"Continuously" work with Deaf Organizations?

When I was young, I thought there were only a few deaf people in this world. I was wrong! Enrolling at the National Technical of Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, NY, I realized there were plenty of deaf people and I got a chance to meet a lot of them. Since then, I have wanted to meet more deaf people. I have always looked forward to meeting new deaf people.

I always feel “honored” to be invited by interpreters at different Interpreter Conferences to help them, the interpreters, improve their training skills. I also have been doing a lot of storytelling for years. I credit the interpreters for letting me explore the “storyteller” in me.

I am extremely lucky to have so many friends who have shown their unwavering support. They gave me the confidence to go out and perform in the hearing world. Most of all, being accepted as a Deaf storyteller by the Deaf community means a lot to me. It is the “seal of approval” from my own peers. I am going to be there for the “deaf community or deaf organization” that asks for my “services” as a performer. I am who I am now because of the “deaf community”.

(Photo: ASL/Interpreter Teacher's Dog in New Mexico: Red Tail and Me)

I am a workaholic and I love the challenges that I meet along the way. It is through the challenges and obstacles that I “strive” to do better at the same challenges and obstacles that kept me feeling alive and kept me going. Besides, I think I have the best job in the world, doing what I love to do and meeting a lot of people (and their pets). 

Drama, Drama, Drama!!! How did I happen to become an entertainer?

Yes, I do remember that I was in a Thanksgiving Pilgrim show in elementary school. I enjoyed wearing the costume – it felt fun to be someone else! That led me to understand what a “play” is. I played the role of Helen Keller during my freshman year of high school; I fell in love with drama. If you are wondering how many years I have been in drama, do your math! Four years in high school and seven years in college. Have you ever wondered if I will stop performing? I have been in shows for over 25 years. It sounds like half of my life has seen me involved in drama. I have enjoyed constantly telling stories! (Photo: College ~ National Technical Insitute of the Deaf (NTID), Rochester, New York ~ MacBeth/Lady MacBeth, 1986-87)

Is this business a full time job?

Yes, giving presentations around America is my full-time job. As a professional presenter and entertainer with over 25 years of experience, I love interacting with my workshop participants and audiences. I handle bookings from my home office. I pay behind–the scenes crew members, business consultants, mentors, and my editor as private contractors.

This is not a perfect job. Certainly, I face challenges, such as flight delays, last-minute schedule changes, economic ups and downs, negotiation stagnation points, and other issues. Sometimes I don’t get paid in a timely manner; I may even have to wait for months at a time before clients come through with payment.

This kind of work requires extensive hours spent in preparing for events, traveling to and from shows – usually 8 to 10 hours a day, in order to set up equipment before the presentations. Some hosts haven’t visualized the idea of how much time it requires from when I “clock in” to leave to go work and return to my desk. However, the total number of hours I am away on a job should be considered as part of my paid work.

My show includes multi-media animation, slides, video, and sound effects combined with ASL, stories, poetry, comedy, and other features, incorporating all of these elements using a laptop, LCD projector, and sound system. As part of my business, I provide the equipment needed to put on a high-tech, professional show that captivates all comers from Deaf to Hearing.

I love training interpreters and sharing updated resources. I’ve designed several specialized presentations for interpreters who wish to expand their skills in visual education, the art of sign language, and storytelling.

I also enjoy presenting shows related to Deaf Culture, ASL Improv, and stand-up comedy through stories told to communities. I enhance my stories with drama skills that I’ve developed over the years. Could there be any better way to make a living?

Q: Have your kids ever interpreted for you?

YES! During local performances, once in a while, we’ve found that at the last minute, our voice interpreter couldn’t make it. So, at that point, my kids filled in.

Bart is full of confidence, but he doesn’t always remember what he’s supposed to say. Sammie backs him up, whispering in his ear. Sammie feels too shy to use the mike, but she is a fountain of creativity when it comes to Improv! Bart is very expressive, making an eyebrow say the whole story - short and sweet. Sammie uses a lot of classifiers and likes to tell more elaborate stories.

