60 years old and not getting any younger”, so I just took that leap of faith. That first year was very difficult as I think it is for most of us.

For me, my specific results and renewed sense of myself were totally worth the time, pain, and money… but going through that “eye of the needle” is humbling, to say the least.

Anyway, since then I have been posting about myself and my journey on Social Media sites like Reddit etc. and developed a following of people who are inspired to take the leap and/or to keep going at a later age as I did… and they give me a sense of purpose in return.

Interview with Barbara Marie Minney

Monika: I am very excited by the fact that Barbara Marie Minney has accepted my invitation and she is my guest today. Barbara is a transgender woman, award-winning poet, writer, speaker, and quiet activist. She is a retired attorney and a seventh-generation Appalachian. Now based in Tallmadge, Ohio, her first collection of poetry entitled “If There’s No Heaven” was the winner of the 2020 Poetry Is Life Book Award and the Akron Beacon Journal Best Northeast Ohio Books 2020. She is also the author of the "Poetic Memoir Chapbook Challenge" (2021). Hello Barbara!

Barbara: Hello, Monika! Thank you so very much for this opportunity to be interviewed by you. I have been looking forward to it since you first contacted me.

Monika: Is it difficult to be a poet in the 21st century?

Barbara: Being a poet in today’s world can be very difficult and frustrating, but it can also be very rewarding. Unless you are one of the top echelon poets like Rita Dove or Joy Harjo, you are pretty much on your own insofar as publication, promotion, and obtaining recognition is concerned. This time last year, I felt that maybe I was on the verge of a major breakthrough when I signed a publishing contract with a company located in Chicago. However, those hopes were dashed when the contract was canceled about a month and a half before the manuscript was due to be delivered. That was devastating. I was left with a manuscript but no publisher.