Title:
From Preemie to Pioneer: The Miracle Pelayo Interview
Subtitle:
Courage, Fashion and Fame: Making Cerebral Palsey Beautiful
Transcript:
Alycia Anderson: Welcome to Pushing Forward with Alycia a podcast that gives disability a voice. Each week we will explore topics like confidence, ambition, resilience, and finding success against all odds. We are creating a collective community that believes that all things are possible for all people. Open hearts, clear paths.
Let’s go.
Welcome back to Pushing Forward with Alycia. We are joined today by the radiant unstoppable Miracle Pelayo. She is someone who I’ve been following on Instagram for some time. She’s an actor, a model, a fashion content creator.
She’s boldly redefining what disability representation looks like in entertainment. She was born with cerebral palsy raised in LA. She’s appeared literally everywhere, but to name a few. She’s appeared on Disney Plus and Nickelodeon’s Bella and the Bulldogs. She voiced the first American girl doll with cp.
That is so cool. She’s modeled for Tommy Hilfiger in their adaptive line, and her message is making cerebral palsy beautiful. I love it. That must be ’cause you’re so beautiful. It just happens naturally. And she’s helping young girls and older ones around the world embrace confidence through disability pride.
I love it. Welcome to the show, Miracle.
Miracle Pelayo: Thank you for having me, Alycia.
Alycia Anderson: Okay. So Miracle.
Miracle Pelayo: Yes.
Alycia Anderson: Let’s start at the beginning you were a 23 week preemie with a 5% survival rate. Can you talk a little bit about where did this miracle of your life begin? And can you share a little bit of your background with us?
Miracle Pelayo: Okay, so my mom had a kidney infection with me at 23 weeks, and all of the doctors told my mom that I wasn’t gonna live up to be anything. There would be a lot of complications secluding me being blind, deaf, deformed to the point where the doctor said at the time I would be, they unfortunately used the R word with me. So the doctor said that because of all of these complications of having a 5% chance survival rate, that the only option was to have an abortion with me. And they wanted her to like just get rid of the pregnancy altogether.
But my parents took a leap in knowing what could happen, and they’re like, no, our daughter’s gonna live. So my mom and dad said, no, we’re gonna see how our little girl makes it and we’re gonna see what’s gonna happen. And so because of that, the doctors told my mom. That the best thing for her to do was to have me at prematurity because if she carried me to full term, it would’ve expired us both.
My mom went into labor with me at 23 weeks, and I weighed one pound, two ounces, then I went to 14 ounces and with a 5% chance of survival rate I, survived the first night and the very first time I opened my eyes was on Christmas day.
Then I was transferred to another hospital where it could be even stronger medicine for me. And that was actually the NICU in Utah. So I was there for about four months and my parents were with me every single day and they took shifts taking care of me.
Long story short, I was UCI Irvine’s first preemie to survive. And I was in the NICU for four months and I came home just in time for Mother’s Day, I was officially diagnosed with spastic diplegia, cerebral palsy at eight months old.
Alycia Anderson: Wow. I am assuming that’s where your name comes from? Miracle. I think that’s an incredible story right off the bat, that at 23 weeks you were born and there’s a 5% survival rate and you made it. And the first preemie at 23 weeks to survive at UC Irvine. Congratulations.
Miracle Pelayo: Yeah. UCI Irvine, and I also have to give a shout out to NICU nurses.
Alycia Anderson: You, you guys are such incredible people. To all of the nurses that took care of me, if you’re watching this, thank you for all that you do, and thank you for taking care of me. The nurses are so incredible, I spent so much of my childhood in hospitals and they would nurture me and take care of me and love me like a mother would, and I, so I would like to also give a shout out to all of the nurses who like held me tight while I was going through all that. ’cause it’s tough.
That’s an incredible birth story.
Miracle Pelayo: Thank you. My story when I came home from the hospital just in time for Mother’s Day, was featured on Channel 9 News. When I came home from the hospital, my grandfather may he rest in peace, Bob Murray called Channel 9 and my story was featured in news articles the Downey Patriot and it was all over Channel 9 news.