It’s funny to see Bart perch on the stool and speak right out. He’s very comfortable with the mike. Once, he told an interpreter, “That’s not what my mom said, she said…..” It was a stunning moment!

They love to work with me on stage. I wouldn’t be surprised if the kids took over the interpreting and got the audience eating out of the palms of their hands. They’re great ASL storytellers!

Trix, we love your great ASL shows! What can we do to encourage ASL artists?

Do you like having a wide variety of American Sign Language entertainment available?
Do you like boosting signing and interpreting skills? With your determination and
creativity, you can contribute to these worthy goals and give your own organization
wider recognition by finding ways to sponsor entertainers and workshop presenters at
local venues. Providing fair compensation to performers and presenters is essential.
But what if your organization has difficulty covering the costs?

You can come up with creative ways to increase local sponsorship of ASL shows and
workshops. Many hosts have won grants or raised funds in other innovative ways to
bring ASL entertainment and educational seminars to eager audiences in their
communities. Rather than appealing for rate reductions which are unsustainable for
performing artists, creative hosts have talked with corporations, organizations,
agencies, community members, employers and friends to encourage donation of
sponsorship funds and tokens of appreciation.

Performers have extensive preparation time and travel expenses to absorb. If certain
projects require volunteer crew members, their lodging and meals, as well as any
tokens of appreciation, such as gift cards, must be covered.

Out of respect for the entertainers and educators you are bringing to your area, please

refrain from trying to get special deals or cut rates. Such discounts can’t sustain
successful business operations. Let’s show mutual respect and keep ASL entertainment
alive!

I’ve been in the American Sign Language entertainment business for 14 years ‐ I love

it! I want to continue to bring highly entertaining and educational shows and
presentations to your area. I am always there for you – I really respect, love, and enjoy
working with you all!

Trix, when people interview you, what is the most frequently asked question?

People are curious about how I became Deaf. It happened when I was 6 months old, due to meningitis. To be honest, it feels as if I've been Deaf all my life. I don't wear hearing aids, as they are not able to help me hear anything. I have had years of speech therapy, but my speech isn't perfect. People are also often curious about my age, marital status, whether or not my parents are hearing, and if I have deaf or hearing children. I am young at heart, and I always tell people that I am married to my career! My parents are hearing - I am the only Deaf person in my family. I have two hearing children who are now CODAs. (Children of Deaf Adults) And, yes, my children and I use ASL to communicate with one another! We love ASL!

Could you tell us about some of the happy moments during your travels?

I love trying to coordinate plans, using my ability to organize, to think in positive ways, and to show a professional manner. I enjoy keeping my commitments to meet the hosts’, audience’s, and participants’ expectations. I strongly believe that though nothing is perfect, I can work things out to do my very best in every circumstance.

Successes. Accomplishments. Achievement. Encouragement. It’s not always easy learning something new, but once you do, your confidence grows. First, plan. Then keep on going forward to make sure everything runs well. Getting your schedule right in advance is the best; sometimes I had to fly in and then run to present a workshop. I just keep my spirits up!

It’s a great pleasure for me to see participants absorbing information, updating their understanding about ASL, learning new classifier handshapes, and gaining the ability to translate English equivalents. I am thrilled to see their hunger for more! Some participants buy my DVDs so that they can practice at home.  Hot cocoa in hand, I keep presenting as much as I can.

When hosts book me, I am thrilled and honored to be a part of their special events. Relaxing in a hotel room before teaching or performing gives me time to think, prepare, meditate, and boost my energy! Organize! Think positive! I love journaling, too. This puts a big smile on my face.  When a plan falls apart, I just work to iron things out. Oh, and I learn from my mistakes, so the same problem won’t happen again.

Love these school kids coming and crawling for my autographed headshots. Their "tapping" on my shoulder, leg, arm, and back got my attention to take turns, signed my photos for them. Sweet moments!

 

I’ve received so many compliments, suggestions, and other ideas from all of YOU! Thank you! I will use some of these ideas in my presentations, along with offers to help. Everything you offer always gives me happy moments. Thank you, everyone, for all of your support.

CHALLENGES! CHALLENGES! CHALLENGES!

