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[00:00:37] of Kennedy in the studio with me. This is a really dope connection
[00:00:44] from the Arvata Art Center and I need to say the full name correctly, the Arvata
[00:00:50] Art Center. So our Vata Center for Arts and Humanity. Thank you. Okay see me over here
[00:00:56] not. I want to make sure that they get credit where it's due but Leslie brought
[00:01:02] this whole moment together for us today so that we could just share a little bit of
[00:01:08] what it's like to exist as we do. So with that why don't you give us a little introduction
[00:01:14] how you feel in today? What's going on? Hello my name is Kennedy Russell. I'm feeling great.
[00:01:22] You know I just came up with a really good morning doing some rehearsal for a show that I'm in
[00:01:26] and now I'm here and it's great and I love this connection that Leslie was able to be
[00:01:31] present so good. It's so exciting to be here. Amazing thank you so much and it do be a Saturday
[00:01:39] and I like to note that we are making moves on the weekends too which I love because I work
[00:01:44] Monday through Friday so I feel that I feel that. All right honey so with I guess since I don't
[00:01:51] know enough what has you at Arvata Center? Yeah that's a good question so I have been there for
[00:01:59] hold on let me do some math in my head. I started in December of 2023 so I guess it'll be
[00:02:05] wait no yes I don't know I've been there for a while okay so I've been there for quite a bit
[00:02:14] I think almost two years maybe 2022 is when it started but I rubber Texas and so I
[00:02:20] choose also weird connection with Leslie we'll talk about all the time but yeah so I had heard
[00:02:26] about the Arvata Center. I grew enough because I have family that lives up here but then also like
[00:02:30] a lot of the like torn Broadway shows would come through in Dallas and they have like Arvata
[00:02:34] Center credits like I knew of it and when I moved up here you know things are going on whatever
[00:02:39] and it was like looking for a change and I saw posting for a full-time at that time it was
[00:02:45] audience services representatives like a box office person and I was like no why not I've done the whole
[00:02:50] like back-end theater thing might as well get a chance to do something like something else and
[00:02:56] like still be involved in some way shape or form and it's been like really fulfilling getting to like
[00:03:02] share my love of the arts with people that come in and you're like oh like what is this show
[00:03:07] about and kind of all that stuff so it's like really fun to do that obviously can be challenging
[00:03:12] it is still customer service job right as it is nowadays but it's still like very rewarding just
[00:03:18] like getting to like make those connections with other artists but then also like have that experience
[00:03:23] with the patrons that we're servicing that come in because not all of them are super familiar with
[00:03:29] the show that I'm doing like I found out that the Natasha Pierre show that you saw like nobody
[00:03:33] had any idea what that show was right I mean I only know because the Leslie right yeah exactly and
[00:03:38] that's why I know it because you know big theater and over here but like I was finding out as we like
[00:03:44] announced that show that like not many people knew what was going on so it was just great to be
[00:03:48] able to like get to explain that show to people and kind of see like that light bulb go off in
[00:03:53] their head right well that seems really interesting yeah or maybe like no I don't know if that's
[00:03:58] for me and then I'd be like well I know you should you should give it a word give it a word yeah it was
[00:04:02] great and I think that's a lot of like what we get a lot of the times two is that people are unfamiliar
[00:04:07] with the show they'll come and they'll be really adamant about it and then they'll come back you know
[00:04:11] a couple months later to get tickets or something else and they'll be like oh that was great
[00:04:14] that was awesome like things for recommending that so that's really like rewarding at my theater
[00:04:19] heart of just being like yes I can't get somebody to go to the show yeah I love that so
[00:04:24] okay and have you participated actively like in a show like any essence of like acting or behind
[00:04:32] um at the Arvada Center no okay I got pretty close I did um doing audition for Lairmy project last year
[00:04:39] and I got a call back for that and those are really like rewarding experience for me
[00:04:43] but I mean it's kind of like a thing of like the Arvada Center is such like a great space in
[00:04:48] Colorado no um and everybody really like wants to do shows there um and kind of the way that I look at it just
[00:04:53] me personally is like I'm just doing this thing as like a hobby I enjoy doing theater I love like being
[00:04:59] on that stage and like performing with my friends but it's not something that I'm like wanting
[00:05:03] to do like as a career okay it was like it was very rewarding for me to just at least be considered
[00:05:07] for a call back and like not even get in it so that was like really good but I do like a lot of
[00:05:12] stuff like outside of the Arvada Center more like smaller scale stuff still good production okay
[00:05:17] small ones this yeah well you know coming into you know we were just talking right before we
[00:05:23] started this episode just about like what age seems like to us you know and as you know these
[00:05:31] adorable queer humans that we are and we yes it's just a really neat experience I feel like
[00:05:40] I'm kind of like an abundment button way almost like I'm doing things that I should have explored
[00:05:46] in my younger years and so I you know just to segue into that as the young person that you were
[00:05:55] what would your young version and I would say anything double digits below okay um what would your
[00:06:02] young version say to what you are right now this is this is a thinker for sure we've got a minute
[00:06:11] to plan so I think that this is a tricky question for me to answer because I think growing up in Texas
[00:06:20] a lot of what kind of I guess all the way I'll describe it is a lot of the role models that I was
[00:06:27] seeing for myself as a at that point in time a young female presenting person was very much like
[00:06:35] the conservative like typically moms will stay home and take care of the children and the fathers