And I actually got to reconnect with the lady that did my story on Channel 9 and it was actually her first story that she covered when she came to LA. My biggest dream is to update that news clip and show Channel 9 where I’m at today. I would just really love to make that happen this year.
Alycia Anderson: Wow, that’s incredible. Calling on you, Channel 9. Let’s make it happen. Lots to report on over here.
Amazing. Can you talk a little bit about how your disability shows up and what it is? Whatever you’re comfortable with.
Miracle Pelayo: Yeah, spastic depleted cerebral palsy is usually caused by prematurity. It normally affects muscles in your body particularly either on the right side or the left side, mine is particularly on the right. It affects coordination and balance. So I have to use a wheelchair and a walker to help me get around. It is a life condition but it doesn’t stop me from living my life.
Alycia Anderson: It sure hasn’t. Thank you for sharing that. what advice would you give little ones or parents who are in just the beginning journey of that, right?
I’m assuming that for your parents this was a little bit scary for them initially.
Miracle Pelayo: Really challenging.
Alycia Anderson: Yeah, challenging. Let’s talk about that.
Miracle Pelayo: It was really hard for my parents because shortly after I was diagnosed, I had my first surgery at four years old in Utah. So I had multiple surgeries physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy. You name the therapy clinic. I was there getting the most therapy that I could.
So my advice for parents of kids with special needs particularly with cerebral palsy, just take it one day and one, one opportunity at a time. Yes, it’s gonna be frustrating, but I believe that. That you were chosen to be on this journey for a reason and it’s gonna be hard. Your job is to advocate.
Advocate for your child, and to the little one with cerebral palsy or any disability diagnosis. Just know that you are a warrior. You are strong and you are going to push through more than you could ever imagine.
Alycia Anderson: Oh, I love it. And what did, I’m assuming that your parents are pretty strong advocates for you?
Miracle Pelayo: Oh my gosh. Yeah.
Alycia Anderson: A lot of us that have congenital disabilities, I think we share that story often. Not always, but that our parents advocated for us before we were able to do that. Can you talk about how that’s helped you find your own voice?
Miracle Pelayo: My parents were always in the IEP meetings with my teachers and the school psychologists and things like that. So I was in special ed from kindergarten up until about seventh grade. I was mainstreamed in regular ed when I was in eighth grade. My teachers noticed that I was picking up the material too quickly, and it was actually my seventh grade middle school teacher that said to me, he goes, you are way too smart to be in special ed. I’m gonna set up a meeting with your mom and your dad to let them know that you are leaving special education today. And so we had all of the IEP meetings to get me going, and I graduated high school 4.0 GPA, and I was on the principal’s honor roll all my four years of middle school.
And, I graduated cap and gown in high school. I wanna say, I can’t believe it. It’s been 11 years now since I graduated high school. And it’s because of the way that my parents pushed me and the way that my, my teachers pushed me of not letting my disability be used as an excuse to not being able to get into regular ed.
They saw what I could do and they really pushed me with tough love to get that diploma. They’re like, you know what? We know you’re, we know that you’re gonna cry. We know that you’re gonna get frustrated, but we know that Miracle you can do it. And, thank God they pushed me the way that I did, and I’m still friends with my kindergarten teacher who pushed me to be that person that could go across the high school stage and get my diploma.
She’s still a part of my life to this day, and I’m so thankful to her. Her name’s Chris Velasco,
Alycia Anderson: Oh.
Miracle Pelayo: So, I’m so beyond grateful to the teachers and the aides and the administrators that pushed me to get to where I am today.
Alycia Anderson: You know what? I love that you just brought that up.
That is such a cool story that it was a teacher who recognized that like your space should be mainstreamed into typical mainstream classes and that they pushed for that. And I do a lot of speaking in schools specifically, and I think a lot of teachers are afraid.
At times to push their students that have disabilities and don’t know the right or wrong way to like really try to initiate that.
