When I take good care of myself, it lifts my spirits, boosts my confidence, and makes me feel strong. When someone tries to throw me shade, it bounces right off. I look those haters straight in the eye, keep my chin up and shoulders back. Because I know I'm a fierce queen - and they know it, too.Collection: Good
It is the greatest reward for me to share my story, my art, and my work. And people receiving that and being thankful and grateful, it once again resonates deep within because it reminds me that I am so much bigger than being a drag performer.Collection: Thankful
I have so much to be thankful for.Collection: Thankful
I've always been the rock of my family.Collection: Family
I'm kind of living a Bruce Wayne life and then morphing into Batman, but I'm glad now Batman comes out during the day. That's kind of like how drag was: we were called upon at night to make people smile and laugh and clap.Collection: Smile
You can't say the word 'queen' without a little bit of 'drama' in front of it, right? It comes with the territory. Throwing shade and all that is part of the gig, but it should all kind of be in fun at the end of the day. When you start turning down that dark road where there's no light? Sometimes you put the car in park.Collection: Car
I am a business owner. I'm a teacher. I think Justin's actually kind of plain, kind of nerdy. But when I morph into Alyssa, I'm like this... Well, this creature, everything that Justin couldn't be.Collection: Teacher
I don't get cute, I get drop-dead gorgeous.
You decide how to show up, and you'd better come correct: the way you look, what you say, how you act and react. No excuses! Get in front of the mirror and own what you see. You may have to drag your fabulousness out of hiding, but it's there.
I sometimes feel like it's my world and everyone is just visiting.
I remember going on stage for the very first time as a solo act, I was probably, like, nine or 10 years old. And being backstage, I started having anxiety... I was literally getting sick.
Positivity attracts positivity.
I was waiting for the world to change. I'm no longer waiting; I'm part of that movement. I think our role as performers and entertainers is so much bigger.
Nobody gets a free pass in life, and that's awesomely true for a drag queen or anyone else in the LGBT community. But I like to say, 'Don't be bitter, get better.'
My father was very strict.
Hiking in drag is hilarious!
I think that people are looking beyond the wig. I think they are saying, This isn't just a costume; there's a person behind this. If this costume, this character, this person has this kind courage? Why don't we share that?
I hope to continue to support, to inspire, to motivate, to encourage... in the hopes that maybe the world can get a little bit more giggle.
When you combine a Texas woman in a competition setting with her child, she gets very serious.
My brothers and sisters started having children at a very early age, and I was just there all alone at one point, like, 'What do I do?' And I thought the only thing I can do is create mine, make my family, and I did that.
It's like you're waiting on the world to change, but I'm actually living it, because I wonder: If there was a DragCon when I was a child or even a search engine or 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' maybe my father would have been different. Maybe our relationship now wouldn't be different.
There's beauty in everyone's mug and body-ody-ody, but taking care of those things requires a lot of work, energy, and effort.
I always wanted to teach dance. I didn't know I'd have a TV career.
Sometimes I wake up, and I'm like, 'Don't dream it. Be it. You're really living the dream. You are everything you've ever desired or set out to be. You're doing it.'
I'm just authentically, unapologetically myself. In and out of drag, in and out of the gig, in and out of the studio. My friends know. Miss Thing Over There wakes up 8 A.M. and she's on. The sun, the rain, the snow, whatever's going on outside, I'm ready.
Don't be anything you're not. Be yourself. And people will either celebrate that or say, 'It's not for me.'
When you fight for something, you fight the good fight. You go for it, you never stop. You get knocked down, and you get right back up. That's what we need to be teaching these kids. For that matter, even some adults.
I think I'm just always myself, and I think that's what's most important to me. Just be genuine. Be authentic. Be who you are and who you were meant to be. And celebrate that. Celebrate all of that.
It took a lot of years of me on my own, coaching myself, to look in the mirror and love the reflection.
During the day, I'm a business owner. I'm a teacher and a mentor.
My kids stand out at competitions. They're products of me. And you can't come to Beyond Belief and have a flamboyant teacher like me and be basic.
I've changed as a person because of the art of drag.
I'm a very real person that has overcome a lot, so I think I'm relatable.
As much as I love to travel and be on stage and perform, I knew at a very young age that I wanted to be a choreographer and a director.
I knew I wanted to be the Steven Spielberg of dance.
The greatest gift I've ever received is being a teacher.
This whole idea of editing, not one time I can tell you, not one time has a producer ever asked me to say something I did not want to say. I will also say this about 'Drag Race' producers: I will stand by the show and the people there because they have changed so many people's lives for the better, and I'm one of them.
I think it's inevitable to evolve if we allow ourselves.
I think when someone is so passionate about what they do, sometimes emotions come to the top, and you just get to that boiling point where you have to let it out.
I remember when I started performing, I thought, 'Why is this something that we do after hours, underground?' I was waiting on the world to change and the idea of this art to become mainstream, and I think that's what 'RuPaul's Drag Race' has really accomplished in such an eloquent way.
I remember going to the first ever DragCon, and I know this sounds crazy, but I've never experienced a ComicCon or anything like that of this nature. So it was a full carnival of extravaganza. I was a little bit more prepared the second year because I was excited to see everything.
I started doing drag because I needed a creative outlet for myself.
You don't have to win 'Drag Race' to really win. And I am living proof of that, thank you Mary J. Blige!
If I put on a T-shirt that says 'YAAAS,' I want to mean it.
I used to focus so much on winning. I used to be such a perfectionist.
Drag was like 'Alice in Wonderland,' where she fell into the hole and her world changed. I fell into a gay bar, and my entire world changed.
I have such respect for RuPaul.
You don't want people to think, 'Oh, she was a person who was bitter because she didn't win.' You can't always win at everything.
Violet Chachki - I'm a huge fan of her work.
I had to find the courage to share not only myself but my art with the world. I faced fear, and I went for it. I wasn't a failure, and I'm very proud of myself.