Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Steverson.
Chelsea, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Hi. I’m Chelsea — Storyteller and Professional Nerd.
My deep love and connection to arts and storytelling started at a young age, and led me to the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2007 for a BFA in theatre. There are no words to prepare a small-town southern girl for the experience of private art school. It was single-handedly the best 4 years of my life. Where else could I share a beer and hold a conversation that encompasses Star Wars, Buddhism, and gender equality? I found likeminded people, and even more than this I was able to let my Nerd-Flag fly. This was a truly revolutionary time for me.
I spent my summers in undergrad acting for Shakespeare companies across the US including the Utah Shakespeare Festival and the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ. Upon graduation I moved to Atlanta to fulfill an internship with the local Atlanta theatre Actor’s Express. In 2014 I took myself back to grad school, and I found a new life in the Arts Administration field. Here I was able to use my innate skills in business to become more active in arts and culture than ever before. Thanks to my graduate degree I’ve had the chance to work for organizations like C4 Atlanta, The Atlanta History Center, Arts for Learning at the Woodruff, Actor’s Express, and the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta.
Unfortunately, by 2016 I was in a full on quarter-life breakdown. My level of exhaustion was intense and I was very unhappy when participating in theatre and film. This realization crushed my soul with layers of self-doubt and disappointment. Theatre was what I “wanted” and was “supposed” to do, right? RIGHT?! So I couldn’t wrap my head around why wasn’t I happy. All my time was spent asking permission to participate. I wasn’t booking auditions and definitely not parts in any shows. I was financially broke (no matter how much I worked), and I didn’t feel rooted in the Atlanta Theatre community which I dedicated so many years to. On top of that, I was spending all my time at a day job where I was teaching and serving artists, but I wasn’t actually creating art on my own anymore. Needless to say, I was lost and broken.
Then in November of 2016 two of my friends here in Atlanta had a crazy idea. They asked if I wanted to start a Dungeons and Dragons podcast with them. The little nerd inside me exploded with joy, and by February of 2017 we launched North by North Quest: A Dungeons and Dragons Storytelling Podcast. Since then, my life has never been the same.
Here I am a year later deeply embedded in the online Twitch and gaming community. I spend roughly 20 hours a week playing Tabletop Roleplaying Games (TTRPG) and writing gaming modules so that other people can bring my stories to their own tables and gaming groups. Now, I get to write and tell stories EVERYDAY with people from all over the world. I feel truly fulfilled for the first time in almost 10 years. I’ve play for networks like Encounter Roleplay, Roll4It, and Wizards of the Coast. I’ll be speaking on 3 TTRPG panels this year at DragonCon, and the work keeps pouring in. My transition into the TTRPG world has been effortless. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be getting paid to play games and tell stories live on the internet, but here I am a semi-professional TTRPGer on track to be full time before the end of 2018. It seem like the appropriate time to use #blessed, but instead I’ll simply thank the dice of fate for rolling in my favor.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Something I’ve learned over the years is that no road is smooth. Especially if you are trying to find your way by following your heart and passion. There will always be struggles, and unfortunately this tends to be even more true for women. Trust me, take it from a woman in the professional gaming industry. Realizing your dreams is hard.
If you want some advice then take a moment to come to terms with the fact that there will be so many barriers to reaching your goals. You’re going to fail at things… everyone does. When you do, be kind to yourself. Look in the mirror and say “GOOD JOB!” Because failure means you’re growing and taking risks. Stagnancy is the death of creativity and innovation. Take solace knowing that as long as you’re pushing yourself and working hard for what you believe in you’ll find the right path to achieving your dreams. Listen to your heart and let your feet carry you to where your soul needs to be.
There are two key pieces of advice I have received over the years, and I never hesitate to share it with others because both have been instrumental in my growth as an artist and business woman.
First and foremost, there are aspects of starting a career that can be extremely difficult and overwhelming. There are lots of expectations, competition, and stress no matter what path you choose in life. I can remember as a young actor finding the weight and stress of the industry was often too much for me to handle. In those times where I felt most overwhelmed it was the words of one of my high school teachers that always pierced through the chaos — “How do you eat an elephant, Chelsea? The only way you can… one bite at a time.” Remember, when the weight of the world feels like too much, and the stress of your responsibilities are the size of an elephant all you can do is tackle them a single action at a time.
That advice builds directly onto the other most important piece of advice I’ve ever received. Though this one wasn’t given to me directly, it remains important words in my life. It was Bill Gates who said, “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” As someone who holds VERY high personal expectations, this quote helped me to realize that NOTHING happens overnight. If process (not product) is the most important part of being an artist, then learning to not rush your dreams is part of that process. Take your time. Pump the breaks. Trust me, you’ll achieve more that way.
I guess the big takeaway is, when you dream big like I do, it becomes imperative to look your “elephant” in the face and not try to eat it too quickly or in a single bite. Instead, eat that elephant one bite at a time even if it takes you 10 years. For within that level of dedication and commitment comes real happiness and pride in what you make.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Little Red Dot – what should we know?
