We were lucky to catch up with Dilcia Guzman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Dilcia, so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?
I will be completely honest here: despite being the only one in the room that looks like me for a good amount of my formative years, it never gets easier. I have spent years feeling isolated in the fact that I was the only one in the room for long time, but it wasn’t until 2021 that it all changed. During December of 2020, I unfortunately had a relapse; i tried confiding in a close friend about it, but i was brushed off by them. They even had the nerve to say I was faking my relapse for their attention, and that was the moment I realized i needed to focus on myself and that i would need help. I got extremely lucky a couple of weeks later, when my supervisor at one of my previous jobs checkin in with and was able to provide me with the resources to take the time and do so. In the beginning of 2021, I went into recovery while also becoming better version of me, and just… live for myself. I spent a good majority of my life molding myself into unspoken expectations from others: my parents, friends, my professors, industry leads, etc. I genuinely felt exhausted living up to these expectations, and it affected me on a personal and emotional level. I just wanted to be myself, and hope that I wouldn’t suffer for it. Over the course of the year, I learned how to enjoy my own company, rediscover old loves, and make new ones. By the end of the year, I started picking up Acting again, and sure enough, I found myself with far more opportunities because of embracing myself. I started doing more background work, made a return to theatre in the Inland Empire and LA Metropolitan Area and started working as a Party Princess with a multitude of Entertainment Companies across Southern California. All if this spawned from sheer joy of life and wanting to experience as myself.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
The best thing that came out of pursuing acting once again is that I was able to find a new route of promote myself online via Tok Tok. On the platform, I had the opportunity to post content and be as creative as I could be in the midst of the initial lockdowns. I eventually worked on cosplaying this one particular character named Mirabel Madrigal from Disney’s “Encanto” (2021) and boy, did it open doors! My initial video went viral instantly, reaching up to 11 million views, and the cosplay progress videos racked up thousands more; each view led to my current job as a party princess, which is where I cosplay a multitude of characters and perform for various events such as birthday parties, meet and greets, etc.and I LOVE IT! As a child, I grew up watching so many Disney films and it just made sense to continue the same magic that led me into this industry. With Enchanted Characters, the main company I work with, I get to make so many memories with these kids and their families, and I now get to live in Los Angeles to make my dreams come true!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
For me, the biggest impactful qualities for me were consistency, routine, and self-preservation. I found myself playing the comparison game with so many peers, but it never seemed to help me out. Once I let go of try into be someone Im not, I found the best version of myself. It took years to find that out, but the trial and error is what made me happy in the long run.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
I will be honest, the biggest challenge for me right now is consistency. It’s so easy to fall back and relax when things are good, but then you find yourself not as hungry as you once were. It’s not until you reach the edge of a cliff that you wake up to catch yourself from falling and hitting rock bottom again. I apply this to many aspects of my life: my fitness journey, my stamina, audition techniques, etc. It can take a lot to stay on top of things, but it feels so much better when you’re on the horse again.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dilciaguzman.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dilcia._.guzman/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dilciaguzmansings/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DilciaOfficial
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAXEv0-5uR5FSMIN_rozbHA/
- Other: Tik Tok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJAf7SVd/
Image Credits
Jesse Dinkel , Iah Bearden-Vrai, Jan Glasband, Jon York, Eric Yaras
