Trixie Mattel's college survival guide
- Laurel Swanz
- Apr 2
- 8 min read
Before he was one of the most famous drag queens of all time, Brian Firkus, aka Trixie
Mattel, was a pool player.
That's why you might be able to find him at Southland Lanes, which happens to be one of his favorite spots in Lexington, Kentucky, where he frequently visits family and friends.
A lifelong hobby, pool provides Firkus a sense of calm amidst his high-energy drag career.
"My grandma had a pool table, so we played all day every day, all the time," Firkus said while aiming his shot during a game of pool on Dec. 14, 2024. He missed the pocket entirely. "And that's why I'm so incredible at it, so."
Multiple families gathered at Southland at 10 a.m. that day, seemingly unaware they were in the presence of the winner of season three of "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars." In their defense, he wasn't wearing a huge blonde wig or Trixie's signature exaggerated, doll-like eye makeup. He chooses not to get in drag in Lexington, seeing it as a place to decompress.
"Today they must have some kind of, like, family event, and I'm great with kids, so thank God I'm here," Firkus said sarcastically. "Could you imagine me in drag at this family function right now, at the Southland Lanes in Kentucky, with the rubber breasts?”
Prior to sporting the rubber breasts, releasing chart-topping music, founding his cosmetic brand, building a global empire and becoming a cultural icon, Firkus, now 35, was a mere college freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he got a BFA in musical theatre.
College is where it all began for Firkus — where he fell in love with drag and where "Trixie Mattel" was born. It was a time for life lessons and self-discovery, as it is for many.
Drawing from those formative years, Firkus has a treasure trove of wisdom to share.
So without further ado, here are some tips from your very own college fairy godmother, the one and only Trixie Mattel.
Pay attention in class
Even when the class has nothing to do with your major, it's 8 a.m. and your professor won't stop droning on in the same monotone voice, you still paid to be there.
"I think I went to college hating every single thing about every like, gen ed and all that," Firkus said. "But the truth is, you have to pay for college, and you pay a lot for it, so in retrospect, you kind of look dumb complaining about doing it because you're paying for it."
Plus, you never know when a class might come in handy in the future.
"If I could go back, cause like, yeah, I didn't want to take Plants in Today's World. But why didn't I pay attention?" Firkus said. "Also, all my math classes l hated. Guess who owns three businesses now? Like, maybe I should have paid attention."
You can’t predict the future, so just try some shit
Firkus didn't know who he was going to become or how far his drag career would go when he first started. He came to college with aspirations of being a musician, trying musical theatre when his music classes got boring. He was first exposed to drag from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Coincidentally, the character he played was named Trixie.
"Nobody really knows. I didn't know what I was gonna do, but I guess I was interested in trying shit to figure out what I was gonna do. I'm glad I tried shit," Firkus said. "I can't believe I was 17 and I joined Rocky Horror. I don't know what made me brave enough to do that, but I'm obviously really happy I did. I mean, that changed my whole life."
Firkus grew up sheltered in a conservative home in the rural town of Silver Cliff, Wisconsin.
"I had barely been able to say l was gay, and I was from the country, doing Rocky Horror," he said. "It was, like, everybody. It was goth people and gay people and trans people and, you know, really alternative people.
I'd never even seen people with lots of tattoos before. So it was a really transformative thing.
Before I could really express myself, I could say I was a part of something that kind of expressed that for me." If Firkus hadn't branched out, he never would have found that outlet of self-expression. Performing in Rocky Horror inspired Firkus to start performing in drag independently and develop the character of Trixie Mattel.
"Don't waste your time in school just doing everything about school. They didn't teach me about drag in school. That was all shit I was doing after school or on the weekends," Firkus said. "So sometimes you just gotta do other shit. It sounds kind of lame, but l think if you're going to school and just going to class and going home, really, what's the point?"
Have sex & get drunk
Firkus said he also spent plenty of time outside of class enjoying the newfound freedom of booze-soaked nights and sexual exploration, which he'd recommend on your journey of figuring out who you want to be.
"I think everybody should have a lot of sex in college. Everybody should just go get their back blown out before junior year. Do it when everything's, you know, young and taut," Firkus said.
College is the time to be wild and bold and practice talking to people, according to Firkus.
"With COVID and everything and the Internet, I just feel like it makes people more and more afraid of how to talk to each other. Just go flirt. Go get drunk in college, too. Just go, you know, bat your eyelashes and make shit happen," Firkus said. "I think I had sex with so many people that I just magically made happen because I was wild enough to be like, ‘I'm just gonna go shoot my shot.’ Besides, sex is one of the only parts of college that's free."
