Today we’d like to introduce you to Evita Colon.
Hi Evita, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started my journey with the birth of my son at 23 years old during my senior year of college. I yearned to create something with meaning that I could leave to him and at the time I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life, I just knew I had a gift of writing and performing spoken word. I took a theatre class in college and was inspired to create a play of my own using the poetry I’ve written. I debuted Speak to My Soul: A Montage of Voices at Shippensburg University in 2014. Inspired by Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When Strength isn’t Enuf, I created a choreopoem. Much of my poems at the time were about my experiences as a Black woman and I started to dig a little deeper into the Black students on campus by asking them questions about their experiences and writing poems about them to include in my choreopoem. I worked with a cast of 25 of my friends and fellow students to put together this production with no experience and the result was shocking. People in the audience and the cast felt moved, empowered, and inspired by the content of the show. As a cast, we discussed things that troubled us in the Black community, things we were proud of, and things we’d like to change. We found our voices was the change we sought. After the show, people in my hometown asked me to bring the show to a local venue and I worked to bring that into fruition. Without much experience, many established theatres said no. However, one gave me the chance to produce the show on their stage for free. They were expecting a reading and some of my loved ones actually coming to the show. The word spread about what we were doing and a few people turned into 2 sold-out shows in a 350-seat theatre. Inspired by the show, people began booking me for workshops, community events and I hosted many of my own. Eventually, I transformed the name of the play, Speak to My Soul, into the name of my production company aiming to empower, educate and elevate the Black community. I hoped the things we said on stage evoked dialogue that would lead to change in our communities. As I evolved and listened to the people I’ve met over the years, the mission evolved and blossomed into an experience that people of all backgrounds enjoyed and felt deeply. I went from a performer and director to a community activist, facilitator, and consultant for people, businesses, and organizations. I brought my son to every event and show determined to remember why I started with hopes he would learn to love who he is and the people he comes in contact with throughout his own journey.
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?
This has been the most challenging ride I’ve ever been on. It’s one thing to enjoy something, call it your passion, and seek out the validation of everyone you share it with. It’s another to find out it’s your purpose and follow that feeling inside you to pave your own path. I found this is my purpose and it’s not something I only want to do, it’s something I have to do. It is my purpose to help others find the voice within themselves and set themselves free. It is my purpose to speak out on the things we don’t want to talk about especially if it’s something that is inhibiting us from progression. It is my purpose to evoke healing in myself and our community and do it with love. Spiritually, it is challenging to be the person that know what they are destined to do. There was a long period of trying to stick to the script while life threw me curveballs. Trying to fulfill your purpose when it isn’t bringing any income has been one of the hardest challenges at the beginning. Living in a world that is hyper-focused on capitalism, if it doesn’t make money, it doesn’t make sense. I wasn’t receiving sponsorships or funding because it was too risky to support an organization that may hold you accountable for how you treat others. I taught myself how to do everything because I did not have the money or resources to do what the community needed me to do nor could I support myself and my son. I set up my company in a way that it could self-sustain. Everything we sold: tickets, merchandise, workshops, went back into running the organization and I had to utilize people that would volunteer. It was difficult because as I gained popularity, people assumed I was sitting on a lot of money and that was not the case. I went through seasons of finding people that believed in me enough to stick by me, genuine people. As a woman in entertainment, I’ve come across many people that appeared genuine but took advantage of me and my gifts, exploited me, stole from me, and treated me in ways that caused a lot of trauma. The most challenging thing of it all was that I couldn’t give up, I wouldn’t let anyone or anything defeat me. At my lowest, I was living in Philadelphia, homeless, and as I was trying to find a place for my son and I, I was being exploited for my talent for a place to stay. I was promised thousands and sold a dream that would never come as I fell deeper into a hole. Many of the people around me didn’t know what was going on because I was too embarrassed to share that my dream was not working out and the feeling that it would seemed so distant. I didn’t want to hear another person tell me to let it go. Now my challenge is maintaining balance between work, family, and friends. Sometimes work keeps me busy and away from people I love so I’ve been working hard to restore relationships and prioritize things that matter in my life outside of work. When you’re used to working so much, you feel like leaving it will send you back where you began and it’s not true. I learned the hard way; I need the love and support of those that love me more than anything I could lose in my career.