We recently connected with Tom Catt and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Tom thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your professional career?
Before I blossomed into the Venus flytrap you see today, I was a retail worker and you learn some LESSONS when you work in the world of retail and food services. Especially in late stage capitalism. The first important lesson I learned is that people, as a whole, a generally illiterate and refuse to read anything before approaching you. The second important lesson I learned is that corporations do not give a FIG about the workers working and just care about profits. Corporate greed has virtually ruined the retail industry…and every other industry in this country and it’s why I am pro-union. The union busting in this country is abhorrent and reprehensible. The fact that most politicians are bought and paid for by these corps. should only ignite the fires of change in the public, but because trans people use a bathroom that aligns with their respective gender and Bobby and Chuck can still marry each other…progress has been hindered significantly. The third and final important lesson I learned, among others, but we have other questions to get to, is that you aren’t a “family” you are co-workers, you can form bonds and even fraternize outside the work space, but ultimately you are there to provide a service to the public and you are easily replaced. No matter how good you are at your job, no matter how capable, no matter how much the customers like you…you are still replaceable. Those are some of the hardest lessons I learned working in retail.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I have always been a creative person. When I was younger I wanted to be an actor or a painter. My story is definitely one that many can understand and appreciate. I had a deep love of disney, animation, and storytelling when I was younger. Disney villains were my closest allies and it was then I realized I had the ability to mimic and impersonate those characters. From that little spark a boom happened. Granted the boom took until I was in college. I was always told to “be quiet” “be seen and not heard” and “to just shut up” when I was in a performative mode. To give you an example of my upbringing, I LOVED George Carlin, and stand up comedy. Would listen to albums and laugh myself sick. My laughter seemingly annoyed my family to the point one of my siblings put a note on my computer one day “George Carlin 1937-2008” as if his passing would somehow deter me from listening and laughing. I had a dreadful time grappling with my sexuality and coming out. I cried many tears over my families reaction to something truly out of their control.
These experiences only continued to fuel a fire in me that I know was always burning in me…I just never had the courage to pursue it until recently. When I started going to conventions was where I could freely be myself and share in my creativity. I’d had done drag since Halloween 2008, but it was in conventions that I really was able to thrive. I first started making small pieces, and then my own costumes and in 2019 I started competing professionally as a cosplayer. All while doing this and getting better with teaching myself how to sew, I’d tried my hand at podcasting, talk shows, interviews and started making a name for myself. Tom Catt, has been my name for years and it’s how many people, from many different worlds, know me. Now in the cosplay world I was renowned for my creativity, attention to detail, and how I immersed myself into the characters I would dress up as.
With all of THAT exposition out of the way, during the pandemic I finally decided this was my time to start putting myself out there as a voice actor. I’d been a vocal mimic for years, been trained as an actor, been a stage actor for years and I’ve had a dream of voicing, to no surprise, a Disney Villain. With that said I started training, started educating myself, started building a studio, and finally started emailing agencies, agents, casting directors, and other voice actors. While all of that is going on I also started doing drag professionally. Something I was terrified to do, given my families history with my queerness. I’m a trained singer so I sing live and have had great success with drag and celebrity impersonation. My drag mother, Toni Homeperm, and myself also tour as The Golden Girls mother daughter duo, Dorothy & Sophia, also with great success.
The question of problem solving can be answered pretty easily…I solve the problem of sadness. I solve the problem of anger and woe. From a drag standpoint I’m just a clown with a beautiful singing voice. Like Totie Fields, one of my comedy heroes. When it comes to acting the problems I solve for the directors and producers is creating and cultivating a character and a characters history to tell the story they want to tell. Whether on stage or in a booth I am to provide a service for the overall creative team. A piece in the giant puzzle of a production. In terms of what sets me apart from others is a self aggrandizing question. I lead with kindness and compassion, something I only see sparingly in the worlds I’m involved in. I’m always willing to listen, be silent when I need to be, I take direction well, I’m facile, at least that’s what Charlie Adler’s told me. Allowing myself to be open and trusting upon meeting allows my clients to feel secure and supported. That’s what I strive to be, a support. I was also toying with the idea of being a therapist because I listen and speak with kindness. This is what I’ve been told by others. I am far too self aware and self conscious to think too highly of myself.
