Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to AlxZandria. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi AlxZandria, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
It seemed like a normal, sunny day in the ninety’s. My older siblings had left for school a couple hours prior, while the rest of us were home with our Parents. At the time, I was just a year old, and born the twelfth child of thirteen living siblings. The others had passed due to sudden infant death. As my pregnant Mother held me in her arms and watched my siblings play in the living room, there was suddenly an unexpected knock at the door. I have no recollection of that day. But what I do know, is that day, changed the course of my life forever. My parents opened the door to see the children they sent to school earlier that morning, sitting in the back seats of Child Protective Service vehicles. As my older siblings cried out for our parents, the rest of us were taken out the home one by one. I was the last to be taken in that moment because my Mother refused to let go. This caused CPS to apply a little force. Although I had no understanding of what was happening, I know I felt the energy in the room. I know I saw my Father’s hopelessness, heard my siblings cries, and felt my Mother’s deep sadness as we were taken away. I have been feeling the heaviness of that moment ever since. No matter what I do, no matter where I go, that dark cloud is always there hovering in the not so distant background!
I almost lost my life in the first foster home due to starvation. After being nursed back to health in a children’s hospital, I was placed with another family who raised and would eventually adopt me at age nine. During the first six years in their care, I had to periodically stay with different respite foster families. I also had behavioral issues so I had a TSS worker with me often and saw a psychiatrist. I was aware that I was a foster child, couldn’t fully understand why I had to have social workers with me all the time. Even though I’m sure they meant well, I remember feeling embarrassed because none of my peers needed anyone to accompany them. Due to my circumstances, I felt different than other children and that disposition made me an outcast at times. Around this time I started discovering my passion for the arts. I would sing, draw, write poetry, and do all kinds of creative things to tune the world out. Eventually people started noticing and would ask me to sing for them, draw their portrait, etc. My first time getting a taste of audience applause was age eight. There was a talent show at school and I went on stage for the first time in life, performing a song I had written. The crowd went crazy, and at that moment I knew I wanted to feel that feeling as often as possible. A feeling of acceptance. From that day on I performed at every school talent show, acted in every school play. entertained people in my neighborhood, and was always the center of attention. Folks would say “That little girl is going places”. Sharing my gifts with others made me feel happy and I believe I needed that, because without it, I often felt sad.
In the attempt to fill the void, sometimes I would search for love in the wrong places, which lead to some traumatizing experiences, and a chapter of self harm! I recall looking at myself in the mirror often, wondering who I was, always believing if I had my birth parents in my life, I would feel whole. Unfortunately, that day would never come with my Father because he died from cancer not too long after we all separated. Till this day I believe my Father actually passed from a broken heart. Knowing that he was unable to keep his family together, probably did a number on his pride as a man. As for my birth Mother, I had visitations with her and my siblings until age six, but when she lost all her rights due to not meeting court orders and requirements, the visitations were terminated. When I got of age I was determined to find my biological family, but unfortunately reuniting with them wasn’t the fairytale I envisioned all those years. It actually brought me more pain seeing that what I imagined my family to be, wasn’t the reality. It made me finally understand why we were all separated. Though a very hard pill to swallow, it was the moment I began to grow up!
Although it’s clear that some experience’s in my childhood were mentally and emotionally damaging, there were also countless good times, and those are the memories I choose to embrace. I also recognize how blessed I was to be born with multiple talents. Sometimes I feel like God gave them to me, in replacement of everything I may have lacked. Moreover, I recognize how blessed I was to be adopted, because so many foster kids never are. So far, life has taught me to count my blessings and to keep my head up at all times because no matter what we go through, there is always someone out there worse off. Instead of allowing the darkness to destroy me, I’ve learned to use it as fuel. I dived in deep into my gifts. Those gifts birthed big dreams within me, and those dreams always give me something positive to work towards. When folks ask where my resilience comes from and how I’m able to keep going no matter what, I give God the glory. God allowed me to go through certain things so I could be strong and have a powerful story to share with the world.
