Creative Feature Friday: Bee

This week's interview is one of my favorite black woman cosplayer & entrepreneur

the talented Bee!

1. Introduce yourself (what do you do, passions, where your from etc) Hi I’m Bee! I’m an entrepreneur, creator and variety streamer. I’m most known for cosplaying but also own and anime inspired apparel company called Unique Style Code. I’m from Alabama but currently based out of Tennessee! I would say mental health is one of my passions that I would love to discuss more as I work through my own problems! I feel like there’s so much that should be discussed. I also love anime and creating different makeup looks!

2. What inspired you to start cosplaying?

To be honest I really started cosplaying by accident! I wanted to transform myself into a glam Gamora (Guardians of The Galaxy) and also Ironman using body paint and after posting realized what cosplay was! I enjoy changing into my favorite characters so I made a cosplay page and started cosplaying more frequently! It’s a good combination of makeup and expressing myself artistically.

3. How do you balance cosplaying and being an entrepreneur? This is difficult at times but I try to designate certain days for content and certain days for business related work. I’m currently an Entrepreneur full time, so time management is definitely the key! Lately cosplay has had to take a backseat while I work on my business. 4. What does mental health mean to you? I believe that mental health shapes our identity! There’s so many things about myself that I realized (upon reflection) relate back to trauma or a certain way I perceived myself and others in situations. A lot of what makes me Bee is deeply rooted in how I feel mentally. There’s so many people struggling with mental health and it’s refreshing to see transparency from others - like we are building a safe space to speak candidly. I love that for us!! Your mindset sets the tone for your life, so to me mental health is a HUGE factor! 5. How do you practice self care and rest with a busy schedule? To be honest, I struggle with this the most with the “grind culture” we constantly see online these days. I typically get caught up in my work and forget to simple self care actions like skincare or shaving. My typical approach is to take a couple hours to do those things (plus a good bubble bath!), throw on some anime Lofi and put my phone on DND. I try to be as present as possible in my self care moments because I don’t do it as often as I should. Recently I’ve also taken mini social media breaks because that also weighs on your mental. 6. How do you protect your peace of mind when receiving critiques? When receiving critiques I try to analyze whether it was said in good nature or just meant to hurt me. I’m good about taking feedback but sometimes people are just malicious for no reason and want to tear you down. This is why determining the intent of the feedback is crucial for me. I take my art and business seriously and want to protect my peace as much as possible! 7. What are some of your upcoming goals or things we should look out for? My current goal is to continue to get my business out there via networking and collaborations. It is tough sometimes to get that reach but I think once people see Unique Style Code for what it is, things will continue growing. I am currently doing preorders for my latest Hunter x Hunter designs that I’m very excited about! I also have my first sponsored cosplay coming in the next couple weeks!