[00:06:41] will go to work and and like be the breadwinners and so it would think it was very hard to imagine
[00:06:46] anything other than that path which I think a lot of that led to kind of the unsureness of who
[00:06:54] who I was right as a small child would be you know and it was kind of just like kind of that
[00:06:59] whole like except a thing of like oh you know they're just a tomboy you know they'll grow out of it
[00:07:04] the whole classic thing and two especially like my family in particular is kind of a little bit more
[00:07:11] almost a country but like a little bit more southern like my mom grew up in east Texas my dad grew up
[00:07:15] on a farm so there was some kind of element of it too or it was okay to be a tomboy because like
[00:07:19] they you know like good yeah like actually a lot of common I'm loving it so that was something
[00:07:26] it wasn't ever like frowned upon at all which I think I did do anything now looking back
[00:07:32] was really great thank for my development but I do generally think that like
[00:07:37] eight nine year old Kennedy probably would be very proud of where we are now just in the sense
[00:07:43] of there was so much uncertainty like those tumultuous years of like who am I like what am I going
[00:07:49] to do what am I going to be kind of a thing so I'm loving this friend okay so growing up with kind
[00:07:57] of I'm from the country too I'm Wyoming so yeah we totally understand this space but I think
[00:08:05] you know the representation that we had at that time is limiting as it seemed and it as it felt
[00:08:12] because that's all we knew I just find it really profound to get to sit in this space and here how
[00:08:19] you have been making yourself your primary partner to understand yourself further is what I'm hearing
[00:08:27] and in that in the desire of like just exploring like being part of our vada art center or these
[00:08:32] other little projects so what are these other little projects yeah I literally was talking about my
[00:08:38] director today is like I'm going to plug our show so everybody can come see us so I'm doing
[00:08:42] swiny Todd the demon barber of Queen Street I've realizing a lot of people know that show which
[00:08:49] is yes because I feel like it's just one of like Steven's on time's like great work it's like
[00:08:53] nine like into the woods are like the two that like people really know about him so this will be
[00:08:58] the second time that I'm doing actually okay done number four so doing that it's going to be up
[00:09:03] at the stage door theater up in Conifer so up in the mountains a little bit of a drive but it'll be nice
[00:09:08] of you can soon sort of be all green and pretty and everything and I'm really excited I am doing
[00:09:13] kind of an interesting track I'm doing an ensemble track okay kind of like the normal townsperson
[00:09:19] and I'm also understanding for Toby which is the little try prepared yeah it's been a bit
[00:09:26] it now you're drawing my money okay I'm walking all the way so I'm doing a double track of that
[00:09:31] which has been a learning experience in a really really good way I think for myself to be like oh
[00:09:37] yeah I can do this you know like that got this so that's been like really enjoyable and honestly
[00:09:43] it did make it a little bit easier having to jump in doing both of these tracks with having
[00:09:47] already done the show before right so I am so grateful for that that how long ago was your last show
[00:09:53] last time I did Sweeney Todd was I think it was the fall of 2018 so I was freshly graduated
[00:10:00] from high school I graduated in June of 2018 okay and I think Sweeney was an October of 2018
[00:10:06] look at you so it was Sweeney Todd was my first like I was a professional
[00:10:10] as a community theater but like professional show outside of high school yeah and so I think that
[00:10:15] this show always holds such like a core like thing for me and I mean some really good friends
[00:10:19] I don't talk to any of them anymore but you know what happens but it was such a rewarding experience
[00:10:25] doing that having that be my first show because that shows tricky I don't know if you're like
[00:10:30] listen to any of this stuff recently but like some of the ensemble stuff is like ridiculous like
[00:10:35] okay not even like notes whicing it but just like the pacing of everything it's so fast yeah
[00:10:41] so that's been kind of really interesting to try to teach myself how to okay I need to learn my
[00:10:46] ensemble part but I also have to learn this part that's within the same song right so how do I prioritize
[00:10:52] you know that stuff so this is really exciting because you know as we do we continue developing
[00:10:58] into a different version of ourselves so you have your 2018 version and now you're in this space
[00:11:05] in yourself and do you are you experiencing like excitement returning to this as this version yeah
[00:11:14] I think there is a lot I want to I honestly more excitement but I think it's a lot more of a rewarding
[00:11:20] experience because the first time I did swiny I'm a bad backtracker I've been say so my vocal part
[00:11:26] is I am a tenor that's a thing that's a really weird vocal range to have as a biological like female
[00:11:34] um right just because it's a bit lower in the register um and everything so I had I mean even still
[00:11:41] now I I tend to kidder more towards like a male character and so I feel like honestly that has
[00:11:46] become a little bit easier as I've gotten confident in myself because it's like no I'm not going
[00:11:52] to do any of the course and dress stuff and sing the male part I am gonna be wearing pants in a
[00:11:58] vest like that's just gonna be what it's gonna be. I love that and I feel like it still happened
[00:12:03] that way when I did it the first time because the very first time was hey we need more male
[00:12:08] on some of them and verse can you jump into this so I was like you're like yeah I was like no I'll
[00:12:13] be like it is what it is but yeah but like this time around like I went through the whole like
[00:12:18] audition process and I was like I am only gonna do like male parts and I've done that for the past
[00:12:23] cover she's done and it's been really a rewarding thing and like setting those clear boundaries of
[00:12:28] yeah and I think that a lot of times artists um I've never really been in like the professional
