Today we’d like to introduce you to Kennedy Ann Scott.
Hi Kennedy Ann , thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Kennedy Ann Scott was born while attending MSU (Missouri State University) Springfield Missouri. When I entered my first amateur drag competition. My first drag name was Abenna Mann, but soon morphed into Kennedy Ann Scott when hanging out with friends. I was always fascinated by RuPaul and watching drag queens and trans women on the 90s daytime talk shows. I just knew those were my people. I always wanted to be either an actor on the big screen or on Broadway. My life took a turn when I entered college as I became an education major and followed my other dream of being a teacher. I wanted to be a teacher because growing up school was rough, not with the academic part but socially. I was bullied relentlessly by other peers. I had some amazing teachers help me on my journey and I too wanted to help students like me and not like me. I wanted to make a difference. I want to make an impact in some way to everyone I meet! Tall order to do, but I knew I was placed on this earth to make a difference. I’m so lucky to be able to do both of my passions teaching and education! I have a residency at the historic East Nashville bar The Lipstick Lounge. I was the first drag queen to ever have a residency at the bar. Each Wednesday night, I host “Figure It Out” a weekly trivia show. I am the show director for the monthly drag shows and I twirl all around Nashville! I love being able to entertain not only the people of nashville, but teaching the youth of tomorrow to help make a difference in the world they were given. I’m an advocate for children and the LGBTQIA+ community! I enjoy bridging the gap between humans one show at a time.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s not been the smoothest of roads. Been through many bumps along the way. I was bullied from 1st grade to adulthood. I was the odd kid out most of the time. I liked to beat to my own feminine drum and liked things that were not considered boy things/hobbies. Most of the time I hung out with girls because they were always more accepting than the guys in my class. In jr. High I was attacked in the bathroom with a pocketknife. I was the kid everyone picked on. I was the one that took it and kept moving. My self-worth was very low. It’s hard to carry around all the other people feelings of you and your own, but some how I persisted through.. I was always very close to my grandmother growing up! She was everything to me! A week before I was moving to college she passed away it devastated me deeply. She was the one person who always got me. And she was gone. After she passed I knew I couldn’t hide who I was. I knew I need to tell the world who I was my authentic self. When I came out it was a very rough time in my life… coming out as a gay male was not received well in my family… relationships were broken and tested. At college I got to become myself. I transformed from a shy quiet person to my authentic fun and loud person. College bullies were different they knew how to gut punch the people who were different then themselves, but I learned to defend and speak up for myself. I was discouraged from becoming a teacher by a professor because I was queer.. saying that I would probably not get a job because I was a gay male, but there was a school district in Missouri that did hire people like me… see the worst thing people can say to me is no, or you can’t! That’s my fuel for working in over drive to prove them wrong! After 30 something interviews I landed a teaching job, it wasn’t my ideal position, but I was doing it! I decided to move to Nashville. I need a bigger city than the small town mindset. When I got to Nashville my life blossomed i was able to be my full authentic self. Not everyone has liked my authentic self, when my book cane out some people didn’t think i should be able to be a teacher. People have called my school trying to get me fired and ruin my life. However i have still overcome and show people why i am a great teacher. My hardships have got me to where I am today! My confidence grew, since living in nashville and being apart of the MNPS teaching community. I have won teaching awards and drag artistry awards. I have made Nashville my home and thrived. I think we have to go through hardships to appreciate the great things that happen in our life! Life isn’t always easy, but what we do with the cards we are dealt makes us into the humans we are! I still get the occasional bully or crude voice of a bigot, but now that I have found myself, their voices are not loud and easy to block out.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am an educator for Metro Nashville public school. I enjoy teaching I have been in the educational field for 17 years. It’s an amazing feeling to teach and watch students get that lightbulb moment. There is nothing like it. I also love watching them be creative and enjoy the learning even when they say, “That’s boring.” Creating lessons they thrive on and challenge thought. The social and emotional part of teaching is wonderful too! Teaching empathy for all students to understand points of view and understanding why people may think the way they do is fascinating. I always tell my students the one thing can control on life is the knowledge they put into their brains. No one can take that knowledge away from them, and they can apply it to everything they do in life.
I also am a drag artist! I have been doing drag for 19 years! It’s a wonderful creative profession much like drag, teaching is also an art. I love doing both! You have to be able to communicate and command the attention of the room. You have to be able to convey a message and entertain. I’m known for my high kicks and legs! Kennedy Ann Scott is legs of Nashville. I think something that sets me apart is that I make connections to my audience and students! Being a teacher helps me be a better performer and being a drag queen helps me be a better teacher. I’m most proud of myself for writing my story and getting some of my life story in my co authored book “ No Tea No Shade Life As A Drag Queen” it was a way for me to not only have something therapeutic but know that my story could also be similar to someone else going through rough times and knowing that someone was out there that understood and related to being treated differently. Also, making it out of the mindset that I was no good and didn’t deserve to live. That I had a life worth living and I could help people just like me. I also am very proud of the podcast I have co created with my good Judy Vanity another amazing drag artist in Nashville and our producer Bishop. We have created an amazing podcast called “ Loose Lips and Lipstick” we just finished our first season with 29 episodes. You can find on all streaming platforms! It’s a show that’s real and we sit down with local artists and local topics. It’s a show that feels like the listener is with us at the table. It was a dream I had and it can true! Can’t wait for season 2.
What makes you happy?
I love human beings! I love people! Making people happy and making them feel seen and noticed makes me happy! I love being social and learning about all people! Human interaction makes me feel needed and wanted! I am by default the person who cares about everyone in the room. I want everyone to feel comfortable and accepted! I want to help as many people as I can! I bite off a lot of things most times but I get through it because of the compassion I have for people! Knowing that people are happy makes me happy!
I’m also happy when I hang out with friends and my chosen family! As queer people we get to create our own families and I wouldn’t be the same with out them.
You also have to make your own happiness in anything! Be your own light!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @msKennedyannscott
- Facebook: Kennedy Ann scott
- Youtube: Looselipsandlipstickpod
- Other: https://linktr.ee/KennedyAnnScott?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=1637b337-b8ba-4159-b8f1-0d91ee3da3b2
