Today we’d like to introduce you to The Oppai Princess.
Hi The Oppai Princess, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was moving forward from a rough patch of my life. I moved to Atlanta for better opportunities, had been homeless and didn’t know anyone. When I’d finally got back on my feet, I was going to therapy regularly and my therapist advised me to start getting reacquainted with myself by doing what I love that I couldn’t do before – playing video games. So I started playing and learned from a few of my hometown friends that I should seek out the community while streaming, as I didn’t have as many – to any friends here at the time.
I started to form my community on Twitch in 2017 and was playing a variety of games. Story-based adventure games, MMORPGs, survival/horror, battle royales, just everything that gave me a sense of escapism or a chance to rage out after working my day jobs. Eventually, I had learned about Dragon Con and knew it was a convention I wanted to attend. I’d never cosplayed before or been to a convention in my life so I joined a few Facebook groups to get an idea on what to expect. I went to the convention in my first cosplay, Pinup Jessica Rabbit and immediately hit it off with a few people I’d been speaking with online. The next day I cosplayed as Pinup Minnie Mouse and had received a lot of attention. I feel at that point I knew I wanted to start cosplaying and getting more into creating content.
After Dragon Con ended, a lot of people and the friends I’d made found my Instagram and I was encouraged to give cosplaying a try. I started out small with closet cosplays and original characters before moving on to bigger projects.
While getting more into the hobby, I started to incorporate cosplays as incentives to my streaming community to see me playing games in outfits. Over time my platform grew, and I partnered with a few companies to stream on their channels at an hourly rate, bringing my community over. At one point, I was working three jobs while streaming and realized I wanted to do this more seriously and monetize this outlet that was originally to relieve stress and feel safe.
A few years later, I had finally worked my way down to having one job with Google. Every time I went into work, I felt miserable. It was as if I knew I had some form of stability finally but it cut into things I wanted to do being a creative and I wasn’t fulfilled. And while I wanted more time to pick up more projects and explore more opportunities; the problem was I didn’t feel like it was time and was afraid to take that next big step announcing going full-time.
One day I tried to go to work and my card to buzz into the facility wasn’t working. I checked my phone and saw I was off the schedule. They had fired me. I called the agency I worked through and they weren’t answering, no one was letting me in the building and I couldn’t get any answers at the moment. So I went home, sent out emails to figure out what was happening with the schedule and I cried. I called my mom and my friends and cried some more. After that I took a few days to think about what my next move was and my friends urged me, saying this was a sign to try going all in. Now I’m currently in my third year of being a full-time streamer, business owner, voice actress and professional cosplayer.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Doing something like this as a plus-size, dark-skinned, queer person was never going to be easy. The internet is a wonderful place with lots of opportunities, but it can be a toxic abyss. And when you start getting noticed you don’t get to pick who sees your work. But you do get to choose who you engage with and how it affects you. I’ve been stalked, had fake pages made of me, and harassed over how I look. Growing up in this skin, you get used to it. And even on a grander scale being online with people watching you, it’s important to have a good support system. One thing my mom has told me since I was a kid dealing with bullying is that people are going to talk about you til the day you die, so keep being you and give them something to talk about.
I’ve had people talk about my weight all the time since I was a kid. And even now as someone who works out regularly and power lifts, I’ve made peace with my body. What that means is I love myself through the process of life and aging because I deserve to be celebrated for who I am and the work I do no matter what. I’m still worthy.
When it comes to being a dark-skinned black woman, I’ve learned that regardless of my engagement, following, and content I share with the world people won’t want to work with you if it doesn’t fit their aesthetic of “acceptable” of what’s in. There are certain conventions and brands that won’t work with me because of that. And if they do, they will immediately try to not pay me for my time at the start. They want me to share their work and products after glancing at my page but feel like I’m not worthy anymore after presenting an invoice. Mind you, these are the same companies that will pay for ads from platforms like Facebook.
I feel like with being plus-sized as a creator, one of the more negative things is being handled on a few points of the spectrum: being hyper-sexualized or fetishized no matter what you do or wear, being questioned about your health, making a statement and politicized just for existing in whatever you decide to adorn your body with and being bombarded with the low hanging fruit of fat jokes.
Presenting as hyper-femme, I’ve also learned that everything you do looks like it’s for the male gaze or you’re not conventionally queer presenting (which is a terrible take because it seems like the media has this idea of what not being straight is supposed to look like)
And lastly, as glamorous as it may seem being a full-time creator, people forget that there’s no HR person and income can be inconsistent. If I’m trying to get to a convention I haven’t been specifically hired to work I have to crowdfund or come out of pocket to go to that convention to create content, network, sell merch, etc. I don’t have PTO, so it’s up to me to make sure there’s money set aside in case something happens and I get sick. I’m my own team of marketing, editing and so much more. There’s always work to be done, but that’s just part of running a business.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a streamer on Twitch, cosplayer, voice actress, business owner and plus-size model. I feel like what sets me apart is my story. What I specialize in is delivering a fantasy that’s still authentic within my community. I’ve been candid about my growth, body changes and the highs and lows of becoming a full-time creator and business owner. I deliver escapism and a positive space to relax one minute with mindful and funny topics and the ability to do a 180 and rage out playing games with my audience. Being able to put on a show or cosplay with confidence is something a lot of people will critique and say they want to do until it’s time to do it. It takes guts to do this especially when you’re not the beauty standard.
I’m known for how I present myself in and out of cosplay, on and off camera and my personality. It may seem like all it takes is a nice smile and a pleasant voice but it’s more than that. You have to build genuine bonds when seeking out your people.
I’m most proud of my growth and change in content & community over the years. Its a vague answer but when you go from no direction, being a shy person, being homeless and working in a field you have no genuine interest in just to survive; to starting to make waves in an industry that is male-focused and you know you’re part of an underrepresented crowd, its something to be admired. I’ve got to say that I’m also proud of my black, queer, femme peers too they’ve motivated and inspired me to push. I’ve learned how versatile I am about my boundaries and standards. We all have different struggles based on our own niches but we understand each other.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I really don’t think I can list just one. There’s a lot of things that contribute to anyone’s ability to be successful in their own right because you juggle so much as a “one woman show.” The characteristics that I feel have been most important to my success is the ability to be resourceful, a willingness to learn, having resilience, giving myself grace & love, and a sense of humor. These are the most used attributes every day I work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://theoppaiprincess.com/
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/theoppaiprincess
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/OppaiPrincess
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/oppaiprincess
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9F-0bj92O4KVwleyPIu9mw
- Other: http://twitch.tv/theoppaiprincess
Image Credits
The Oppai Princess The Amp Image Doctor Laws Photolab Mahogany Wings Yarn Goddess Cosplay
