It is a summer afternoon in Wisconsin, the heat is sweltering, and you can smell the grass of the neighbors being cut. In one hand I have my doll Yazmin and in the other I have my other doll, Jade. Yazmin and Jade are planning their next girl’s trip. Sasha, Chloe, and Dana are laying on the floor across the way, on their way to join Yazmin and Jade. Not realizing I was practicing character development and building backstories at a young age, I unknowingly fell in love with acting.

 

Belonging to a large family of ten, my head was always in the clouds. “You are always going against the grain!” my father would constantly remind me. To my siblings it was no surprise that I was to be the first to leave home at eighteen to flap my wings and live life my own way.

 

Going into the Marine Corps, wearing the “Alvarez” last name, and being a leader that was Black and Mexican was the proudest I have ever been of myself. Not seeing many examples from where I was from, guiding and mentoring Marines was what I lived for. When I became a martial arts instructor for the Corps, I thought I found my passion. It was when I injured my ankle and needed surgery did I began to feel as if I was losing myself. I was no longer capable of fulfilling my heart’s desire. It wasn’t until I was stopped in a boutique by the owner, to be asked to model some clothing that I started to feel more alive. I missed being creative and I was losing that in the Corps. Thus, I made the decision to finish my contract out and not reup it, but rather explore that realization. I went from roundhouse kicks to heels ripping the runway.

 

With my unique ability to adapt to a new environment, I set out on a new journey relocating to California. With five years of experience in modeling already, I set out to find my place in the industry. I had an “ah-HA” moment while modeling, models were silent actors! I enrolled in acting workshops, and then I found what makes my mind, body, and spirit full. This whole time I was on a journey to act. My life experiences gave me more to play with to bring different characters to life.

 

While in the process of the journey, I opened my own business called Protégée. This business was geared towards giving models and actors a safe place to practice, rehearse, learn new skills, and build a community.

 

Being often described as eclectic, a balance of class and grace with spunk and quirk, you could say that I describe myself to be like an onion. On my spare time you could find me do a variety of different things such as indulging in anime, practicing a foreign language, painting, reading, meditating, running, or practicing a form of martial arts.