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am the owner and founder of Speak to My Soul LLC, Editor in Chief of BLK Voices Magazine, and Co-owner of A Concrete Rose, a Black bookstore, micro-winery, and intimate performing arts space. I found calling myself a multi-hyphenate creative is the most fitting as I wear many hats. Speak to My Soul is a creative arts agency that uses the performing and media arts to empower, educate and elevate. Our services include: production, live entertainment, publishing and distribution, community involvement, and creative consultations. We provide opportunities, development, and training for creatives of color through our Soul Tribe Collective program to eliminate the “starving artist” narrative. From my experiences as an artist, I learned many artists, especially Black artists, do not have the resources or funding to live out their dreams. With Speak to My Soul, we help them train to become creative professionals and elevate themselves while also empowering their communities. We provide a collective of support that not only helps with creativity and professionalism but who they are as individuals. I started off my journey as a poet and that is what I’m most known for but I’ve ventured into directing, writing (film/theatre/books), rapping, acting, and publishing. Last year I self-published BLK Voices Magazine through Speak to My Soul LLC. with the intention to provide space for the Black community to express themselves into healing and a year later it has taken off. With the same mission to empower the community, I’ve ventured into opening up a brick-and-mortar Black bookstore/micro-winery with my wife, Solise, called A Concrete Rose which will be opening this Spring in Lancaster, PA. I am proud to bring such an amazing business to my hometown and the area I grew up in. I am proud of allowing myself to learn and grow through this process. Everything I do aligns with my core mission to empower others. It was quite natural to evolve an idea like Speak to My Soul into another business, A Concrete Rose, where people can come into a space and feel free to be themselves and feel celebrated while they’re there. Last year, I experienced being on a Billboard in Times Square. It was a dream come true but I was most inspired by the way it inspired others. I am very proud of that accomplishment. It feels amazing to bring my people with me on every part of this journey, it gives us all a sense of hope. I am different from others because I create opportunities for myself and others when it seems impossible. Even at times, I didn’t have money or resources, I created with excellence in mind. I show gratitude every step of the way because I vividly remember not having the things I do now. I remember feeling like all of this was intangible. I make sure every connection I make with others is genuine and I help people feel seen. Even when my content is about my experiences as a Black woman, it touches people that don’t look like me and embraces those that do. I move with intention and I listen to my soul, the Most High, and my ancestors for guidance. I know who I am and whose I am and I allow myself the humanity to make mistakes and grow from them. It teaches me to do the same for others personally and professional. That sets me apart from everyone.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Communication is the most important to my success. I grow from what I learn from others. Learning how to speak and actively listen to others helps me learn what they need, I need and the community as whole needs. When you listen intentionally, you begin to hear that many of our concerns and problems are the same. With that knowledge, we can begin to create solutions together. I like to think of myself as solutionary with everything I do. I need to be able to hear outside of myself to create solutions, test them out and listen openly if those things do not work. Communication is how we learn to be compassionate with others, empathetic and it also helps me establish clear boundaries to protect my peace. It is so vital but many people cannot grasp the importance of it because we live in a society that tells us to cut people off before talking to them.
Contact Info:
- Email: evitacolon@speak2mysoul.com
- Website: www.speak2mysoul.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poeticsoulqueen/?hl=en | https://www.instagram.com/speaktomysoulllc/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpeaktoMySoul/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZZ1tVbnjRZqWyxv1tbM_9A
- Other: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/evita-colon/1494783868
Image Credits:
Maggie Rudisill
We and Company
Carmelo Cruz
