Today we’d like to introduce you to Julya M Mirro.
Hi julya, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve had a couple theatre companies over the years – in Cary, a youth program in Holly Springs, worked with a program in a prison on KY, etc – but I started little independent theatre (LIT; yes, its lower case LOL) about 12 years ago with a reperatory production of “Hamlet” and “Rosencrantz & Gildenstern Are Dead” in Raleigh. Over the years, I’ve produced and/or directed pieces through LIT but I found that in my work as a professor and my travels, I’ve collected a bunch of amazingly talented students and creatives. Most of them have struggled to find support – editors who understand unique capitalization in a children’s story as an example, and I started to help those people by connecting them to others that I knew (or helping them myself) – through a network of these fundamentally understanding humans who also experienced these challenges. Concurrently, I was working with business professionals, helping them with personal shopping (how does a female corporate executive dress appropriately in the board room without trying to meet outdated expectations of a male-oriented suit, as an example). Long story short, little independent artists (LIA) was created as a place to officially connect creatives to each other, and to support business professionals with creative solutions to any issues – company restructuring, organization, document creation, processes and implementation, improv-based team building and role playing/training, interview prep… and then creative coaching, mock auditions, editing and publishing, program development and implementation, creative programs, children’s theatre programming, etc on the creative side. We strive to be the support that we have all found lacking in the past, and particularly in this current social landscape. All of our programming focuses on the intersection of active listening, social awareness, and provocative discourse – finding authenticity both in the individual and the interaction, regardless of the circumstance. We believe that people are basically good, creative, and desiring to be seen for tho they truly are, and we strive to encourage them embracing their creative energies (everyone has them!) and enjoying what makes them different from others while seeing themseles as a part of the whole. Its not about hiring us, or using our company specifically; its about making sure that anyone who reaches out to us or attends any of our programming finds or has access to the person or people who can help them move their vision, idea, or self forward. We are collaborative with other humans, groups/organizations (like The Funk Creative Community and Creative Greensboro), and companies. Its a life’s work, and my 30+ years of teaching through communities and universities has helped me understand where people are coming from, and kept me aware of the variety of experiences and environments people come from, so we (at LIA and LIT) can meet people where they are, and help them on their journey to where they want to be.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
LOL
That question amuses me – I don’t know anyone who has a smooth road in life, but I admire those who might be lucky enough to experience that life.
Some of the struggles I’ve faced/the company has faced are not particularly unique unto us – the primary one is financial. We applied to become a 501C3, and are listed in NC as a non-for-profit, but with the new rules and regulations (changing still under this administration), we were denied and have to reapply and pay the fee over again! This makes applying for grants and other (dwindling) financial support opportunities more challenging and harder to find (also because they are disappearing), so the company has to be more self-sufficient. Generally, we support our creative programming with dollars earned from creative coaching and editing services. Most of our youth programming only pays for itself, and working full time to support and promote others oftens means a lean paycheck for whomever is working on behalf of those others, so its generally my full-time job to work behind the scenes and develop the dollars to support our social and larger creative projects so we can continue to provide opportunities to others. For example, we often cast a play non-traditionally, giving people the chance to participate in a professional show (all our actors are paid via profit-sharing) with a role they might otherwise not ever be given (we don’t cast based on experience, age, gender, race, sexuality, ‘look’, etc – we look for the best actor for the role and cast based on that assessment). This is a vital contribution to society – it is an artists’ responsibility to show the world what it is, and also what it CAN be.
Another struggle is the lack of affordable space in the Triad (or anywhere, really). Not having a dedicated space leaves us itinerant and that means constantly balancing rental fees with anticipated profits. It is our long-term goal to have an old hotel or school buidling where we can develop classroom spaces for all different arts, including culinary, so that creatives have a place to come together and collaborate with dedicated spaces to their specific art.
We’ve also had some challenges finding the right board members. What we do is actually fairly unusual – our focus is more idealized than specific, making it difficult for some people to see the bigger picture – for example, how helping this person edit their book is related to social justice. Everything has purpose, and we are always looking for people who are committed to our goals, and the most important is promoting the artist in everyone who wants to embrace it.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I think Im known for daring people to be authentic to themselves and good humans to each other, compelling audiences and students to face themselves, to ask the difficult questions, to see their part in society, and I am definitely known for questioning the ‘norm’ and defying expectations.
I specialize in creating programming that is based on self-reflection and -awareness, questioning what is accepted to ensure people are intentional in their choices – whether its in the corporate world or the classroom. With a background in sociology, psychology, and theatre, I try to focus on being present, adjusting a performance, event, or lesson to meet the specific audience – flowing with them instead of talking AT them. Working with someone who wants to be the next Yo-Yo Ma is really no different than helping a CEO bring their start-up team together – its all about active listening, reflecting, and encouraging them to take next steps; I think that attitude makes us different from other groups, and is certainly the kind of comment I hear the most when clients talk about why they work with us.
I am most proud of my clients and students – former and present. I’ve had students go on to Broadway, run their own film production company, teach – continuing their creative journey, whether its noted by others or in the way they build their lives. Seeing clients navigate their way from seeking validation and lacking confidence to starting their company or publishing their book… Regardless of the person, their decisions, or the outcome, its amazing to be a part of that adventure, and I take a lot of pride in the fact that they keep in contact, reach out to collaborate or to share their accomplishments, even years later. I believe the greatest thing we can do as a human is celebrate each other, and recognize our differences are delightful and they don’t need to be devisive.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
Oh my! I don’t know how to list everyone – every client, student, friend… but I’d be remiss if I didn’t include my board (Brian Clark, Abbie Ferrance-Wu, Bobbie Liggett, Mason DuBose, Shayla Doyal), my Page to Stage performers for Impact Journey School (Carsey Long, Leon Coronado, Myles McMillan) and the Impact Journey School administration (Norma McLamb, Kevin & Sarah Althoff), personal cheerleaders (my parents Richard and Candace, my sibs Brooke and Nick, Savta and the Shermans, the Wu family, the Raynes, the Kennedy family, my daughter Caity), and former students who constantly keep me in the loop and continue to work with me (those not yet noted above: Louis Martinez, Rowena Southerland, J L Reed, Patrick Clanton, Silas Henry, Sam Danford, Lily Brogan, Gerardo Lugo, Livian Kennedy, Keegan Kennedy, Katie Ward, Connor Whittington, Breayan Roman Sedano, Hunter Stansell, Willow VanDeventer, amongst others), and local collaborators (Tiffany Christian, Todd Fisher, Sherri Raeford & Shared Radiance, Joylyn & The Funk Creative Community, et al).
My mentor has passed, but Marvin Sims will always be the voice in my head that keeps me going.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wearelia.org
- Instagram: we_are_lia.creatives / littleindietheatre
- Facebook: LIAcreatives / littleindependenttheatre
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirro-julya-0b6736137/
