Nerd Talk Podcast Episode 96: Nerd Talk welcome's Irina to the channel!

This week of the Nerd Talk Podcast we have first time guest Irina as she tells us about her life as a cosplayer, bodybuilder and nurse.

Irina social: https://www.instagram.com/fit_nurse_xo/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

What is up everybody? Shawnee D Man here, and welcome back to the channel. Hope you guys are doing great. I hope you guys are having yourselves a great day. We are back with a brand new episode and a brand new guest. So as we hit going, I'll shift it over to our guest, let them introduce themselves, and we'll get going.

SPEAKER_04 0:27

Hi everybody, my name is Irina. Um Instagram fit nurse under at fit underscore nurse underscore XO. I am a nurse and I'm a bodybuilder and I am a cosplayer.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Ooh. Quite the trifecta there. Oh, oh, uh, you know, so how long have you been a nurse?

SPEAKER_04 0:51

Uh 13 years.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Oh.

SPEAKER_04 0:55

I feel like everything kind of uh happened all at once, you know. Everything comes in three, just like you said. So I became a nurse in 2012. I started cosplaying in 2014, and I started bodybuilding in 2015. So it's been a long journey.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

Which one of the three is more challenging?

SPEAKER_04 1:18

Bodybuilding.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Okay. Um, all right. Well, I guess we can start off with that. So um so all this pretty much happened around the same time. What I guess to guess where to just jump into it, what got you, what made you want to be a nurse? Uh, what got you into cosplaying, and then what got you into bodybuilding?

SPEAKER_04 1:41

Well, nursing, it came like super late. I actually like went to a four-year college prior to nursing. Uh, I have a BA in psychology. I graduated and I didn't want to go into that field. Uh, so I wanted to become an OT. And when I had to go and do like a clinical portion of it, like I had I had to do like volunteer work at a hospital. I saw anywhere I would go in the you know, local hospital, it was just so many nurses, like everywhere in every unit. So I said, I kind of want to have more options for job search, you know, like when I actually do become a nurse. I feel like it's such a diverse field that a lot of people think like nursing, and they right away think a hospital. I actually never worked at a hospital, not even a day in my life. Yes. Uh you could go, you could do research, you could go and work for school, uh, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies. I mean, anything you want. You know, you could do travel nursing, which is an awesome job. I never got into it, but I have a lot of friends who do travel nursing. So they do these like contracts all over the country, you know, which is a lot of fun. Um, and so what I do, uh, I work for the state for New York State. Okay. Uh I work for insurance, uh, basically for insurance company. Um, and I love it, you know. I've been with the same company for 11 and a half years. Uh, I love it. It's awesome. Um, yeah, so whoever wants to do nursing or considering, it's uh it's definitely a yes, it's an amazing job. Plus, you're helping people, you know. If you're a people person, a lot of people think like, oh, I can't be a nurse, I I can't, I I don't don't do well with uh needles or blood. You don't even have to look at that ever in your career.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

Uh okay, so cosplaying. What what was your first interaction with cosplaying, and then ultimately what got you into uh cosplay itself?

SPEAKER_04 3:57

So um my first cosplay was Comic-Con of 2014. I never even knew what Comic-Con was, never knew like what it is. Uh I wasn't in like a cosplay community like I am now. Like it was just uh I the guy was dating at a time. He said he just moved to uh from Florida to New York at that point. And he said, Oh my god, you live in New York, there's Comic-Con. And I said, What is Comic-Con? Never heard of it. So he's like, Oh, it's like Halloween, but indoors, you know. So since I love Halloween and I always love to like dress up ever since I was a kid, I said, let's go, you know. So my first cosplay, I was a riddler. Um, and I feel like because I was a female riddler, I just got like so much attention till this day. Uh, I don't even know if I have those photos on my IG at the moment, but um it's like one of my favorite cosplays. I still have it. I'm actually considering like, hey, let me just, you know, pull out my old riddler and do it again. Uh yeah, and then um I wasn't really going uh to a lot of events or doing photo shoots or whatever, you know, cosplays do, you know, cosplayers do. I was just it was just one Comic Con a year basically, up to like 2019. Uh 2019, I did three cons, and it was Windsor Con, New York Comic Con, and I want to say like Big Apple Con. Um, everything is like local in New York, then COVID happened. So 2020, nothing. Um, 2021, again, one or two cons. 2025. I did nine conventions, nine cons. Oh wow, and I can't even count how many photo shoots. I just did uh ready for new year. I did my um cost uh like cost plans for 2025. I did 38 costumes in 2025. Oh my gosh, I didn't even accept it myself. I started like writing it down, and I'm like, oh my god, I I just I'm crazy. My bank account is dying, you know. That's a lot, and now for 2026, I have like a whole new um, you know, thing that I'm planning. Uh so stay tuned for that.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

Okay, okay. Uh, are there any cons before we get to the the bodybuilding part? Um are there any are there any cons on your kind of bucket list that you want to go to that you have not yet?

SPEAKER_04 6:49

So um I am going to KatsuCon and that's in Maryland, and it's Valentine's Day weekend. I would love to go to San Diego, because people say like you don't even need to go into the con. It's just so much fun, just the whole thing, you know. I would love to do Dragon Con. I heard that's a good venue, um good convention also. Um, Comic-Con, like so many people get excited about Comic Con, but I'm like, oh that that old thing, I've been going here like my whole life. I'm a pro.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Are you um are you it are you more of a like an attendee at the cons, or there are a case or are there occasions where you're like a guest at a con, or is it kind of like a mixture of both?