Friends, fans, and students keep asking me asked me about what challenges have come up as I’ve worked on my business. I’m patiently making my way through everything on my journey to success. I always learn something new everyday and plan to iron out my traveling plans more smoothly and make things happen in a magical way!

 

Here are some challenges I’ve faced:

 

• Flights cancelled or delayed due to weather, maintenance problems, or a strike. I have lost a few days "resting" due to these difficulties, but luckily I made it to work! For instance, I was supposed to arrive at 11 am but checked in to the hotel at 9:30 pm, instead.
• Had to pay for lodging, airport parking, and meals when my flight was cancelled and rescheduled for the next day.
• Luggage missing. I had to go shopping to find a nice outfit before the workshop started.
• Payments delayed. Didn't get my checks on time. Waits were everything from 30 days to 6 months!
• Airline fuel costs went up unexpectedly and I had to use my personal credit card to pay airline fares that should have been covered by the hosting organizations.
• Booked my rental car through an online website. Then I was hit with last-minute rate increases!
• Got two job offers on the same day - had to pick just one!

 

I am so lucky that most of my hosts are extremely friendly and respect my wishes. The hosts and I have been able to work things out beautifully to get through and make the events into miracles. Truthfully, the travel issues could have driven me crazy! Trial and error have taught me that right now it is best to fly in and stay overnight for the next day's work to save me from the worry of trying to fly out on the day of the event and having some issues come up to interfere. For sure, my hair is going to grow gray! But everything has been working out great!

What is an accomplishment you’re proud of?

Despite some odds that were against me, and many glitches that came up, I’ve been able to accomplish many of my goals and achieve many of my dreams. For example, when I was a little girl, I always wanted to be an author. I wrote some proposals, but publishers rejected them. Then a friend suggested that I produce a video. Bingo! To date, I have produced 12 DVDs, all of which have been huge hits among sign language interpreters. Making videos is a challenge: writing, storyboarding, filming, editing and all of that! It doesn’t actually generate that much profit, but what it does make goes directly to my retirement fund, since I have to build that alone as a self-employed individual. I will continue to produce as many videos as I can.

DVDs I’ve published:

• A HANDMADE TREASURY OF DEAF FOLKTALES
• ASL Extreme Makeovers: The Art of Personification
• ASL Role Shifting: “He Said, She Said”
• ASL SEMANTICS: Focus Word: FALL 
• ASL SEMANTICS: Focus Word: OUT  
• Bring the Bible Alive With ASL Classifiers!
• More Classifiers: Storytelling
• MORE CLASSIFIERS: Camping Adventures
• SPLASH! Make a Splash with ASL Storytelling! 
• Trix Upon A Time: An ASL Storytelling Handbook
• TALES OF a MAD American Sign Language WORLD
• The HEARING WORLD AROUND ME

Behind-the-scenes Question: What is your "commute" like? (Getting to and from performance venues)

The challenge: One-hour-away-from-the-airport! Yes, I drove back and forth within one hour each way going home to and from the airport. I live up the northern area of the country away from Seattle, where the home-based airport is located. My friends were surprised how I managed to get up so early in the morning to catch a plane because I have to be at the airport 2 hours before the flight takes off. For example, my plane leaves at 6 am. I have to get up at 2 am and get ready to go. The last 13 years I have been performing, I drove back and forth. Now, I decided to stay overnight at hotels near the airport, which is the best way for me to catch flights without the worry of driving all the way to the airport, never knowing if there is going to be bad traffic!

You've been very successful in your chosen career. How have your career experiences brought you satisfaction?

Of course, no job is perfect, but I have ironed out a lot of wrinkles to enhance my career satisfaction. I started from scratch and in my first years with the business, there were rough times. But there will always be challenges, and as I've grown the business, I've found it keeps me energized and enthusiastic. I've listed some career positives and challenges.

