Aria Mia Loberti, I AM INGRID: The Adventures of the World’s Greatest Guide Dog

Summary

Totally Booked with Zibby: Aria Mia Loberti – "I AM INGRID: The Adventures of the World’s Greatest Guide Dog"

Episode Overview

In this rich, moving live episode, host Zibby Owens sits down with Aria Mia Loberti—actor, writer, activist, and now children’s book author—to discuss her debut work "I AM INGRID: The Adventures of the World’s Greatest Guide Dog." Recorded at Zibby’s bookshop pop-up, the conversation explores Aria's remarkable journey from a challenging childhood as a visually impaired student, to academic acclaim, acting stardom in Netflix’s adaptation of "All the Light We Cannot See," and finally to writing a children’s book inspired by her guide dog, Ingrid. With honesty, vulnerability, and humor, Aria reflects on themes of identity, resilience, authentic representation, accessibility, and the power of dreams.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origin of "I AM INGRID"

• Unplanned Beginnings:
  • Aria reveals that writing a picture book was not on her immediate radar, but Scholastic approached her serendipitously.
    • "Like a lot of things in my life was very unplanned… It was this remarkable opportunity." (04:49)
  • Ingrid, her guide dog, was present at the meeting and became the organic inspiration for the story.
• Book Themes:
  • The story follows Ingrid from puppyhood through rigorous training, ultimately earning her harness and finding her person—Aria.
  • Emphasizes growth, perseverance, and building confidence, mirroring both Ingrid's and Aria’s journeys.
    • "It's all about this little dog who has these big dreams… she grows into her confidence." (06:08)
• Importance of Sharing:
  • Writing and presenting this story has gained new meaning as Aria now experiences life as a sighted person following a medical breakthrough.
    • "Now to be able to sit and physically read the book to children has been extraordinary." (07:04)

2. Aria’s Visual Journey & Medical Transformation

• Diagnosis & Experience:
  • Aria was born with achromatopsia, a genetic condition causing extreme light sensitivity and color blindness.
    • "I was born with a condition called achromatopsia… it means that you are very light sensitive." (08:37)
• Transition to Sightedness:
  • After experimenting with contact lenses "by chance," her vision improved dramatically, forcing a reevaluation of her identity.
  • Discusses the sense of grief for losing her unique outlook, but stresses embracing change and celebrating every way of seeing the world.
    • "I've experienced a little bit of grief because the way I saw the world before was so unique…" (09:33)
    • "Just be open to what life throws at you…" (09:59)

3. Guide Dogs for the Blind – Advocacy & Impact

• Becoming a Puppy Host:
  • Aria and Zibby discuss how families can support guide dog training organizations by fostering puppies. There's a constant need, especially post-COVID.
• Why Support Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB):
  • The organization focuses on empowerment for people and animals, rather than charity.
  • Entirely donor-run and provides lifelong care for their service animals.
    • "They don’t approach this from like, ‘oh, we’re going to help people who are less fortunate.’ It’s just—we’re going to give people... tools to be better people.” (11:14)
  • Aria credits GDB with enabling her independence, confidence, and success.

4. Acting Breakthrough – "All the Light We Cannot See"

• Unexpected Path:
  • While unhappy during her PhD program, Aria auditioned for the lead in "All the Light We Cannot See" without acting experience.
    • "I had an existential breakdown… and then I auditioned for this, not thinking about a career change at all..." (14:33)
  • Describes a rapid transition into acting, learning on the job, and the importance of being willing to look foolish and learn.
    • "Be okay with not knowing anything and be okay with showing people that you don't know, but you're willing to learn…" (42:57)
• Preparation & Set Life:
  • Mentions intensive crash courses from a director and acting coach, moving from academic overthinking to emotional storytelling.
    • “I was very lucky... I got to shadow everybody on set... basically a month of four years of film school.” (16:56)

5. Beauty from Trauma – Surviving School Exclusion

• Facing Discrimination:
  • Aria shares being denied an education due to her disability in public school and eventual homeschooling.
    • “I was in a situation in which I was legally denied the education that every kid is entitled to.” (31:04)
  • Ballet and books became her refuge, building discipline and resilience for her later achievements.
• Redemption in College:
  • Contrasts her traumatic schooling with the supportive, validating environment of college.

6. UNICEF Ambassadorship and Activism

• Championing Literacy and Climate Justice:
  • Aria works with UNICEF, focusing on educational access and the intersection of education, gender, and climate vulnerability.
    • "It took two years… but I was able to help… with reauthorizing the READ act..." (34:07)
• Global Perspective:
  • First aspiration post-acting success was to become a UNICEF ambassador.