SPEAKER_04 7:35

Never been a guest uh at a con. Uh I actually um no, just an attendee. But I have been a guest uh and a featured model at a car show. So you know it's a lot of fun. Oh, and it was also so funny. I went to can for Connecticon uh in Hartford, Connecticut in July. And uh I really wanted to do it because I have a lot of friends who live in that Boston area, and I just wanted to like, you know, hang out with friends from like that side of um the world, the United States, you know. Um, and the following day I had the car show, and I said, Oh my god, I would hate to go for this con for only one day, have to drive there and drive back the same day. Maybe I'm not gonna do this car show. And I'm so and like my mentality is don't knock it until you try it, you know, even if it's something that you feel so uncomfortable and you just have all these like you know, bad thoughts, do it, you know, push yourself to do it because you never know. It might be like the best thing that you will ever do, you know. Like you might it might surprise you. Same thing. Like I was like, I don't want to go, I don't know anyone there, you know. Uh they want me to come in and cosplay, actually. And they featured me as a as a cosmodel for the car show. So I felt bad like people come in there to see me and I'm not gonna show up. And it was one of the best experiences I had. I I loved every second of it.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Okay. So bodybuilding. Tell us about that. What what got that started? And are you still doing it up to this up to this day?

SPEAKER_04 9:23

Yeah, yeah. Uh, I took um I took a like a five-year, six-year break, and this year I came back. I just did a show in November.

SPEAKER_02 9:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 9:37

Um, so same thing, like my last uh bodybuilding show was in 2019, then 2020. Um, like nothing was happening. 2021, because I live in New York and a lot of restrictions were still going on. Um, they were doing shows, but you know, people would have to wear masks on stage, and it's very hard to like pose as is. And if you have a mask on, it's forget about it, you know. So I said, let me skip that next year. And then 2022, um, I got pregnant. Uh actually end of 2021, I got pregnant. 2022, I had a baby. Um, so now finally I'm like, all right, she's she's she's old, old enough, you know, I could start, you know, investing more time back into myself, you know. Uh, and um, and actually, like, I didn't even expect to place, you know, I just thought, let me push myself through the prep, through the whole journey to see if I could still got it, you know what I mean? Mama still got it. Um, and uh how I got into it is um I've been always athletic, you know, just different gyms. Uh, but I was more into like, oh, I'll take like kickboxing, I would do like uh this type of class, that type of class, spin class. I was so into like classes or like HIIT training. So they opened up a gym in 2024, uh in 2014. It's called Mattis Academy, and uh it's more like a high-intensity training. Um, the gym is owned by firefighters, so it's very like you pushing tires and climbing ropes. It's like one of those, like Ninja Warrior gym, you know. And one of the girls that was there, she was a bodybuilder, she's a figure bodybuilder. And when I saw her, like my mouth just dropped. And I I just never saw a female so jacked, you know, so built. And like I literally came up to her and I said, I just want to touch you. Like, how are you gonna do? She just looked I'm like so amazing. I can't even describe it. Um, and uh, and I said, How like how is this even possible for a female to look like that? You know, and she said, Oh, I do this thing that's called bodybuilding, and blah blah blah. I'm a coach, so I can coach you if you want to look like me. And uh my friend said, Oh, I'll do it. And I said, Um, okay, how about you do it and I'll see your attorney? And then maybe I'll see what happens to you. Actually, I'll do it. So that first year my friend did go through a prep and she looked amazing. I went to the show to support her, and um, just being, you know, at a first bodybuilding show, just like even as um a guest, you know, not as a participant, you know, I was like, wow, this is amazing. All right, that's it. I'm in. I I want to try to do the prep. And next year I did the prep. And and that's it. 2015, 2016, 18, and 19, I competed, and now I'm back.

SPEAKER_00 13:02

Okay. So what so what was that? What was it like? Because you had you mentioned you had like a five-year break. So what was that like coming back to it after five years?

SPEAKER_04 13:14

I mean, I still went to the gym and I still worked out. It's not like I just, you know, didn't do anything for five years. I still continued, you know, like, but it's a lot different when you're working out for fun versus when you're working out like competitively, you know, because you have to isolate like muscles, like you have to like maybe I'm I'm somebody who I love cardio, you know. Like I would do Stairmaster for an hour and a half if you let me, you know, or run for an hour if you let me, you know, as bodybuilding, like cardio, you can't do too much cardio, you know, like you have to do like half an hour maximum, you know, like even maybe like 25 minutes, and then you spend an hour training, you know, and uh you could do like so I have a coach, and um I I I love the fact that I have a coach, you know, and it this is somebody who actually like once a week we would do in-person training, and I love that because he's able to see if I'm eating right or if I'm eating bad, and it's to the point that uh I'm like, okay, so should I go on a diet? Should I go on a diet? Should I eliminate like this energy drink out of, you know, because anything, it's all like a formula, you know, like what you eat, a lot of it is like a water sodium balance, you know. So it's like it's to the point that uh like the day before your show, like I want to say the week before your show, it's called peak week. That's your like most important week of like the whole prep, you know, like it basically you're pulling water out, you know, to be able to see like all those, you know, all the work that you've done for whatever long you were training. And the prep is different for everybody, you know. Like some people prep for six weeks, some prep for some people need to prep for a year, you know. So it's that's why I advise to get a good co for those who want to consider bodybuilding. You got to do your research, you know, on and also like how you would like it, you know. I personally like to be have like a coach who's a trainer who does also my posing, like every all in one, basically. Some people, you know, want posing to be like an Olympian, to do the posing with them, diet another person, training another person, you know. So I I like all in one.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Okay, okay. So what was what was like you starting out on this bodybuilding journey? What was like the toughest part about it?

