Meet Alina Garcia-Burke

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alina Garcia-Burke. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alina below.

Alina, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

Confidence and self-esteem do not always come easily, especially for artists. The world tells us to shut off the parts of ourselves that are more out there, and to measure our worth due to our productivity. Daydreams then, are not valued. Because of this, it can be difficult to grow up as a creative person. I have especially struggled with my confidence due to my depression. Sometimes my brain tells me I am not good enough, but I’ve found that I have my highest self-esteem when I am doing fulfilling work. For me, that is making theatre. When I allow myself to focus on my art, I feel good about myself and I surprise myself with what I can achieve. I think the best way to overcome low self-esteem is to do what makes you happy. I still don’t always have the amount of confidence I want to, but I recognize that developing confidence is a process, and I’m taking steps in the right direction by trying to make myself happy.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am a writer and theatre-maker who recently earned her MFA in Contemporary Theatre and Performance from The New School. I like to amplify queer stories, particularly histories, to show how long queer love has existed. I also play with the connection between magic and the power of human emotion in my work.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Resilience– the ability to pick yourself back up again and keep going. I think that is particularly important for those of us at the beginning of our careers because there is a lot of rejection out there and it’s so easy to get beat down by it sometimes.

Collaboration– Being able to work well with others can make or break you. Life is easier when you have people you trust and can work with.

Humor– I think it’s important to not always take everything so seriously. Even tragic tales should have comedic moments.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I am primarily a writer and would love to collaborate with directors and producers with an interest in telling queer stories. I am also interested in collaborating with a composer to develop a musical. You can email me at [email protected] if you’re interested in collaborating!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Baranova

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