7. Fashion as Self-Expression

• Finding Confidence:
  • After years of hiding, acting imbued her with confidence to embrace bold, expressive fashion under the guidance of her stylist.
    • “I want to shout out my stylist. Her name is Sarah Tooley… sort of like a fairy godmother.” (36:49)

8. Looking Forward: Writing, Producing, Representation

• Book Plans:
  • Aria hopes "I AM INGRID" will help launch her writing career, especially in middle grade and YA fiction with diverse protagonists.
    • “I'm really hopeful that that will be my next book… a low vision protagonist, which I haven’t really seen much.” (39:28)
• Production Company:
  • She and her best friend have started a company focused on adapting underrepresented stories for the screen, particularly to empower young women.

9. Creative Advice

• Aria’s Message to Aspiring Creatives:
  • “Just be willing to make a fool out of yourself. All the biggest opportunities in my life came when I was willing to put myself out there…” (42:57)
  • Encourages leaning into learning and vulnerability; "Everything is a messy first draft."

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On embracing change and loss:
  • "I have to realize that like, I don’t need this take on my life, this perception, to make me worthy. I can still have a unique perception as it is right now, and that's okay." – Aria (23:27)
• On guide dogs as partnership, not charity:
  • "This wasn’t necessarily, you know, they don’t approach this from like, ‘oh, we’re going to help people who are less fortunate.’ It’s just—we’re going to give people in our communities tools to be better people.” – Aria (11:14)
• On surviving exclusion and crediting her parents:
  • "My parents… didn’t know anything about disability law, but we researched it all together... and we made sure that I knew how to go into school and quote the laws that protected me." – Aria (31:04)
• On creativity and risk:
  • “Just be willing to make a fool out of yourself. Everything is a messy first draft.” – Aria (42:57)
• On representation in art and media:
  • "Now, obviously, as an advocate for authentic representation, I cannot portray a blind or low-vision character anymore... But I think I can lend a perspective to them in my writing." – Aria (19:56)
• On gratitude and perseverance:
  • “I'm very grateful to everyone who started me on that path because I don’t know really what I would have done with my life…” – Aria (18:37)

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Key Timestamps

• Intro & Bookshop Event Details – 02:58
• How "I AM INGRID" Came to Be – 04:49
• Vision, Achromatopsia & Surprising Change – 08:29
• Guide Dog Community & Advocacy – 10:35, 11:14
• Acting Career Break & "All the Light We Cannot See" – 13:54, 14:33
• Living with and Overcoming Trauma in School – 31:04
• UNICEF Ambassador Role & Activism – 34:06
• Fashion & Self-Expression – 36:39, 36:49
• Aspirations in Writing & Production – 39:28, 41:27
• Artistic, Life, & Career Advice – 42:45, 42:57

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Summary Tone & Final Thoughts

The dialogue is intimate, uplifting, and insightful, balancing humor and hope with deep honesty about adversity and transformation. Aria’s voice is candid, articulate, often self-effacing, and always passionate—both celebrating her own unexpected journey and advocating for greater representation, access, and support for others.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in disability advocacy, children's literature, representation in media, and the courage it takes to step—and leap—into the unknown.

Transcript

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[Aria Mia Loberti]

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[Aria Mia Loberti]

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[Aria Mia Loberti]

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[Zibby Owens]

Hi, this is Zibby Owens and you're listening to Totally Booked with Zibby, formerly Moms don't have Time to Read Books. In my daily show, I interview today's latest best selling, buzziest or underrated authors and story creators whose work I think is worth your time. As a bookstore owner, publisher, author and obviously podcaster, I get a comprehensive look at everything that's coming out and spend my time curating the best books so you don't have to stay in the know, get insider insights and connect with guests like I do every single day. For more information go to zibbymedia.com and follow me on Instagram ibeowens.

This episode was filmed at the Zivvies bookshop Minnie Rose Pop up which is on 73rd and Lex in New York City. If you haven't been, please stop by. I interviewed Aria Mia Loberti live in front of that intimate audience and also with her dog and my dog. Her book is called I Am the Adventures of the World's Greatest Guide Dog. Aria is an actor, writer, activist and lifelong storyteller. In 2023 she made her acting debut as the lead in Netflix's Golden Globe and Emmy nominated series all the Light We Cannot See, which is so good and was a best selling novel by Anthony Doerr. Her critically acclaimed performance launched a diverse, rich acting career. Before turning her focus to acting, Aria was pursuing a PhD from Penn State studying ancient rhetoric. Aria received her undergraduate degrees in 2020 from the University of Rhode island and her master's degree in 2021 from Royal Holloway University of London. On a fulbright scholarship in 2024, Aria also became a UNICEF ambassador, advocating for climate change and education rights. Aria and her dog Ingrid live in Rhode island with their respective best friends Molly and Etta. Okay, finally.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

All right.

[Zibby Owens]

I am thrilled to introduce Aria Mia Laberti. I am Ingrid. Welcome, welcome. Congratulations.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Thank me. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for everything. It's really cool. This is so great.