[00:12:36] actor actress whatever any of that is but um you know I let me just confess I do modeling
[00:12:44] but it's been a really cool realm for me to be like I am not gonna wear heels right it's just
[00:12:50] not gonna happen you know I can dress up in many ways but I can say no to things like again we
[00:12:58] can be given opportunities but we're opportunities ourselves and so I find it really fascinating
[00:13:05] within that realm as you know though you know for myself is being a non-binary person or a lot
[00:13:12] of times just feeling like in any all person it's like yes I I can choose what I'm gonna fit into
[00:13:19] and just because like I look like I could do either or I'm neither so I'm gonna bring my own essence
[00:13:26] to it which is what you're already doing on the mic right now and I'm just like in love with this
[00:13:33] okay so and you said that's in June yeah so it's in June so it opened June 7th okay
[00:13:38] run until I think the 28th whatever that last Sunday is of June okay I'm gonna run Friday night
[00:13:42] Saturday night and then a Sunday mountain a okay that shows a lot and we didn't want to do
[00:13:47] a double show Saturday because actors like really sat in the pressing okay and then having to go
[00:13:52] from that to immediately switch back into the start of the show which is a little bit like
[00:13:56] hard so and it's it's a lot it's a big show yeah so yeah so that would be good so I'm definitely
[00:14:01] gonna be coming to that you should be coming while you could hit up Leslie because Leslie really wants
[00:14:05] to come okay Leslie came to my last one I did newsies okay and in Lakewood and that was a
[00:14:10] dream come true I love that show that was one of my all-time payment shows I have a dream of becoming
[00:14:15] the first non-binary Jack Kelly oh my god I want to do that so it's bad but yeah so
[00:14:22] a lot of my I've had a co-workers came to that and that was a very rewarding experience I love
[00:14:26] because I had been telling them for no a year and a half like no like I do theater like I promise
[00:14:30] like I promise I do theater and then I told them I was like yeah I got into a show and they're like
[00:14:34] okay I'm going to show right and then I'm gonna tell them they're like oh yeah you were the show
[00:14:41] yes so and then there's a couple of my co-workers I wish you would sing more in the shows that
[00:14:46] you're doing so I can't attest I will be singing more okay in Sweden's odd there's a couple of
[00:14:51] songs I have like a little solo line so okay yeah so excited yeah and it's gonna be really good yeah
[00:14:55] and it's gonna be like all like monochromatic like all the ensemble is gonna be like uh black
[00:15:01] white and gray okay um like very somber and then all of like the named characters are gonna be
[00:15:06] a color based off the personality okay so I don't want to give it away I tender I won't spoil
[00:15:11] your vision here um but like based off of the personality of the characters they're each
[00:15:16] gonna have like a color assigned to them so it's gonna be a really cool kind of like contrast type
[00:15:19] yeah depending on you know like we are the players of the ensemble and these are like the
[00:15:24] people but how they interact with each other's gonna be really good it's gonna give a really nice
[00:15:27] like sensory perception oh 100% yeah 11 that yeah okay the space I've been in there before
[00:15:33] my girlfriend also does theater okay and she did a show up there last summer she did once
[00:15:38] the music line I don't know if you are familiar with that there was a movie oh why I know that
[00:15:42] I haven't I actually don't really know anything about that but that's how I like to go into
[00:15:47] the music shows like that might as well so that one um she did that one last summer
[00:15:51] um at the same space and it's a really gorgeous like space um and they've got stairs that
[00:15:56] go all the way up and they have a juliet window which is really cool like on the side um so we're
[00:16:01] like playing around with that a lot and like we'll be like running up and down the oils it's gonna
[00:16:04] be like really really good okay so there's a lot of summer activity coming up there's a lot of
[00:16:09] summer activity doing that and then um in the end of July to August um I got from
[00:16:16] her going to Scotland for the Edinburgh French Festival so my girlfriend who does theater
[00:16:21] or just Olivia love her very very dearly um she is going with a group that took a show last
[00:16:26] year to Scotland they got invited to come back this year so they're taking a new show okay the
[00:16:30] director was like okay you come if they want it like it's like honey so I just can go to
[00:16:34] Scotland and I have no condiments about it either so I just get to go like for two weeks um found
[00:16:41] out that the Harry Potter Castle is like an hour away from where we're staying home all I like
[00:16:45] lost in my mind I was like so what you're saying yeah yeah I can go live out my Harry Potter
[00:16:51] fantasy is in Scotland yes you can honey confession I've never read or seen any Harry Potter
[00:16:57] things okay I haven't read a new book but I don't know I think it was kind of more of like
[00:17:07] it just was like becoming really popular as I was kind of getting out of that phase but I mean I love
[00:17:14] everybody's excitement around you know it's like one of those things it's like Lord of the Rings
[00:17:18] Star Wars Star Trek Harry Potter and then I was part of the generation who had like the Hunger Games
[00:17:23] divergent series yeah it was definitely much more like Hunger Games crazy like I had the posters from
[00:17:30] the people magazine yeah yeah actually my ears you know all that jazz and that was like my
[00:17:36] pre-nidroid was that because I feel like as a little too young for the Harry Potter series
[00:17:40] because like the first couple ones came out when I was like little yeah so like I didn't really
[00:17:44] like start hearing about it until the last one started coming out but at that point like I was still
[00:17:49] eight nine when I was not that reading level yet I did it read them but yeah yeah so big
[00:17:56] this is so exciting yeah like fantasy sci-fi you name it I'm there I'm loving this for you though
[00:18:04] Scotland getting to see a castle where everything is filmed you get to be with your partner
[00:18:09] supporting them I mean come on yeah this would be a wild wild time yeah it is and then
