Visible. Unapologetic. | Celeste Entity - ListenUp Podcast

She’s a rhinestone-soaked showgirl on Friday night and an IV tech preparing chemo and dialysis meds during the day, and somehow both roles make perfect sense when you hear her story. We’re joined by Cyleste Entity, a transgender burlesque performer from Virginia Beach who’s built a name in Norfolk-area bars and clubs by treating glamour like a craft and self-expression like a necessity.

We talk about where she performs, how her striptease style evolves from classic inspirations, and what goes into acts that look effortless but require serious planning, rehearsal, and costume work. Cyleste also shares some of her earliest memories of wanting to wear what felt right, and how growing up in a Christian home shaped the silence, the boundaries, and the decision to lean on chosen family when support at home doesn’t show up.

From there, we dig into the bigger cultural conversation around transgender visibility and the claim that schools or social media “create” trans people. Cyleste offers a grounded perspective: visibility changes how safe it feels to exist, not whether people exist at all. We also get real about mental health in the trans community, including depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia, and the pressure to meet impossible beauty standards, plus the small daily rituals that help her stay here and keep going.

If you care about LGBTQ stories, trans identity, workplace bias, burlesque performance, or building resilience without losing softness, this conversation delivers. Subscribe to Listen Up, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find it.

Transcript

Welcome And Meet Celeste

SPEAKER_02 0:07

Hello everyone, I'm Al Neely. Welcome to Listen Up Podcast. And today we have Transastic Celeste Entity. Uh Celeste is a Diva, a DAL, an atomic bomb, strip teaser, and a show girl. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 0:25

You know, I'm doing wonderful. Thank you for having me today. I've been looking forward to this for quite a while.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

Yes, I've been looking forward to having you on. Um we met you at an event, and um we haven't seen you perform, but um you're pretty popular in the area.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Oh, I do my best. I do my best.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

Yeah.

Where She Performs Around Virginia

SPEAKER_02 0:46

So tell us um what where have you performed in this area? What type of uh venues can you be seeing?

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Yeah, absolutely. Um I do a lot of like bar and club gigs. Um, specifically the Rainbow Cactus out in Virginia Beach. Oh, okay. Um, I frequent the wave every Friday. Uh that one is out in Norfolk, and it is one of the best bars in Virginia. I could not recommend the wave enough. It is my safe place, my happy home, my home away from home. It's it's just utterly amazing. Um we've got that, we've got that. I've done 37th and Zen. Um, I started off at MJ's Tavern as well. Um, and I also am quite up in Fredericksburg, the Fredericksburg Theater is one of my favorite spots in the world. Yeah. The stage there is just immaculate and the crowd is always lovely.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

How long have you been performing, Celeste?

SPEAKER_00 1:39

Oh, um, I've been performing professionally since I was 17. I used to sneak into some of the bars. Really?

SPEAKER_02 1:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Um, and my acts at the time were a little more PG. We weren't as revealing. Um, but as time has progressed, I've certainly started to take off more and more.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Okay. So you actually do a strip tease.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

I do my very best. Very Gypsy Rosely inspired, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 2:04

Uh so is that your your inspiration for your Oh a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

I her and Dee the Von Tees, especially, are some of my biggest inspirations. And I hope one day I can be half the talent they are. Um just since I was a little girl, I've wanted the same costumes that they've had for a while. Um there's just this image that comes into my head every time I think of her of Gypsy Roseley, this gorgeous gold leme dress with all the fringe on the bottom. And when she's on stage and like wiggling around, it just moves so beautifully. I would die for a dress like that one day, but it'll come one day, fingers crossed, fingers crossed, you know.

SPEAKER_02 2:40

Right.

Early Signs Of Gender Expression

SPEAKER_02 2:41

So you you just said little girl. So I I want to delve into that. So when did you know? Or when were you because when you possibly knew or you were able to acknowledge it? Uh because you come from a big family.

SPEAKER_00 2:59

For better or for worse, I do. Yeah. Yeah, I can imagine.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

So when did you when did you you know?

