Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristen Altoro-Nevins.
Hi Kristen, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born in the Bronx, New York, the youngest in a big Puerto Rican family. Growing up, I was surrounded by music, food, art, and my culture, and that’s where my love for all of it really took root. When I was young, we moved to Kansas. Talk about a culture shock!
I fell in love with musical theatre as a child after my mom took me to see The Lion King on Broadway (THE ORIGINAL CAST!). I later spent years performing in choirs, community theatre productions, and eventually as a professional singer/actress, but like many people, life took me in different directions. Plus I also wanted to explore everything I knew I was capable of. I built a career in accounting, married my best friend and became a mom to my beautiful twin babies. For me, this was always a conscious and deeply fulfilling choice because I had always wanted to be a mother more than anything. So I embraced that season of life wholeheartedly. For a little while, I struggled with the pressure of traditional ideology that a mother needs to leave behind everything she wanted until kids are adults. However, over the past few years I’ve discovered that I don’t have to choose between the different parts of who I am. I can be a present wife and mother, build a career I enjoy, pursue creative passions, advocate for my community, and continue chasing new dreams.
Today, I wear a lot of hats. I’m a full-time accountant, a wife and mother, a singer, actress, chef and entrepreneur. Admittedly, all of those roles may seem unrelated- and multiple are a result of severe ADHD and OCD- BUT they all come from the same place: a desire to build community, preserve culture, and show my children that it’s never too late to pursue the things that make you feel alive.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not. Like most people, I’ve had seasons where I questioned whether I was on the right path. I’ve struggled with anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD, PPD, and PPR and there were times when those challenges made me feel like I was constantly falling short because my brain didn’t seem to work the way everyone else’s did.
Becoming a mother was everything I had dreamed of, but it also came with a new set of challenges. I found myself navigating the tension between who I was before and who I was becoming. I loved being a mom, but I also missed creating, performing, building things, and exploring all the different passions that make me who I am.
I’ve also wrestled with imposter syndrome more times than I can count. I’ve been the accountant wondering if I belonged in the arts, the artist wondering if I was “too corporate,” and the entrepreneur wondering if I was taking on too much. Eventually, I realized I didn’t have to fit neatly into one category. My experiences in each area make me better in the others.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that growth rarely happens in a straight line. Some seasons are for building a career, some are for raising a family, some are for creating, and sometimes they’re all happening at once. I’ve learned to give myself permission to embrace every version of myself instead of feeling guilty for not fitting someone else’s definition of success.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I see myself as a storyteller. Music, theatre and food are simply the different languages I use to tell those stories.
As a singer and actress, I love bringing characters and music to life in a way that helps people feel something. Earlier this year, I announced Siempre Aquí Productions. A grassroots theatre company that’s still in its early stages of growth. It was born from my own experiences navigating the performing arts as a Latina and my desire to create more opportunities for Latino artists and storytellers. Our mission is to celebrate and preserve our culture by producing work where our stories are told authentically. Everyone deserves to see themselves reflected in art.
Cooking is another creative outlet that means just as much to me, which is why I created Buen Provecho, my Puerto Rican catering company. Food has always been one of the deepest ways I feel connected to my mother, Puerto Rico, and the generations who came before me. The cuisine carries history and tradition and every recipe tells a story. So whether I’m cooking for my family or catering an event, my goal is to preserve our culture, bring people together, and create joyful moments that feel nostalgic. To me, cooking is just as much an art form as performing on stage.
I also have a background as a professional makeup artist and in 2022, I founded La Reina BeYOUty. Makeup has never been about covering flaws to me. It was about helping people recognize the beauty they already possessed, embrace their individuality, and leave feeling confident, empowered, and worthy. I wanted every person to feel like royalty, because I truly believe we all already are.
I also have a background as a professional makeup artist and founded La Reina BeYOUty because I wanted people to see what I already saw in them. Makeup has never been about covering flaws to me. It was about helping people recognize the beauty they already possessed, embrace their individuality, and leave feeling confident, empowered, and worthy. I wanted every person to feel like royalty, because I truly believe we all already are.
When I think about starting a new project or working on a current one, I focus on what I want people to feel. I want people to walk away feeling something positive. Whether that is joy, peace, comfort, relief, confidence and/or connection. That to me is success and genuinely brings me the most joy.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Probably filming home videos with my sisters and cousins. We were all so close that we were basically siblings, and we’d make the funniest skits and fake TV shows. It was our own little version of Saturday Night Live and it is probably only funny to us, but I have always attributed some of my love for performing, creating, and being silly to those days.
A close second would be the house parties my family had almost every weekend in our apartment growing up. The music was always loud, the food was good, people were dancing in the living room, and it was the 90s! I’d give just about anything for a time machine to experience one of those parties again. Families don’t gather quite like that anymore, and it’s something I miss deeply.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @KristenAltoro, @siempreaquiproductions, @lareinabeyouty, and @buenprovecho913
Image Credits
Jerry Manan
