When I take good care of myself, it lifts my spirits, boosts my confidence, and makes me feel strong. When someone tries to throw me shade, it bounces right off. I look those haters straight in the eye, keep my chin up and shoulders back. Because I know I'm a fierce queen - and they know it, too.
Alyssa Edwards
A good dancer is not necessarily defined by great technique, skill, or ability to pick up choreography but by confidence. When you feel the music, it penetrates to your soul. Everybody's a dancer. The greatest dancer is someone who is willing to dance, not afraid.
I don't get cute, I get drop-dead gorgeous.
There's beauty in everyone's mug and body-ody-ody, but taking care of those things requires a lot of work, energy, and effort.
I think that people are looking beyond the wig. I think they are saying, This isn't just a costume; there's a person behind this. If this costume, this character, this person has this kind courage? Why don't we share that?
Don't be anything you're not. Be yourself. And people will either celebrate that or say, 'It's not for me.'
You decide how to show up, and you'd better come correct: the way you look, what you say, how you act and react. No excuses! Get in front of the mirror and own what you see. You may have to drag your fabulousness out of hiding, but it's there.
Sometimes I wake up, and I'm like, 'Don't dream it. Be it. You're really living the dream. You are everything you've ever desired or set out to be. You're doing it.'
It is the greatest reward for me to share my story, my art, and my work. And people receiving that and being thankful and grateful, it once again resonates deep within because it reminds me that I am so much bigger than being a drag performer.
This whole idea of editing, not one time I can tell you, not one time has a producer ever asked me to say something I did not want to say. I will also say this about 'Drag Race' producers: I will stand by the show and the people there because they have changed so many people's lives for the better, and I'm one of them.
I think I'm just always myself, and I think that's what's most important to me. Just be genuine. Be authentic. Be who you are and who you were meant to be. And celebrate that. Celebrate all of that.
The greatest gift I've ever received is being a teacher.
You can't say the word 'queen' without a little bit of 'drama' in front of it, right? It comes with the territory. Throwing shade and all that is part of the gig, but it should all kind of be in fun at the end of the day. When you start turning down that dark road where there's no light? Sometimes you put the car in park.
I think it's inevitable to evolve if we allow ourselves.
I think what happened is I learned my strengths, but more importantly, I learned to embrace my weaknesses.
When you combine a Texas woman in a competition setting with her child, she gets very serious.
I remember going on stage for the very first time as a solo act, I was probably, like, nine or 10 years old. And being backstage, I started having anxiety... I was literally getting sick.
I'm a very real person that has overcome a lot, so I think I'm relatable.
I have so much to be thankful for.
During the day, I'm a business owner. I'm a teacher and a mentor.
If people don't ask you for their opinion, you don't have to share it, but if you are asked, be honest.
People know I like to laugh and have a good time. Even when I'm sassy, it's still kind of stupid-silly.
You don't want people to think, 'Oh, she was a person who was bitter because she didn't win.' You can't always win at everything.
My father was very strict.
I'm kind of living a Bruce Wayne life and then morphing into Batman, but I'm glad now Batman comes out during the day. That's kind of like how drag was: we were called upon at night to make people smile and laugh and clap.
You don't have to win 'Drag Race' to really win. And I am living proof of that, thank you Mary J. Blige!
Nobody gets a free pass in life, and that's awesomely true for a drag queen or anyone else in the LGBT community. But I like to say, 'Don't be bitter, get better.'
My brothers and sisters started having children at a very early age, and I was just there all alone at one point, like, 'What do I do?' And I thought the only thing I can do is create mine, make my family, and I did that.
I always had to fight for the chance to get people to hear me.
Go out, live your best life, encourage and share your laugh, and make other people laugh.
Positivity attracts positivity.
It took a lot of years of me on my own, coaching myself, to look in the mirror and love the reflection.
As much as I love to travel and be on stage and perform, I knew at a very young age that I wanted to be a choreographer and a director.
I am my own biggest fan.
I was waiting for the world to change. I'm no longer waiting; I'm part of that movement. I think our role as performers and entertainers is so much bigger.
Hiking in drag is hilarious!
I hope to continue to support, to inspire, to motivate, to encourage... in the hopes that maybe the world can get a little bit more giggle.
It's like you're waiting on the world to change, but I'm actually living it, because I wonder: If there was a DragCon when I was a child or even a search engine or 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' maybe my father would have been different. Maybe our relationship now wouldn't be different.
I always wanted to teach dance. I didn't know I'd have a TV career.
I'm just authentically, unapologetically myself. In and out of drag, in and out of the gig, in and out of the studio. My friends know. Miss Thing Over There wakes up 8 A.M. and she's on. The sun, the rain, the snow, whatever's going on outside, I'm ready.
When you fight for something, you fight the good fight. You go for it, you never stop. You get knocked down, and you get right back up. That's what we need to be teaching these kids. For that matter, even some adults.
My kids stand out at competitions. They're products of me. And you can't come to Beyond Belief and have a flamboyant teacher like me and be basic.
I am a business owner. I'm a teacher. I think Justin's actually kind of plain, kind of nerdy. But when I morph into Alyssa, I'm like this... Well, this creature, everything that Justin couldn't be.
I've changed as a person because of the art of drag.
I knew I wanted to be the Steven Spielberg of dance.
I've always been the rock of my family.
I think when someone is so passionate about what they do, sometimes emotions come to the top, and you just get to that boiling point where you have to let it out.
I remember when I started performing, I thought, 'Why is this something that we do after hours, underground?' I was waiting on the world to change and the idea of this art to become mainstream, and I think that's what 'RuPaul's Drag Race' has really accomplished in such an eloquent way.
I remember going to the first ever DragCon, and I know this sounds crazy, but I've never experienced a ComicCon or anything like that of this nature. So it was a full carnival of extravaganza. I was a little bit more prepared the second year because I was excited to see everything.
I started doing drag because I needed a creative outlet for myself.