SPEAKER_00 3:06

So at a pretty young age, I knew why it was different. One of my first memories, I want to say it was roughly maybe five or six years old. Um, I'm at daycare with the rest of the kids. Um, and my babysitter at the time brings out all of like the Disney princess dresses. And I go, Oh, these are stunning. I I have got to be in one of these. Um, all of the other little girls get their dresses, and the last one that's left is the Cinderella, the blue dress. And I go, well, since I'm the last one left, everybody else has their dress, I want to wear the dress. Give me the pretty blue dress. Um, and my babysitter goes, Yeah, that's not really for you. Like, we're not doing that. You know, it's not for you. And I go, Well, I'm just like everybody else. Let me wear the dress. I don't see what it's just clothing. Um, and a little bit debacle happened afterwards with that. Um, but that was kind of my first realization of, oh, maybe there is something going on here. Maybe there is something that's not quite right. I'm I'm a little different, and that's okay. Um, kind of growing up in life, I had some similar experiences. I've always been a very um effeminate person. I love to wear high heels. I love to wear makeup. Um, as we've talked about, I love gowns and dresses and whatnot. Um to the point where, like in high school and whatnot, I would like bring a pair of high heels to change at school because my parents are not very accepting of that kind of lifestyle. So I would have like the clothes that they would send me out in, and then have the clothes I want to change in at school.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

Did you find yourself putting it maybe looking at your mom's clothes?

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Oh, absolutely. Really? Oh, yeah. Well, they would go out to their different events or even to church sometimes, and I would go, Well, now that you aren't here, I'm gonna play dress up now. And I would put on her dresses, I would put on her different um pantsuits, her shoes even. Her shoe collection is fantastic. I want to have one just like hers one day. Oh yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:51

Okay. Um I really appreciate you talking about this. I think this is something that people need to hear. Um, it's one of the reasons I wanted to have me. Plus, I mean, you're um you're really, really good at what you do. And and you can find her on uh Celeste Entity on IG. So you can actually see um some of what she does as far as a performer.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Right.

Religion At Home And Conditional Love

SPEAKER_02 5:20

Now, from your st family standpoint, you just said that your parents were going to church. Yes, to Christians.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Oh, very much so. Absolutely, absolutely. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

When were you able to have that conversation with them?

SPEAKER_00 5:36

Kind of a tricky question. Yeah. Growing up, there were definitely times where they would acknowledge the more feminine side, but they would always go, No, we don't want to see that. Like, pack it up. We we are we're not interested in this. You we want it felt like to me at the time, they wanted me to kind of present myself to the world the way they wanted to, rather than the way that felt authentic to myself.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

So with that being said, I remember one time, it was a couple of days after Halloween. Uh, mom and dad were, oh, I'm so disappointed, I don't remember their names. But the the greasers from that grease movie with the pink skirt, and my dad was the guy. Yeah. Um God, my memory's failing me. I'm so sorry. But I thought the poodle skirt my mom had was just adorable.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

Um, they go out to have dinner with their friends the following night after Halloween, and I go, Well, now's my chance. Now's my chance to put this dress on and just feel real ill with the skirt. Put the skirt on and feel real cute. Um, I put the skirt on. They came home a little bit earlier than expected. They found me in it and they said, Okay, we never want to see this again. We're not gonna talk about this, just don't let it happen again, kind of thing. And they said, Okay. So that kind of it gives me the knowledge of to an extent your love is conditional because if you really loved me as a person, we would have a conversation, we would be able to in some way kind of work through this together. But now it's just apparent you don't want that level of relationship with me, and that's okay. Um, so as we kind of talked a little bit at like 18, moved out as as quickly as I could with an ex um and kind of booked it straight for Norfolk, as that's where all of the good bars are and stuff. Right. Um, and have just been doing my little wiggle and my glove dresses ever since.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

You mind if I ask you how old you are?

SPEAKER_00 7:18

Of course. Um, so 22, turning 23, uh born in 2004. Wow. Oh yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

So that's pretty interesting. One of the things that I noticed when I'm having a conversation with parents or people when it comes to um their children either coming out or wanting to transition is they're they think that it's one, they think that it's something that um is not biological or um they think it's just a mental condition. And right, and I've noticed that it's not. It's just it's just it's not they're completely different thoughts, completely different behaviors. Um you said you knew at that age, was it six or seven?

