Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alyssa Mei Liu. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alyssa Mei, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I grew up in a very international household. My parents weren’t American so I usually saw life differently than a lot of my friends growing up. Since my dad is from China and grew up during a famine, I really learned to value the little things and not take the blessings I had for granted. Growing up with little, gave me the confidence to put myself out there and fight for a lot because I felt I had little to lose.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My main career is a traveling burlesque circus performer. I travel the world doing aerial silks, Lyra hoop, fire eating & dancing, pole dancing and acrobatic burlesque. I also model with companies like Playboy & Maxim. Currently, I’m touring with the company Strutnfret as the aerialist for the Blanc de Blanc show in Australia aboard The Pacific Encounter. In my downtime, I’ve been working on writing a book about my life in the underground Hollywood scene and how the recent events have impacted my generation and industry.
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. My Time As A Missionary & Being Homeless – I really learned to live on little and see the world in a broader aspect. It really prepared me to be a starving artist because I had seen others with so much less than me and made me more determine to take advantage of every small opportunity I was given.
2. Business School – Whether you go to school or not, it’s essential as a freelancer to be able to properly market, negotiate and sell yourself as an artist. I’ve seen a lot of artists fail due to their lack of organization and discipline. Having these skills are definitely helpful.
3. Becoming A Model – I never meant to get into modeling, it happened on accident during quarantine. I was exposed to a lot of money and wealth at that time. Instead of going the sugar baby routine, it taught me to see how large life could be and what I could gain for myself if I worked hard enough.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
The hardest thing I ever had to do was learn how to face myself so I could face others. I had a fairly traumatic past which made it difficult for me to communicate. Taking the time to work through my trauma and learn how to properly share how I was feeling about things aided me tremendously in both my personal and professional life.
Contact Info:
- Website: SelfiePop.com/alyssameiliu
- Instagram: Instagram.com/alyssameiliu
- Facebook: Facebook.com/alyssameiliu
- Youtube: YouTube.com/alyssameiliu
Image Credits
Chris Bull Patrick Troy Julian Andres Alexander James
