Today we’d like to introduce you to Lolita Milena.
Hi Lolita, 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?
When I was born, it was in some sort of barn in Russia from what records told me. Given up to two separate orphanages before I even reached the age of 2, I was finally taken in by an American foster family and set for the United States. There I had lived with them for approximately 6-8 months before in an act of violence, the foster father had left me paralyzed from the waist down. I was about 2 and a half years old. After hearing the story on the local radio, my now adopted mother had taken up to caring for me, and later she and her husband, my Pops adopted me around the age of 4 to 5. I was born with nothing to my name and suddenly gained the amazing opportunity to experience all I could even given my physical limitation. I was able to perform in the Nutcracker Ballet for 5 consecutive years (2006-2011) with a role special made for me; Clara’s little sister. Being a ballerina was a dream I had since I could remember and it came true. Since then, I had performed in 17 theatrical productions with my favorites being “Addams Family” as a tango dancer and “Christmas Carol” as Lily Fezziwig. In 2017 I had made a then, Musical.ly account after my sister dared me to. Fast forward a few years and I accumulated around 720,000 followers whom I respect and am so thankful for to this day. I’m serious! Thanks to my semi-large platform, my agent found me and helped me get into the audition process over in Hollywood where I landed my first breakout role: Buzzfeed and Lionsgate’s “1UP” will be released to Amazon prime video on July 15, 2022. It was surreal and something I daydreamed about since I was little and knew what films were. No matter where my future leads me, I will always look back with fondness and gratitude for such an experience and the producer’s faith in me to bring one of their characters to life.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
A smooth road is something of a fantasy when looking back on my life [Giggles]. Due to my injury happening at such a young age, the hospitals and operation rooms became a second home to me. By the age of 5 I had undergone a spinal rod insertion surgery and a double port operation, the latter having me spend my 6th birthday in the recovery hall. Based on my father’s extensive journals on the journey, he had written how I never seemed to be upset with going under the necessary knife so often and being sick seemingly every other week. Yes, there were times I would watch my relatives go play up on the hill in the backyard of my childhood home and I’d look at my father asking when would I be healed so I could join. It’s a tragic thing for any parent to have to reveal to their child that their injury will be lifelong and some things, that child is never going to experience. Throughout my life, I’ve had around 7 operations in regards to my paralysis with one going wrong which left me in a yearlong recovery that was by far the largest struggle of my life at 14. My father was my rock and main source for philosophical education even at a young age. We bonded over our love for astronomy, history, and sciences. But the best thing to happen in my life being him also ended too soon. He passed away suddenly when I was 12 years old which I now see as an emotional lesson for me to learn. I went my whole life with my chin held high through the physical challenges I faced up until that point. However, when he was gone, I felt hollow for the first time. It was when my world stopped turning for a long time. Now, I can only hope he looks down upon my family and me and is proud at how far we have all come.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
When people ask: Lolita what do you do for work? My brain kind of lags. How can I describe exactly what I do that isn’t too long-winded?!? Well, at its core right now, I am a content creator for social media. Around the time I started my YouTube and TikTok accounts, I was still in high school; my junior year. In a creative writing course, our instructor gave us two paths for the final test. We could do a small project with a group or partake in a contest called NANOWRIMO. The contest entailed that during the month of November it was a writer’s goal to reach a 50,000-word novel. Now I’m not one for many group projects, especially in high school so, I took to the novel challenge. If memory stands correct, by day 28 I had exceeded 64,000 words, and by the following January, I had published my first ever novel titled “2459” now available on Amazon with its sequel and two other horror-based novels alongside it. They are my “babies” if you will, my proudest achievements in my heart and always will be. “2459” holds a special spot in my heart since while a science fiction story, holds many pieces and parts of my real-life story. The numbers 2459 were even the new “name” given to me by those orphanages across the pond. Throughout the story there are those truths I implanted to spark reality into it, making the story more intriguing to readers. My social media is where I spend most of my time creating silly content for viewers. Most of it ranges in dark humor about my injury, life in general, or nerdy jokes since I very much am one. I think it shocks some people at how bold some people with disabilities can be with the predicament life threw at them. We aren’t afraid to toss a joke about it, what else are we to do [laughs].
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
I’m always ready to collaborate with viewers or fellow creative creators! Social media is one of the easiest contact choices.
TikTok: LolitaMilena
YouTube: Lolita milena
Instagram: Lolita.Milena
Contact Info:
- Website: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm6667324/
- Instagram: Lolita.Milena
- Youtube: Lolita Milena
- Other: https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPd2CHBRU/
Image Credits
Amanda Stayer
Mark Brown