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Like right around five, six, seven, yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:25

Yeah, okay. You didn't go um, hey, this is who I am, probably because of the situation with your parents.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

Yeah, absolutely. And when you were able to do that, you were old enough to

Are Schools Making Kids Trans

SPEAKER_02 8:39

go out. So right now the big conversation is um which is a bunch of made up stuff about schools turning people into um transitioning, um you know genders right now in school. What would you say to that? Like, what would be your thoughts and your feelings about how that is typecast? Give me a thought about that.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

I would say especially in today's day and age, we are thankfully such a diverse culture that we're able to see, you know, all of the spectrums of all forms of humanity. And I think when it comes to trans people specifically, I don't think that like the number of cases are like increasing because of of access to like social media or whatever. I'm a firm believer that we've always been around since the dawn of time, whether you want to acknowledge us or not, we've always been like this third other category. Um, just with the ability to stay so interconnected with everyone. We're just able to be a little more visible than before the age of like cellular devices and whatnot.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

Or even now, we've been fighting for such a long time to get to a level of feeling somewhat safe in just like our daily life. Where now that it can be a little tumultuous for some of us, but for the most part, a lot of us are able to go into our daily lives just fully being ourselves and not have to necessarily worry about, oh, am I gonna get home safe? Am I gonna be able to like see the people I love later on? Like we can stay in the moment and still have our lives, and that's it's such a blessing to be alive in 2026. With everything going on, it it's certainly a crazy time to be alive, but there's there's nothing quite like today, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 10:37

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And there's always improvement, I guess. Yeah, each generation there's a bit of improvement. So you're what was it like for you with your sisters and brothers?

Siblings, Distance, And Chosen Family

SPEAKER_02 10:49

Oh, I think that's a good thing. How accepting what they they were accepting?

SPEAKER_00 10:52

So I come from like an all-girl household. So other than my dad, oh and my and my pet dog growing up, those are really the only boys in the house. Um, everybody was in a way kind of accepting. It was more so we see the writing on the wall, we know what will come. We're just kind of waiting on you to come to us to have the conversation. Yeah. Um, my sisters, thankfully, are pretty open to it. They have some reservations about everything, but um when we were talking, we were able to still have some form of a relationship. Um, but just for like my own mental health reasons and and wanting to grow as a person, I don't really talk to my biological family anymore. Yeah. Um, me and my chosen family are much more closer. We have a lot of a lot more things in common. Um, our views spiritually and non-spiritually are just more aligned. And in a way, I do miss my parents, but I'm like, it's okay to not necessarily have that deep personal close relationship with your parents if they're not gonna support you the way you need to be supported. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 11:55

Right.

Dysphoria, Depression, And Therapy

SPEAKER_02 11:56

Yeah, you just you talked about mental health. I definitely I want to touch on that. Absolutely. Um what do you see as what's needed as far as mental health and mental health understanding and um the trans that that that the entire community absolutely um it's a little hard speaking on the entire community as a whole, but I can speak on my experience.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Of course, of course. Um growing up, we dealt with a lot of um body dysmorphia or just not being happy with the body I have. Yeah. Um, a lot of like bullying because you're different, um, a lot of personal struggles at home with parents and whatnot. Um, so growing up, I just have a lot of anxiety and depression issues that I'm still working on today. Um, diagnosed uh major depressive. So it's it's it's really, really fun. Um, I kind of just have to find my little moments in joy throughout the day as I can. Or um, I like to think of it as I gotta turn my light on in the darkness or the darkness is all consuming. It's really, really fun. Um but they found that a lot of us do just kind of struggle with some of there's a lot of body issues in the trans community. A lot of people feel they have to have some level of plastic surgery to really feel complete. Um, which I mean, that kind of just speaks to society as a whole that we feel like we need to alter ourselves to fit some sort of like beauty standard. Um But all in all, I think just like a little bit of therapy for everybody would do the world a a great deal. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 13:35

Yeah, absolutely. You um you were just talking about what you just gave me. Is that exactly how you deal with things on a daily basis, or are there more? Is it more to it than that?

SPEAKER_00 13:49

Oh, I mean, for me at least, there is a lot of emotional ups and downs. There's a lot of, I just finished a project and I feel like I'm on top of the world.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

There's also, I just got home from work. Um, I'm an IV tech at Sintera Norfolk General. I make a lot of the chemo and dialysis meds, um, which is really fun. I find myself uh in my daytime job going, oh, I'm like a normal person. I I I'm just out in the world. I don't know how I got here. And then I go out at night um and I go, well, take your clothes off now. So it's really just the the duality of womanhood there, of of uh making your dreams come true, kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Um but to answer your question, there's there's definitely a lot of highs. There are a lot of, I'm happy to be alive, I'm happy to be existing in this moment, but there are also a lot of um not so happy times of of not necessarily wanting to be alive, not necessarily wanting to to partake in the things that the hobbies in which I enjoy, um, not wanting to connect with friends, just kind of like social isolation, I think is is a good word for it. Okay. But then that long term isn't very good for your mental health either. So it's really a balancing game of you know, taking care of yourself, taking care of others, and then bringing that all together.