I’m also grateful for my significant other, my adoptive mom, and all of my loved ones who support what I do. Their belief in me, helps me stay on the path towards my goals.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a multi-hyphenate, born and raised in Philadelphia. I’m proud to be from a city with such a rich history in the arts and is known for birthing some of the greatest talent. From Jill Scott, Will Smith, Meek Mill, the endless amount of artist who came through Gamble & Huff’s Philadelphia International Records, and countless others. There would never be enough time to name every talented star my hometown introduced to the world but just know I’m inspired by them all. When I go out there and do my thing, I remember the Legends from Philly who’s footsteps I’m walking in. They are proof that a philly girl like me can reach great heights with hard work and dedication. In the Entertainment Business, I do everything from singing, songwriting, acting, creative writing, drawing, painting, print modeling, etc. As a singer I perform live with my band, entertaining audiences with an engaging show. I also have original music released in the genre of R&B. In 2023 I was nominated “Best Live Performer” at the P.U.F.A. Awards, and in 2015 I was awarded the “Momentum Award” for best original song. Singing, performing, and making music will always be my number one passion, however acting comes in strong second. I started acting as a child in school productions, then went on to make my professional acting debut in 2013 after landing the lead role in the musical stage play “Blue”. In 2022 I made my screen acting debut, co-starring in Richard Stackhouse’s feature film “It Was Written” which is currently streaming on Tubi TV. Since becoming a film actress, I’ve had the pleasure of acting in multiple projects. The upcoming film I’m currently most thrilled about is “Carmen”, which was written, and directed by Maurice Paramore. I play the main character lead and I’m excited for the world to see this body of work. “Carmen” has such a compelling storyline and the character is someone I relate to in a lot of ways which truly helped me bring her to life. As an actress, I was also blessed to receive my first acting award in 2023. I took home the P.U.F.A. Award for “Best Supporting Actress” after acting in “A Complicated Affair” produced by Jimmy DaSaint. Over all I have been very busy building my career and growing my special brand of AlxZandria. Moving forward I plan to continue to turn my dreams into reality, continue expanding my reach, and elevating. I also plan to continue being an inspiration to others who may have come from similar backgrounds. When people see me perform, listen to my music, watch my movies, or witness any of my creative abilities, I want them to feel moved. It’s so important that my journey has impact and my gifts touch others. I believe God gives us gifts so we can bless others. So as I continue developing the greatness within myself, I pray it will inspire the greatness in others.
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?
1) One thing I feel has been most effective on my journey so far is the strong belief I have in myself. When you have big dreams or goals that seem unattainable, not everyone will believe it’s possible. Some may even try to discourage you. This is why a strong belief in yourself is so important. Whether you have a million supporters, or none at all, always believe you are capable of achieving greatness and make a choice to never stop working towards it. This solid belief will help you stay the path.
2) I’ve also now truly understand the power of investing in yourself. The more you invest, the better the quality of your product or whatever it is you’re selling. With great quality, you can attract bigger and better opportunities. People you admire in your industry will begin to take you serious and may even be willing to assist in some way because they can see the value in what you’re doing. So as often as you’re able to, invest in your brand and strive for the best quality!
3) Lastly, I recognize the importance of studying your desired industry thoroughly. A lot of people starting out, as artist especially, tend to jump in without an effective game plan or any real knowledge on how the business works. As a result many wound up giving up because they never see the results they hoped for. For the ones who do manage to reach their desired heights without educating their selves on the business, they typically wound up being taken advantage of, or burning out fast because they don’t know how to sustain the success they acquired. This is why I encourage anyone in the early stages of their journey to learn all you can. Study the people who came before you and learn from their mistakes. Find a good mentor, get some training, develop your skills, and whatever you do, never be in a rush to reach your destination. Life is not a race, its a journey. I’m also a strong believer in the saying “When preparation meets opportunity, great things happen”. With all of that being said, I recently started taken courses through NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. I saw that there were areas that I still needed to gain understanding and insight, so I made a decision to further my education, which is an investment that will pay off on the back end. I’m also currently doing a number of other things in my private time to learn and grow so that this year’s approach to my career will be ten times more effective and produce even greater results.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
The past year (2023) has proven to be one of the best years I’ve had so far, career wise. I accomplished a number of things from receiving awards, being published in magazines, expanding my network, performed on a few stages I always wanted to, and landed my first real leading role in a motion picture. I have a lot of work to do moving forward, but I’m grateful to have had a year of consecutive wins. It’s a testament to how far I’ve come from that troubled foster child, and proof that it doesn’t matter where you start. It’s about how you finish! 2023 truly set the tone for this next season I’m stepping into. Over the past year I feel my mindset has evolved a lot as well. I’m doing things now, that I used to shy away from, like educating my self on the entertainment and music business. Even my dreams and goals have expanded a lot. The vision is more clear, and more specific which is causing me to be more intentional as I maneuver in the business. Over all I’m extremely proud of the growth I’ve displayed over the past year. Now I’m focusing on the areas growth is still needed, so that I can make 2024 even greater.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.AlxZandria.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alxzandriaofficial?igsh=NjQzaW9zd3hkZDJh
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alxzandriamusic?mibextid=hIlR13
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alxzandria-jones-3937a82a5/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@alxzandriaofficial?si=C38EVHzMxPTe5ooB
