We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Malena Ramirez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Malena below.

Malena, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

There has been so many meaningful projects, not only as a performer but also as an illustrator and podcaster. In theatre as a performer I would say was a devised project called “Song of Home”. It was a project we started during Zoom before the pandemic, before Zoom was a “a thing”. The idea was exploring the topic of displacement and we developed three different stories from women that has been displaced and had to leave their home from different reasons like holocaust, war, abuse, lack of opportunities, slavery, natural disasters etc. It was directed by Monica Payne. It was beautiful and painful, heavy and dreamy. We toured in Poland and Moldova and the audience there really understood what we brought to the table. It was a heavily physical piece of theatre so it was easy for people to understand, because there was not much spoken language. Another meaningful project that I do and it is an ongoing thing is my illustrations paired with the podcast on Spotify “Lesbicast” that I started this summer. I do illustrations on Instagram @malenacomics , depicting lesbian love and my podcast is also about lesbian love, in Spanish for a Latinx/Hispanic audience. I noticed there was a lack of content for lesbians and what we go through in Spanish. I have received messages from all over the world saying how much they love my illustrations and podcast and that it has help them feeling identified and understood. I believe visibility is very important and I am trying to normalize lesbian love.

Malena, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Malena Ramirez. I a proud Puerto Rican. I am a performer/clown/illustrator/podcaster. I do many things, so I am a storyteller with many hats. I love making people laugh when I do clowning or perform and I love making people feel something when they see my illustrations and hear my podcast. I started doing illustrations on Instagram after I graduated from Penn State University with a Master in Acting. I was sad and blue and couldn’t find my place in the world after grad school. Illustrating gave me a purpose. I started just drawing about everything, I was everywhere so nothing was sticking, once I decided to niche and do my illustrations about what I am really passionate about then I started getting more followers and a bigger audience. I do my illustrations in 5 different languages (English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian.) One of my dreams is to do a book about lesbian love with my illustrations and tour Latin America and Europe with the book. I have a beautiful connection with my audience. I respond to every message they sent and I thank them for being there with me.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

“The Artist Way” by Julia Cameron with the Morning Pages has being a very amazing resource for my creative life and for my mental health. Julia Cameron is just brilliant and her exercises have helped me get out of my obstacles and mental blocks so I can create freely and be happier and healthier as a person. Another book that really changed the way I saw creative life was ” Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert. The idea that if you have ideas or dreams is because you can do them and you have to do them and take the time to do them, otherwise those ideas are gonna find somebody else to flourish. They came to you for a reason. I love the idea that you don’t have to be perfect and that perfectionism is the enemy of a creative life. That really hit me hard and made me produce so much. It gave me permission to be possible and believe in what I wanted.

Other books that I recommend are both by Austin Kleon
” Steal Like an Artist” and “Show your Work!”

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

One word: Niche. Find your niche, no matter how small you think it would be. Once I started narrow down my content to specifically Lesbian Love & Lesbian Visibility and not “everything all at the same time” then my social media and audience grew so much. The year I started niching went from 700 followers to 10K. It was truly magic then the work just started flowing better. I started noticing trends and topics my audience prefer and like better than others. I spoke to them directly, ask them questions, engaged with them on my stories. It is very fun now and I look forward to create illustrations for them. It is very rewarding. I see what I do as a service to my lesbian community.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.malenaramirez.net
• Instagram: @malenacomics & @malenaramirez
• Other: Spotify podcast : LesbiCast ( In Spanish)