Going out and hooking up in college helped Firkus come out of his shell and become comfortable with his sexuality. This became a huge part of his identity and is why so many queer kids look up to him as they learn to accept themselves.
"I met lots of different people, and I was so closeted and scared and had so much fear, and it (college) just like, beat all the fear out of me in a lot of ways," Firkus said. "You know, not all of it, but it really helped."
Don’t overwork yourself
Unfortunately. this is a lesson Firkus did not learn until recently, but one that is certainly applicable to the demands of college life. From July to October 2024, Firkus took a break from drag — the first of his career.
"We all want to make money doing our art, but if you are doing it too much, then you're not taking time to be inspired, and then you’re kind of pouring from an empty cup,” Firkus said. "I feel like l owe people who like Trixie my best work. I don't owe them the most work. I got stuck doing as much as I could instead of the best things I could.”
Firkus said prioritizing quantity over quality led to him feeling disconnected from Trixie and at its worst, developing an autoimmune disorder.
“I got so bumed out and got so sick and lost so much weight. l started to get in drag and kind of feel like I was a Trixie impersonator for a while like I was one of the people who dressed up as me for Halloween,” Firkus said. “I just couldn’t find it. Nothing was that funny and everything was kind of upsetting."
He said that during his hiatus, he learned how to say “no,” focusing now on a healthier, more sustainable approach to his artistry. He's since rediscovered the joy and authenticity in drag.
“It's not like you put a quarter in and turn it and get a gumball every time. That's not what it's like to be an artist, you know,” Firkus said. "And I just want to respect being an artist.”
Firkus wishes he would’ve realized the importance of not overexerting himself sooner.
"You should do what you need to do, and manage your time in a way that every time you go out there, you are completely, fully loaded, like a gun ready to go off," Firkus said.
Good doesn’t mean anything
Firkus said he now has less concern than ever about what other people think of him and his work — level of peace everyone should stuck for, but one he did not achieve till long after college.
"Oh my God, I wasted a lot of time when I was you guys' age (early 20s) wondering if what I was doing was good, which is a huge waste of time because good doesn't mean anything," Firkus said. "Good is subjective, and it's a waste of brain power and energy to wonder if what you're doing is good because nothing's really good because good doesn't exist. I was like, 20, being like, ‘I hope this is good. I hope people like it.' It's like, who cares?"
Letting go of "good," doesn't happen overnight, though, not even for Trixie Mattel.
Soon after graduating college, Firkus was making a living from drag. At 24, he competed in season seven of "RuPaul's Drag Race," introducing the world to Trixie's sharp wit, unapologetic vivacity and Barbie-inspired style. Despite placing sixth, the "Skinny Legend" was not soon forgotten by audiences.
"That's when I realized, the more l put my organic self into it, the more people like it. Because then it was this balance of being this fake person, fake hair, fake everything, but if you are playing your guitar and doing the comedy in a very honest way, people like you more," Firkus said. "And it's not about people liking you, but people connect more."
Trixie gained massive popularity and returned to Drag Race three years later, winning and securing her fame in 2018. The rest is history. But entering the spotlight meant more eyes on Firkus than ever before, and this only intensified his desire for people to think he was "good."
"Once people start paying attention to you, it's really easy to make the attention or the approval or the likes be like currency. And I was stuck like that for a lot of years, probably from when I did Drag Race the first time till, like, last year, I was very interested in, ‘Is it good,’ and ‘Do people like it?” Firkus said.
People did like it (millions of them, actually) which led to him tormenting himself with pressure to live up to the hype.
"I was making more money than I ever had, and I had more success than I ever had, and I was more unhappy than I ever was," Firkus said.
Firkus's struggle and consequent hiatus helped him fully realize how harmful that thinking was.
'I almost feel like I wasted a lot of years of what could be, like, peak artistry, making sure that what I did would get on a chart, or sell tickets or get an award, and now I actually don't care if any of that happens," Firkus said.
"I want people to enjoy it, but not at the expense of me worrying about if they enjoy it."
Though it's not easy to care less what other people think, especially in the college environment, he encouraged students to focus on their passions, authenticity and personal fulfillment over chasing validation or societal markers of success.
"If you think it's funny and good, then you feel so good about it you don't really care if people don't like it," Firkus said.
Freedom from the restraint of perception has allowed Firkus to live with unparalleled authenticity.
"It's really weird to do something as counter-culture as drag and then hope everyone likes it. Like by nature, it's not supposed to be something everyone likes," Firkus said. "I spent a few years being like, I'm not just a drag queen, I’m a musician. And then I was like, 'Well, no, I'm also a stand-up comedian.' But honestly, nowadays, I just feel like being a drag queen."
Comments