Alyssa Edwards

“I sometimes feel like it's my world and everyone is just visiting.”

“I always wanted to teach dance. I didn't know I'd have a TV career.”

“My kids stand out at competitions. They're products of me. And you can't come to Beyond Belief and have a flamboyant teacher like me and be basic.”

“I'm just authentically, unapologetically myself. In and out of drag, in and out of the gig, in and out of the studio. My friends know. Miss Thing Over There wakes up 8 A.M. and she's on. The sun, the rain, the snow, whatever's going on outside, I'm ready.”

“I am my own biggest fan.”

“Sometimes I wake up, and I'm like, 'Don't dream it. Be it. You're really living the dream. You are everything you've ever desired or set out to be. You're doing it.'”

“There's beauty in everyone's mug and body-ody-ody, but taking care of those things requires a lot of work, energy, and effort.”

“I was a hyper little kid.”

“Positivity attracts positivity.”

“Don't be anything you're not. Be yourself. And people will either celebrate that or say, 'It's not for me.'”

“I had to find the courage to share not only myself but my art with the world. I faced fear, and I went for it. I wasn't a failure, and I'm very proud of myself.”

“I am a business owner. I'm a teacher. I think Justin's actually kind of plain, kind of nerdy. But when I morph into Alyssa, I'm like this... Well, this creature, everything that Justin couldn't be.”

“I always had to fight for the chance to get people to hear me.”

“I've changed as a person because of the art of drag.”

“Every performer will have a bad night. It's just inevitable.”

“When you combine a Texas woman in a competition setting with her child, she gets very serious.”

“You can't say the word 'queen' without a little bit of 'drama' in front of it, right? It comes with the territory. Throwing shade and all that is part of the gig, but it should all kind of be in fun at the end of the day. When you start turning down that dark road where there's no light? Sometimes you put the car in park.”

“I was waiting for the world to change. I'm no longer waiting; I'm part of that movement. I think our role as performers and entertainers is so much bigger.”

“As much as I love to travel and be on stage and perform, I knew at a very young age that I wanted to be a choreographer and a director.”

“You decide how to show up, and you'd better come correct: the way you look, what you say, how you act and react. No excuses! Get in front of the mirror and own what you see. You may have to drag your fabulousness out of hiding, but it's there.”