SPEAKER_02 15:11

Yeah.

Rest Days, Hobbies, And Rhinestones

SPEAKER_00 15:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

So you're not performing, you're not at work, you have uh Celeste five hours downtime. Okay, what are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 15:26

Great question. Um normally the perfect day scenario, I would be at home. I want to have a nice bubble bath, I want to have a bath bomb by Lush, something of like maybe a violet or a vanilla fragrance would be lovely. I want to have a glass of champagne, I want to have a couple strawberries, I want to be in the b uh the bathtub for maybe 45 minutes, just enough to feel nice and like relaxed, but I don't want to start getting like too, too pruney. Um afterwards, I'm gonna go to bed and I'm just gonna hang out in bed for a couple hours. Okay. Um, I am very much a workaholic. I like to constantly be working, big on the idea of like idle hands are the devil's work. Um, so any sort of like not working on anything kind of feels in a way alien. Um, but when I do allow myself just to take a break, there's nothing I love more than just being in my bed. Um, I have a nice waved blanket and it weighs 15 pounds. So I'm in it and it just like swathles me and it feels amazing. Yeah um but yeah, that's that's definitely one of my happy spots.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

Gotcha, gotcha. What are your hobbies?

SPEAKER_00 16:35

Oh, great question. I do a stereotypically a lot of cooking and sewing. Uh, I do a lot of cleaning as well. But one of my favorite things in the world is just to put rhinestones on things. I'm the kind of person I will go to my day job, come home, and then rhinestone for like eight hours straight. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

One to ten, how creative are you? Well, 10 being the the most creative. Absolutely. I would say I'm gonna tell you after. I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna judge you after that. I'm judging you, okay?

SPEAKER_00 17:07

I like to think I'm a humble person. So with that being said, I'd give myself maybe like a seven and a half eight. Okay. I think I've got some stuff in me. I think I could be doing more, but I I'm proud of the work I've presented so far.

SPEAKER_02 17:18

All right. I've seen your your IG. I would say you're you're you're you're up there.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

No, I think you're very you're up there.

SPEAKER_02 17:25

You're probably being a little modest.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

No, well thank you.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

But um all right. Your soundtrack. What what are you listening to?

SPEAKER_00 17:35

Oh, a great question. I'm doing a little bit of everything. Okay. Um, we were listening to Beethoven on the way here. I want to say it was um Sonata number 14 and C flat, if I remember correctly.

SPEAKER_02 17:47

Where did that come from?

SPEAKER_00 17:49

So, growing up, one of the ways I used to express myself, I would play the string bass. So, like that big old thing in the orchestra. Yeah. Okay. Um, so I've just always had this deep love for orchestra music. It's also really fun to take your clothes off, too. So it's a little bit of um stuff from my childhood is following me into adulthood, you know. Okay. Um, but love orchestra music. We are also doing a lot of like older songs. I love songs from the 60s. Um, Julie London, especially. Her music really resonates with me. Marilyn Monroe, of course. I've I've listened to all of her music, I've seen all of her movies. Um for modern day stuff. Um, there's a singer Slater. She had a song called Cannibalism come out a while ago. That's really been stuck in my head recently. Um, and I love the band Cigarettes After Sex. They're just a really moody song. Great for like a late night vibe, kind of. You just want to be like it's after the you've had your your bubble bath with your champagne and you just want to be moody kind of thing. It's really fun.

SPEAKER_02 18:51

Gotcha. All

How Her Strip Tease Evolved

SPEAKER_02 18:52

right. So talk about your performance, how you've seen it evolved because you've been performing a while. Was it five years now?

SPEAKER_00 19:06

Uh four or five years, yes, sir. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:08

So talk about how it's evolved, where it started from, and then where you're at now. Absolutely. And how do you get to the point where have you always taken your clothes off?

