Today we’d like to introduce you to Chibbi Orduña.
Hi Chibbi, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
So my background’s in theater. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always been performing on stage, and that’s what I went to school to major in at UT Austin. In college is where I discovered spoken word and poetry slams, and what intrigued me the most was that it put as much emphasis on the performance as it did on the poetry itself. Coming from the world of theater, I was a great performer, always relying on the scripts given to me. But this gave me the opportunity to write my own script, a little three-minute monologue, and I dove right into it. I had always been a good writer, even if I didn’t pursue it fully. Now, with this new avenue open, it was like I unlocked something within. That was around 2007. After college, I moved back home to Laredo, looking for something to do, trying to reorient my life. I returned to what I loved, which was both theater and poetry. So I started my own poetry slam in Laredo, initially just me on stage sharing various poems and encouraging the audience to join me. But I kept at it every week, clinging to the belief that if you build it, they will come. For a poetry slam to work, you need at least three audience members who aren’t competing as judges and a handful of poets willing to share original work. One night I had just that, and the slam took off. This was around 2010, and by 2013, Laredo Border Slam had become its own nonprofit and is still active. It was the only spoken word event in the city, and they’ve been able to compete at various regional and national poetry competitions. I moved to Houston for work. At the time, I didn’t know anyone there, no friends or family. But someone I met through poetry had also moved to Houston from Bryan College Station, where he had started a poetry scene. I started the one in Laredo, so we teamed up and started Write About Now. Initially, we just showed up every week, and the first week, we maybe had 20 people in the room. Now Write About Now has grown into something that hosts two to three events weekly, each with 150-200 people. I hosted the event for four years. During that time, I continued writing, performing, and competing on teams, meeting more people on a national level through these yearly competitions. In summer 2019, I released my second collection of poetry, and a couple of months later, I was laid off from my corporate job as a trainer and manager for MAC Cosmetics. Though I loved my job, it was what is often referred to as golden handcuffs—very nice due to the paycheck, company perks, and car. But when that was taken from me, I decided not to keep my artistic life as a side hustle and dived in headfirst. Having just released the book, I put out a call to plan a book tour, asking which cities, venues, and spots would have me. I launched the Fall (f)Unemployment Book Tour with 20 dates across Florida, Georgia, Texas, New Mexico, and Hawaii, all paid for by poetry. During that time, I started talks with a manager and agency, and in February 2020, I was signed to one of the biggest agencies in the college and university market. Obviously, we all know what happened in March 2020. So as I thought my career was about to pop off, it had more of a slow start. With the world kind of shut down, those of us in San Antonio’s local poetry scene were looking for ways to connect. Community has always been a driving force in what I do—bringing people together and uplifting marginalized voices. We didn’t want to lose connection, so we launched a video podcast in April 2020 called Words and Shit. The idea was to get to know the person behind the poetry. We hosted an episode every week from March 2020 through the end of the year, going live every Thursday night with a different poet, sharing their work and interviewing them to get to know their story. It was magical. This gave me a bug I couldn’t shake, and once the world started reopening, I resumed touring and kept writing but enjoyed the interview format podcast. We renewed it for more seasons and now have over 100 interviews across all podcast platforms and YouTube. I formalized myself as a production company, rebranding as Gem In Eyes Productions. I started another podcast called Puro Pinche Podcast—originally After Two Tequila Shots. The format was taking two tequila shots, hitting record, and my best friend and I discussing pop culture, politics, and current events throughout the episode. But I stopped drinking, so we rebranded it as Puro Pinche Podcast. I also started producing another friend’s movie podcast and another friend’s personal podcast—that just became a thing. As I branched into new mediums, I started producing my own spoken word album, composing music, and collaborating with musicians. I released my first spoken word album, The Target Shoots Back, in January this year, along with videos for each album track. These days, I’m navigating multiple roles as a poet and writer, with two semi-half-done manuscripts, considering writing a novel. As a producer, I now work on six podcasts. As a performer, I still tour colleges and universities, and with my new album release, I’m looking to take it to theaters or other venues. I keep exploring ways to bring people together in spoken word, poetry, or any art medium—you’re not only the artist but also often your marketing manager, graphic designer, accountant, and booking agent. Event production has been another skill I’ve picked up, and I enjoy working with people to bring them together and celebrate ourselves and each other.
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?
Oh, of course not. Like I mentioned, as an independent artist you often have to wear multiple hats and develop a variety of skills. And a lot of the times, you have to teach yourself those skills, so there is a steep learning curve along the way. Then you’re battling the algorithms every step of the way, trying to figure out why more people haven’t found out about what you’re doing. I’m really bad at self-promotion, so there’s that too. Financially, how do you support yourself while you’re still building a thing? That’s why I stayed at my corporate job for so long, because there was no way I was going to be able to fund my artistic career and pay for everyday life expenses on just gig money. There was a point in Houston where I was working 6 different jobs. And I’m still trying to figure that out. My father, ever the pragmatist, told me the other day that he subscribed to one of my podcasts, but it didn’t ask him to pay for the subscription. I had to explain to him that that isn’t how that works, and I think he’s still trying to figure out how this turns into a career. (And maybe, so am I). And along the way, life challenges hit you. When I was younger I struggled with substance abuse. That was what prompted my move back to Laredo after college. A quick stint in rehab and then new people, places, and things to turn my life around. And while I left the hard drugs behind, my addiction morphed itself into alcoholism. Today I’m more than a year sober (the longest time of continued sobriety since I was 13), and feeling like I have new freedom and drive in life. That is also part of my story, which infuses itself into my work, and in how I show up in life. I’m actively involved with a nonprofit for queer people in recovery, I work with people struggling with addiction, my newest podcast focuses on sharing the stories of people in recovery, and once a week I volunteer at the same rehab I went to 15 years ago. There are so many points in my life where things could’ve gone differently, and sometimes I wish they had. But then I wouldn’t be where I am today, making the impact on the people around, and creating the work that I do.
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?
So I’m a multi-disciplinary artist. My passion is for performing, getting on stage or in front of a mic. That’s where I really come alive. And essentially what I do these days is write, produce, and perform my own one-man show. I’ve been touring the country pretty regularly for the past 6 years, and when I perform at events I have to craft what is known as a set: the list of poems that I’ll be performing. Because of my background in theater and storytelling, I always want to make sure that there is some sort of narrative or arc in the performance; that I’m taking the audience on a journey of some sort. My spoken word album would be the kind of culmination of all the work that I’ve done over the years to craft that set. It is 10 poems, set to music, with videos for each one. I don’t know anyone else that does something like this. I am a storyteller and I help others share their stories through workshops, podcasts, and events.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Have work? Will travel. lol But honestly, it is that this is city is full of incredible independent artists that need your support. Yes, financially by going to their shows/exhibits and buying their merchandise, but also just by sharing the word about them. Like and share their posts. Cross promote their shows. Collaborate. There are a lot of philosophical debates of what is and isn’t art, but one of the things I that regularly come back and land on is that for art to exist it needs an audience. And growing that audience is one of the hardest things for artists.
Pricing:
- The album is available wherever you stream music, or it be bought on my website
- Podcasts are free and available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube
- I’m available for hosting, performances, or workshops on a sliding scale
- Books are between 10-20 dollars and available on the website
- There is also podcast merch
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gemineyesproductions.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/gemineyes and /gemineyesproductions
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chibbi
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@gemineyesproductions
- Other: chibbi@gemineyesproductions.com