Miracle Pelayo: Yeah.
Alycia Anderson: What do you tell educators specifically that don’t know how to approach those conversations with their students?
Miracle Pelayo: I would say see their potential. And also if you feel that in your heart to want to push them, despite feeling like, are they gonna feel accepted?
Do it anyway.
It was actually my kindergarten teacher, Chris Velasco, that made a suggestion to my mom of whole, of having me repeat third grade for one more year because I was not ready to go on to the next grade because I needed to catch up on all of the material.
’cause I was just not comprehending it. She actually said to me, she’s like. Please trust me. I know what I’m doing with your daughter. I love her like she’s my own and I believe that with holding her back one more year, she will be ready to succeed. Beyond my expectation, just please gimme a chance with her.
Let me work with her. I know what to do. I have a son who who has a disability. Please let me work with her. Anybody who is a special education teacher who wants to push their kids in regular ed, whether you’re nervous or can they do this, please give them a chance and really fill it in your heart to do what is right for them like Chris Velasco did for me.
Alycia Anderson: Oh, I love it. You just gave me chills up and down my entire body. That’s amazing. Oh, it’s so cool. So I wanna talk about the American girl thing because I think that this is really cool. You were talk about it. You were the first. You explain it. You’re gonna explain this better than I’m.
Miracle Pelayo: I’m the voice of the first American girl doll with Cerebral Palsy and American Girl Doll history, and our name is Lily. And how this job came about was, so I’ve been in the industry for about, I started working professionally at the age of 20, but I’ve been wanting to be an actress since I was four. But how American Girl Doll came about was I started to tap into voiceover thanks to my brother who was pushing me to get into voiceover for so long. So my manager at the time submitted me for my first voiceover audition, and it was for American Girl Doll. So I sent in the tape and I got the call back.
I then met up with the casting director, Amy Poehler on on Zoom, and did a retake. She sent it to Mattel and I booked the job instantly and it was, what was so special about this one was I got the audition on my mom’s birthday.
Alycia Anderson: Oh.
Miracle Pelayo: And I booked it a couple of days later, and I was just completely in tears because American Girl Doll had never had a a doll in a wheelchair before.
So to voice her and to be an actor with a disability was completely life changing.
Alycia Anderson: That’s amazing. And what year was this?
Miracle Pelayo: I can’t believe that it’s been four years now since I did this job. And It’s still impacting my life to this day. So I did it in 2021 and it’s, I have to say like it’s my most proud project out of everything that I’ve done so far.
Alycia Anderson: And why is that?
Miracle Pelayo: Because after that. So many people who had kids with disabilities reached out to me and they said, you gave my son and my daughter a voice through, American Girl Doll, you gave me hope in believing that my kid with a disability can make their dreams possible just like you did.
Alycia Anderson: Oh my God.
Miracle Pelayo: And they told me thank you for paving the way for them.
Alycia Anderson: And you know what? It was paving the way like four years ago. The authentic representation, like advocacy. I feel like that’s when it really started to pick up a little bit. It, the last several years we’ve had a good solid, it feels like a solid push more than ever, but you back then was at what I would assume, and I could be wrong, but more at the beginning stages of.
Miracle Pelayo: Beginning stages. Yeah.
Alycia Anderson: So that, that’s really cool to be a part of that too, I’m assuming.
Miracle Pelayo: It is. And I’m so beyond proud to be a part of it in any way that I can. I’ve learned as I’ve been in the industry that it’s not just about me, it’s about who I’m paving the way for. And that’s what I’m all about is like. Whenever I do an audition or whenever I book a job, the first thing that goes into my mind is okay, who am I doing this for?
Who’s looking at me? Who’s looking up to me? What could I do for them to make the, to make it possible for them? And if if I’m gonna start the movement, then I’m happy to, because. Being an actor, it’s not just about who gets the job, it’s who you’re doing it for, and all I wanna do is show people with disabilities that you can do this too.
It just takes a matter of believing in yourself.