SPEAKER_00 19:21

In a roundabout way, I taking your clothes off is just like the most fun thing in the world to me. Okay. One of my favorite games is is to play dress up. Like growing up, even now, I absolutely love just putting on the sparkly clothes. Uh, I love how they make me feel. I love just being silly in them. So, all of that to say, the idea of playing dress up, to like go from one costume to the next, you have to figure out a way to like take your clothes off in a way. All of that to say, performance-wise, we started off a little more conservative, just trying to get our feet in the water, see how things are done. Um, one of my first things I started with, um, a glove reveal where I would take my gloves off and I would have all of my bracelets like stacked up underneath. Um, this is my daytime stack, if you're wondering. Okay. Something really like soft and both daytimey. Um at night they have these like thick, massive bracelets I adorn my wrists with.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:15

Um, we started from the glove reveal and then we moved on to uh when the act calls for it. I love to take my bra off, do like a little bend and snap, legally blonde, um, like bend over, catch the bra, throw it into the audience kind of thing. Okay. Of course, we have a matching pasty on. Sometimes there's a tassel if the occasion calls for it. Um, here recently, I've also been really into taking my panties off. So I'll take those off and I'll have some sort of like bow or other um accessory to still make sure that area is covered and still following ABC law, of course. But just to give the audience that little extra like woo-hoo moment. Um, I'm a big believer in the idea of I'm working for this money, you know. The people in the audience had to go to work, they had to earn their money. So it's only fair that I give them a reason to tip me. Nobody likes a boring entertainer, you know? Right.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:07

Yeah.

Workplace Pushback And Daily Respect

SPEAKER_02 21:08

Um I want to talk about um what types of pushback violence or um what you may have experienced or do you experience regularly? Yeah. Um, because I think it's important. I know that um um people just don't understand. I want to be able to express what what takes place when you are lovely question.

SPEAKER_00 21:48

A trans Yeah, absolutely. Thank you very much for it. Yeah, um, I think the best way to kind of describe my experience growing up, there was a lot of Uh physical violence. Um not as much so today, but I really I like to bet on losing dogs. So a lot of the the guys I've been dating recently haven't been the best, but there's been a couple I've liked. Um all of that to say, I I find that in the performance sphere, people seem to respect me a little bit more. Um, I think it's mainly just all of the sparkles. The people see how sparkling I am and they go, okay, maybe she's got something. But daytime, especially um at my day job, I found that I do get, I wouldn't say a lot of pushback, but just enough to be annoying. A lot of the times um I work with pharmacists who have been doing well pharmacy for 10, 20, 30 plus years. Um, and they see me the the new blonde woman and they go, Well, she doesn't know anything. Um, so as I'm trying to do my work, they're like, Okay, I need you to double check you did these three things, and if it's not done perfectly, you have to remake everything. And I go, Well, I did exactly what you wanted me to do. I don't know why you're asking me to double check everything when you're not asking other people to do it.

SPEAKER_02 23:07

But that could also just passive aggression.

SPEAKER_00 23:11

Exactly, exactly. It's a lot of that. It's also I like to help people around me. I like to make the people's lives around me easier. So I have no problem. Uh, Norfolk General is a very busy hospital, and the IV requests we get can be a little strenuous at times. So, all of that to say, one of uh my coworkers at one point in time um tried to hand me a bunch of her work to do. And I said, Hey, listen, I will help you do this, but I do not have the energy or the willpower to do both my job and your job. So we can do it together, but it's not gonna be just on me, if that makes any sort of sense. And she was not pleased with that answer, and I had to have a private conversation with her of listen, I I I can't do everything as much as I want to. You have to help me when I'm helping you, kind of thing. And I found that for that situation specifically, I think it's she's been doing it for 30 plus years, so it's in a way it felt like I have to prove myself, kind of cut my teeth a little bit with her, which I understand to her side. Don't get me wrong. I I see where she's coming from, but at the same time, let's have a little respect for the other people with us. Don't make somebody else do your job for you. Okay. If we're all doing our job and we all go just a little bit like extra, then we're that's the dream team. You know what I mean? Like we're getting everything done together. And I think that togetherness is really kind of like the make or break in a work environment.

SPEAKER_02 24:44

Do you think that is attributed to your lifestyle, though? Or that your your lifestyle was a cause of that?

SPEAKER_00 24:49

She is very against my lifestyle. So I think that does play a part in it. It may not be like the full story, but it unfortunately I think plays a small part in it, yes, sir.

SPEAKER_02 25:01

Okay, gotcha. I see.