 

POSITIVES:  

• Following my heart
• Picked the right career - love it!
• Developed a lot of patience
• Flexible schedule
• Accomplished many projects
• Felt honored with so much demand for my work
• Wearing many hats in developing the business
• Support from family, friends, and fans means so much
• Crew members and volunteers have been available to help out
• Enjoyed wide publicity, including billboards and magazine covers
• Created my own modeling profile
• Unafraid to fly
 

CHALLENGES:

• Some luggage has been damaged or lost 
• Flight delays and cancellations
• Waiting for request forms caused flight costs to go up
• Charging too little has sometimes left the business in the red
• Parking fees, mileage costs, and out of pocket meals
• No retirement funds (due to self-employment)
• Health insurance expenses (due to self-employment)
• So much decision making on negotiations and offers
• Learning the hard way how to say, "No."
• Some hotels have no visual alarms; ending up in "Handicapped" rooms
• Late payments force use of personal money to cover business expenses

What do you think of the ABC family show “Switched at Birth”?

Please kindly join with me in waving your hands to applaud for Sean Berdy (plays Emmett) for getting involved in the show, "Switched at Birth". I was so touched by his performance in the show – a true Deaf identity. 

It was amazing to have the captions available showing what he signed. I felt like this was truly welcoming Deaf people to watch! I am dying to see more Deaf actors in action.  This show offered positive views of Deaf culture - a great benefit for hearing audiences, seeing what it's like to be a Deaf person.  I am looking forward to seeing more and more Deaf actors joining the entertainment industry.  Sean: Way to go! Keep going and you will be a Deaf star!  (Hands Waving!) Thank you, ABC family, for making this feature Deaf-friendly and showing part of the Deaf World.

What comments are you dying to share with this whole world? (Maybe you have something to say related to captions or visual text?)

Yes, I have plenty to talk about in these areas! Technology is amazing and with it, access may be provided to all. However, typically, it is not always possible to get captions or subtitles on DVDs when I purchase, rent, use, or download videos. Netflix accessibility is not always reliable, for example. I can't get captions on my iPad2 yet. When I wanted to watch a movie during a flight, and had rented a DVD from Blockbusters, sometimes I would be disappointed at the absence of captioning or subtitles. In-flight movies typically do not feature captions or subtitles. Why do we have all this wonderful technology but it is still not providing important accessibility for Deaf persons and others? YouTube has finally added captions. That is wonderful – but what about other venues?  My kids want me to see movies with them in theatres, but there are very limited opportunities to do so with captions or subtitles. The rear-view device for viewing captions is an awkward and cumbersome method designated "for" Deaf individuals. Why can’t we just have subtitles right up on the big screen? If a Deaf person shows up, the staff could simply push a button to turn the “Visual Text” on.  I would love that technology to be created for everyone!

How Do I Feel Performing in front of the "Hearing Community"?

Performing for the “hearing community” is an honor and at the same a huge responsibility. When I am in the middle of the stage, I feel it’s not just me, Trix Bruce, showing off my talents. I feel it is also me, the deaf person representing the thousands of deaf persons in America, showing the “hearing community” that I can do something, that I have the talent to “woo” them – to “entice” them with the language of the hands.

I strongly believe it is important to “educate” and “inform” the hearing world about the Deaf, about Deafness and about Deaf Culture.

My personal experiences throughout the years living in and interacting with the hearing world were met with a lot of challenges. I was a deaf person trying to “make” the hearing person deaf. At the same time, the hearing person tried to “make” me, a deaf person, hearing. This only showed that we, both the deaf and hearing, need to learn from each other in terms of language, culture, and interaction. My poems are especially geared towards the “hearing” community as a cry – a plea – to accept us, the deaf population, just like ordinary human beings. My poems tell the “hearing” person to treat us like a next door neighbor because we, as deaf people, are just like a next door neighbor; we just can’t hear.

I am just like everyone else who has a dream. I dream to be an actress - a DEAF actress in the hearing world. I want to show the world that I can be as good as anyone else, given the right opportunity.   

So many questions!

So many questions! I love it when people ask me about my perspective and experiences. I wondered whether I should write a book. Yet, there's no time. What about a blog? That's it! Participants, fans, and friends have asked questions like these: What's it like to travel so much? Which airline experience was the most frustrating? How many states have you been to? What are your favorite movies/restaurants/hotels? I will do my best to share my experiences in this blog. Enjoy reading my blog!