SPEAKER_04 16:05

Finding time uh to train, especially now with uh a young child. Uh it's and also like November was like they had this holiday, that holiday, and I'm like, oh my god, there's a holiday on a Monday before my show that's on a Saturday, and my last workout is supposed to be on a Wednesday, and I just wanted to get that last cardio days in. I mean, it also goes with how much support you have, you know. Like I'm blessed to have a really good support system. So if like I have like my mom who helps me out, you know, like my daughter's father, we're not together anymore, but like my daughter's father is very involved. So it's I have a very good support system. So, and that's very important also in all aspects, you know, whether it's cosplay, whether it's um your job, your you have to be at uh like like happy state, you know what I mean? You have to be in the right state of mind, uh, you have to have a really good support system, you know, and you know, do something that you enjoy, you know, and this is something I know bodybuilding is not for everyone. Um I have a lot of friends who look amazing, and I tell them, why don't you compete, you know? And they're just like, no, that's just too much for me. I just like to look like this, and and that, and I'm happy with that, you know.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_04 17:36

Because it's it's also it's it's it's a competition. So it's like a lot of people going in and like, oh, I'm the best, I'm gonna get first place. And if you don't get first place, a lot of people could get disappointed. So you have to come and not compare yourself to anybody else. Like, you know, some people start researching like the hashtag of a show to see who they're competing against. Bodybuilding is an individual sport, you're always competing against yourself, you know, and just think of it like this is like if you don't feel like your package is a hundred percent, don't sign up to the show because it's expensive, you know, you have to pay a lot of show fees and all of that, you know. Don't sign up to that. If you're not a hundred percent like there, do a show, do a show next month. Do one in three months from now, you know. Like have you know, like have a good state of mind before you step on that stage.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

Um, are most of your shows like in the New York area or do you travel?

SPEAKER_04 18:35

Yeah, New York and Jersey, not and travel for the shows.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

Okay. Um, what was that like having that kind of confidence for the first time going out and with for these competitions stuff like that?

SPEAKER_04 18:50

It's funny you say that. Um before my first show, my coach says to me, Well, you cosplay, well, go and be like Harley Quinn on stage, you know? And then I'm like, okay. So it's like I feel like uh it's also like a mask you put on, you know what I mean? It's just the different mask for that day. So, and it's not as scary as you would think. Uh, it is, it is scary, uh, but um I've been on stages where you have like 500 people in the crowd, you know, and then but all you see are the judges in front of you, and all the judges are like like stone cold, and that what like what makes you like uncomfortable, you know. They're not so much the you know, hundreds of people looking at you, but the judges' faces, and sometimes they start to like go like this, like whisper, and you're like, oh no, they're talking bad about me, you know. Oh no.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Oh, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_04 19:59

No.

SPEAKER_00 19:59

So what what's the highest that you've placed?

SPEAKER_04 20:02

I placed third. That was my highest placement.

SPEAKER_00 20:06

Uh do you ever get like um I mean, obviously, I'm I'm sure you're you know you're competitive is things like that. Like, do you ever get like just like uh what I got third and things like that? And oh that motivate you?

SPEAKER_04 20:20

Of course, of course it motivates you, you know, but at the same time, uh you are all the time, like after the show, you're looking at the top five, you know, like oh, let me see. And a lot of time, like me, uh like at the shows, I'm like, mm, like at first I'm like, I don't agree, but then the more you think about it, you're like, yeah, I kind of agree with the placement, you know, like yeah, I kind of agree. Because it's very specific as to what the judges look, you know. So it's like, you know, um for all the categories and bodybuilding, they're looking for specific uh like for I used to do bikini, uh, and this is the first year, because this is the first year that they came out with this new division, and it's called fit model. So um for that, they're kind of not looking for too much muscle, but they are looking for that thin waist, kind of round shoulders. So it's not like I'm the hulk under the shirt. I'm not, you know.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

Okay. How many people are usually in a competition?

SPEAKER_04 21:36

Oh sh it could be like you could be like one of thirty on that scene, like because my height, I'm five two and a half. So um, and I also have black kind of long hair, you could say. So, and I feel like my look it's so common. You could have that same. Same girl, just like different face, you know. You want to say, like, like 10 of them, you know, and pretty much like with my hair and kind of like my complexion, even though we do get a tan, you could still know the complexion pretty much. Um, like the colors that look the best, it would be like electric blue or green, like a jewel green or red. And this is what like most of the girls have, you know. Um, it's hard, you know. Like I've done a show when I was like one out of like 30 girls, and I placed fifth. And that was like my I didn't care that it was first. I'm like, it's I'll take the five because it was like the best trophy. It had like this huge chalice, like it it's like this big the trophy. So I'm like, I'll take it. It doesn't matter. Nobody sees the placement anyway.

SPEAKER_00 22:58

Um when's the next competition?

SPEAKER_04 23:03

Uh so I'm aiming for September 12th.

unknown 23:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 23:08

That's uh that's my goal. Because September 3rd, I'm turning 40. Oh, yeah. And that's gonna be my so I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna be on in peak week on my 40th birthday, but I'm like, I don't care, you know, like it's like my present for myself.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

So um so what what so what's the future with bodybuilding? Like you've been doing it for a while. Is there like a a point where you're like maybe like in the back of your mind, you set a point, like at this point, this is probably where you know I'm done kind of thing?

SPEAKER_04 23:45

No. Okay. I I I want to compete for as long as uh I can, you know, until my body starts to give give out. Okay, you know, I'm already pushing there already. Um, no, it's it's a lot of fun, you know. It's a lot of fun to uh compete, you know, because it's its own community on its own, you know. Uh it's it's a lot of camaraderie with bodybuilders, they're the worst friends to have outside of because somebody's always on prep or competing, they can't drink, they can't eat, you know. It's terrible, but they're fun. No, it's a lot of fun, you know. Um it's it's great.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

Interesting. Okay, okay. And then uh going back to cosplaying. What are some future cosplay projects that you got going on?

SPEAKER_04 24:36

I have so many future projects. I mean, I live for this, you know. Like I and it's so fun, you know. It's it's I feel like uh for me personally, like a lot of it is just fun coming, and this is me. Like uh, I know some people have their um maybe like five or six costumes that are like on another level, like so impeccable, you know, and they keep using it, and they're kind of known for those cosplays, you know. Um I'm no, I'm completely different, you know. Like I don't even know what I'm known for. Um like I hear different things, you know. No, I'm telling you, um it's so weird. Like one of my cosplays this past year was Hella. Um, and I feel like a lot of people kind of gave me that, like remember me as Hela, even though I only wore it for like one con. I like to like for every con, I like to do like a different cosplay. So for this year, I have like a whole new arsenal of cosplays. I want to do, I didn't like and and also it's like I don't really make my own costumes, which sucks, you know. Like I wish I could. I mean, I probably can, I just don't have the time. I have a little child at home and I just she will break it all, you know. Like I literally have my masks like stuffed like in the back of a closet so she doesn't get to them, you know. Um, but yeah, I mean, um I I mean if you want like spoilers, I can give you some. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

No, no, no, no. I I want to be surprised. I want to be surprised when I see it.