School, Side Hustles, And Business Plans

SPEAKER_02 25:04

You said um you're from Virginia Beach. I am. Yeah. Where'd you go to school?

SPEAKER_00 25:10

Um all right, I'm gonna list them out for you. Started off at Arrowhead Elementary, did two years there, then Providence, because my parents moved us.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:18

Um, followed by Kemptsville Middle, and then Kempstville High School's business and entrepreneurship. Um, and was the third graduating class with that program.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

Okay. Business and entrepreneurship.

SPEAKER_00 25:31

Oh yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:32

Okay. Have you done anything entrepreneurial? Um I mean outside of entrepreneurship. Right, right, right, right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:39

Um, outside of that, um, well, I haven't started an official business yet. We've got enter entity enterprises coming soon. Um, but I certainly have like rhinestone or sewn garments for my friends and have charged them for my time and energy and whatnot. Um but I haven't found something that I want to just like commit fully to like selling yet, well, besides myself. But like uh product-wise. Like I the the service we're working on kind of getting that finalized and set up. That, like I said, is in the works, it's coming. Um especially since I've been doing it for a while. Some of my being paid by the venues is that booking fee's going up, and then the tips I'm making are also going up. So I'm like, at this point, it's time to protect ourselves from the IRS. I don't need to be out of it. We we it's just time. You know, we're we're we're uh hitting the level of no longer being a baby entertainer, kind of entering into our teen years, and it's it's just time to elevate ourselves a little bit more. Um, but yeah, I'm hoping once I get a little more experience to have, you know, a full business with maybe like I think a pasties line could be really, really fun. I think Divonties has a lingerie line, and I would love to do something like that one day. I absolutely love lingerie, and it's it's just it can make you feel from like blonde boring to just the prettiest girl in the world. You know, it really just helps elevate everything.

SPEAKER_02 27:09

Right.

How Long She Plans To Perform

SPEAKER_02 27:10

Um how long do you see yourself performing, being a performer?

SPEAKER_00 27:16

Okay, so it's kind of funny you mentioned that. I don't know why, but I have this, and I've had this feeling since I was a very young child, but I in a way kind of view myself as a a bright shining star. I tell all of my friends, hey, I'm here for a fun time, not a long time. All of that to say, I think I'm probably gonna leave this this realm of right around like 32-ish.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

Um, I don't know why. I just see myself like falling down and fly the stairs and and stilettos or wearing some big like showgirly costume and just so something kind of to that effect. It just seems very on brand for my lifestyle. All of that to say, um, I'll keep performing until I can't anymore. Um, whether I'm falling downstairs or I have arthritis and just can't do it anymore. It is absolutely my pride and joy, my bread and butter, and there's nothing I love more than performing.

SPEAKER_02 28:17

Okay. Um, I'm gonna put you

Top Costumes And Signature Numbers

SPEAKER_02 28:23

on the spot.

SPEAKER_01 28:23

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 28:25

Your top three outfits that you perform. Absolutely, absolutely. Okay. Um, top three. One of them I'll we'll start with number three. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:38

