We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lolita Chanel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lolita, 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?
Through the art of drag I gain the love and appreciation for my body that I felt I never got until recent years. I now have so much love for my body and what I can do that I know other people should respect it just as much.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Lolita Chanel is an experience. Through the art of drag and lip syncing, I am able to not only dance and celebrate myself, but I am also able to pay homage to my struggles and journeys that have brought me to where I am today. I have this innate ability to walk into a room and have everyone know exactly how I’m feeling. I offer a strength to those who question if they have enough for themselves, I offer acceptance to people who feel like they have been alienated, and I’m never one to shy away from a party. This August you can come see me pass the torch on as we crown the next Mx Charlotte Pride.
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?
The first one I would have to say, would be a very important phone call I had earlier in my career. I had just finished doing a show and I came home with my best friend. As I sat on the floor of his room, a friend of mine, who I would consider also a mentor called me. They had expressed extreme satisfaction with what I presented that night. They were appalled at the make up I was doing, because they knew I could offer so much better and so much more. It was the reality check I needed to know where my drag was supposed to go and side of the journey where I Became a Chanel.
The next event I would say that really shaped I was, was the night I won Miss Charlotte newcomer. This is the title that I have been preparing for competing for quite some time, but I did not ask for help from anyone except for input advice, so when I competed that night with the help of my late drag daughter lychee, I was able to come out in top and win the title in 2018. Words could not describe the shock and happiness I felt in that moment when I never would have thought I could have made it out on top. And I did it all on my own with the support of my drag daughter.
My last event of notice, would be leaving my first drag family. I used to be a member of what is known as the Haus of Terror. Under the guidance of Vegas Van Dank, I had immersed myself through the world of drag under the name of Van Dank. Haus of Terror was known specifically for being a different type of drag, now formally known as alternative drag. But I could feel myself pulled to the glitz and glamour of burlesque and inspired by their polished esthetic with all things rhinestones and shiney. And as my love for burlesque grew, the less desire I had for alternative drag. And as time progressed I felt a pull away from my then drag family. This all came to a head the night I had been eliminated from Charlotte’s Supermonster Competition. After 4 weeks in the bottom, it was then I knew this world wasn’t for me anymore. Shortly after another Monroe of mine had accepted me as their new child, and Lolita Chanel was reborned. I still stayed in contact with other members of the Haus of Terror, especially Vegas who is someone I would consider to be a close friend to me now.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
There is a phrase that people like to say that “a jack of all trades can be a master of none.”
I believe this to be false, because while I know my strengths and what I do amazing, I also know that having the knowledge of what to do and how to do, is what has propelled me to being self-sufficient when it comes to drag. I may not always know how to do everything, but I will always give my best shot and try to learn what to do. I have never been one to ask her to do things for me, I have more than a person that wants to be taught how to do something so I can do it myself. And a big part of that is because I do struggle with expressing what exactly I am looking for, but I also will never be taken advantage of again.
In 2016, I had given my first shot at the title of North Carolina entertainer of the year. Due to having a short timeframe from when I got my ticket to compete to the actual pageant, I had trusted someone who I thought was a friend that had the abilities of hairstyling that I did not know at the time; to make my hair for this pageant. As time passed I kept hearing excuses to why I wasn’t getting the hair I had asked for. Eventually the night before the pageant arrived and they gave me something that was incredibly small and mother at all what I had asked of them. I had to use a few things I had in reserve to try and get by. I ended up that weekend winning 4th Alternate and was very proud of myself despite the issues I had going into this pageant. Because of this, I vowed to never let myself get taken advantage of and that I would be a belt o do all my own things from there or die trying.
Contact Info:
- Website: Linktr.ee/LolitaLChanel
- Instagram: Instagram.com/LolitaLChanel
- Twitter: X.com/LolitaLChanel
