Meet Jhonu Alicia

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jhonu Alicia. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jhonu, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

A few years ago, I realized, the only way to truly keep creativity alive is to make it external. I used to believe that because my creativity was personal, it must also stay internal. It’s for me and no one else could possibly understand it, or worse: They would understand, and hate me for it. It was a silly thought, but I had it until I found myself pep talking with creatives and scolding them about not putting their art in the world and hoarding their creativity. I realized, “Oh, I’m a hypocrite… I need to stop that.”

So, I came up with the acronym R.A.N.T:

Revel in your passion
Aspire to inspire
Navigate creative thought
Trust your voice

to share with other creatives, but also to hold myself accountable. I believe to RANT is the only way to keep creativity alive. Sharing art, sharing creativity; motivates and inspires, which births more creativity.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m in a bit of a rebranding phase, but my brand is RTL, which stands for Ranting through Life. I am a multifaceted creative, on a mission to live as my fully realized creative self but also help others do the same. My podcast, Ranting through Life: Life Hacks for the Creative Soul, was a great way to tackle that goal for a while, and I’m so happy I was able to produce 87 episode that were able to motivate fellow creatives, but in the last few months of podcasting I felt like I was doing the latter half of my mission however I wasn’t allowing myself to be a fully realized creative. Recently, Houston had an arts festival called The Fade to Black Arts Festival, and I had the privilege of performing and directing in the festival. The play I directed and a short film I directed both received runner-up acknowledgements. I’ve written for and competed in the World Monologue games, where I’ve made into regional finals with 4 different monologues and last year I made it to world finals. Though I don’t think I’ll ever stop acting, I’ve enjoyed pivoting my focus on the business and non-performance sides of my artistic career. I have a degree in theatre, and now in school studying business with a focus in the entertainment industry; I am writing a chapbook, and a couple of short plays; My creative partner, Eric Lewis, with Engolio Co. and I have been talking about producing 3 more short films. Overall things are feeling and looking very positive creatively.

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?

Honestly, I feel like I was lucky, because I was raised by someone who is a creative. My mom was an opera singer and did movies and plays and hosted a tv show, so growing up when outsiders told me that being an actor, or a writer wasn’t realistic, I didn’t believe them. I feel like as creatives when we decide this is thing we want to pursue, we must find the real-world people who did the thing we want and use that as a base. These careers aren’t easy, but they are realistic because real humans are doing it.
Through, I have a degree and I’m in pursuit of another one, I am not of the camp that college is a necessity for a creative career, but I do believe we as creatives need to continue to learn. Learn as much about your chosen career as you can but also learn adjacent crafts. Comedians should check out acting, playwrights should observe creative writing, and so on.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

Overwhelm and I are not strangers. I have struggled with anxiety most of my life and at times it has been crippling. In the last couple of years, I have learned to manage my anxiety and overwhelming moments. The best advice I believe I can give for overwhelm is to acknowledge you’re overwhelmed and… breathe. I used to try to avoid overwhelm and then I’d get anxiety attacks that led to more overwhelm, which led to more anxiety, which led to… well you see the pattern. Now, I greet overwhelming situations with, “Wow, this is a lot, and I am not an octopus”. This phrase reminds me that I don’t need to do everything at once, and the fact that I am human means I cannot. I make checklist, I delegate when possible, and I have learned to say “no” in times I use to say “maybe?” I also find taking a break to walk, journal, or paint helps to refocus my mind, and the overwhelming feeling isn’t as daunting.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

I am the photographer for all the photos that aren’t on stage.

The photographer’s name is in the the corner of these photos and the actors are list left to right

Jhonu Alicia & Kaleb Womack

Patrice Anderson, Ty Fisher, Jhonu Alicia

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