[00:18:16] great yeah all in the midst of that we're doing all of our summer concerts at our vada so it's gonna
[00:18:20] be a crazy summer I need to come into some of those shows too yeah they're really
[00:18:26] I actually walked the outdoor amphitheater I did and it's just so wonderful out there it's
[00:18:33] but it's just a great location too I really like the location of our vada center in general and even
[00:18:39] the I don't know how you call the art form there of like all of the statues there's sculpture
[00:18:45] sculpture thank you I walked that the other day because I was in the area and I was like I need to get
[00:18:50] piece of mine and that was really beautiful yeah I don't think that a lot of folks recognize
[00:18:54] is offered at our vada center beyond it just being like you know what it does for the community
[00:19:00] but it also employing folks that maybe want to get their foot in the door and like your
[00:19:06] experience like I just want to have different experiences within it you know absolutely yeah and I
[00:19:10] think we've got there's so many opportunities there with just kind of all the different elements
[00:19:14] that we do I think I don't want to miss speak but I do believe we are one of the largest multi
[00:19:19] disciplinary art centers in the country okay um which is like really cool if you like think about
[00:19:24] everything that we have like we have over 200 summer camps that we're offering this summer okay
[00:19:30] and those are like so good for like oh we've got some for like all ages there's like digital
[00:19:36] photography regular like digital arts stuff regular like drawing painting stuff
[00:19:41] sculpture classes for kids theater classes for kids and then all of that for adults as well
[00:19:48] like we have this really large pottery studio it's great my girlfriend takes pottery there and she's
[00:19:52] getting really good I'm loving it so I'm gonna get it from our pottery yeah yeah so they have
[00:19:58] pottery classes they're really really good they're really sought after so okay if you really want to
[00:20:02] take one you got to get on that train sooner rather than okay I'm gonna have to get on and leave
[00:20:07] so it's like really good and then obviously like we do all of our like theater stuff we're
[00:20:10] are always so amazing it's just like crazy the the amount of stuff that we do yeah I'm learning
[00:20:18] every single time like Leslie could like give me a rundown and then like I'm like in my
[00:20:22] active listening to them like I didn't even know you all had a pottery studio there and there's
[00:20:26] been a couple times that I've come to just like do a walk through the gallery stuff going on
[00:20:30] but you all have so much happening all at once and you even have like kids theater right we do
[00:20:36] yeah so we just finished TYA so theater for young audiences I feel like people don't know
[00:20:41] what TYA stands for so thank you because I did it for a young audience yeah so TYA so we just
[00:20:46] finished that that was frog and total year with frog and total okay um and so that a lot is catered
[00:20:52] really towards like field trips okay like school so they'll like come and there's always like buses
[00:20:56] in there like 90 I'm in the morning and the parking lot all right yeah that was the field trip yeah
[00:21:01] so they're in but they love it and they'll like go see the show and then sometimes they can do like
[00:21:05] workshops afterward with the instructors and like maybe do like a scene from the show
[00:21:10] we work shop um they do like behind the scenes like sneak peek with some of the actors and like
[00:21:16] show them like costumes and stuff it's like really really a cool experience that I wish I had that as
[00:21:20] like yeah like I remember like yeah like I went on a field trip I know like as a kid we went to
[00:21:24] this Dallas theater I think we saw like Sherlock Holmes or something like that it's like fourth grade so
[00:21:28] all of that is just going like right over my head but it was like a really cool experience but I wish
[00:21:33] I would have had the experience that our Vada is able to provide where you can go see a show but then
[00:21:38] if you know if your school chooses to you can go do like workshop after we're making something a
[00:21:42] mercy about something something a mercy about it where you're like you know just not going somewhere
[00:21:46] for an hour watching a show and then going back to see a little bit of a sustainable like it's not
[00:21:49] a real thing that you could be part of yeah and I think that's like a really brilliant part of our
[00:21:54] Vada art center I feel like there's no wages in there for one like it's just across the board
[00:22:00] in all spectrums and when we tell you I be a spectrum man I go there but like you were speaking
[00:22:06] to is the representation that we really do need that and as a young person I think I saw one
[00:22:12] play as a kid maybe one I didn't really it wasn't an option we had like football, volleyball and basketball
[00:22:21] and track that was like the thing we didn't really even have a theater program I didn't know
[00:22:26] I know I would have learned a lot more about myself had I had a way of causing versions of myself
[00:22:33] and finding all of this out later in life and I'm not late in life diagnosed I'm not late in life
[00:22:39] to anything I'm just arriving when I am and when the room of acceptance for myself to accept it
[00:22:45] was do you think that within that whole thought do you think that our Vada center
[00:22:51] does a good job of prioritizing a person's ability to see themselves in a position like that you know
[00:23:00] like enacting or considering something like that and do you also think that they provide
[00:23:07] safe spaces for marginalized communities? I guess the tricky question is not I know
[00:23:14] I mean on a personal level I do feel like really like accepted and appreciated
[00:23:21] which is really nice just kind of in the sense of just like being who I am is never like
[00:23:27] looked down upon or like question during anything anything like that there's a video program
[00:23:33] that plays on the wall right outside of the main stage theater that's like quotes from employees
[00:23:37] about like how they feel connected to their Vada center so there's one of me my
[00:23:43] some kind of space to be but talking about how like I every time I go into it doesn't
[00:23:49] matter who I'm interacting with I genuinely feel like I am respected on a personal level
