Meet Chris Williams

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chris Williams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Chris, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
I’ve always been pretty expressive person generally, but there’s definitely a moment that I consider to be my “origin story” when it comes to the full embrace of my weirdness and lack of care of judgement.

When I was 16 I used to work at a bowling alley as a children’s birthday party host! Essentially it was my job to oversee the children during their parties, interact with the parents, and keep the energy HIGH! I’ve always been good at interacting with people and having fun 1-on-1 but, at this time in my life, I wasn’t used to performing or captivating large groups. Something fun that we did for the kids was the Cha-Cha Slide. We would bring all the kids out onto the bowling lanes and lead the dance for groups as large as 60 people! During the first part I hosted, when the time came for the Cha-Cha Slide I was SO NERVOUS. I started sweating, I was worried that I would mess up or something would go wrong, I was a wreck! Fortunately I was hosting the party with another Party Host, Tiffany, who was quite a bit more experienced than I was and I knew that if I was too stressed I could leave it to her and just disappear until the dance was over, but I really WANTED to help. I wanted to overcome these nerves and conquer the situation!

Eventually, as I counseled myself through the situation, I realized I had 2 options; I could try to go and half-ass this dance and try to be “cool” and get it over with OR I could go and give it my ABSOLUTE 100% and be as silly as possible and focus on nothing but the enjoyment of the kiddos in front of me. In that moment, I ended up choosing the latter! We rallied the kids, brought them all up to the lanes and got the attention of the entire bowling alley and performed the Cha-Cha Slide! I was actually so nervous that for the good amount of the dance I actually had my eyes closed but I gave it my ALL!

Once we had finished the dance and I opened my eyes I could see that the kids were ecstatic, the parents had huge smiles on their faces, Tiffany was proud of me, and the other customers on the other lanes who weren’t part of the party had joined us and were also having a good time! Everything went so much better than I expected and I was so proud of myself!

It was during that moment and situation that I began to realize that the VAST majority of the time other people are only judging you when they can tell that you’re judging yourself. When you fully embrace yourself and a situation, it leaves little room for others to be critical.

From that day forward I decided that I was going to always going to dive HEAD FIRST into opportunities to have fun and express myself as fully and as completely as possible and I haven’t looked back! 🙂

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Well, I do a lot of things, but cosplay currently has my heart! My friend invited me to join their cosplay group for LA Comic Con in December of 2021. I had never been to a convention nor cosplayed before but I’ve always been a pretty creative guy and was excited to see what I could throw together! I ended up cosplaying Muhammad Avdol from JoJos Bizarre Adventure and through that build taught myself QUITE a few new skills! I bought my first sewing machine and made my first garments, which included a robe and some shorts. I also made my first wig/hairpiece and worked with EVA Foam for the first time! It was such a fun learning experience and everything turned out so much better than I expected! Since then, I haven’t looked back and utilize cosplay to express myself and my creativity.

Something I love about cosplay is how many skills you can build that all fall under the board umbrella of this hobby in particular! Through cosplay I’ve learned how to sew, 3D Print, craft and paint props with different mediums, trim, style, and fabricate wigs, and build a better understand of general and SFX makeup! It’s insane how much I’ve grown creatively via my cosplay endeavors and so far it seems there’s nowhere to go but UP! This year I’m working on a Gyro Zeppeli cosplay that will have me working with prosthetic facial hair for the first time as well as a Hazbin Hotel cosplay that will require me to make wings for the first so stay tuned for those!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Hmmmm, I think passion and authenticity are generally really important when it comes to creative endeavors and navigating the social media space for sure. When it comes to cosplay projects I’m driven by things I’m passionate about and that passion helps me pursue my goals and overcome challenges I end up facing. When it comes to the social media space, I’m authentic not only in my expression of myself, but also in regards to the kind of content I make or am interested in making. Like, when I make a TikTok video or something, it’s ALWAYS gotta be something that makes ME laugh. If create a piece of content and I look at it and I’m not amused then I won’t post it bc I only tend to make the kinds of things that *I* want to see. That said though, that same mindset can be create barriers and be limiting in certain ways because you can be blind to certain opportunities to broaden your horizons or diversify your offerings, but it’s also THAT authenticity, the ability to be honest with yourself and your opportunities for growth and improvement, that is important to engage with as well!

As for a third quality, skill, or area of knowledge I would say CONSISTENCY IS KEY! If you’re interested in trying to pursue cosplay and grow consistently in the social media/professional space, consistency is REALLY important. Fortunately that can be exercised in different forms but more often you can consistently deliver, the better! On the plus side, the better you become at being consistent the more efficient you’ll become which will give you more time back to continue growing and learning, so the investment definitely pays off.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
I was raised by a single mom and she did a lot of incredible things for me and my sisters. One of which was to be a shining example that you really can do anything you set your mind to. I’ve seen my mom overcome so many seemingly insurmountable obstacles with pure grit and determination and it’s truly inspiring. I rarely tend to feel helpless or as though I can’t overcome an obstacle because I watched my Mom do so many things that didn’t *seem* possible, but she made them happen!

I was also raised in a lot of very white spaces, which isn’t a bad thing per se, but being one of the only people who looks a certain way in MOST spaces definitely impacts one’s confidence levels, especially when you’re younger. That said, from when I was about 5 years old, my Mom would have me look in the mirror and repeat this affirmation everyday; “I am smart. I am handsome. I am intelligent. I am a good catch, I am a good catch.” At the time it always seemed kind of silly but in retrospect, I’m so glad she gifted me that affirmation because I feel as though it really did help to ground me and build my confidence even though I was only repeating it to myself. Those elements of my personality almost feel like gifts from my Mom that NO ONE can take away. If there’s anything I know about myself it’s that I am smart, I am handsome, I am intelligent, I am a good catch, a good catch, and that’s because my Momma made me say so! LOL.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Hobie – Jacob Halter (@stillsharpe on IG) Vash – @untoldextacy on IG Isaac – @photony__ on IG Avdol – @shots_by_minh

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