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

Hi Julio, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

As a child I knew that music and performing was something that I loved to do. Growing up in St. Croix U.S. Virgin Islands I was always surrounded by music. Music & Food plays a huge role in our culture. My cousin and I used to put together little Shows for my family and as I grew older I started performing in Youth Steel Bands. Because of this, I learned about the sacrifices of rehearsing and performing for audiences at an early age. In High School I started singing in the Choir and eventually became a singer in a Calypso/Reggae Band. This is where I really became serious about performing. I learned about recording in studios, background singing, being a showman, gigging, and rehearsing for hours after school sometimes until midnight.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

While in High School, I also performed in two original musicals with Tony award winner, Lillias White (The Life, Fela) and Broadway Composer/Director, Timothy Graphenreed (The Wiz). Upon completion of High School in 2006, I attended the University of the Virgin Islands as a Music Education Major. At this time, I also won the title of Mr. St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. After one semester, I decided to Enlist into the U.S. Army as an Active Duty Soldier. In 2008, I competed and won Military Idol, which was the military’s version of American Idol. This allowed to be selected as a performer in the 2009 Army Soldier Show. The Army Soldier Show is a live Broadway-style variety production comprised of all military members. I traveled and toured around world entertaining other military members and their family. At the end of the tour, I was ordered to deploy to Baghdad, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, for 12 months. During the deployment, I was selected to direct the Gospel Choir at the Chapel on base.In 2012, after returning from Iraq, I was again selected to perform in the Soldier Show.
As the tour came to an end, so did my Active Duty contract. I then decided to continue serving the country as an Army Reserves Soldier until May 2015. I founded my Theatre Company “JPete Theatre Company” in 2014 and produced five Main Stage productions, in Houston TX. I also worked with several Theater Companies in the Houston area. I attained my Bachelor’s Degree in Vocal Performance (Theatre minor) from Texas Southern University in 2017, and currently work as a Theatre Teacher in Houston Independent School District, where I won campus “Teacher of the Year” award in 2019. In 2020, during the COVID-19 Pandemic, I created a Children’s YouTube channel called “Mr. Pete’s Playhouse.” The channel has grown to around 5000 subscribers and thousands of views. In 2020 I also created the book series “The adventures of Khari” and published the first book “Khari Goes to the Fair” in 2022. I am currently working on the second book “Khari’s Big Splash” which will be published some time in 2023.
I was recently a guest speaker at a conference in St. Croix and during my time there I was able to visit with the Boys and Girl’s Clubs and some other Summer camps, and also meet so many kids and families that either knew my story or watch Mr. Pete’s Playhouse. That was one of my proudest moments to date. To see the joy on their faces and listen to their stories of how Mr. Pete’s Playhouse has helped them at home, or how much they love the songs or it in the classrooms, and to be able to speak at the conference and share my journey with the audience, that made it all worth it. That trip home to my island redefined for me what my purpose is and why I do it.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

As a Combat Army Veteran I struggle with numerous health issues as a result of deployment. Unfortunately, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), Depression and Anxiety is one of the most challenging ones. There are many days/nights where I am triggered and feel like I have no where to turn to for help. People may look at me singing and dancing on screen and think that I must be the happiest person in the world with no issues, but that is far from the truth. When I turn off the camera lights, it is a mental struggle. There are alot of people in the world, especially kids, that struggle with mental health issues and I always try to focus on that and hope that by me recording this song or reading this book that it can help that child forget about their struggles and just smile and be happy for that moment, just as it does for me.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Building an audience on Social Media can be very challenging. However, i’m tried to not focus on audience numbers and staying focused on my “why, ” My reason for doing it. Once you focus on that and continue to push out quality work, then the audience will eventually come. I think of Mr. Pete’s Playhouse as a slowly baked pie in the oven, not a quick frozen dinner in the microwave. So my advice would be figure out what is your reason for doing it and who your target audience is. Then stay focused on that and create and promote yourself as much as possible, even when no one is watching, because when the audience does show up you want to have a body of work already ready for them. I also try to post content to social media at least 3 times per week. That way people are always seeing it. I also look for opportunities to physically get out into the community to promote.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jpeteproductions.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/mrpetesplayhouse
• Facebook: facebook.com/mrpetesplayhouse
• Twitter: twitter.com/mrpeteplayhouse
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MrPetesPlayhouse