Meet Andee Del Orbe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andee Del Orbe.

Hi Andee, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
On May 12 I’ll make five years that I moved to LA. I came here homeless due to an attack I experienced in Brooklyn, NY. I was attacked for being a lesbian and I called the police because my life was at risk. I had to abandon my apartment in Brooklyn and didn’t know what was going to be of my life and if I’ll ever have a future. My attack went viral and I fell into a really bad depression because people defended my attacker and sent me death threats. I was in dark place and I knew I could never go back home. I didn’t feel safe in New York and I barely had any money. My brother started a gofundme account for me but that didn’t feel like my money and I didn’t feel comfortable using it for myself. I also had my dog that I couldn’t leave behind no matter where life took me too. I remember my brother called me and asked me to come to LA and sleep on his couch until I figured out my life. At the time I was a coke addict and an alcoholic, I knew that if I accepted to live with my brother and better my life I would have to leave my addictions behind for the sake of my brother’s career because having me around was him risking his career and reputation. I remember asking him if my dog could come if I found the way to bring her with me. I remember having just enough money to get her vaccinated and leaving the Vet asking the universe for a sign if I’m making the right decision and if my dog and I were going to be okay.

As I’m debating this, I found $100 on the floor and I took that as a sign from the universe. I called my brother and asked him if he meant it when he asked for me to come to LA and I can stay in his couch and he said “Yes, you’re my sister and I want you here with me”. I then used the money from the gofundme and flew to LA. My brother helped me get a freelance job at BuzzFeed, and I had not worked in almost seven years so it felt good to feel like I had been given another chance at life. I would wake up at 4am sometime 5am to be at work sometimes at 7am other times at 8am. I wanted to prove to my brother that he didn’t make a mistake with me. I would get lost a lot in LA on my way to work and on my way to my brother’s house. I wanted to be the best at work so I can make my brother proud. I watched so many youtube videos and learned so much about lighting a stage, sound, cameras, lens and camera angles. I went from people skeptical about working with me to everyone booking me. I became someone I had no idea I could but always dreamed about. Now I produce comedy videos, direct commercials, act, perform poetry also I get to tell people my story to inspire them that if I can get myself out of the whole I was in, they can too. I am currently writing a horror film that’s based on a true story of my life.

I am grateful that now I have an apt and a car. I never even imagined owning a license. I also experience a major betrayal in relationship recently, I was deeply in love and when I realized I was lied too my entire relationship it broke me. Not only did the betrayal involve a supposedly friend of mine but it involve my ex entertaining 4 men while I was burying my grandmother. Learning this was so close to bringing me back to my addictions. I had a choice to make, do I let my pain bring me back to the days I would drink and drug to cope with my pain or do I turn my pain into art. I chose art and got back into my poetry. This breakup became a blessing in disguise just like my attack in NY. After my breakup the very next day not only did I get verified on social media but I got asked to be interview by LA TV for Pride. I started to get gigs again after not working for months. I met people that are helping bring my horror film to life. The universe has had my back in many dark times of my life in ways that I would of never imagined.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I ran away when I was 17 years old. I was molested every week when I was three years old and again when I was eight years old. When I came out as a lesbian, my family shunned me and didn’t speak to me for six years. I am now close to my family due to my sister’s death. I joined the military because I was tired of being homeless at the age of 20. I left the military because I couldn’t handle my sisters death. After my sister died, I became an addict. I am a suicide attempt survivor. I’ve been homeless so many times in my life that I refuse to let this happen again. I work hard and push myself to keep going no matter how hard it gets.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
What sets me apart from others is that I am resilient. I can fall 1,000 times but I’ll still get up 1,000 times as long as I’m still breathing. I am now an Influencer and I love to make people laugh with the content my brother and I create. I make comedy videos and us real-life events as comedy to bring awareness to the things we dismiss in life. I freelance for BuzzFeed as a PA, DP and I have produced videos for PeroLike. I have Directed commercials for Lays and personal projects. I am mostly known for my comedy videos. I am mostly proud of the people that I have impacted through my pain with art.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
I have learned that no one ever knows what they are doing but they get it done as long as they just try.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/litodood/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4UGFIYHwx0LDODYEEju-Fw
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@litodood