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

Hi Peet, thanks for joining us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

Growing up as the only average size person in a family of all little people (mom, dad, brother, and sister) I actually always felt very outcasted and misunderstood. When I was really little I always assumed that this was the way that all families looked- that it was normal to be born into a household of a little person family. But as I grew up and started going to school and started paying more attention to the world around me, I realized that this was not the case. I would go to school and see other kids being lifted in the air by their dads, and that was a complete shock to me. I would go to doctor appointments with my family- or even just to the store with them- and everyone around me would assume that I was random lost kid and sometimes even ask me things like ‘where’s my family’. In which I’d respond ‘They’re right here next to me…’

So yes, growing up it became a big part of my life to constantly feel misunderstood and mischaracterized by the people around me. Just being around my family, I felt so outcasted and different- so much so to the point where I started to wish that I was a little person just so that the world would see me as a part of my family. But this is definitely something that has shaped me into the person that I am now and the art and content that I create. I have grow to of course love that I am different from the rest of my family- and I now use my perspective to create media that not only educates the world about dwarfism, but also helps inspire my audience to embrace differences and uniqueness!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Peet Montzingo is a multi-faced artist with a curious and kind heart, whose talents span everywhere from creating original content, to making music, writing children’s books, and so much more.

From a young age, Peet knew he was destined to work in the creative field. First finding his love with music in playing the Trombone, Peet then went on to be a member of different boy bands- all of which continued to fuel his love for music and art. Through his love for music, fascination with mysteries of the world, and deep bond with his family- Peet skyrocketed to fame, surmounting over 42 million followers who find themselves deeply engaged and supportive of his endeavors.

Taking a humorous and light-hearted approach, Peet often raises awareness for dwarfism and mental health with his whimsical content- shining a loving light on his mother and siblings, all of whom are little people.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My goal as a creative and with all of the media I release is always to inspire my audience to embrace their unique and authentic selves. Growing up feeling misunderstood and constantly outcasted by my peers, I know what that feels like and I know that I don’t want any to have to go through that alone. Not having any type of guide telling me that it’s awesome to be different, I am driven to create content and art that tells my audience exactly that- to embrace their true and honest selves, and to love the people around them for exactly who they are, imperfections and all.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I have found that a lot of people who don’t work in the creative field fail to understand why my schedule is so sporadic and chaotic. For people with a *quote* “normal” job, it’s very standard to get up at the same time every day, work your shift, and then go home and chill until you go to bed and repeat the cycle- and there is nothing wrong with this. It’s a majority of the world who follow this type of a pattern- but this couldn’t be further from what my daily life looks like.

I am constantly at the whim of what the day demands and constantly trying to make the most educated decision at every business intersection. There are always changes in the digital world, which sometimes feel hard to maneuver when all I want to do is engage and connect with my audience. Some days I’ll feel inspired and my drive hits me at noon so I’ll get caught in my craft until 3am; and some days I’ll see an event happening on the other coast and feel inspired by an idea I could do there, so I’ll just uproot and go, in hopes that I’m making the right decision and there will be a solid return on investment. Sometimes I won’t sleep for 72 hours but need to put a smile on for a red carpet or somehow stay motivated to get an edit done. Honestly, it feels like ADHD on steroids at times, but it’s this craziness that makes my job fun (but stressful) and makes me love what I do even more. And this is definitely what people not working in the creative field have the hardest time understanding. Finding that work-life balance is tough, and my friends can get a little frustrated with me sometimes when I am hard to make plans with, but I also know that they know I function with a different calendar. I just feel lucky they will always be there to support me no matter what (and vise versa).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://littleimperfectionsbook.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peetmontzingo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peetmontzingo
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@peetmontzingo
• Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@peetmontzingo
  Spotify: find me as Peet Montzingo !