As long as I can remember, I have always loved writing. However, the first time I told a story at a Moth stage it was meant to be only as a way for me to get over my fear of public speaking. As a child growing up in Guatemala, I suffered from a speech impediment. I stuttered. That problem was aggravated when my family moved to Chicago undocumented in the mid 80’s. I found myself without a voice, not only due to my stutter but also due to my lack of proper work documents and lack of knowledge of the English language. It took me many years to get my immigration documents in order, to learn to control my stutter and speak English with a sexy Latino accent. But it wasn’t until the day that I went to a Moth event that I forced myself to speak in public for the first time. I had no idea that sharing my story was going to transform my life.

Sharing my story on the Moth stage was the beginning of my storytelling career. Since then I have won over 80 Moth slams (the most ever by a storyteller). I have shared my stories all over the country and even participated virtually in shows across the globe. I now do storytelling presentations and conduct many storytelling workshops at schools, colleges, and companies. I am the proud creator, producer and host of “80 Minutes around the World”: a storytelling show that features the immigration related stories of immigrants, refugees, their descendants and allies. We even have a podcast that features some of the stories from our shows.I am also a published author and have performed sold-out solo shows based on my books and stories.

There are many grants that are only given through recommendations, and those grants that artists can apply to often require a long application process. It seems that only those in a position of privilege are often available to access grant opportunities.