[Zibby Owens]

This is her children's book illustrated by Vivian To. Yes, and your debut book at that, despite having a Fulbright scholarship. Did you know she is a Fulbright scholar and an actress and an author and everything else. So why don't you take us a little bit through what this book, where it came from, why you decided to write a children's book. And then I want to dive deep into your life and background.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Oh, thank you. No, it's what was so exciting about this is it like a lot of things in my life was very unplanned and it sort of came to me and it was this remarkable opportunity I'd always wanted to write and I figured the thing that I would write first was probably going to be my doctoral dissertation and if I was lucky, that would be able to be a nice academic book that about 10 people read. And so I still maybe would do that someday. Not writing that off, but I was approached by Scholastic. I don't know how it happened exactly, or how they got my contact information, but they asked if I would like to go into a meeting. I think they had heard that maybe I was interested in writing and I had actually written a middle grade manuscript. And I was at the time, like, I think I had just started like, shopping it around with my agent and Scholastic was like, would you like to do a picture book? And of course I'm like, well, that just seems so magical. And it was one of those things that I sort of had in the list of I would like to do this eventually. And it organically happened that Ingrid was at the meeting with me and we were like, is this not the perfect fodder for a children's book? Because it's all about this little dog who has these big dreams and she follows her dreams, but she's at the beginning, she's not very good at the skills she's being asked to, to do. And then you see her over the course of the story, like, grow into her confidence. And what's so magical about it is it's true. It all happened like, give or take the, you know, give or take a few things. All of this has happened. And it's, it's very much her real experience. And it starts with her being born and, and being this tiny puppy. Her training with a volunteer family, moving on to a professional trainer. And then the ultimate task is she earns the right to wear her harness and earns the right to have a person. And the story ends with her and her person's me going, going home and, and going off on adventures. And so it was just this beautiful thing that just happened. And I'm very grateful to everyone at Scholastic. I'm just grateful to be able to share it with the world and to tell the story. Because it turns out that telling the story now has become very important. It's become like a very meaningful and emotional time in my life to get to share this story with everyone.

[Zibby Owens]

And why is that?

[Aria Mia Loberti]

I recently, about a year ago. So we started working on the book, like almost two years ago, actually. And about a year, a year and a half ago, my vision became corrected. So I always thought this would be the story of me representing people who are blind or low vision and being able to go out on a book tour like this and be a physical embodiment of that and show people like you can do anything. And now the physical embodiment is, is very different. It's not at all what I expected it to be. And I've had to learn a lot, as you know. Now I'm navigating the world as a sighted person. But I'm very lucky that she is still so, so excellent at her work. Her behavior is still so excellent that she still has the right to wear her harness, which is very difficult to earn that right. Not every dog gets to do this. And so I'm grateful that we can still share that story. And it did. It is true and authentic, comes from that meaningful place. And now to be able to sit and physically read the book to children has been extraordinary because it was something that if I was going to do it before, I would have had to ask for very dim lighting. And I would have been holding the book like this. And to be able to sit and read it to children and hold it out and share it has been not something I expected and something I'm very grateful for. But, yeah, it's cool.

[Zibby Owens]

Do you mind sharing? And if this is too personal, forget it. With your low, you had low vision?

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Yes.

[Zibby Owens]

When did that start?

[Aria Mia Loberti]

How.

[Zibby Owens]

What was the cause of that and how were you able to correct it in this miraculous turn of events?

[Aria Mia Loberti]

So I was born with a condition called achromatopsia. And just to be clear, I still have the condition. It's genetic, so it's not something you lose over time or anything like that, but it stays the same or supposed to stay the same throughout your life. It means that you are very light sensitive. So before, when I would go out in the bright sunshine and I was either almost totally blind or I would like, it would just be difficult to navigate. I wouldn't have a lot of contrast, but in dimmer lighting, I would be able to see quite a bit more. So I had a lot of usable vision, which has made this adjustment probably much easier than it would have been. And no color vision through contact lenses. The last year, year and a half or so, I've done a lot of trial and error and I didn't go into wearing contacts with the assumption that this was what they were going to do for me. But I'm very lucky that we were able to find something that worked that's comfortable for me. And I think my biggest takeaway from this is like, you know, just be open to what life throws at you. Because whether it's being an actress or being an author, neither of those are expected or getting vision. I just have to be open to, like, what life is going to give me. And I have also realized that I've experienced a little bit of grief because the way I saw the world before was so unique and so beautiful and the world didn't celebrate it as such. And so I made it my mission to celebrate that in that way. And I really want to make sure that through this book, other kids, no matter how they see the world, recognize that that perspective matters even as they grow up in the world, might tell them otherwise. And I'm a different representative for that now than I thought I would be. But I hope I can still represent it somehow. But, yeah, that's the short answer.