SPEAKER_04 26:28

So yeah, I mean, in terms of cons uh for this year, I would love to do New York Comic Con. You know, this is actually the first this past year was the first time I did all four days.

SPEAKER_01 26:43

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04 26:44

I before that I just only do like one day, either Saturday or Sunday, you know. Mostly Sunday because I found Saturdays to be like super crowded. Um, and this year was like a whole brand new experience for me, you know. Like it just it's it's total you were like exhausted by Sunday. Like I was just like, it's a blur what happened on Sunday. But it's like such a fun experience to do all four days. So if anybody is considering if it's if I should or shouldn't, definitely try to do at least like once in your life, like a New York Comic Con, or maybe like your local, you know, con that's more than one day, because I feel like you get like a different experience. It becomes more like honey, I'm home, you know, like you just get so comfortable, you know. Plus, you see a lot of because like whoever went for four days, chances are they all bought like a four-day pass. Um, so you see a lot of familiar faces, you make so many new friends, you know, and I feel like just cosplay community in general is so friendly, you know, and very supportive. And it's to the point that you're really not being judged on like even the quality of your cosplays, you know, like everybody appreciates just you showing up that you're there, you know? And a lot of my non-cosplay friends, like they say, oh, uh, I would love to cosplay and go to a con. I just I just don't have a costume, you know. Like I don't, you know, there's so many cosplays that are like super easy, like let's say for men, which I found which I find like a the easiest cosplay you could do is pretty much Loki.

unknown 28:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:30

Sket the horns and the you know, Loki for president suit. That's it, you're good to go, you know, and that's like actually a really good cosplay. Um but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:42

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_04 28:44

So I'm doing like Comic Con. I want to do Connecticon again, it's amazing. Um and I don't know about cons, other cons, but Tasukon also.

SPEAKER_00 28:57

I noticed your uh I don't remember I don't remember if you post if you posted it during the during it, but like yeah, so I noticed your your penny wise cosplay. Um and I I don't know if I maybe you posted it during it, but like I mean uh it made me think of um it, Welcome to Dairy, that was going on during the same time. And so I was like, you know what? I like this cosplay. And so I I don't remember which one it was. Uh one I can't remember which cosplay yours it was, because I remember just scrolling through. I saw your your your page. I was like, okay, let me check this person out. It's like okay, I like their stuff, so let's shoot them a message. And I mean, obviously here you are, but like it made I was like very, very much impressed with a lot of your content uh that you that you put you put on there.

SPEAKER_04 29:43

Thank you. I appreciate it. Actually, you mentioned Pennywise, that's another one that's people tend to love this Pennywise, and I love her too. You know, I love this version of Pennywise also, and she's my also go-to favorite. Um, Pennywise and Hella. I want to say those two are like what I feel I might be wrong. People might know me from I do a lot of Harley Quinn. I have a whole suitcase.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_04 30:15

Just yeah, all my cosplays. I have five suitcases of cosplays at this point. By the end of 2026, I might have like eight. Who knows?

SPEAKER_01 30:24

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_04 30:25

But um, an entire suitcase is just dedicated to Harley Quinn. She's easy, I feel like, and she's fun, and you could kind of like be a jokester, you know. Um yeah, I I love that.

SPEAKER_00 30:44

Well, I think that's a good transition over to uh your cosplays. And so I thought you mentioned Holly Queen, it was one of the first ones up, so uh this is one of the one one of the ones you have, correct?

SPEAKER_04 30:56

Yes, yes, yes. This was from Comic-Con. I I love this outfit. I also have uh I think it's a slide. Yeah, yes. So I think the last photo, I actually have a jacket for it as well.

SPEAKER_00 31:10

Okay you did. Oh uh you know what? I like it. Okay, and then uh let me see. Let me go back here. And so there's that. So Hariquen, and then uh this is our since you had this one pinned, it's one of your bodybuilding uh competitions. Oh, from last year.

SPEAKER_04 31:32

This is like through the years, you know, like oh yeah, this was like a big slide of like uh the green uh was 2015, the this like powder blue, even though it came out purple. Uh this was uh 2016. Uh this is no no no the other one was uh this is 2016 in the blue. This was 2017. Okay, and uh if you go back uh one so this uh this show I did mainly to be on that stage because I saw pictures from the show and I said, Oh my god, I just have to be on that stage, and I did the show because I really wanted to be on that stage. Okay, yep. 2015, 2015, yes, that's from the same day. 2015 same. This is 2016.

SPEAKER_00 32:46

Very uh muscular these guys are.

SPEAKER_04 32:52

This is Victor Martinez, he's like, I don't know if you know follow bodybuilding, but he's really a big influence in bodybuilding.

SPEAKER_02 33:00

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04 33:01

He actually has his own show, Victor Martinez show. This is actually Victor Martinez Legends, that's the backdrop for his show. Okay, 2015. That's the stage I wanted to be on.

SPEAKER_02 33:18

2016, and this is 2019.

SPEAKER_04 33:22

I have a purple suit in 2019. Mm-hmm. Okay, and then if you scroll my uh like to a different post uh in November of this year was my most recent show. And you can actually see my posing video. I posted it. I'm so happy with how technology is so advanced now that I get to have like a really nice posting video from a professional camera.

SPEAKER_01 33:53

Let's see.

SPEAKER_00 33:56

Oh well, yeah. I think you oh, I think yeah, you have three here, I believe. Uh okay, so November 20th. And okay, let me make sure this is. I'll just do yeah, we can do that. Alright, so here's this one.