[00:23:55] which I feel like in my past experience hasn't always been the case right because coming from
[00:24:01] a more conservative area growing up it was always kind of like that no I don't know if I want
[00:24:09] to associate with them because they're not you know in the normative of what it is so
[00:24:15] I definitely do think that we do have a little ways to go to be fully inclusive of
[00:24:21] everything and everyone and it's kind of so hard with being so multi-disciplinary to
[00:24:28] accommodate for every single person and you know seeing that somebody may be dealing with
[00:24:35] the main thing right now that I know that they're working hard on trying to get is a gender
[00:24:39] neutral bathroom open for the public because we have one but it's only for staff and you have
[00:24:44] to walk to Tim Buck 2 right at the end but at least there is one which is really nice
[00:24:50] that that is provided for staff but we don't have one for the public so that's something that
[00:24:54] I feel like I personally have been pushing for a lot just because and that on that note too
[00:24:58] we don't really have like a family restroom right so it's like it maybe sometimes hard to
[00:25:03] show you know like single adds to bring their kid in and have to change them because there's no
[00:25:08] like diaper changing tray in the men's baths right stupid or even like the same thing of
[00:25:14] there's no like hydrogen product disposal in the men's bathroom and I feel like that's just kind
[00:25:19] of like a national issue let me talk about this all day long I had so really I definitely think that
[00:25:28] they are in a good spot for kind of where we are now I definitely think that there's plans
[00:25:34] in place to make it more accessible for everyone as much as they can but I do I genuinely feel
[00:25:41] very loved and included when I am at work and even when I'm not I work in just coming to
[00:25:47] like see a show it's like very nice that everybody so respectful and it's like I don't know if
[00:25:51] it's because we're in Colorado or if it's because I'm working in like an arts institute or maybe
[00:25:55] like a combination of both but I don't think I have ever felt so in like just
[00:26:03] included in and just the fact that like I can just be myself like at work which is great it
[00:26:09] is great because I think you know the whole the whole concept that we I primarily grew up with was
[00:26:16] like don't bring your personal life to work and I'm like I spend so much time with these individuals
[00:26:22] and then you know and then I would do the people pleasing things so like it's okay if you abuse
[00:26:27] me at work because like I'm just an employee you know blah blah blah blah but a lot of our
[00:26:32] life is spent with these work families and so behind the scenes of it like okay yes you provide
[00:26:39] like entertainment and instances to the community to be seen and honored and loved by your co-workers
[00:26:48] is so huge and so I've seen a lot of steps even since coming to I think I've known more about the
[00:26:57] Arvada Arts Center for like a year and a half now and even just in the way that the greetings happen
[00:27:03] there it's so beautiful how lovely everyone is upon even entering like you are really like
[00:27:12] I fear that some people may only get that amount of love and acceptance just walking through
[00:27:19] those doors versus being at home so it's kind of like gosh what would you like that snowball
[00:27:26] effect in a positive way there is a standard that Arvada Center is setting and it's really like
[00:27:33] it's improving how I want to experience things like if it's not like that I'm gonna suggest it
[00:27:39] or I won't be returning because I know that a big company can do that and entire facility makes
[00:27:45] that happen yeah so thanks for bringing that awareness to it come on we gonna get those baths
[00:27:49] and just like you get them but we could talk about that all day I tell you what I have a lot of
[00:27:56] I have single dad friends that are like where am I supposed to change my kid you know and so they're
[00:28:01] like kneeling in there and trying to do it on their legs like it's a whole thing even not to
[00:28:05] and just like in the sense of like you know and this is my short little spiel I'll say it
[00:28:10] I love it I'm a little bit too baby but just like the sense of like the kind of the whole argument for
[00:28:15] genuinely just the bathrooms is well why don't people just use the bathroom of the sex
[00:28:19] they were signed to birth and then I do and then I get weird books from every time in people in
[00:28:24] the bathroom yeah so it's like kind of where does that line get drawn you right means so it's like
[00:28:30] you're gonna say one thing when we do it our personal homes though it's like not as good or no you
[00:28:35] know yeah we just get it to go to the bathroom like everybody else so yeah that was my soapbox
[00:28:40] I want to I like it but being in a workplace like you are with our vada art center and you
[00:28:47] probably and you know you're developing relationships not just with you know the folks that
[00:28:53] come through the doors guess not just with the employees not just with the artists themselves but
[00:28:58] with your personal self and being in a space where you're loved and accepted as you are
[00:29:05] has it brought like a change and how you view yourself has it given you the ability to maybe be
[00:29:12] less critical and more accepting of just becoming yeah so I definitely do feel like I did kind
[00:29:22] of notice a big shift in my own head space when I started at Urvada um so my first move
[00:29:28] up here I was doing like a lot of teaching stuff just because I felt like that was kind of like
[00:29:33] a fallback that I had both my parents for teachers and so it kind of just felt like something
[00:29:37] I you know would fit into naturally um so I started I like started working in an after school program
[00:29:43] and then I started working at a K through five performing art school which was like really cool and
[00:29:48] I was like oh this is great so I'll be like around kids who like really enjoy that but I did
[00:29:52] struggle with kind of the aspect is there's not really a term for non-binary teacher which
[00:29:59] was something that I did struggle with a little bit and I got quite a lot of like mischennity
[00:30:05] and I was like how do I you know this isn't helping my own like personal growth journey because it's like