[Zibby Owens]

You are absolutely representing it. You are doing so much good for so many people.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Thank you. Seriously, thank you.

[Zibby Owens]

At the least, letting everybody know more about Guide Dog for the Blind, which I didn't know more about, I was on the website. Turns out any family, by the way, can be a puppy host. Don't tell my kids, but you can have. You can raise the puppy for a.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Little bit and they're in there in need of puppy. I think all of the guide dog schools across the country are in need of puppy raisers, especially post Covid. And anybody could volunteer. And you take class and you learn the skills and then you can teach the dog skills and you get to bring a puppy with you a lot of places, which is fun. But my best friend Molly did it and it was really cool. Yes, amazing.

[Zibby Owens]

You have partnered with this organization as well. What should we all know that we might not know? Everybody has a bazillion organizations that need support. Why guide dogs for the blind? What do they do uniquely? And how did you end up teaming up with this particular one?

[Aria Mia Loberti]

I did a lot of trial and error with guide dog schools because it's sort of like applying to college because this. Ideally, you're going to be in this partnership for eight years or so. Most guide dogs retire at like, between ages 7 and 10. And Ingrid is. Is 10, so she's on the older side of this, but especially given the circumstances, she's doing so wonderfully. She has a bit more freedom. And so it's been really wonderful. But I decided to go to this particular school because I really liked their message about people, dogs and communities. This wasn't necessarily, you know, they don't approach this from like, oh, we're going to help people who are less fortunate. It's just we're going to give people in our communities tools to be better people. And that means the puppy raiser volunteers have a way to express themselves and do good in their community the same way. The client will now be able to take this magnificent tool everywhere they go and be able to have this incredible bond to boot, because that's what makes a guide dog so special in contrast to any other mobility tool. I think what makes GDB guide dogs to the blind, where Ingrid is from, so exceptional is not only that mindset, but also their complete, completely donor run. So they don't receive any federal or state funds or whatnot. People come from all over the US and Canada to go there and they provide for the dog throughout the course of their life. So Ingrid had her vet visit a couple of weeks ago. They, they pay for the vet. They pay for everything. So when I, when I got a guide dog, I was, I was not an actor and I, I was, I was really, really struggling financially. I grew up in a very lower middle class, working class family and so starting college was, you know, basically put me below the poverty line. And that was very difficult. And I didn't think I would be able to provide for another being, let alone myself. And they came through and I was sponsored for additional things like food that they typically wouldn't sponsor for. And it was just a wonderful opportunity and I'm very, very, very grateful to them. I don't think I would have been here. I wouldn't be able to be an actress. I wouldn't be able to be confident and to tell the story if it wasn't for gdb. But they, and there are other guide dog schools across America. I would like to shout out Guiding Eyes for the Blinds where Molly's puppy was raised from. They're also exceptional. And wherever you are in your local area, there's probably a really awesome guide dog school that needs your support and could really change somebody's life for the better. So amazing.

Yes.

[LinkedIn Representative]

We need.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Oh, definitely a flood.

[Zibby Owens]

Nicky.

You had one audition.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Yes.

[Zibby Owens]

For the first thing you ever wanted to do professionally, acting. And got an amazing role in all the Light We Cannot See. Which by the way, Kyle and I went to a screening at Netflix hosted by the Ankler and you were there.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

We watched it.

[Zibby Owens]

Then we saw the talk back with you and we're such a fan. We were like googling you everything. And they're so excited to see that you had written a book.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

So thank you. I didn't know that till I walked in, by the way, so it was so funny.

[Zibby Owens]

Yeah.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Yeah.

[Zibby Owens]

You were incredible in that. Thank you. Did anybody see that? Yes. Many people talk a little bit about that. And the stroke of luck that got you. Not luck, talent.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Well, I don't know. I think it was manifesting or something. I don't know. I was in you mentioned I was in my doctorate at the time, and I had just. So I was at the University of Rhode island, and then I got the Fulbright scholarship and I moved to England for my master's. And then I moved home. Back. Well, not home necessarily, but I moved back to the US Home. The US To Pennsylvania, where I had never been before. And I started my doctorate and I was like, why am I not happy what's happening? Because I was so grateful to be where I was and so excited to study what I was studying and why didn't it feel right? And I don't know if any of you have ever been in that situation in your life where you just. You get somewhere and you think all the stars aligned and then you're like, this something's. I'm not on the right path after all, even though it's like a really good path. And I've had that with bad things, but I've never had that with good things. And that was a learning experience. Someone sent me a text. I was like, would you like to audition for this? I saw this come through and they're taking people who don't have agents. I could see you doing this. And I said no. And later that day, I went to my PhD advisor's office and I had an existential breakdown. And I told her I was going to run for Congress. And so she was like, well, we can't really support that. We can support you being an academic, and if you want to do that, like, obviously we'll make it happen. But, like, I don't know how the career change can happen, but we're with you every step of the way. And so then I went home and I auditioned for this, not thinking about a career change at all, but thinking about, boy, I just had an existential breakdown. I think I need to do something fun. I asked them to send me audition materials. I got myself on tape. It was really bad. And I'm not saying that to be self deprecating, but I think they called me back because they saw a person who was willing to, like, kind of make an idiot out of themselves. And the next thing I knew, I was in callback with the director and callback with producers and casting directors, and they had been looking all over the world. And three weeks later, I got a call to be on a Zoom call. And then I got the part and then I moved back to Europe. So that was. That was a whole experience in and of itself. But I had to learn everything from the ground up because I had no idea how any of it worked. I had never been in that industry before. I had certainly never thought about entering that industry when I was looking at other jobs. So thankfully the academics are useful though.

