Hello everybody! My name's Erik! What's yours?

So, am I the only one who thinks that bios are a little too stuffy these days?

My name's Erik Stefan Dunn Schneider and I love the analysis and critique of common-held belief and thought structures, the use of parenthetical expression and other punctuation that gives a conversational and unpretentious tone, and, of course, travel, artistic expression, and cats...because, c'mon, who doesn't love cats?

I am a multi-hyphenate artist (author/singer/dancer/model/make-up artist) and entrepreneur living in Queens, NY. In 2013, I earned a BFA in Musical Theatre with a minor in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (born, raised, and educated). I then pursued the torrid, exhilarating, confusing, and all around strange life of a millennial artist, story-teller, and leader...until the world and the industry that I’d spent my adult life pursuing shuttered to a close…so, I pivoted. I made a successful tiktok channel that grew to 33+k followers all enjoying and engaging with my very queer lip-syncs, makeup lewks, and critiques of modern artistry and cishetnorm culture…until tiktok demonetized me without hope to appeal….so, I pivoted again. Now I’m a published author and substack writer, a professional stylist and makeup artist, a quorporate queer, and an official leader, community builder, and business owner.

Through my artistry and connection with others, I pursue stories. I believe in stories. I believe and know that when we sit and take in another’s story, we are asked to see the world through their eyes, and, so very often, we find how similar those eyes are to our own. Stories, in the news, in film, on stage, or even from the mouth of a stranger we just met, help us to understand just what others are capable of the beautiful and the monstrous, which lead us to a better understanding of what we, ourselves, are capable of.

And, that’s why I’m a creator: I will always tell stories, add value, and create empathy…all with the hope that someone finds themselves in one of the stories about me.

-Erik <3