SPEAKER_04 34:09

Oh, no, no, no. This is just like uh from like a photo shoot. Uh I have like a green suit. If you it's like November 8th, I want to say.

SPEAKER_00 34:20

Oh, okay, okay. I'm not okay. Oh, okay, here it is. Let's you know what? We'll just start, we'll just start now here. This works.

SPEAKER_04 34:29

So oh, this is just oh I so this video, uh I love to do this type of uh like a little posing, sassy walk. And this is November 8th, it's been freezing cold in New York the whole month of October, I want to say. And that day it actually rained in the morning, and I said, Oh no, why am I doing a show today? My tan is gonna leak, my hair is gonna get frizzy, everything is gonna go bad. And as as I'm driving into New Jersey on the Verozano Bridge, like this the sky opened up, like it was so sunny, and it was about 70 degrees that day. So it was a gift from God. I just I just think of it like that, you know.

SPEAKER_00 35:20

And then okay, I think these are all in uh or in order. So this is is this what you meant, like the sun coming out?

SPEAKER_04 35:31

No, uh there should be stage photos. I think it's uh okay before uh stage photos.

SPEAKER_01 35:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 35:42

It has like a purple um USA championship. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 35:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 35:57

Oh yeah, I did like this one, I thought so. Uh yeah, I think you have a r here, I'll just do it this way, because you also And that one is a video from my stage.

SPEAKER_04 36:07

Uh yep.

SPEAKER_00 36:23

So was that was this you like, is this the same kind of like practice posing that you were doing in that one reel we were looking at?

SPEAKER_04 36:31

Yeah, kind of, but this is actually on stage in front of the judges. But yeah, same kind of posing.

SPEAKER_01 36:37

Okay, okay, okay. Uh let's see.

SPEAKER_04 36:43

But you get nervous, you know, like once you are in front of the judges, it's like, this is it, this is your time to shine. And you're like, I better not fall. And oh my goodness, everything was going horrible. Like dire, my shoe broke twice. One of the shoes, like the whole bottom fell off. I like super glued it, and on the day of the show, half an hour before I went on stage, uh, the strap falls off. So the suit I had on because I was doing a new division this year, so obviously I needed to order a new suit. At first, it came too big. Then I had to get like bottom sailor. I ordered a new top. The top came too small, it was just a disaster. Um, and so I ended up like just having like different completely different shoes that I never practiced in on stage. And I was like, I'm gonna fall, but thank God I didn't fall. Uh, but everything worked out, you know?

unknown 37:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 37:46

Uh, we've got a silk cosplay here.

SPEAKER_04 37:50

This was Comic-Con Sunday. That's why I said my face is absolutely terrible today. I'm so tired. Let's just I love doing bodysuits. That's another thing. It's one of my like go-to uh things to wear for cosplay. I love bodysuits.

SPEAKER_01 38:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 38:12

Uh, let's see. We have okay, we got uh magic.

SPEAKER_04 38:21

Uh yeah, this was for an after-party uh at the Comic-Con. And I actually had a whole armor. My costume looked so good, but because it was an after-party, a lot of people were drinking, they didn't let me bring the armor in because they said you will poke somebody's eye out. So he was like, Can I see your ID? Uh uh so I gave him my ID, you know, because it's 21 and over. And then he's making me take my armor off. And I say, Can I see your ID? If this gets stolen, I'm coming to your house. And then I go, What about these guns?

SPEAKER_00 38:59

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_04 39:02

But if you go up to like um uh December 31st, I did two slides of all my cosplays for this past year. So you have about 18 cosplays. Uh it was 18 from a photo shoot I did this year, and another 18 from like all the cons.

SPEAKER_01 39:24

Okay. Okay, that's 28.

SPEAKER_04 39:30

And I believe one of the photos for the cons is the one where it's like Harley Quinn in front in front of this orange uh yellow uh bowl.

SPEAKER_00 39:39

Oh, okay, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Here we go, here we go, we got it. There we go.

SPEAKER_04 39:45

It's a long slide, yeah. So that's another version of like Harley Quinn, similar, but I have shorts on. Hella, that's the hella I was telling you about. Actually, um, I was um uh featured in the Cosplay magazine winter edition issue 27. Everybody should check it out and buy a copy. Uh so that was really good. Uh, this is at a con. I did a lecture this year.

SPEAKER_01 40:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 40:19

Uh New Jersey horror con. I love horror cons and Monster Mania. I love doing spooky stuff. I like I like I like horror stuff as well. Yeah, this is Tiffany uh Valentine, and I have a little Chucky backpack.

SPEAKER_00 40:35

You know, it's been a while since I've watched uh the Chucky movies. It used to scare me as a kid. Uh so I need to I need to be rewatch those at some point.

SPEAKER_04 40:48

This is uh my greatest memory of my life, actually.

SPEAKER_01 40:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 40:54

This is like a con slide. So do you know who these people are or no?

SPEAKER_00 41:00

No. I like it.

SPEAKER_04 41:02

Do they look familiar to you? No. Uh have you ever watched a show? They just took it off Netflix. Uh, it's called the 100.

SPEAKER_00 41:13

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was that used to be on the CW, I think.

SPEAKER_04 41:18

Yes, yes, it was on CW, correct? Did you ever watch it?

SPEAKER_00 41:21

I did not, but I did have like a good amount of friends who did enjoy it. I just never I never got around to watch it. I saw it a few times like on Netflix, and I was and I thought about watching it, but I just never got around to it.

