Today we’d like to introduce you to Lolita Leopard.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Lolita. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My name is Lolita Leopard, also known as “The Leopard Lady”. I’ve been obsessed with Leopard print since the age of eight….and no this isn’t a trendy thing, I’m the real deal. I do so much when it comes to anything artistic. I dance, I’m a hairstylist, runway model, creative director… I guess you can call me the Jane of all trades, but the cool part about all of this is that I’ve mastered them all in my own way.
My latest journey is music!! So that’s what I’m doing right now. The type of music I love to make is feel good music. No matter what mood you’re in, you’re going to want to dance, groove, two step, or even breakdance!!! I guess you can call me “The Life of the Party”. I was born in Washington DC, raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland where there wasn’t really an artistic community. We are in the capital of the United States of America. Everything is politics, politics, politics, so we created our own community called the “Urban Hollywood”, which is a dance and runway modeling community for the lgbtq and cis gendered youth. This is pretty much where I got my start of stardom. Being apart of Living Legends Entertainment/Evolved brought out the confidence in me that I never knew I had. Just being on that stage performing in front of hundreds of people really started my love for the spotlight and being a role model for the youth. My hard work and dedication awarded me with becoming Legendary after 12 years. What a huge accomplishment!!! I’ve also traveled the world inspiring over 70,000 kids with a play called “Should Could Dream”, where I was the leading lady of tour. I sang and danced of course!! It was another highlight of my life. To be able to be the voice for the youth and show them the right way to go about situations in life through a stage play was such an amazing and humbling experience. Whitney Houston said, “I believe that children are our future”. I firmly stand by that quote.
After I realized I reached my full potential in the DMV area, I packed my bags and moved to the city of Lights, NYC!!!! I mainly moved here to pursue my singing career, but God had another plan for me. I got involved in the Iconic International Ballroom Scene of NYC. Now I was already apart of the scene before I moved to NYC in the International House Of Balenciaga, but before then I had no clue how impactful the scene was. Within a matter of a year, I landed a television role on Viceland’s Hit TV Show called “My House”, where the crew followed the lives of 6 Ballroom participants (including myself) showing our everyday lives and struggles on and off the ballroom floor. From there, I’ve walked a numerous of fashions shows for NYFW, I’ve been seen on FX’s Pose, curated my very own performance for the 50th Anniversary of World Pride for youth pride, and so much more!!! I mean I’ve truly done it all within the matter of 3 years living in NYC!!! I can’t stop now, I’ve only just begun!!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. I’ve been depressed because of the thought of me not fully living up to my full potential and honestly being worried about what others thought of me has been a major set back. When I moved to NYC, I was homeless living out of my car for five months, there were ALOT of NO’s, I’ve lost a lot of friends who I thought were family, and just the thought of what’s going to happen next has always been a scary thing for me. Thank god I’ve overcome those obstacles!!! I’ve learned to just focus on people who truly show up for me like I show up for them, but most importantly, I’ve learned how to show up for myself and I haven’t been more excited! It’s just the way of life.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
The Lolita Leopard Brand has so many avenues. I’m a singer/performer, I have my very own glasses boutique where I sell customized Swarovski Crystal frames, I’m a youth advocate, runway trainer, hairstylist, creative director, and stylist. I am so proud of my brand because these trades are what made me who I am today. It’s everything that I love and enjoy doing! Who doesn’t love doing what they love and getting paid from it?? It’s the best job ever!! Most importantly, I love teaching the youth how to do the things I’ve been taught. I love giving back. I feel like I’m preparing them to take on this world by storm by learning these different trades, so they can teach the generation below them. I feel like that’s what sets me apart from others. I’m not doing all of this hard work only for me, but it’s for my legacy. To keep this same energy going for generations to come.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I definitely feel like LA is a good place for a business like mine because everything that I’m doing, I’ll be teaching the youth who are interested in things like me. The kids nowadays are so into social media and not really seeing the reality of what you have to do to survive in this world. Without technology, they wouldn’t know what to do! So my business is not only tech-savvy, but it’ll teach how to interact and connect on and offline, being confident, beautiful, smart and just overall being involved with the community. I would definitely recommend starting in California!! There are so many places for the artistic community, they’ll know exactly where to fit in by just testing out the waters.
Contact Info:
- Email: lolitaleopardmusic@icloud.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itslolitaleopard/?hl=en
- Other: https://youtu.be/2XSHtomN6IM
Image Credit:
Hoshi Joell, Devaughn Brodie, BruceTookIt
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