Alycia Anderson: You’re so right and it is pretty incredible just by you showing up and showing up with your talents, how that can change somebody’s life forever. It happens to me too, where I get messages and like I have girls that reach out to me and they’re like. After speaking to you or seeing you, you’ve changed my life.
Like I, I’m stronger now. I believe in more things. And so that’s really powerful and incredible and important work, and I love it that you’re doing it at such a young age. You’ve got a big future in front of you for sure.
Miracle Pelayo: Thank you so much. Thank you. Yeah, I’m only 32.
Alycia Anderson: Oh my God, I love it.
Miracle Pelayo: I’ve been working professionally since I was 20. My first CoStar was with Alan Tudyk.
Alycia Anderson: Oh wow.
Miracle Pelayo: On a web series called Con Man, and then Bella and the Bulldogs happened. But my first introduction to performing was actually theater at 14.
But I’ve been wanting to be an actress since I was four. I don’t know how I had it in me, but I just felt like it was just something I had to do for the rest of my life.
Alycia Anderson: Wow. So tell us a little bit about that theater to Nickelodeon. Like how did that progress?
Miracle Pelayo: Yeah so, my dad, growing up. My dad would always videotape me on our video cam recorder, and it was one of those where you can, put into a VHS tape. And, so he would always say Miracle’s on TV. And I literally thought I had my own TV show at four years old. So if the camera wasn’t on me, I would throw the biggest tantrum you would ever see in your entire life.
I demanded the camera’s attention, but also growing up, my godmother did theater, all of her middle school and four years of high school at the same middle school and high school that I went to. Her parents met in acting class. My cousins have done theater, so I guess it was just somewhat in the family genetics of somewhat doing. Away with acting.
But when I was 12, my parents took me to go see the Miracle Worker, the play on my 12th birthday. And I saw that the girl playing Helen Keller was able-bodied playing a disabled character. And I turned to my dad and I said, dad, watch me change that one day. Just watch me. So I did. So my very first, introduction to theater was, I it was part of a Boys and Girls Wheelchair Club called Winners on Wheels in Long Beach. And it was just like a wheelchair club where you could just do things together, like we would have Christmas and Halloween parties all the time. And we had this performing arts group called Kids on Stage for a Better World that was directed and choreographed by Grounded for Life’s Lynsey Bartilson And I became childhood friends with a girl named Michaela Jill Murphy, who is the voice of Toph in Avatar the last Airbender on Nickelodeon, and she and I grew up together.
We stayed in contact and when I was 14, I started like really wanting to perform for like in my school plays. I was begging the teachers to make me the lead actress in all the school plays that they that they put on. And then at 14 was when I auditioned for kids on stage after reconnecting with Michaela. So my parents got me an audition and I performed for them and long story short, Lynsey Bartilson, let me be in the group.
I was the only disabled member in the group with all of the kids. And we would do, we would, it was a triple threat group, so we did singing and dancing and acting. So I only did the hand movements when they would dance.
So I did over 30 shows with them. I took my final bow in 2009 then high school came about and I did drama all my four years. and then. A month after I graduated high school, my dad took me to SAG-AFTRA to get information on how to get started in the industry.
And, then after my dad and I left, my first former agent stopped me from leaving and she said, I wanna represent you. So it’s been a journey ever since then, and I’m happy to be on the journey that I’m on.
Alycia Anderson: Ugh, what a story That is incredible. From VHS tapes to like all of these amazing, incredible just opportunities that you’ve had. Wow.
Miracle Pelayo: Thank you.
Alycia Anderson: So you’ve performed over 30 live shows. What are some of the biggest challenges that you’ve run into in this like whole scope of your career?
Miracle Pelayo: I think the biggest challenge is to knock down the barriers of disability representation in casting. So often able bodied actors are portraying disabled characters. And there is a lot of awareness now, but I’m gonna be legit honest with you, we still have a long way to go because. Hollywood is so used to using able-bodied actors, but they’re not used to real authentic disability representation. So that is a really big challenge because, only 4% actors with disabilities are seen on television and film. So that’s definitely the biggest challenge for sure. But I think the biggest breakthrough for me is, when I do get an audition or a self tape from my team where they need me to be the character of a best friend or somebody in a wheelchair like that for me is the breakthrough because I’m finally breaking down that wall for somebody else. And so I think that’s like a little bit of a challenge and that’s also the breakthrough of not having enough awareness, but having the opportunity to bring awareness to casting.