[00:30:11] I'm at work this you know thing is being said to me in reference of me and I don't really associate
[00:30:18] with that right so it was kind of like impacting that would be obviously two no full of the children
[00:30:22] and it's their kids you know I'm gonna say what they're gonna say um but I kind of was like okay maybe
[00:30:28] I need to take a step back from this this teaching thing because it just not really why I'm
[00:30:35] right with teaching yeah and then I run a teaching yeah and then I also it was a kind of like a
[00:30:42] seasonal job so like once more your ended the job was over as I had to find another job
[00:30:47] I started working at Target for a while of all places which was quite interesting but then I was like
[00:30:52] I need something else this you know Target's paying the bill somewhat but it's not like filling that void
[00:30:58] that I was also currency right yeah I was a virtual currency yeah filling this void of
[00:31:03] of needing to be involved in something creative and some some way she performed um and that's when
[00:31:08] I like found the Arvada gig and I was kind of nervous going into it just because Arvada in
[00:31:12] in of itself isn't kind of the most inclusive area just because it is right does have like an
[00:31:18] older population who have just been there for years and they haven't their grandfather again yeah
[00:31:22] they're grandfathered in um so I was a little bit where you know I'd always heard like oh you're
[00:31:26] working on that oh really and I was like I'm just gonna you know give it a try and see
[00:31:31] and then I did and then the kind of one of the first things that they asked when I went in for
[00:31:35] that interview was you know what's your names and what are your pronouns and I was like oh this
[00:31:41] great yeah and then the whole entire time like throughout the interview is just like very like
[00:31:46] respectful of like me as a person I was like oh I can work here I love this and now I do and I've
[00:31:55] also kind of helped get my manager into the habit of presending the questions to over right
[00:32:02] because I didn't get that and it was a little bit stressful yeah okay I don't know how to answer
[00:32:06] right but yeah so that's something I feel like it has been really nice to kind of just like
[00:32:12] getting me into a space where I do feel completely like comfortable being myself and working
[00:32:17] has helped my journey outside of that in growing personally right because I have a space where I
[00:32:24] you know I'm home and my you know my girlfriend loves and respects me as a human being that I am
[00:32:30] and then I can also go to work and be loved and like right for who I am as a human being so
[00:32:35] in the journey that gets to exist there where you just get to become right versus you're guided
[00:32:40] to a space that you know somebody has this preconceived notion that that's what you should be
[00:32:46] right you know I think a lot of times we exist in the preconceived notion
[00:32:51] and I like to be in the post-conceived so you know so I totally understand that space again not
[00:32:57] having the representation I would have loved seeing a person like you as a young person it would
[00:33:03] have given me a lot of hope that I would like I would have never thought that I'd get to you know
[00:33:09] be as old as I am or that there'd be representation around me and even speaking to age a little bit
[00:33:16] like I have siblings that are much younger than me but because of how we exist in our becoming
[00:33:22] and there isn't like judgment in that there's like a little bit of more of like a nurture to
[00:33:29] like hey I'm going to encourage you to keep like keep figuring it out you know try to
[00:33:34] couple times but don't work for you then move along and it's really a beautiful thing to be
[00:33:39] part of a community that wants to grow and glow up with you versus be growth stunters you know
[00:33:47] and I think that being you know in part with what you what you are finding and enhancing your joy
[00:33:55] it is allowing you to cosplay versions of yourself or tinker with the you know the idea of
[00:34:01] what this looks like or that looks like and just be in that you know like water can be ice
[00:34:08] steam and liquid and we get to be all those things all at one time sometimes or none at all
[00:34:14] and so just to hear like this version of you being empowered because of how you've aligned
[00:34:23] yourself to grow is really really impactful and just also note that I don't think that we take in a
[00:34:30] lot of like understanding that we're observed as well and so just an observation people learn from us
[00:34:38] you know they they learn whether it's going to make them comfortable or uncomfortable there
[00:34:43] people they're just like I just want to observe and learn and grow from that and so just don't stop
[00:34:49] what you're doing or if you know just continue all the things they are doing you know but I just
[00:34:55] your energy and your essence and just how you are sitting here today and sharing something with
[00:35:01] somebody you've never met before now here we are now we're going to be besties yeah I just wanted to use
[00:35:06] that accent a little bit but I think it's just a really profound experience to share this
[00:35:13] this mic with you today and hear about the things that have helped you understand
[00:35:19] you know more about yourself but also giving you like guidance to what is acceptable for your life
[00:35:27] and I'd like to say that we we really should be our own primary partner always and when you do that
[00:35:34] and then you start aligning yourself whether that's work or passions or you know these things in life
[00:35:40] we give ourselves a lot more room to expand and become many different versions of ourselves
[00:35:47] we're all a spectrum yeah we all are you know I'm queer non-binary all the things you could put
[00:35:53] myself into a box with and I have a bunch of diagnosis but what I choose to do every day with those is
[00:36:01] surround myself or put myself in places that will allow me to delicately become a version of
[00:36:08] myself then violently become a version of myself I think we have been versions of ourselves strictly
[00:36:15] out of violence and that isn't just putting hands on people that's just our language and our
[00:36:20] behavior towards people so yeah I just wanted to give some honor where it's due just sitting with you