[Zibby Owens]

And so what was it like? I mean, you show up on set and then what?

[Aria Mia Loberti]

I was very lucky because I think I was just so overwhelmed with being confused that before I left for Hungary, where we filmed, I got to work with an incredible acting coach who he is himself an academic. And he helped me bridge that gap between how I was taught to think and a new career where I'm not allowed to over intellectualize. And he allowed me to bridge that gap a little bit. That was a bit scary. And so when I went to set, I was fully prepared thanks to some of the technique that I had learned. But I still didn't know that filming a movie is more than just an actor and a director and maybe like a lighting dude. And I was very confused by the 300, 400 people who just showed up. So I'm very grateful to our director because he flew me out about a month early and he allowed me to meet and observe and sort of shadow everybody. The department heads like hair and makeup and wardrobe and the art department and set design and camera. And I got basically a month of four years of film school and I got to shadow our director and learn how he makes a shot list and understand how he coaches the actors to get the best performance. So that when I sat down on my first day, I was fully prepared to do it, or at least I told myself I was. I wasn't really. And by the time we did, we did six months, six, seven days a week, most weeks. And I learned as I went, and then I left that series and I was like, this is what a gift. This is to be able to tell stories that people get to experience in their free time. It was exactly what drew me to want to be a writer, because I had wanted to be a writer long before any of this happened. And I. I'm like, well, I. I think I found my career change. I found the answers to a lot of the questions I've been asking about my why that I think every young person asks. And then I just went off on this crazy adventure with like doing other things and then promoting all the light and acting in different things and then eventually to writing this book and hopefully to be able to juggle both this and acting would be the goal. So I'm very grateful to everyone who started me on that path because I don't know really what I would have done with my life. So that's cool. That's really cool.

[Zibby Owens]

And you're. You had been a ballerina.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Yes.

[Zibby Owens]

In the past.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Yes.

[Zibby Owens]

How did that tie into everything and were you comfortable with that type of performance?

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Yes. I think what drew me to ballet, I was. I was a very studious kid and I really liked. I don't surprise anybody, I was very studious kid. And so I was very, very focused on technique. And I wanted something physical or a sport or whatnot that would have almost a militant aspect. And there, there's nothing really more militant than, than classical Russian ballet. And I was very, very lucky that that was something I was able to do because, like I said, I grew up in very working class family and that ballet is very difficult in that type of situation to be able to find the right training. I think that really prepared me for.

Confidence and poise, being able to hold myself and have a really good physical understanding of my body. I think learning ballet as somebody with limited vision also really helped because it allowed me to have true mastery over my physical body. And my plans as an actress, assuming that I wasn't going to ever gain sight, was to really push the boundary of what someone who is low vision as an actress, could do and to play roles who are sighted people and push that boundary and help open doors for other people. And now, obviously, as an advocate for authentic representation, I cannot portray a blind or low vision character anymore. That door has to be opened for somebody who is living that experience. Right now. I can't do it. But ballet has allowed me to make that, I think, transition so much easier. Because so much of acting isn't in your words and how you speak. It's in how you hold yourself, in how you choose to tell a story with your body, with your face. And growing up with that type of mindset, that diligence, that dedication to that craft has allowed me to make the connection and transition to acting a lot easier since I know how to learn an artistic technique. But I think ballet is. I attribute ballet to a lot of what I'm able to do now, even though I left it behind when I was like 16. But it was very intensive. But I'm very lucky that I still, I was able to do it. I mean, the back cover of the book is sort of a testament to it. Yeah.

[Zibby Owens]

There's a scene in the book, you know, you were talking about how Ingrid loves to do the leaps as well.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

He does, yes. Very graceful. And one of her big things in tuning was not doing the leaps and Then they gave her a person who also just was like, our trainer's like, okay, you guys, do you.

[Zibby Owens]

So your life has changed basically, in.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Every thinkable possible way, Very much so.