Alycia Anderson: I love that and I agree with you like so much more work to do and we’re just at the beginning stages of it for sure.
Even though it is getting better, 4% like we have a long way to go.
Miracle Pelayo: Yeah, you now have a movie on Disney Plus called Out of My Mind, which is about a girl named Melody Brooks, who has cerebral palsy. And I actually got to do the promo for that movie the internet commercial for that movie. So there is some awareness, like you now have Pulse on Netflix. There’s a girl named Jessy Yates who played, who is who is an, who’s an actress with cerebral palsy. There is a lot of awareness, but we still have a long way to go until this becomes like the new normal, I should say. So more awareness, the better, honestly.
Alycia Anderson: Yeah. Yeah. And the more you keep showing up, the more people are gonna follow, right?
Miracle Pelayo: And that’s the thing, you have to keep showing up until you make the change.
Alycia Anderson: Yeah. What’s the North Star there for your acting career? Like, where do you wanna go? Where do you wanna be? What stage do you dream to be on? If you could be on the biggest stage of your life, like what would that be and what would it look like?
Miracle Pelayo: My biggest dream is to have my own sitcom one day.
Alycia Anderson: Oh.
Miracle Pelayo: And I would love John Stamos to play my dad and Brooke Shields to play my mom. The biggest stage I would love to perform on would definitely have to be in New York City. I’m a big, as, musical theater freak. I just saw Legally Blonde the musical at the La Mirada Theater.
That, gave me life so much.
But I would love to really just get to get back on life stage and just be on more sets of television and film because. I just wanna pave the way for others. And but acting wise, I would love to be in like a psychological thriller. My favorite, one of my favorite movies is Premonition with Sandra Bullock.
And so if I can do a movie like that, I think that would be really cool. And I would really love to work with one Winona Ryder as well, and also Meryl Streep. So those are the big dreams. And, as far as fashion goes, I would really love to work with Target and just bring more awareness to adaptive fashion in the retail fashion industry.
Alycia Anderson: And why Target specifically? We’ve got some Target friends that subscribe.
Miracle Pelayo: Because they’re so open to, fashion, and they’re so open to disability representation, so I would really love to work with them at some point.
Maybe do a modeling job for one of their clothing lines see what they can do.
Alycia Anderson: I’ve worked with them on a couple of the adaptive clothing projects and I’ve got some friends, so we’ll have to introduce you.
Miracle Pelayo: Yeah, I would love that.
Alycia Anderson: Yeah. Can we talk about making cerebral palsy beautiful. That message where it comes from and what you want.
Miracle Pelayo: So I’ve done adaptive fashion for a couple of years now, and what started this was I was just using my Instagram for all acting purposes in the beginning, but when I was looking up cerebral palsy, I noticed that when it comes to disability awareness on social media, you would normally see like what we would go through, like doctor appointments, physical therapy, occupational therapy speak, and like all of these therapy sides of it and that’s true, but I wanted to make it more fun and lively like it.