As I mentioned earlier, I am what the industry calls a professional Tabletop Roleplayer and Twitch Streamer.
You may have heard of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) before thanks to shows like Big Bang Theory and Stranger Things. What most people don’t know is that D&D is only one of thousands of Tabletop Roleplaying Games (TTRPG) in the world. These are game in which a group of players assume the roles of characters and collaboratively “act out” fantastical adventures facilitated/written by the Game Master. All the actions and potential outcomes are partially determined by chance or the roll of dice. In short, it’s like improv around a table using the structure and rules of a game. Often these are in a fantasy setting, but I’ve played tons of other games from Lovecraftian Horror to My Little Pony.
Honestly, I really couldn’t have asked for a truer calling. All the skills I learned during my time as an actor (improv, voiceover, accents, story structure, etc.), the same skills which I thought were useless in the real world, are all directly applicable to what I do in TTRPGs now. Plus, with an M.A. in arts business, I have all the additional skills necessary to successfully maintain a freelance business as a professional TTRPGer.
I’ve become known very quickly in the online community as a very successful Game Master because of my LOVE of stories and my skills as an improviser. I do not go by Chelsea online, my Game Master name is Little Red Dot. Though I started as a guest on many other people’s Twitch Channels, I now run my own. This has allowed me to add my own twist to things making it even more collaborative. For example, the audience that tunes in to watch the show can donate live to effect the story. People simply LOVE it.
In addition, I’ve become very passionate about showing the diverse community of TTRPG. I think there is a misconception that D&D is for old white dudes who used to hang out in their mom’s basement in the 80’s. Though that may have been the main audience many years ago, today TTRPGs are extremely popular among people of all ages and demographics. It is not news to me that gatekeeping has always been a problem in both the video game and TTRPG Community. By starting my own channel and running my own games, I get to bring my own values to the table. I pride myself in maintaining a safe and equitable twitch channel for women, LGBTQ, and POC to game. One Sunday out of the month I even host “D&D Sunday Funday” where anyone regardless of background or knowledge of the game can come give it a try. I have a waitlist for those games a mile long which instills truth in the fact that ALL people love to tell stories though they may need the right space to do it.
I’ve even started to talk to Corporations and groups in Atlanta about team building sessions where we play a game of Dungeons and Dragons. It’s a fun and easy way to learn so many skills and you don’t even know you’re doing it!
I have dreams of being a unique leader in collaborative storytelling and gaming. My Twitch channel is the first step in realizing that dream. Next I plan to open a gaming cafe inside the city of Atlanta, so I hope you’re ready to roll some dice.
Do you feel like there was something about the experiences you had growing up that played an outsized role in setting you up for success later in life?
I grew up in a small farming community in South Georgia. No one thought outside of the box, everyone attended church on Sunday, and your personal business was never kept secret for long. This was all I knew until a few weeks prior to my 7th birthday when my whole life changed. I was diagnosed with Burkits Lymphoma, a type of Nonhodgkins Lymphoma aka cancer.
For the next year of my life I was poked, prodded, and tested only to be pulled from the 1st grade early. Chemotherapy was the only answer, and within weeks of beginning treatment I had lost every speck of hair on my body.
As a young girl, my self-esteem was quickly smashed. Friends and socializing were a thing of my past. My nights were plagued with nightmares of humiliation and my days were lonely. Therefore, I turned to movies, video games, and reading as a way to entertain myself (guess this is where my nerdiness was seeded).
At the beginning of my 3rd grade year I was encouraged to audition for the school chorus. After mustering up the courage (and buying a new hat with a bow to cover my peach fuzz of a haircut), I went out for the auditions. To my surprise I was accepted, but what I didn’t realize is that moment would change my life forever. Chorus rehearsal were filled with an energy and friendliness that I had never found before, and the people accepted me regardless of my lack of hair. This was my first step in identifying storytelling as an outlet for expression and rebuilding my damaged self-worth.
If you had told 7 year old Chelsea sitting in the bathroom crying during recess that a decade down the road that I would graduate from high school at the top of my class with a scholarship to a private arts school for acting, I would never have believed you. Truth is, the experiences of bullying and the misunderstanding from my young peers taught me to value each and every person for their uniqueness while my connection with art taught me that being unique is perfectly okay. I tell this story because it is really a genesis point for everything that makes me who I am and continues to inspire me to be better.
Contact Info:
- Address: Atlanta, GA
- Website: www.littledot.red
- Email: chelseastev@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/little_red_dott/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LittleRedDott
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/little_red_dot
- Other: Support at: https://twitch.tv/little_red_dot or https://patreon.com/littlereddot
Image Credit:
Red & Purple Image by Nerd & Vintage Photography
Green Gamer Girl by LuAnne DeMeo
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
