We were lucky to catch up with Milly Figuereo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Milly, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

Yes, I’ve been able to earn a full-time living from my creative work. It’s a humble life but, worth it and well-earned.

Perception for an actor is that you make a lot of money. And, sometimes you do, and you can. But starting out, it looks vastly different than an established, well-known actor. Your day-to-day isn’t being on set, making movies everyday.

At the beginning of my journey, I did a lot of writing, directing and producing for local commercial projects. I did enjoy it but, I found myself disconnected.  It became work and not something I was truly passionate about. I found myself asking, what’s the point of this and am I really making an impact on anyone’s life? I did a little soul searching and was able to define how what I was doing did, in fact, help others. And, that answer will be different for everyone. But for me, letting go of the sometimes popular perception that acting is a hobby, focusing on what turns me on in this business – truth in storytelling, honing in on my unique strengths and accepting what comes with a loud and clear YES, is what draws me and keeps me in this line of creative work. And, in step, earn my full time living.

WOW – that was therapy.

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

I am a humble girl with big dreams. I was born in the Dominican Republic, where my family still is and came to the States at a young age. I was the entertainer of the family. I climbed mango trees and did monologues. My Mom was a beauty queen, my Dad a lawyer. I am the product of these two worlds. In their own ways, they engrained in me a very strong work ethic, responsibility, commitment to education… and also to have a little finesse and fun with it all. (giggles)

After working behind the camera and in every aspect of production, I became a full-time actor because of my strong connection to story telling and the magic of making movies. I believe that what sets me apart is bringing humanity to every character because in many of situations (of the roles I’ve gotten to play so far), I’ve lived it. Yet in others, it’s not too far off on what could of been, had I just taken a left, instead of a right. I believe we are all going through the same life experiences, at different times in our lives. That we are more similar than different. And that we are all doing the best we can with what we know.

I live and work in the SouthEast market. I am the proud Mami of a young son, who is the light of my life. We have a full life outside of work that includes daily dance battles, popping wheelies on our bikes, many road trips, hiking, fishing, cooking, gardening – you name it. We have a lot of fun!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Top of 2012, I was working at a firm and a bunch of people had done a bunch of nonsense with a bunch of money. I had no idea. The whole place went down and fast. It was terrible to witness and shocked me to my core. My nice, little, comfortable life was turned upside down to no fault of my own, leaving me confused, angry and knowing I needed to make a change.

I went home to the Dominican Republic for months. Connected to my family, to nature, to the most basic, simple things in life – saltwater and fresh air. I realized then that I wanted to inspire people, to move them, make them laugh and cry, to feel. And, maybe it sounds funny but, acting was my way of doing that, something I felt in my heart I was meant to do.

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

My main goal is to show those little girls with big dreams that they can do anything they set their minds to, whatever their heart yearns for.

My mission is to do that with grace, humility, hard work and unwavering faith, always remembering where I come from and the people I represent.  That first includes my family, then branches out to my ancestors and all of the women that came before me.  The sacrifices my Mom made – to start over, pivot, adapt, to let go of some of her own dreams – all for her family, weigh heavy on me.

I feel a very strong responsibility to not let life’s curve balls stop me from following my dream.  Instead, to use that as fuel and knowledge to keep moving forward and teach my own son the resilience, sacrifices and hard work it takes.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.millyfiguereo.com
• Instagram: @themillyfiguereo
• Other: IMDB.me/millyfiguereo

Image Credits
Kelly Paxton Kevin Tydlaska-Dziedzic The Lowdown with James Yon