Okay. Um, number three, I have this gorgeous blue robe. It's inspired by like a 60s old Hollywood starlet dressing robe. Uh blue tool, almost cerulean. It's just gorgeous, fully rhinestone inside and outside. Um, I perform the number If I were your woman by Dame Shirley, nope. Gladys Knight and the Pips. Yes. I do that one. Um 60s music, right? Exactly. And it's so good. Something about the soulfulness of the lyrics just really speaks to me. Oh, that's it. Big blue coat. I take that off. Um, I've got a bra with a bow on it, uh, a belt I made with a bunch of bows, big gloves. I take everything off by the end of that act. Um, I've got bow pasties and a uh a little bow sitting in front of my Brazilian area, and it's adorable. And of course, everything is rhinestone to high hell and back. Um, so that's number three. Number two, um, which I'll be wearing tonight at my quads show with Jennifer Warner, uh, Naomi Black, Jennifer Lawrence, and Jeannie Meenami. Um it is this red and silver full-body uh crystal bodysuit. Um very 70s-inspired Vegas show girl. Um I'm working on making an ostrich feather headpiece to go with it. But it's the full necklace, it's these arm sleeves, um, some uh diamonds around the bosom, goes down with some fringe and then some fringe right at the Brazilian again. Um, and it is just such a fun outfit to wiggle around in. The fringe and everything swings so well. The rhinestones pick up all the light perfectly. It is just my number two favorite costume. Okay. Um, my favorite one of all time. It's not necessarily the most sparkly one I have, but it is. Um, last year I won the pageant uh Miss Wigglesburg up in Fredericksburg. Um, and I wore this dress when I competed for the talent portion in that uh pageant. Um, but it is this purple Taff of the Mermaid gown, very figure-hugging with the sweetheart neckline up top. It has this royal blue sequin overlay on top of it. And it the best way I can describe it, it's a disco ball. It's a blue disco ball. The way it just shines, it's it's to me at least breathtaking. And then on the very bottom, right at the knees, it's got that purple taffeta again, uh, in a very billowing mermaid style. Um, and then there's a little bow on the back, and the it, well, it's not little, it's actually quite big. It's the size of a decent dinner plate. Um, and that's fully rhinestone, of course, to match the top half of the dress. And uh my good friend Laura installed a professional zipper into the back so I can pull it down really fast. Um and you can kind of wear just whatever you want underneath of it. Um, I performed a couple different songs with it, um, but I will be doing Lover Girl by Tina Marie tonight in it. And I am very, very excited for this number. I've been working very hard on uh the rest of the costume to go with it. And I think tonight's gonna be really, really fun. Yeah. Um, but that purple gown with the the blue overlay is is definitely my number one.

SPEAKER_02 31:52

Gotcha.

Practice, Perfectionism, And Quick Turnarounds

SPEAKER_02 31:53

How often do you how much time do you put in to perform practicing?

SPEAKER_00 31:59

Absolutely, absolutely. Um, as far as like actually making the costumes, it'll kill me, but I can do a quick 24-hour turnaround. Um if I have like my way, I would like at least a week's notice just to like create something, put the rhinestones on it, put some fringe, zhuzh it up a little bit. Um, but again, I can probably get something done in 24 hours. As far as like rehearsing the numbers or the acts themselves, honestly, the more time, the merrier. For me, it feels the most natural when I've performed the act about a hundred times. Wow. Just so live entertainment is so lovely in the sense of I can feel all of the energy from the people in the crowd. Um, so sometimes I just know, okay, they're not necessarily gonna feel or enjoy this part of my crew uh excuse me, choreo as much. So I can do this two-step instead of this little hokey pokey number or something instead. Um so I can, again, quick turnaround. I can learn a number in 24 hours or just a couple hours, but I would much prefer to have as much time as possible. Um, I'm really big on the idea of like practice is perfect and and I'm a perfectionist. So when I present myself, I want to look as polished and as well perfect as they can. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:27

Sorry, sorry to ramble on, yeah. No, no, that's good. That's what that's what that's what I'm looking for. Okay.

Dating As A Workaholic Performer

SPEAKER_02 33:32

So bring me a little personal. Okay, absolutely. Just talk about your your dating life. Absolutely. What is that like? Oh, tumultuous. Really, why?

SPEAKER_00 33:43

Um I have found that oftentimes when I think I want something and I like finally am able to have it, oftentimes it's not necessarily the full thing I was looking for. In the sense of um, stereotypically for a while, I was kind of more so interested in like the bodybuilder, the big strong guys, kind of like the camo wearing, kind of like the the all-around southern guys. Um, that's the way that I was kind of raised. And I was like, you know what, this kind of feels familiar in a way. Um here recently I've been branching out a little bit and have been enjoying um guys with a little more of a a little bit of like a sugar in their shoes, a little more on the I can uh speak a more feminine language with them, and they might not be able to fully translate everything, but they understand to an effect of what I'm saying. Um I found that that's a good point, but I'm gonna do that. It's just a lot easier to connect with somebody who has similar interests, similar hobbies, enjoys similar music. I found that it's I don't necessarily want to say I feel like I was wasting my time, but again, as a workaholic and perfectionist, dating somebody who wants a slower lifestyle is just very hard for me because I want to be working on something. I always want to be doing something, I want to be preoccupied. My time is very important to me, and I want to feel like I'm putting it to good use. Um, so like sitting on the couch or sitting in bed watching TV or a movie is nice sometimes, but I I certainly cannot do that every day. And I can only do that as like a little treat to myself once every blue moon. So, all of that to say, have been really diving into the realm of possibility of taking expectations off of dating. You know, anything can happen. I can fall in love with anybody. We just have to make sure our chemistry lasts, we have similar long-term goals. Um, and I'm a monogamous person, so don't cheat on me. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 35:58

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Emotional Communication And Expectations

SPEAKER_02 36:00

You um one of the things you were talking about, uh the different types of guys. Um do you find that different different types of guys and the personas are less um available emotionally and find it difficult to communicate?