[00:36:26] today you're just a very ethereal being and I wish that I would have had representation like you
[00:36:32] and that's why I think I did try to do the teaching thing for a little bit so it's like I want to be a good you know
[00:36:37] represent you know this kind of you right whatever it was like that does not for me so
[00:36:41] well you're doing it without knowing that you're applying yourself to it yes people observe you
[00:36:46] I watch your growth they watch your your steadfastness I'm choosing yourself you know and that's a big
[00:36:52] teaching moment yeah absolutely and then to think is is kind of really cool like being in the
[00:36:56] Denver theater community because the Denver theater community is quite small compared to the one
[00:37:02] that I was a part of in Dallas but it's like I have either worked with people that I'm actually
[00:37:08] again or like I know them from something else and I'm now working with them but like kind of going
[00:37:14] back to like your observation comment that you made like somebody that I met and observed when I
[00:37:21] kind of first moved here was this one of your human being named Cooper Kaminski um they're actually playing
[00:37:26] Swiny um they're also a nine binary so we've got like a queer little here I'm not sure
[00:37:33] but yeah and I they did a show with my girlfriend Olivia they did Adam's family
[00:37:38] they played Gomez like a while ago and that kind of they were kind of the first person that I met
[00:37:46] after moving to Colorado this was just so unauthentically like themselves like as a non-binary
[00:37:52] queer person and I kind of like at that point you know I was like yeah I'm like non-binary but it wasn't
[00:37:58] like super comfortable saying that just because of what I had grown up you know hearing and seeing
[00:38:03] and doing non-none stuff and so I genuinely feel feel like meeting even just that one person who was
[00:38:11] unapologetically authentically themselves really kind of kick started that light bulb in my brain
[00:38:16] like oh well if they can do it maybe I can do it till you know so right it's so beautiful that
[00:38:23] that just hit yeah because the first time like I had heard of the term right and it just starts
[00:38:32] resonating you're like oh my god I really like how that's yes and the first time I ever got asked
[00:38:37] was this beautiful human Paula we were at Sputnik I don't know if you've ever been there
[00:38:43] sounds familiar yeah it's like this cute little uh like hole in the wall bar on uh Broadway
[00:38:50] I don't drink they have a lot of non-amclaholic beverages and vegan food and it's a super cute little
[00:38:56] spot right by hi dive uh right next to Goodwill actually oh I know where the Goodwill is okay
[00:39:02] you could make a whole day of getting a treat and shopping but um so she came up to me
[00:39:08] and was talking to me and she's like and she just kept saying they them and I was like oh my god
[00:39:13] this feels really good I like this and I had you know and then was like I am so sorry I shouldn't have
[00:39:18] assumed but aren't you not binary and I was like yeah and I just remember like I didn't
[00:39:24] put it out there that it wasn't it wasn't that I wasn't comfortable I think that again
[00:39:30] with all the preconceived notions that people have of folks it was amazing to build
[00:39:35] be conceived as that that thought that somebody just saw me as that and I didn't have to be
[00:39:41] anything I was just existing and that was seen in me and I was like yes I end that you know
[00:39:47] and had it not been for Paula I guarantee it would have taken me a lot longer to come out as that
[00:39:52] simply I was untethering from a lot of things and drinking and all the things that I was using the
[00:39:56] mask and you know in the becoming that we all want to be so that was my first experience and it's
[00:40:03] really cool to be able to have a core memory tied into like when we choose ourselves you know there's
[00:40:09] so many instances of that but for the for that portion of myself and just being seen as a non-binary
[00:40:15] person without having to go and be like these are my pronouns right and they're not preferred they're
[00:40:19] just my pronouns it was one of the most impactful moments of my life and since then you know I
[00:40:26] think that again I don't want to diminish anyone's story and I don't like making it all about these
[00:40:32] things but there's so many boxes that we will fit into we will outgrow or some that just aren't for us
[00:40:39] and so just really to just take note like it's a journey you know I'm like you know I may be this
[00:40:48] really really resonate with it and just as the age of awareness is coming around there may be a term
[00:40:54] that resonates a lot more formy later or I may come back to a space that feels more safe for me
[00:41:02] or you know we just get to be in the becoming so with all that being said I just want to know
[00:41:09] after sitting here being the representation that you are for young people and older folks like
[00:41:16] we don't realize how much story telling we give to an older generation even though we at times
[00:41:22] are told like they're never going to change that's not true you know they changed seeing us
[00:41:28] other freely and sometimes that changes that they're aggravated with us you know and that's okay too
[00:41:35] because everybody deals with that differently but anyway to the space that you are now what would
[00:41:42] you say as this version of Kennedy right now today what would you say to the same young version of
[00:41:51] yourself that was talking to you earlier I'm going to try to cut it get very that's how I do
[00:41:58] we'll try together yeah so I think that I kind of put some breadcrumbs on this
[00:42:06] what I'm going to say but I didn't actually like come out until is a senior in high school and
[00:42:10] I think that kind of was a lot of kind of the star of that journey of like as a young kid
[00:42:16] to where we are now and just because I was so unsure and so I think like the eight nine-year-old
[00:42:23] version of myself honestly I would just say like it's going to be okay like you're going to figure it out
[00:42:28] you're going to have some roller coasters that you got to kind of go up and down on but where you are at
[00:42:35] this moment in time with where you are physically in your low cow is okay and it will get better