I’m honestly most proud of my resiliency and tenacity. I’ve gone through so many tumultuous moments in my life where I was ready to just give up and leave this mortal plane, but I know I would be letting so many people down, including myself. I have far too much talent and far too many friends and family who would be devastated by the lack of my presence. I try not to be too full of myself and I humble myself pretty often, especially when I look at myself in the mirror, but through it all I am here. I am present. I am good. I am still going and I have no intention of stopping.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I can say this with absolute certainty. Social media is one of those mesmerizing beasts where ANYTHING and NOTHING goes simultaneously. You can post a little clip from your life and it’ll garner millions of views, or post something you worked your behind off for and it’ll only gain you a measly increase in views. Just keep posting and be consistent. Someone will love it and someone will repost it and that’s how it starts, but you gotta post it knowing it won’t go anywhere. That’s the mystery of Social Media. There’s no code to be cracked, no puzzle to unlock. Just post and see what happens. Authenticity also goes a LOT further than trying to get to “go viral.”
The same way you find and book work is the same way you find and grow your internet presence. I use the “Snack Daddy” Stephen Johnson as a PRIME example of finding what works and playing to your audience. The old adage goes “You gotta get a gimmick if you wanna get ahead.”
I think the hardest part of social media is the consistency. You not only have to be a content creator, but you have to post consistently. I see my drag mother and business partner Toni Homeperm doing wonderfully on Tik Tok, but it takes work and being able to post what people will want to watch and knowing the business of people’s attention spans in the ever evolving world of social media content. Find what works for you and keep at it.
I also know a few people who are just off the grid and finding success in their own way. The MOST important thing to remember about social media, which is something I wish more people understood, is that a significant number of followers does not mean you are any less talented, tenacious, or terrific. The number of followers attached to your brand is not indicative of the type of person you are. Just be patient with yourself and good things will come.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
As you’ve read I try to be as politically educated as possible. I do not think of myself as the most intelligent person in the world, nor the most intellectual. I own that I still have a lot to learn in the grand scheme of things, but what I will say is that there is no such thing as a non-creative. Everyone is capable of creativity and creativity can be found in the most unlikely of places, with that said we are living in a wildly capitalistic society where money reigns supreme. Keeping that in mind the life of the creative is always chaotic because one day you’ll be making money hand over fist, booking work, doing great, and then nothing for a while and it leads a person to be lucrative and try to make money some other way. That’s the biggest issue with being a creative and it’s something all creatives have to take note of. If we lived in a different world where we, as creatives, could make a living off of our art, more people would be creative.
This is the curse of being a creative. As we continue to let billionaires and millionaires go unchecked and continue giving tax cuts to them, the harder it’ll be to survive as a creative. We must be vigilant, thorough, smart and ready for anything. Many drag friends of mine, creatives with their own businesses, felt the sting of political vitriol being slung at the LGBT+ community and it’s hurt drag businesses especially in red states. I have to say, without fear of persecution that children are safer at a drag show than at their own schools. That’s based on the fact that the leading cause of death for children is gun violence. These are facts.
The world of being a creative isn’t inherently political, but with republicans consistently trying to silence or shut out queer creativity, voices, and people it’s become just that. To be creative is to allow yourself to be feeling, emotional, and compassionate and in the world republicans want, from what I’ve seen, they don’t want that. This is the reality a lot of creatives, specifically queer creatives, are facing.
What can be done is just more understanding and openness to discussion. Allowing yourself to be open-minded enough to engage in discussion with someone who’s views don’t align with yours is one of the most beautiful and gracious things a person can do. Now I’m not saying go out and talk to people who wish you harm, but talk to people in your world and try to see if you can see eye to eye on some things.
Being a creative is so much more than just creating in this day and age. It’s a movement, it’s powerful, it’s emotional, it’s beautiful, and it’s going to be here far longer than any politician and political movement will be.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thattomcatt.com
- Instagram: @thattomcatt
- Facebook: @thattomcatt
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomcatt/
- Twitter: @thattomcatt
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/tomcatt
- Other: My discord is @thattomcatt I apologize profusely for making this so political, but it’s what I, and many of my creative friends, in all facets, have seen.
Image Credits
Wicked Witch: Wes Smith/The Portrait Guy Winifred Sanderson: Cosplay Central – Steve Wicked Queen: Cosplay Central – Steve Drag photos – Self HeadShot – Jerry Neeko