We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Manda Micro a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

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

I knew from a very young age that I wanted a profession in creative arts. I would say around Kindergarten, it’s the only thing I really saw myself doing. At that age it was just “I want to become an artist”. I had two pet fish, one named Pablo Picasso and the other Vincent Van Gogh because I wanted to create art just like them. By middle school that dream evolved into “I want to be an animator”. I grew up reading my brother’s comic book collection and began drawing my own illustrations of myself and my friends as characters in my own world, so my goals shifted from being an animator to, “I want to be a comic book artist”. I was obsessed with Sailor Moon and to this day my style is manga influenced from falling in love with the Sailor Scouts.

By the time I got to high school, my priorities shifted as I got heavy into horror, John Waters movies, and cult cinema. I became a drama student and started writing my own short stories and plays to perform in class or after school during rehearsals. Of course that led into “I want to work in film”. I could see myself doing it all, but I couldn’t figure out a specific focus at that age. When I got to college I enrolled my school’s Film Studies program so that I could focus on becoming a movie critic. I figured if I couldn’t figure out what to focus on, then I can at least start by writing about film.

When I started streaming as a hobby in 2021, I fell in love with the process because it allowed me to incorporate all of my creative passions successfully. Streaming gave me the confidence I needed to take my journey as an artist seriously and begin the process of creating and showcasing work that I’ve only dreamed about.

The one thing that has stayed consistent throughout my life is art. Whether it was visual, literature, film, music, or professional wrestling I’ve always had art to revitalize my focus. I’m grateful to have had the journey that brought me here, and for having parents who encouraged my creativity even when they didn’t understand it. I’m just happy that I can make my childhood self proud by being able to finally say confidently, “I am a artist”.

Manda, 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?

I’m a content creator specializing in professional wrestling and gaming streams on Twitch, as well as a traditional studio artist. I rely on watercolor, oil, and acrylic paint for most of my artwork. My streams aim to influence positive well-being, and guide personal and collective development to viewers through scheduled self-produced variety streams on Twitch.tv. I use my knowlege of film and professional wrestling to entertain, analyze, prompt critical thinking , educate, and empower my community to continue learning and achieve their goals. My overall vision is to create a connection that elevates and brings comfort to people through my artwork and content.

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

The relationships I’ve developed from content creation have been most rewarding for me. I’m not really concerned with monetary success or even being a household name. The lifelong friendships I’ve made from this experience have given me more abundance than I ever expected. Money comes and goes, popularity as well, but the bonds from my community will be here forever. I can’t lose when I still have that at the end of the day.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

People think when artists ask for support that they’re asking for money, so they find it off-putting and walk by/keep scrolling. Support comes in a variety of free ways and it’s appreciated more than people realize. A retweet, sharing a post to your IG story, tagging us, lurk in a stream, telling someone you think might be interested helps a lot. Art has to be nurtured in order for it to grow and something as simple as a like on social media to boost our presence in the algorithm helps us a lot.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.twitch.tv/manda_micro
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nerdzonestudios
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Manda_Micro
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHdaLvdMb9-xhC9d5yrv7AA
• Other: https://ko-fi.com/manda_micro https://www.tiktok.com/@manda_micro