I didn’t want it to just be focused on the things that we had to do to get us going. And I was like, you know what? I love fashion and I wanna help young girls with disabilities feel more confident in their wheelchairs. So what could I do? And so I really had to brainstorm and I thought making cerebral palsy beautiful. ’cause I want girls with cerebral palsy to feel beautiful in their own skin. I had a reel that went accidentally viral. And I was in my walker and I was wearing a Guess t-shirt, a Guess sweatshirt. And I did a reel in my walker. I was just walking and there was this audio that was trending and it went pretty girls walk like this, this, and I was in my walker and I didn’t expect it to hit over 12,000 views. And from there it just started like growing. And then more kids with disabilities in their walkers started to use that song. So I I was like, oh my God. I started something. So I then started to do outfit of the days in my wheelchair. And I started to use the hashtag making cerebral palsy beautiful. So I started to like really do outfit inspos for like audition looks that I was going out for. And then something pulls on my heart to do fashion content, photo shoots. And my very first collaboration was with my friend Maddie Ulman, who is a photographer with cerebral palsy So she and I collaborated together, and then I collaborated with another photographer by the name of Leah Hubner. And we did another fashion content and photo shoot together. Which was for NICU Awareness Month for September. So we did another fashion content photo shoot with that. I then did another fashion content photo shoot with Abigail Gordon last year, and we called it the Fashionista Files.
So it was just like in my, I was doing outfits in my wheelchair and in my walker to show people that your disability is who you are, but it’s not all of who you are. You can make it beautiful just by being yourself and an outfit can change absolutely everything.
Alycia Anderson: An outfit can change absolutely everything and we aren’t given the credit sometimes that, or the opportunity with the limiting amount of adaptive fashion there is to like really create that for ourselves in like a way that really works. I feel like I’ve been spending my whole life like shoving and stuffing under my butt and like trying to get garments to fit, while I’m sitting in my wheelchair.
And a good outfit does really make everything okay.
Miracle Pelayo: I am, I’m really obsessed with bows right now. So if I, once I put on a bow, I’m like the happiest girl in the entire world. So I’m like, oh, I got my favorite bow on. I got a cute outfit on, and I’m ready to take on the day.
Alycia Anderson: I love it. Look good. Feel good.
Miracle Pelayo: Yeah. And that’s what it’s all about.
Alycia Anderson: So where do you wanna take that?
Miracle Pelayo: I just want, I love collaborating with people. So just want to show people that people with disabilities can feel good in their own skin and they can feel confident in their wheelchairs. I want girls in wheelchairs to be like their own wheelchair baddies with one outfit at a time.
Alycia Anderson: I love it. What did we miss?
Did we miss anything?
Miracle Pelayo: I think we’re all good.
Alycia Anderson: I think this was a great interview. Okay, so besides acting, I’m gonna ask you one more question before we go to pushing forward moment. Besides acting, besides fashion and all of this influencing that you’re doing. What lights you up in the world besides that?
Miracle Pelayo: What lights me up in the world?
Alycia Anderson: Yeah.
Miracle Pelayo: I think being a voice for others lights me up. Knowing that what I’m doing is changing somebody else’s life is what keeps me going and what keeps me keeping on, like knowing that what I’m doing is inspiring others to, to do the exact same or something different.
I love being that spark for others, and so that’s what keeps me pushing to keep going with what I’m doing.
Alycia Anderson: And I have to say, just like an outsider looking back in you really are a sweet, bright, like warm light. And I think our world really needs that right now. And you do a really good job just with your smile, to be honest with you.
Miracle Pelayo: Thank you.
Alycia Anderson: You gotta keep doing what you’re doing.
You’re doing really awesome and important work.
Miracle Pelayo: Thank you so much.
Alycia Anderson: Yeah. Okay. I told you, it was coming.
We end the show with a pushing forward moment.
Do you have a little pushing forward mantra quote, something to wrap the show up with?
Miracle Pelayo: My pushing forward mantra is actually a quote it says, inclusion is not about who you invite to sit at your table, but it’s believing that they belong in there.
Alycia Anderson: Oh, it’s beautiful. Absolutely. Miracle. I’m so happy that we finally met. Thank you so much for coming on our show. Our community is gonna absolutely love and adore you and who knows, maybe you’ll have some Target opportunities coming to follow.
Miracle Pelayo: Thank you so much.
Alycia Anderson: Yeah. And we’ll stay in touch.
Miracle Pelayo: Awesome.
Alycia Anderson: Okay. And thank you to our community for joining this amazing episode with Miracle.
This has been Pushing Forward with Alycia. And, pushing forward is how we roll on this podcast. We will see you next time.