[Zibby Owens]

In such a short amount of time, not the least of which is. Is literally your perception of the world itself. And what do you do with that shift? How do you think about your professional life, your, you know, visual life, all of it together? Like, what do you. When you're going to sleep at night, what are you thinking? Like, oh, my gosh, I don't know.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

I. I think I just. I have to be open to things because I. I think. Well, the first thing that popped into my mind when you asked the question was go to therapy. Like, I go to therapy. I have to. Because, like, how do you deal with everything? I mean, just like, being known. I don't mean that in a sense of like being. Being in a movie, but I mean it in the sense of like, being myself in the world was something that I struggled with a lot from a very, very young age. And I was in a very difficult situation as a child where I faced a lot of abuse and neglect and trauma from. It was in a school environment. So my parents were like the backbone of my life. They were really all that I had that was validating that I was worthy of, of being, I guess. And to be able to go from that background as a little kid, when you're being told that you' worth anything to going to college and being told you're smart, you're worthy, you deserve to have a seat at the table and you deserve to talk and why don't you go apply to the Fulbright and you can do it, and then getting something like the Fulbright and becoming an academic and being at the, at the, at the top of. Of something like that and experiencing that world.

Now, moving into acting and being exposed to that at a very high level has been very difficult because I've tried to hide for so long. So being able to put myself out there was not easy. And now I've always sort of grappled with, you know, knowing that I had limited sight, but really, really genuinely believing that that outlook on the world was what made my voice matter, despite what people said to me. And then to have that taken away and have to relearn again that my voice matters even when that has left me, has been kind of difficult for me. And I had mentioned, like, a grieving experience. And it is sort of like someone had asked me the question recently of, like, almost like when you. When someone passes away, and you feel their presence with you, like, no matter what you believe in, and you still feel that presence with you. And I know that, that the lens through which I viewed the world before, I can still view the world a little bit that way, enough that I can bring it into my writing. But it is through distance now, and that's really hard. And I have to tell myself every morning when I wake up now that, like, am I worthy of having a career as an actor? Yes. I have to be. I have to own up to that because I think I can do good with that career for myself and for other people. Am I worthy of being a writer? I sure hope so. But Scholastic put a lot of faith in me, and I have to do good by them, and I have to do good by myself. And I have to realize that, like, I don't need this take on my life, this perception, to make me worthy. I can have. Still have a unique perception as it is right now, and that's okay. And that is not what defined me. And I always fought to make sure that that wasn't what defined me. So don't let it define my past and just allow myself to, like, celebrate what I can do now, because it really is, like, I have to own up to it as, like, a cool, miraculous thing that happened and not as I lost a big part of me. So it's been an interesting battle of this wonderful gift that I. I get to do so many things I couldn't before. I get to do them differently. And I. I want to celebrate that without guilt. And so it's been. It's been a journey. But, yeah, Gosh, I know it's a long answer. No, you're.

[Zibby Owens]

I mean, you're so articulate about everything. You're so aware. I mean, this is the kind of thing that could really knock people off course, and the fact that you're so in touch with everything. And.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Thank you.

[Zibby Owens]

So wise.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Thank you.

Thank you.

[Zibby Owens]

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What type of school can you talk about what happened? You said the abuse came from your school?

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Yes. I don't want to dwell too much on it because I don't want to want to make anybody too sad. But basically I sort of I gave a TED Talk about a while ago and if you want the long answer, there's the 18 minute answer. But I was in a situation in which I was legally denied the education that every kid is entitled to. The school didn't want to teach me solely because of vision, really. And which is which is a lot when you think about it. As a kid who had enough usable vision to read and to do, you know, some sighted activities, I just needed accommodations to do them. And when you think about the scope or the spectrum of disability and how many kids could be struggling with a similar situation and not have the ability to strain their eyes to the point where they would throw up and put their face to their paper and try to read their math problem. Sometimes you don't have options to do that, and not everybody has family. I have my parents who. They didn't know anything about disability law, but we researched it all together from the time I was a little kid. We were all very involved and we made sure that I knew how to go into school and quote the laws that protected me. It turned into a lawsuit. It turned into this whole thing. And eventually, because of all of that, like, I had to leave school behind. We weren't able to move. So we. The. The thing was basically homeschooling is that was how I could get my free and appropriate public education was only through homeschooling. And we used like online curriculum, so my work was graded by other people. But, like, having to grow up in that where every single day. First of all, my parents and I knew that they didn't want to send me to school, but they had to send me to school in this, like, abusive, toxic environment. They knew what I was being told and how I was being treated, and they had to send me anyway because you don't have a choice. You have to send your kid to school. Like it's. Or you're truant. That was hard to have to watch them because I became very cognizant of that from like, by the time I was like 5, 6, and then having to deal with it myself. And then every day for six hours, you're basically being told that you are worthless and you can contribute nothing to society. And the amount of self education I had to do and the amount of work that my parents had to do to make sure that I didn't let that get to me, I, you know, I think ballet actually was a part of it because I was, you know, I would go to ballet and I would just be. Be free to be myself. I would go to the library and I'd be free to be myself. And what I did was I would either escape through dance or I would escape through reading. And I didn't have friends, I didn't have community, but I had my parents, I had my books, and I got through too. And I just knew I wanted to go to college. And thankfully, college was the exact opposite end of the spectrum. College was wonderful. So that was great.