SPEAKER_04 41:34

Oh my gosh, it's the best. It I highly, highly I'm hoping that either Hulu or somebody will pick them up again because it's my favorite show. I probably watched it a hundred times, you know. No pun intending, you know. Right. I actually have two tattoos based on the show. Oh my goodness. I'm the biggest fan, you know. Um, and this is uh uh cast members uh from the con from the show. Uh they actually had their own con. It's called Conageddon. Oh uh, and it was um St. Patrick's Day weekend in Boston, and I was like, do or die, I'm making I'm making it to this con. And it was one of the best experiences that I'll never forget. So I'm hoping this year they'll do another. They keep talking about it, but they still didn't officially announce it. So uh actually, when I'm going to KatsuCon, I'm gonna meet another two cast members uh at Katsukon. So I'm so excited to see them. Uh this is the car show. Uh this is how it's dressed. I was Harley Quinn again.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

Again. Hey, that's not I mean, it's not a bad uh uh a bad one. So I like I know you like you have the car show here. Have you have you been approached by like like other things like this? To like, hey, we want you to pose for a magazine, that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_04 43:03

So actually, yeah, the people who do the car show, uh, it's actually it's called RIX Magazine. So they did uh like ask me to send them my photos and like some you know bio stuff, you know, because they are gonna publish uh in this this year. I don't know which issue, but they are gonna do something for me this year. And of course, I'm like invited to all the events. They already send me the whole um graph uh like their events that are coming up.

SPEAKER_01 43:31

Oh, that's cool.

SPEAKER_00 43:36

Uh I really love this actually.

SPEAKER_04 43:38

Uh so this is uh Garden State Comic Fest, which also a great venue, and actually now they move to um a venue that's like right next door to the zoo. So I'm like, oh, I could just take my daughter with me and bring her to the con and then just go to the zoo. Uh this is uh in Westchester. It's called Undiscovered Realms. Uh also like a con, and I did Poison Ivy. I kind of wanted to do some pictures with celebrities. Uh I don't really meet celebrities at every con, but if it's somebody that I really want to meet, then I will go and meet them.

SPEAKER_01 44:26

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 44:29

This is Connecticut. I was uh a black widow. This is Mermaid Parade. Uh I do mermaid parade every year. I live in Brooklyn, which is pretty uh like in South Brooklyn, pretty close to Coney Island. Uh it's like walking distance, like 20-minute walk from my house. So I do this every year, ever since I was like a teen. It's so much fun. It's crazy. It's really crazy, but it's so fun.

SPEAKER_00 45:00

Is uh is Coney Island as hyped as it uh you know, as like TV or movies or or whatever like make it out to be?

SPEAKER_04 45:10

Uh I'm not sure. What is what did they make it out to be?

SPEAKER_00 45:13

Oh, it's like it's like um it's like oh you definitely have to go to Coney Island. Like it makes it like a main attraction if like if you're visiting New York, like you have to go to Coney Island, that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_04 45:26

Um where do you live?

SPEAKER_00 45:28

Alabama.

SPEAKER_04 45:30

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 45:31

Uh yes.

SPEAKER_04 45:32

Yes. Uh I want to say definitely. It's one of the main attractions. Um, because I was like, where do you live? Just to give an example. I don't really know uh what Alabama's like. I've never been. Uh, but it's um to describe you, it's basically an amusement park that's on the beach.

SPEAKER_01 45:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 45:53

Uh so it has a boardwalk. Uh you could actually go and like be at that beach. It's the beach is free. I know like some beaches, like in New Jersey, I know you have to pay for the beach. It's completely free. It has actually two parks. One is more like kid friendly, but literally for little kids, like rides for kids. Another one, they have roller coasters, they have the cyclone that's been there for like a hundred years. I don't know. They have a big sign for whatever amount of years it's been open. Uh, it's uh like a wooden roller coaster. I personally never went on it. Not that I'm scared of, I just have never went on it. I love roller coasters, but they say because it's wooden, it's super like scary going on because you feel like it's gonna break, but it's not. Um, they have a lot of restaurants, so it's basically beach, then Coney Island Park. Uh, and they always change. Like I remember like before COVID, they had like a tiki bar, kind of like a private area with the DJ, and it was more like kind of like secluded, you know, where you could sit down and dance, or they have like board games or whatever, you could order food, and it's like a whole strip of restaurants. You have something that's more like a restaurant sit-down, something more like fast food, like pizzeria's Nathan's hot dogs. You have a freak show, like an actual, like you're paying to see like a Ripley's believe it or not, kind of thing. Believe it or not, yes. They have the freak show, they have a drag show, okay. Um, they have a lot of entertainment, actually. So it's it's a lot of fun. Yeah, it's a lot of fun, and pretty much every train goes to Coney Island. That's the last or first stop for like most of the trains. So anywhere you are. I mean, yes, definitely. And in the summer, every Friday they have fireworks. Every Saturday, um, this past year, they would blow up like this giant screen, inflatable screen.

SPEAKER_02 48:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 48:06

Uh, and they would screen like movies. It was like, but it was like random. They would give you like a schedule, like one week it's like Spongebob, then it's uh Anchorman, you know, so because they kind of kind of like cater to all the age groups or whatnot, you know. So, but it's like you're not you're not there to watch this movie, you're just there to like experience laying on the beach, whether you want to bring your own chair, or they would like give out chairs or whatever, just like sitting there, like relaxing and watching a movie on the beach, you know, like you can't beat that, you know. Okay, okay, and Marmay Farid is crazy. People walk around in body paint with these crazy costumes. Uh, it's amazing, it's so fun.

SPEAKER_01 48:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 48:57

Uh, this is Monster Mania, uh, and Edward Furlong. He's like my crush of uh when I was 12 or whatever. So once they had like such a like amazing panel. They had like David or Cat. They had like so many people. I can't even name you who was there, but once I saw him, I said, him, him. I don't even care. I don't even see anyone else. I want him. And he was such a good sport because he I have like so many photos, and he like posed me. I was like scratching him, blowing kisses. It was so much fun.

SPEAKER_00 49:37

Um, so we here in Alabama, we have this. So during the Halloween, obviously we have like haunted houses and stuff like that. But we have this one called uh Atrox, and so usually every year they bring uh like a like celebrity thing like that. So the first year I went, uh they had the actress who was in the original Carrie. Uh she was there, and then I think another year I went, they had the guy who played Michael Myers there. So that was pretty cool. Pretty, pretty cool.

