We were lucky to catch up with Eileen Dover recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Eileen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

When I was young, 13 to be exact, I had already come out of the closet as gay to my family. I was very rebellious and wanted to get into gay bars and clubs to be near people who were like me but I was so young. I used to sneak out of the house at night and go downtown to the gay bars but often I wasn’t let in. I saw drag queens coming and going and I had a very feminine side so I decided to go into the bathroom at a McDonald’s near one of the gay clubs to get dressed in drag and I used someone else’s id and it worked! I got in! The trouble was I didn’t know what I was doing. Eventually the queens read me so fiercely but also guided me to do better with makeup and hair and I got a look. A friend that I’d met in the clubs said that I reminded him of a queen he knew who’d used the name Eileen Dover, but sadly she’d died of aids. I asked him if I could use the name to honor her and he was elated. Since then I have trademarked it and I’ve used it as a stage name for over 30 years. I have heard of other drag queens using the name and usually don’t mind but there’s one out there who will be getting a cease and desist. I don’t want to erase anyone, I just want to protect what I have created and the person who I’m honoring and I feel quite disrespected when some other person is asked to respect that and doesn’t care. I’m speaking to you in Texas… Austin … Dallas!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As I mentioned I started doing drag in order to get into clubs underage. I needed to find people who were just like me and I was also dealing with ptsd from the bullying, catholic school and I didn’t know what to do with myself so I just kept going out. Eventually I got good at my craft of doing drag, impersonations, telling jokes, lip syncing, and all things entertainment. I was a good time gal and I had youth on my side. I started getting paid to go to clubs and eventually I came up with my own style, honed talents like spinning (being a dj) and being an emcee. I learned how to work a door and I was in business.

I didn’t have the wisdom in my 20s to look at drag as a profession and the good times took over. After years of working in clubs I wanted more and realized that if I wanted more I’d have to work hard and stop playing during work. I took classes in acting and in journalism and I began writing a column in a publication called In Newsweekly, I also wrote for Bay Windows, The Rainbow Times and many other LGBT publications. I started DJing regularly and even created a company where we’d all pile into a van and perform at birthdays and holiday parties and events all over New England and New York City.

I currently act, write, perform, and DJ. Im reprising the role of Petey off Broadway at The SoHo Playhouse in Nora Burns’ The Village A Disco Daydream, I’m doing a one woman show on June 16th at Pangea on 2nd Avenue in New York City, I’m co-hosting a party to benefit the making of a film about The Pyramid Club, I’m playing a small part in an independent film being shot this summer, and a music video. Season 2 of my podcast is on hold but in the works and a night featuring real house music and some other fabulous music is also in the pipeline. I also have a clothing line that is by request only at the moment and I do visual art.

I tell everyone I work with that I will break my back making their event memorable if they hire me for an event. If you want some fly by night drag queen or party planner or dj who’s showing up because they want the job or they want to be famous you can find that cheaply and almost anywhere these days. Give me a call when you’re ready to get to work. Call me when you have a reasonable budget and the desire to make something special. I also work a 9-5, I live in NYC. Years ago one could be an artist or an entertainer and survive. It’s much more difficult now but I have gathered the skills over the years and I give everything I do 100% which leaves little room for a personal life.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

COVID is something that every person and artist went through and we’re still recovering. I had kidney failure and I was diagnosed with type one diabetes during the pandemic. I then had foot surgery and broke my ribs in a fall as a result of being off kilter from the foot surgery. I had to rebuild my body, my brain and my spirit to get back to square one. It was a terrifying time and I was lucky to have support from my family and friends and the resilience within myself to push onward. I’m busier now than ever before but it took 3 years to climb out of the muck that was Covid. My advice to anyone is to stay healthy. Make sure you look after yourself because you never know when you’re going to be in demand and you need to be present physically, mentally and spiritually to do your best.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn saying yes to everything. I also had to unlearn self destructive behavior. When I was around the clubs and always at a party and that was my work it was so easy to fall into the trap of needing to be entertained myself. I’m in the business of entertaining others and making memories for people who want to leave their troubles behind for an hour or two. It’s ok to have fun but making sure I was doing what I had to do for my job which is my passion became central. I had to unlearn being a guest at my own events. Now there’s balance but when I was younger I was wild. I don’t recover from a night out as quickly and if I do have a night out I make sure I have no obligations that letting my hair down will interfere with.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eileendover.net
• Instagram: @eileendover_official
• Facebook: theeileendover
• Twitter: theeileendover
• Youtube: eileendovernyc
• Other: Please follow me on Facebook or Instagram for all the latest!

Image Credits
Photos Miss Guy John Dellarocco Matt McGrath Gail Thacker Alex Nights (illustrations) Photographed with Jimmy James, Boy George, Michael Musto