You moved from Cincinnati to the Dallas area, right?
I moved from Cincinnati, Ohio. All my family’s from there. All my extended family still lives there. We moved to Texas when I was about three. This is when my memory starts. I don’t remember anything before that. Moving to Texas as a child was such a traumatic experience.
Do you think your personality would have been different if you had stayed in Cincinnati?
I would have been a completely different person. I don’t think my soul would’ve changed, but the way it came out would be different. I don’t know if it would be for better or worse, because a lot of different pressures made me into the diamond that I am. And I wouldn’t forego those pressures, because I don’t know if they would’ve squeezed me into a diamond.
If I was in Ohio, I’d have had more family support. I probably would’ve been in a community where I saw more people who looked like me and felt more understood and seen. But I don’t really think about the “what if,” because I’ve got other stuff to think about. I’m not sitting around thinking about how a hypothetical would’ve changed me.
I do wish I had gotten to visit my extended family in Ohio more. I’m not really family-oriented like a lot of my friends. One of my best friends, Katie, she’s Cuban, and her family is so insular. But because we’re so spread across different states, I never had that unity. I mean, I can create it in my adult life now, with the friends I have and the community I’m building, and you know, my family.
There are so many influencers from Texas.
Yeah, the Texas influencer is a different breed. It’s its own thing. I just know any entertainers that come from Texas, I don’t know if it’s because the culture of standing out is a thing in Texas. We’re different. We carry that on our shoulders, and it kind of primes you for the entertainment industry. Or maybe it’s that Texas is so big that you have to be big so young to be seen at all. Also, we have extreme subcultures in Texas and so many different places that you can find your niche when you’re young.
