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

Erica, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I dunno. I wasn’t really a smart kid. I had straight A’s but that was only because I did the assignments and turned my homework in on time. The high school I went to wasn’t exactly the best so the bar was pretty low. they were just happy that I wasn’t questioning their authority and trying to “stick it to the man.”

I was going to pursue a career in sex therapy somehow at Syracuse University but then I realized I giggled and blushed every time I would say the word “sex” so I decided to do the natural thing and pivot into animation.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Erica. I’m like… five feet three inches on a good day. I draw. I animate. And for a good price I can wax your car. This isn’t a euphemism for anything. I just like waxing cars. My therapist said that’s my own “self care.” But sometimes I attempt to do comedy. I say “attempt” before my haters come for me… I have a plethora of haters…

But back to my respectable career. I’m primarily an animator. I worked on some projects including Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, Marcel the Shell, The Last of Us: Part II and more importantly… I’ve animated for a bunch of commercials you’ve probably skipped on YouTube or don’t even see because you have YouTube Premium and are better than me.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Reactions. I’ve been told I have a deadpan facial response to things… so I guess I feed off of that. I’m like Hannibal Lector for people’s reaction. That analogy might not be correct but I’ll keep it in because I stand on “bidness.”

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

Oh wow. This took a turn. Look… as someone who doesn’t come from a privileged background and owes $125,000 in student debt and needs to pay bills like rent, health insurance, car insurance, etc… I’m not going to let other people who are privileged guilt me to not do it. If you wanna do it with your art, then do it. If you don’t wanna, then don’t. People should respect the way you want to use or sell your own art. I’m just too lazy to figure it out. Which, coincidentally, that is the title of my upcoming memoir: “Too Lazy To Figure It Out.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://eristra.com
• Instagram: @captain__eo @air_eh_kuh
• Other:

Image Credits

Liam Woods (@analoguepapi)
Zoe Lee (@djzoejou)
Cary Qian (@cary_qian)