SPEAKER_00 36:24

Oh, 100%.

SPEAKER_02 36:26

Give me what you've you've you've you've experienced.

SPEAKER_00 36:30

100%. So I feel like there are for the most part like two kinds of guys. They're the kinds who will pursue you and let you know very intimately, hey, I am interested in you, I want to like date you, I want to like show you off, and then they're the kind of guys who they want to be at home, they do not want to go clubbing, they kind of want to keep you to themselves. Um, just in a way I want to say reserved, but that doesn't necessarily feel like the most correct word to use in the moment.

SPEAKER_02 37:02

How how how available are you when it comes to being emotional and being able to express that through communications? How how would you rate yourself on a scale of one to ten? I hate to do one to ten, but are you are you are you had that ability to communicate and express yourself very well?

SPEAKER_00 37:30

I wouldn't say ten out of ten, but I I like to think I am able to express my emotions at at least on like a B B plus level, like a solid like eight. I definitely have room for growth. I definitely have room for improvement, but I feel like I again am able to voice my concerns pretty openly. Um at times it can be a little challenging. I I hate to be the person trying to like make waves. I don't want people to think I'm annoying or overbearing or whichever word you want to fill in that sentence. Um but I do my best when something comes up. I go, hey, we need to we need to address this. Um or even in the happy moments, I I am very quick to go, oh, thank you. That was so kind. Oh, I appreciate it so much. Um, yeah. Yeah. Very emotional person over here, yes, sir.

SPEAKER_02 38:21

Think it's the skill set.

SPEAKER_00 38:23

Yes and no. I think being emotional can certainly not the emotional part.

SPEAKER_02 38:29

Add to your personal part is what I was thinking of.

SPEAKER_00 38:32

Absolutely, absolutely. Well, I feel like in order to be a well-rounded communicator, you have to be able to talk about emotion and you have to be able to speak about it somewhat well. I mean, everybody feels, and it's it's kind of as we were talking about earlier. It's it's being able to relate to everybody that's gonna bring us all together as a collective, you know? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:55

Absolutely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:56

Okay. Um I don't I'd I'll probably uh think of something later.

Where To Follow Celeste And Closing

SPEAKER_02 39:04

Okay, but um it was great having you here. Um, the pleasure is all mine. Thank you. Express and um tell people how they can find you.

SPEAKER_00 39:16

Yeah, absolutely. Um I'm really big on Instagram.

SPEAKER_02 39:19

Positive with your messages, please. My pleasure, my pleasure. I'm talking about everybody else, okay.

SPEAKER_00 39:24

Um I'm really big on Instagram. Um, Celeste Entity spelt C Y L E S T E and then the word entity. Right. Um, I have a Facebook, but I'm don't really use it all that much.

SPEAKER_02 39:36

That's a different age group.

SPEAKER_00 39:38

It is, but also I'm not really a social media person in general. Like all of my friends have TikTok. I haven't opened that up in about six months, and it's it's I feel a little out of touch with with the kids, but it is what it is kind of thing. Um but Instagram is is usually the best place to reach me.

SPEAKER_02 39:55

Um do you post your uh performances on upcoming performances on there's always a flyer up, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 40:03

Okay. Some of the performances I can't necessarily post them just for for PG reasons, of course. Of course. Yeah. But I do my best to share what I can when I remember.

SPEAKER_02 40:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:16

Well, awesome. I appreciate you uh giving us the opportunity to talk with you.

SPEAKER_00 40:21

Yeah, my pleasure.

SPEAKER_02 40:23

Um any last words? Are you good?

SPEAKER_00 40:26

Um, I would say live, laugh, love. I think that's my message for the day. Live, live, laugh, love. Live, laugh love. Absolutely. All right. I think that's my next tattoo, too. Oh, okay. We'll talk about that later, though. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:42

All right. That's it. That concludes today's episode of Listen Up. We'll catch you next time on Listen Up. If you enjoyed today's episode, I'm gonna ask you to click on the links below. Follow, subscribe, become part of the conversation. And remember, listen up.