[Zibby Owens]

Gosh, I'm sorry.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

It's okay. I mean. Well, hopefully the world is better for the next kid who comes up. It's been very heartening to go to a lot of public schools on the book tour so far and see just that things aren't like that. So that's good. Yeah.

[Zibby Owens]

And you've also become a ambassador to unicef.

[LinkedIn Representative]

Yes.

[Zibby Owens]

Talk about that.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Oh, that's been such a treat. I have. I. I mean, I kind of alluded to it, and I know from what I know about you, I know this is sort of your thing too, like, making sure that everyone can have access to. To books that everyone can read. And everyone, like, knows that this is like a safe space for them to come. That, like, even if you don't feel like, like you're a book type, like you are going to find yourself in the pages of the book somehow you'll find a book that's your book. And so I've always believed in that. But then I've always. I'm growing up the way I grew up. I was very conscious of the fact that a lot more kids have barriers learning, and part of that is literacy. And one of the most incredible things that I've gotten to do since becoming an actress. The first thing I said to my agent when they were like, what kind of opportunities do you want? I didn't realize they meant, like, be an avenger. I thought I was like, I want to be a UNICEF ambassador. They were like, oh, that's cool. And my incredible manager was like, we can make this happen. And we did. And it took two years of incredible work with UNICEF to be able to earn the title of ambassador. But through those, through that time, I was able to help a little bit. Not much, but, like, I helped, I guess, with reauthorizing the READ act, which basically allows for, you know, the US to pass laws protecting kids right to read and protecting children's literacy rights and access. I've been able to travel with them and see their education efforts around the world. And one of my favorite things, or one of my favorite ways to bring everything together is I'm also. I'm very much, very, very passionate about climate activism. And I understand that there is a gap when it comes to women and girls and education and literacy rates connected directly to the climate crisis, usually through natural disasters. And it's just. It's been wonderful to see that UNICEF really understands this nuance. And so I've been able to travel with them to Kosovo and understand how their. The work that they do supports that type of work. It allows kids all around the world to, you know, have these resources that they really desperately need. And I think in a time like the time that we're going through right now, that type of work is more important than ever. And I think it's up to us, us as like, global citizens, to make sure that we enforce it and hold our leaders accountable when they don't do the same. So hopefully we all can make a difference. And it's difficult to. We have, we can't lose hope.

[Zibby Owens]

It's sometimes difficult, you know, well, switching gears slightly. And anyone who has looked at your Instagram knows what fabulous fashion you have and maybe just seeing you today. And here we are in this beautiful fashion.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Yes.

[Zibby Owens]

Your love of fashion. Yeah, explain where do you get your stuff?

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Where do you get your ideas?

[Zibby Owens]

Like how do we put ourselves together?

[Aria Mia Loberti]

I don't know. I think I was a really from, okay, from before age 4. I was a very flamboyant child. And then I got taught you don't matter. And so then my clothing became very withheld and then I started to act and all of a sudden I'm like self confident and I'm not hiding under a giant hoodie anymore. And all of these things that I wanted to try to wear felt like they would be like really cool forms of self expression. I felt like I could try. And I want to shout out my stylist. Her name is Sarah Tooley and she is like out of this world, exceptional. She's sort of like a fairy godmother. And I, I spoke with a lot of stylists. I did not know that when you become an actress, they. You get a team of people who help you exist as a decent person in the world. And one of these people is a stylist. And so when I booked all the light, they were like, you need a stylist to help with all this. And I was like, oh my God, this is going to be the best thing that's ever happened. And I met with. I, well, I, I should say I had like six to eight people who I was supposed to meet with and Sarah was the first one. And I met with her and I'm like, we can cancel the other meetings. She was just so remarkable and she has such a strong sense of self and just this beautiful, compassionate awareness of other people that I didn't realize could be part of fashion and could be part of my own self expression. And she's really pushed me out of my comfort zone. I never thought like I would wear anything like midriff exposing. And like now I like, I, I've done that on like a red carpet and it's crazy and it's a lot because of her instilling like confidence in me. And, and it's been. She's just, just has a very smart eye and allows me also to like bring my perspective and I'm very interested in history and based on what I studied, I studied ancient rhetoric. So I'm like really interested in like bringing vintage and antique things into my clothes and into my outfits. And she's very open to that kind of conversation that, that we can find that balance between it being myself and it's still looking like something an actress would wear. And then when I'm just me, I just, I kind of just put stuff together that I think seems fun. And I use my best friend and my mom a lot to like bounce ideas off of so I don't look too silly when I leave the house. But yeah, sometimes they're like, you can't wear the 1880s boots and the really medieval looking skirt and you look like you're going to Comic Con. And so like, it's okay. So we, we have to have a balance. But it's all good. I have a lot of good people on my side for that.