SPEAKER_04 50:07

That's really cool. I love him. Um this is New Jersey Horror Con. And uh, this is Lachlan Monroe. You know him, right? From White Chicks, he was in scary movies, he's so fun.

SPEAKER_01 50:23

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 50:24

I like the Beetlejuice.

SPEAKER_04 50:25

Yeah, I was Beetlejuice. This is New York Comic-Con. I was actually Poison Ivy Steampunk Vampire.

SPEAKER_01 50:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 50:37

There's a group of us, a group of my friends. We all wanted to do steampunk Marvel DC. Um, so but that's more like if you would scroll down my page, you would see like we did uh Poison Ivy, Bane, Batman, Catwoman, Yandu. Uh like it was a bunch of us dressed as steampunk. Oh, Red Hood. Um, and then I had Batgirl. Um and then uh people did also Court of Owls. I don't know if you know that. That's also from Batman.

SPEAKER_02 51:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:13

Mm-hmm. So it was really fun. Harley Quinn. That's from Comic-Con.

SPEAKER_01 51:21

Silk.

SPEAKER_04 51:22

Silk. Mm-hmm. Magic. Oh, that's oh, I see what they mean. Actually, yeah. I had to do it. I'm gonna do this costume uh for Katsukan, actually, because I'm like, I I I was so excited about it, and they made me take the whole thing off.

SPEAKER_02 51:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:40

But still, you know, even without the armor, everybody was coming up to me and saying, I love magic. I play her in Marvel Rivals, you know. So I'm really happy um that I look like magic, you know. Oh, this is amazing. Uh, so this is, I don't know if you followed the show or the game, it's Fallout.

SPEAKER_00 52:04

Uh I haven't watched the show. I do know of the games. My best friend, he he is a huge Fallout lover.

SPEAKER_04 52:13

Um, so uh so uh so these are my friends. Uh they're called pros and cons. Uh, and they actually build their own armor, like build themselves. Like, oh, everything is like handmade, uh, so it's really amazing what they they could do, you know, the craftsmanship that goes like behind people who could actually make their own costumes from like scratch. It's amazing. This is Halloween, we were minions. Oh, and this is TrooperCon uh in December. Uh-huh. So it was like a Star Wars convention.

SPEAKER_01 52:56

Oh, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 52:58

Oh, I that is amazing.

SPEAKER_04 53:02

So actually, funny uh fun fact. Um December of 2025 for this cosplay specifically is the first time I used contacts in my life. So it was like such a big accomplishment for me. So now it just opened up a whole new, you know, ability to bring my cosplays to like another level, you know, because now it's like I could use contacts, and that gives that little extra to your cosplay, you know.

SPEAKER_02 53:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 53:39

So somebody goes to me, oh, so this whole thing took like two hours, and I say to put in contacts an hour and a half, make up uh like 15 minutes, you know. And this is such a fun event. Uh because in this slide I just have all the events. Uh so this is called Nostalgia Train, uh, or Nostalgia Retro Train, something like that. Uh, it's it's sponsored by New York Transit. Um, and it's basically trains from the 30s or the 40s or the 20s, the train cars actually actively running on the train tracks, like let's say on a line for about like, I don't know, maybe 10 stops. And meanwhile, it is it uh those are those old trains, it's still an active subway. So people who are not in so whoever wants to cosplay, I did Peggy Carter because I wanted to do cosplay. Um, that's still from that time period. My friends came dressed as the 70s or the 20s or the flappers, like that, you know. Um, so not necessarily you need to come in in like Marvel DC cosplay. It's more like whatever you wanna wear is fine. You could do 80s, 90s, any kind of time period, you know? And and that it's basically you're just like on the train, just going for like uh back and forth, basically, and then like we would all come out by the Rockefeller Center, kind of like go outside, take pictures outside. So it's basically um a lot of cosplayers come, a lot of photographers come. There's no dress code at all. You could come in normal clothes, whatever you want, you know, but like cosplayers always trying to get that extra opportunity to get some shots done by good photographers. So cosplayers always come in cosplay, you know. And if you look at that either the slide before or the slide after, those are all my photo shoots I did this year, and it's all different, also.

SPEAKER_00 56:05

Here's another look at uh Mr. Peggy Carter. Yes, and then let's see where it's mall. That's looks so cool.

SPEAKER_04 56:22

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 56:24

I love that. And then let me see. What was another one? Oh, here we go. I got Pennywise.

SPEAKER_04 56:34

Actually the photo with Pennywise, uh, that's like December 30th, where it has like a smoky background in the back. It should be right next to the Harley. Uh by the way.

SPEAKER_01 56:51

Oh, here we go.

SPEAKER_04 56:54

Yeah, so I believe this is also like the slide. So this is penny.

SPEAKER_01 57:00

Um wait, okay. I can see why like everybody Yeah, I I like her too.

SPEAKER_04 57:13

Uh black cat.

SPEAKER_03 57:29

Madeline Pryor.

SPEAKER_04 57:33

Jade. I really love doing ninjas also, I feel like, all kinds of Vampirella.

SPEAKER_00 57:43

So what's it like? So I guess it I guess a good question I wanna I wanna ask. It's like, what's it like for you um adding like uh the sexiness to your cosplays and things like that? Because most most cosplays are I ask about it, um, you know, for them, like them doing it for the first time is obviously like, you know, you know, um, you know, nervous and things like that. But since you have been bodybuilding over the years, did it just come naturally for you when you wore like cosplays like this or just in general?

