Cool … my name is Ingrid … I grew up in a Detroit suburb … born in … 1995 … So … I grew up in a very … very … wealthy … Detroit suburb … but my family was not wealthy … we basically lived on the exact street … that separated … Detroit … from the suburbs … because the school system was so good … and my parents … wanted that education … for my sister and I … So it was really … interesting … going to high school … and seeing my peers … have dramatically more … money … and advantages … then … my sister and I could have … During my childhood … I was super involved in the arts … in high school … we had a really intense … show choir program that I was involved with … I spent pretty much all my time doing that … the school musicals … and taking voice lessons … and all that good stuff … I would see performances … musicals in Detroit … pretty regularly … What did I like as a child? … I’m a huge Disney fan … so anything with princesses … I loved the Wizard of Oz … as a kid … you know … stories like that … So … in  high school … pretty much everyday … I would … wake up … go to school … do all that … and it was really normal for us to have six hour rehearsals … every day … after school … So … I would do that … and we would have our dinner break … and then go rehearse some more … and then I would go home … and do all of my homework … (laughter) … and then go to bed … and have to do it all over again … I didn’t realize how intense that program was … until I left … and went to college … So … I went to Loyola University in Chicago … I pretty much knew I wanted to go to Chicago … almost all the schools I applied to were in the area … I really just wanted to … move to a big city for the first time … and be a nice … comfortable … distance … from my home town … I had been here a lot as a kid … usually for spring break … my mom and my sister and grandma and I … would spend a long weekend … in the city … So I had done all of the … touristy Chicago stuff throughout my childhood … but it was really fun … to actually come live here … and find out … there’s so much more to Chicago then just Navy Pier … and the Aquarium … not that those things aren’t good … but you know … everyone does them … I majored in vocal performance at Loyola … I spent a lot of time in the art’s department … I trained in classical voice … and musical theater … more time being spent … there … and then just being surrounded by the classic … liberal arts … education … I really loved Loyola … I know a lot of people go to Loyola because it’s … not … a sports school … I was never into going to football games every Saturday … or tailgating all the time … Loyola’s just not … though it’s funny … now that the basketball team made the … Final Four … (laughter) …  people are … “I guess we’re a sports school now” … And all the art students … which is like everyone … are … “No-ooo” … (laughter) … Circling back to high school … it was a really intense academic curriculum … because it was a public school … I didn’t really realize … just how rigorous the academics were there … A lot of people have this experience when they go to college … and they think that they’re the smartest kid in their class … and then they get to college … and they’re … “Oh no … I’m not actually that smart” … I kind of had the opposite experience … I had such a rigorous high school program that … when I got to college … I was … “You guys … I was so smart” … I don’t know why everyone was telling me that I wasn’t … that good at this stuff … and it’s not like Loyola is an easy school to get into … it’s still a good school … Back when I was growing up … in Gross Point … I felt extremely … out of place … There wasn’t a problem with my peers … but … it was peoples parents … that would say stuff … all of the parents would talk … and then it would get back to us … eventually … through the grapevine … My parents … they are definitely … not … artistic … but they were always supportive of me … doing that … which was good … So … I’ll talk a little bit about burlesque … So … the first summer that I spent in Chicago … sorry … this was the second summer … there we go … So … I was in Chicago … and I auditioned to be in a bunch of musicals … and I didn’t get into any of them … that year … and I was kind of moping … “Oh … this sucks” … and my boyfriend and I were going long distance that summer … my roommates were living at home for the summer … and all of my best friends were going back to their hometowns … and I was … “I need a hobby” … (laughter) … I need something to do … so I don’t just sit … and watch Netflix … for the entire summer … because no-one is here … So … I didn’t get any of the shows … so I looked up places to do burlesque in Chicago … and Vaudezilla came up … and … they had all these classes … so I went and took two classes that summer … and they were so much fun … and I loved it … and afterwards … Red Hot Annie … the woman that runs Vaudezilla … came up to me and said that she wanted me to perform regularly in the shows … So … I look back on that … because burlesque is such a big part of my life now … and I’m really happy that I didn’t get any of those spots in those musicals that year … because it really led to something beautiful … and it’s become a great part of my life … So … I started off doing the company numbers … I was basically … a chorus girl for burlesque … so … I started doing that … and I’ve been developing more solos ever since then … and I’ve really gotten better at it … The burlesque community … it’s pretty small when you think about it … so everyone kind of knows everyone … and I think people … in general … are really supportive … of other artists trying it … I had already done a bunch of modeling at this point … and … this is going to sound so silly … because everyone in burlesque … hates the movie Burlesque … but … that was kind of what I knew about it … (laughter) … So I thought … maybe I could do … something like that … I have a dance background … and a musical theater background … and … I already spend a lot of time in my underwear for photoshoots … so this seems like … a lovely … marriage … of those things … I trained for a couple of months … before I started performing … I would take classes at the studio … and then … spend my own time developing … solo acts … so when you see a burlesque performer on stage … pretty much everything is of their creation … they do their own choreography … their own costumes … their own makeup … and hair … everything is them … And the first time I performed … Oh my god … it was amazing … Burlesque audiences are probably … the nicest audiences you will ever perform for … they cheer … and they’re so supportive … it was just like … addicting … I had never experienced that … before … because … you know how when you do … musical theater … or opera … everyone sits quietly … and listens to you perform … at the end … you get some … polite applause … But burlesque audiences are so fun … you do any little thing … take a glove off … and they’re like “Yes … Queen” … “Yes … So … Amazing” … the audiences are … not there to say sleazy … stuff to you … for the most part … (laughter) … I personally haven’t had anything bad happen … with burlesque audiences … I know … unfortunately … I have been at shows where that has happened … and it’s usually been … people saying … rude comments about performers who are more … plus size … which kind of sucks … Being a performer … I think on one hand … it’s really empowering … you’re in this space where you’re really owning your body … and your sexuality … and all that … and it’s really beautiful … but then … it’s this weird dichotomy … because on the other hand … I wouldn’t get paid for this … if everything was equal … because … if … this is a bit more about modeling then burlesque … but if there weren’t men out there … who wanted to pay for nudes … because they think they’re … whatever more … then woman … then I wouldn’t have a job … But on the other hand … it can be really empowering to do that … So … it’s a weird dichotomy … Changes in social awareness? … I think the cultural appropriation thing … definitely … I don’t have a whole lot to say as a white person … but I think … in general … people are much better about being … “Are you really going to wear that … Native American headdress … as your costume?” … How about … “No” … As a white person … that is something I try to be aware of … when I’m … performing … or creating a new act … or something like that … I think with the MeToo movement … It’s … a good start … because to me … it’s just like saying … I’m not alone … which is exactly what it’s saying … Me too … this has happened to me to … and it’s just everything from … a quote … “Minor thing” … like street harassment … or catcalling … to … “Oh no … this thing that happened to me was rape” … and there’s a word for it … and it wasn’t a small deal … it’s a big deal … it should be a big deal … yeah … With everything going on in the world … am I hopeful? … It ebbs and flows … because I think … at my heart of hearts … I’m an optimist … but I see so many of the things that are happening … and … it’s making me emotional right now … take the famous … Brett Kavanaugh thing … that just happened … People don’t believe her … and I think … that’s the scary thing … where you could go through all of this … the whole process of having to talk … and live through … really traumatic moments … how this is effecting your relationships with the people around you … and people … still might think … that you’re the bad guy … for being … harassed … or victimized … If … a woman … or even a man … a person … says … this person touched me inappropriately … sent inappropriate pictures … or whatever … The response is … “You’re going to destroy their career … or their reputation … or … fill in the blank” … if you say something about it …You have to be the strong person … and say … “They destroyed their own career … or reputation … by treating people this way … Why am I the one being blamed for this … they’re the one who did the thing” … I know even my own mindset has changed … the past decade … I was a very innocent flower in high school … I didn’t really know … anything … (laughter) … So … I was pretty sheltered from things related to sex … and when my peers were starting to have sex … I was almost kind of judge’y of them … But know it’s like … “Oh my god … I can’t believe … I … I don’t want to slut shame people … that’s terrible” … But … I think that is something … that does make me hopeful … about the whole thing … If I know … that my mindset can change … from … putting … other women … like my own peers … in a more shameful place … to accept and encourage them … I think other people can do that too … As far as social media … I am mostly on Instagram … that’s where I kind of do all the main … social media-ing … I feel like Facebook is more for … I’m friends with … teachers … and peoples parents … and stuff … from my hometown on there … But on Instagram … I’m much more … “Here … are my nudes” … (laughter) … Not actual nudes … because you can’t do that on Instagram … But I know … when I first started Instagram … probably … five years ago … it was super fun … I loved it … it was an amazing tool for my business … as a model … I was able to get all these gigs … and meet all these people … that I never would have gotten the opportunity to … cross paths with … if it weren’t for social media … and I also think … one of the other really good things about it … is … it gives so many more people a platform … and an opportunity … So … I do a lot of work as a model … I am five foot four … So …most places … do not want … a five foot four … woman … as a model … I’ve been to a lot of agencies … that have turned me away … before even … taking a sample picture … So … it’s this really awesome place … for people that don’t have that quote … “Model body” … can create a space for themselves … On the other hand … over the past couple of years … with all of the SESTA FOSTA … stuff … its just been … really … hampering down … crushing down on people who create this type of content … I think the thing that makes me the most upset … is the double standard … So people who are already famous … it’s not a problem for them … If you search Playboys Instagram … there is so much lewd content on there … because they’re already famous … and they can do it … But I know so many people … like my peers … who are getting their accounts taken down … they’re getting banned from social media … just from trying to do … pretty much the exact same thing … It’s really unfortunate … how much it’s like waking on eggshells … nowadays … I think it used to be a lot more fun … more people would see your content … you would get to interact with so many more people … and now … I pretty much see it as a business tool … that’s about it … yeah … What do I see happening in the near future? … I kind of feel … you know … we’re going up … moving on to … bigger and better things … I know just … even the past couple of years … This is the dorkiest thing … I’m about to do my taxes … so … I’ve been looking at the comparisons from the past few years … as I’ve been freelancing … and just seeing how much I’ve grown … even over the course of three or four years … it just makes me more excited … to do more in the future … I know I’m gaining more and more skills … every time I do another performance … meet another photographer … travel to another photoshoot … anything like that … so … I feel like even though … things are a little crazy … big picture-wise … that I still feel like … there’s a space for me to grow … and carve out a little bit more of a spot for myself …