[00:42:43] and you're going to end up blossoming and becoming a beautiful butterfly that you are who is constantly
[00:42:51] you know molting and shedding and changing your colors because like you said it's a journey
[00:42:55] it's like the yellow bitcrow that leads to Oz that doesn't ever actually finish yeah so and then just
[00:43:00] continues and you're going to be okay I think is the thing too and you know you may feel lonely right now
[00:43:08] but I promise in a couple of years you will have a strong community around you that love you for who you are so
[00:43:15] wow and that's to young Kennedy let's to young Kennedy I love that he was very lonely
[00:43:20] let's just say that okay but now we are we are good you know or in a relationship that's
[00:43:26] so so good and so very loving and then have all these friends who are just wonderful and amazing
[00:43:32] and who just love us for who we are and that's like it's so be really great yeah and I
[00:43:37] so I'm kind of as fast sometimes too and they just think it's funny and the laugh of me and it's
[00:43:41] is what it is you know so yeah that's really brilliant friend I I'm going to sit with that too
[00:43:48] you know I think that we don't take enough time to speed down and slow up and really reflect
[00:43:55] like we can be in such a goal oriented society and it's like we gotta get there but then we
[00:44:00] don't do a lot of reflecting or we do it in like a and I don't want to say it like an
[00:44:04] vanity way like oh I have all these things now but it's like okay like my spiritual currency
[00:44:09] I'm aware now I don't you know like I've done work around the loneliness that I experienced as
[00:44:17] a young person again prioritizing myself and and that looks like a lot of different things but
[00:44:23] just from sitting in this chair and listening to the accolades and even the things that you
[00:44:28] are encouraging to become better baby you you're killing it and I right now I'm like fan humaning you
[00:44:37] I'm like god I need a this representation and guess what I'm still getting it because it's going
[00:44:42] to help me even work through some other things as the young person that I was so in a parallel
[00:44:49] year the representation I needed and you're the representation I needed oh man love this
[00:44:55] colliding and that's what's happening you know when when we do choose and that's why
[00:45:01] those podcasts is living by carously through yourself because I think a lot of times we let
[00:45:06] other people do that for us or what is going to suit best for them to you know to look a certain
[00:45:13] way because we're around them and so I live by carously through myself and you're living by
[00:45:18] carously through yourself we don't let anyone else do that in our in our footsteps anymore or in
[00:45:27] our shoes I guess you you could say so thank you so much for being here today for just sharing
[00:45:34] this space not even really knowing what you were walking into and I love it you shared a very
[00:45:44] beautiful side of things and I can't wait to see it in the flesh with your show coming up this
[00:45:50] in June 7th through the 28th yeah whatever that last Sunday is in June okay pretty sure it's
[00:45:56] 28th amazing well I will keep posting about this just so that we can get some bodies out there
[00:46:02] and bring some awareness because I'd love to support um and again thank you so much for sitting in
[00:46:07] the space with me today is it okay if we share socials or ways to get a hold of you people
[00:46:14] want to work with you well you can always find me at the air vattestinter box office I'm there
[00:46:19] all the time but yeah I don't remember what my Instagram handle is I think it's Kennedy R22 I believe
[00:46:27] okay that was my old AOL email address so I love it so that this pretty much all in
[00:46:33] on I know use what is it X now or whatever Twitter is no yeah maybe just Instagram okay
[00:46:40] can you have a Facebook I'm a grandma when it comes to Facebook and I am constantly just
[00:46:43] scrolling and I'm still doing this too okay yeah so my mom will tag me and stuff so that's
[00:46:49] really the only way my family knows that I'm alive. It's through my mom and Facebook and the occasional
[00:46:54] group text message that gets sent but yeah hit me up on social okay I'll link that into
[00:47:01] yeah and then you can see the events that Kennedy's gonna be yeah I'll post about so we need tickets
[00:47:06] are on sale so okay well log that it is it's gonna be great all be there we're gonna keep doing
[00:47:11] this theater thing because I like didn't do it for that long and now I'm doing again I'm just like
[00:47:15] I need to keep doing this I love that so if you feel that it's nourishing yourself and enhancing
[00:47:19] your joy and then you gotta keep it yeah especially with the kind of just a hobby aspect of it
[00:47:24] rather than like that's what I'm changing so it's a good of a miss like whole in my heart that
[00:47:29] I didn't know was there and then I did a show and I was like oh great that's what it's saying yeah
[00:47:35] I got it friend well like you said um you can find Kennedy on the social that way I will tag
[00:47:42] everything in this episode as well just a reminder everyone but I am not here in a toxic encouragement
[00:47:52] toxic happiness and this is how it is it takes a lot of work I'm not here to like encourage people
[00:47:58] at either if this resonates with you awesome if it doesn't the move along you know we're not here to
[00:48:04] minimize anyone's journey or to be dismissive of anyone's journey and as I always say at the end of
[00:48:12] these episodes continue creating earnestly and love we'll talk soon this is Sarah Hubbard host of
[00:48:20] you and me kid a podcast about starting and raising a family on your own we've just launched season two
[00:48:25] and I'm speaking with single moms those still considering an expert in relevant fields to give you a
[00:48:30] real sense of what the day-to-day experience of solo parenting looks and feels like plus this season
[00:48:36] I've partnered with California Cryo Bank the number ones for making the U.S so wherever you are
[00:48:41] in the process this podcast provides some support humor and helpful information listen to you and
[00:48:46] me kid wherever you get your podcasts thank you for listening to this episode if you are your
[00:48:52] company are looking to jump into the podcast world now is the time the plug agency is here to connect
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