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

Maria, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

When I was in my junior year of high school, I performed a speech about a woman who was sexually assaulted and the feedback I got from the women who watched it inspired me to do something I never thought I would. At the time, I was on the route of becoming a lawyer. I wanted to be a brain surgeon but lord knows math makes me violently cry so taking the MCAT exam was so out of the question. But those were my dreams. I was a top student with incredible academic history. But the reactions and stories I’d get from women who were survivors, like me, during a 2 specific performances I was doing on rape culture at a speech & debate tournament held at Harvard University and the Bronx High School of Science inspired me to forge my parents signature on early graduation documents (without telling them) and graduate a year early. That was the day I found my calling, and I decided to studying acting in hopes of gaining a platform and using it for the sake of advocacy for women. I applied to college and didn’t tell my parents until I was practically already accepted. They were not too happy about that haha. Next thing I knew, I moved from Miami to Manhattan at 17 years old and got my degree in acting for film. From there I started my activist work by writing speeches in the form of poetry and performing them at events all around nyc.

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.

Well my family would call me an anarchist, truthfully they aren’t too far off the bullseye haha. But I just call myself a woman who refuses to conform to the tradition image of what a woman is supposed to be. And I hope to inspire women to grow their fire and make it seen, make it heard. The rebels, the ones who “don’t fit in”, I want to be a microphone for their voice. An instrument to tell their stories. My main focus is acting in films, especially ones with strong messages. Storytelling is my biggest passion, I feel as though stories (whether written or performed) is the catalyst of human empathy. We may not understand certain things in life, but we learn through hearing the stories of others. And it’s an honor to be a part of that. Aside from that, I’m a women’s activist and poet. I mix those two into a perfect cocktail to make people listen to uncomfortable subjects that are often brushed off. I’m also a painter, a real estate agent, a musician, a composer, a writer, a dancer, anything creative- sign me up!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Yes absolutely! Acting is fun and all, but there’s bigger things at hands. Actors are handed fame and tend to not use it for the benefit of anyone but themselves. The industry was always a selfish place full of ego, but what would happen if more celebrities used their voices to support actual noble causes (and not just for PR reasons). What would the world look like if celebrities genuinely were fueled by making the world a better and safer place? That’s what I want to find out, I want to be the change I want to see in the world. I want to diminish the unrealistic beauty standards put on women and girls when they see an actress on tv. I want to be a voice for the women who have been survivors of assault yet blamed for the crime. I want to eventually create a program where young women in other countries who are forced into arranged marriages as children and are subject to domestic violence can seek asylum in the US. I want to bring awareness to the crimes against women in Congo, to female genital mutilation. There’s much to do and not enough people doing anything about it.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Being able to create something that invokes emotions in others. Being able to make people feel, and I mean really feel something. Or simply just being able to create a space where someone can forget their daily troubles and enjoy a film, a poem, some art. The most incredible thing we can do as human beings is feel, the biggest gift we have as humans is being able to make others feel something- sometimes even without words.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Marixkarolina

Image Credits

Valentino Bornancini & Javier de Blas