SPEAKER_04 58:22

Um it depends. Like, I wouldn't wear uh this costume uh in like to a big convention like Comic-Con, you know? Okay, possibly I would use it for like New Jersey Horror Con or Monster Mania, because those are like a really kind of small um conventions. Uh this is for a photo shoot, you know. Um when it comes to Jade, actually, Jade, I want to say it's as open as Vampirella, but I feel like people are looking differently at Jade, you know, and it's especially if you come in Jade, I would absolutely wear Takama-con. Because chances are you're gonna come as Jade and you're gonna have 10 other cosplayers dressed like Mortal Kombat, especially now that the new movie's coming out. I feel like a lot of you're gonna see a lot of Mortal Kombat cosplays going on now, whether it's for a photo shoot or for conventions. Um, yeah. And I feel like we actually saw a lot of them last year because originally the new movie was gonna come out in October and it just got pushed back. So um, and especially like if you go in with your friends and you all dress up like Mortal Kombat, it's it's the best experience. Vampirella, because she's like her own uh like comic, I wanna say you might get that like a little extra unwanted attention because cosplayers, you're used to people either stopping you to take a picture of you or with you, and it's uh fine. I love it, you know. Uh it's totally fine. It's just when you're so exposed, yeah, you know. I know that now uh a lot of people announce like you have to ask me if you could touch me. Right. I usually don't say that you have to ask me if you could touch me or not, you know. No, I don't I don't say that, you know, but also like when you have so much exposure, like people wouldn't know where to put their hands on you, you know. So so at the end of the day, you know, like uh it's a little it's a little open. So if you're going, I don't know. I don't know if I would wear vampirella to like a public event.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:41

But do I feel comfortable in it? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:45

Okay. Uh penny wise.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:51

Snow white.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:53

Okay. Are there any are there like I know I think I think you mentioned it at the uh towards the beginning, but are there any other like uh cosplays that you have that you're kind of wanting to bring back out? I know you mentioned magic as one. Is there any more?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:10

Yeah, actually, I'm gonna try to uh bring uh two different looks for magic. Uh I actually have like a full-on bodysuit that I just got that's more from uh Marvel's Rivals. It's like a different skin on her. You know what I'm talking about? The blue one. Yeah, so that one and and this jack uh this magic. I'm gonna bring. Um my rogue, I never wore it to a convention. So I would like to bring the rogue back.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:43

Um, I don't know what else, what else do I have in there? I already forgot. This is this is old photo shoots. Chim Li, I never use for a convention. I just got it and did a photo shoot in it. I don't really like to repeat an outfit, so chances are if you see something that's worn for a photo shoot, I never used it for a convention yet, you know. So uh this is just such an easy if it's raining or if it's cold and I need to wear like an extra layer under this is like the best cosplay that I have, I feel like, you know, I could wear like long sleeve shirt and like extra set of pants, and I'm good to go. This is cool. So this is not really like cosplay, but it's still cosplay. So this is my version of Cyberpunk. Uh and it's so crazy how the glasses in all the other pictures, they're green, they're just green, green, green. So I actually emailed the photographer and I said, Did you change the color in like Photoshop to match my hair and my suit? It's like I didn't touch the picture, so somehow, so only this one specific photo, the colors changed, then I'm like my favorite photo.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:06

That is crazy.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:08

It's so crazy. Uh, this is steampunk. Uh so uh my friends actually just did the train this past weekend because they they have the train every Sunday for December, but because it was snowing last weekend they switched it to this week. So this past Sunday was the last train ride basically, and all my friends came dressed as steampunk, but I just couldn't make it. Oh but this is also good, like we also have like Renaissance Fair. I feel like steampunk, it's also like one of those that it's such a like versatile that you could wear anything here and just accessorize and be steampunk, you know?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:56

Right, right. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:10

Like Avril Levine gives me those vibes. Um, this is uh Starfire. So this is uh was a photo shoot for like a makeup um company. Uh and this is like my version of uh vampire. And I really love this dress. I really wanted to discover the dress. Oh this is epic. This is probably like one of my favorite photo shoots. Who am I? Do you know?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:54

Why does it look familiar? What about is this well? For some reason I want to say Krampus.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:59

Yes, good job. Yes, this is Krampus. It was such a I looked so scary. Yeah. I just I went on looking back at my photos and I'm like, I can't believe this is me. How do people look at me? I am like so scary, but yeah, it was such a fun photo shoot. There's like actually like a child in the cage and it has a button and it would scream and shame.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:24

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:25

It was really fun.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:27

That's crazy. I think you have me seeing. Yeah, here we go. Here's another look.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:36

I think it's the same photo. I just posted it on that slide. Oh, okay. But there's more, there's more. Krampus was like my most recent uh photo shoot. Oh, this is the one.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:07

Yeah, I can see that was kind of gonna be scary.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:10

Yeah, and I had this plastic tongue. It was so fun. Uh there's another post because that was the theme. Like we had to be Krampus. So everybody, all the cosplayers kind of did their own like version. Uh there's like a sexy Krampus, uh uh cyberpunk uh Krampus. Oh we had to do this. This is peasy. The guy had uh stilts on his cosplay was amazing.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:58

Oh, that is awesome.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:00

That is amazing, and it's so fun, you know. It's like just cosplaying is so much fun. Like I'm having like the best time, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:10

Yeah, yeah. Oh, these are all I love, I love all these. These like like I've I've checked out your page, obviously, and I'm like, oh, these are all just amazing. The bodybuildings are the ones are amazing, the all your modeling ones are amazing, your cosplays. It's just you're you're a jack of all trades.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:28

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:30

Especially learning doing nursing as well. So I'm like, oh man, she she's been doing a lot here, so um but guys, that is where we are gonna end this episode. Thank you for hanging out. Thank you for watching. Um, for those who are listening on Spotify, do you want to let them know how they can follow and support you?

SPEAKER_04 1:07:50

Yes, uh, hi everybody. Uh so my Instagram is fit f I t underscore nurse underscore x okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:05

All right, so definitely go and give a follow. Show some love and support, and then uh guys, you can check out uh all the other content here on the Nerd Talk channel as well as the gaming channel. You can find multiple links to my other platforms down in the description as well. But guys, thank you again for hanging out. Thank you guys for watching, and we will see you in the next video. Y'all have a good one.