[Zibby Owens]

So what are your plans then as an author? Where are you going with this?

[Aria Mia Loberti]

I am hoping that this would be able to launch my career as an author because it's something I've been passionate about since I was little and since books were really my only friends and I wanted to be able to provide this sort of world for other kids who might be going through those circumstances even if I couldn't fix their circumstances. And I know books and media have changed a lot even since I was little and, and I am very passionate about writing for young people, particularly the middle grade and YA audiences. So I'm hoping that with this under my belt, being able to share this story with really young kids and be able to encourage hopefully that love of reading and also this awareness of guide dogs and the spectrum of vision and just the differences in our world. Hopefully we'll get more kids reading. Hopefully we'll get more kids loving dogs or working dogs or the concept of guide dogs. But like most of all, I really hope that this allows me to continue to tell stories. I mentioned before that I had like a middle grade manuscript complete. So I'm really hopeful that that would be potentially my next book that I could share with the world. And my best friend and I co wrote that together and it is a low vision protagonist which I haven't really seen much of in that age group's literature. And I would, I would love to be able to celebrate that because like I said before, while I am not the person to embody those characters on screen, I think I can lend a perspective to them in my writing. And so I hope that that could be something that maybe that character can take up the mantle of the work that I was supposed to do as an individual. Maybe she, as a fictional character, can do some of that work for me. And so I'm hoping that can be something that I get to share next. And I really would love to do another Ingrid book because I think she still has at least one more good story.

[Zibby Owens]

And how about anything we can see on screen or anything coming up in the arena?

[Aria Mia Loberti]

I don't think I can spoil anything. I would really.

[Zibby Owens]

Oh, it's fine.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

I would like to talk about one thing, but I don't think I can. But I've just. You know, Hollywood's slow right now. It's a hard. It's a hard business right now. And I. The best thing I can do is to understand what I can lend to it and be myself and hope that I can. The stories that I think I can contribute best to, you find me. And in the meantime, I may have started a production company. What? It's okay. So I've only just started talking about it, but my best friend and I, who wrote the middle grade novel together, we started a production company in the hopes that we could bring voice to stories that might not otherwise get told. And one of. We're both very big readers, so we would love to work on, like, book to film and finding books that we both believe that, like, the book deserves an increased audience but would work really beautifully on screen. And I'm really interested and passionate about making sure that young women in particular have a place where they are seen and valued and that hopefully the art that I make can show anybody, but particularly young women, that their voice matters, because that was something I wish I had had. So hopefully that is just wish us luck. It's a hard time to start dreaming like this, but hopefully, you know, foundation can be built. I don't know.

[Zibby Owens]

Last question. Do you have advice for, I want to say, aspiring authors, but I really mean anyone trying to do something creative, something out of their comfort zone, any of that. What is your advice?

[Aria Mia Loberti]

Oh, my gosh. Frankly, it's not poetic or anything, but, like, just be willing to make a fool out of yourself. Because the big. The biggest opportunities in my life came when I was willing to put myself out there. And I had worked really, really hard to, like, be really smart. And the biggest opportunities in my life have come when I don't know anything. And so I think, be okay with not knowing anything and be okay with showing people that you don't know, but you're willing to learn and that you can learn because that's the only reason why I've been able to get through what I got through and to be able to, like, have the opportunities I found is because I literally, like, hit send on a tape that should never have left my iPhone. And so, yeah, like, it's. Everything is a messy first draft. So I don't know.

[Zibby Owens]

Yeah. Well, Aria, I am so impressed in every way by you and the goodness of your heart and how you're already giving back so much when you have every right just to sort of kick it on the couch and enjoy your success. And instead you're. You're trying to change the world. So maybe you didn't run for Congress then, but I don't see this being the end.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

I'm not writing anything off ever. So I don't know.

[Zibby Owens]

Yeah.

[Aria Mia Loberti]

But thank you. I want to ask you questions. This is so smooth. I know. Yeah. But this is so cool. I'm very grateful to be here with all of you. Thank you for this and thank you for your platform because I think more people need to showcase the incredible things that books and authors in this world can do. So thank you. You're welcome.

[Zibby Owens]

Thank you for listening to Totally Booked with Zibby, formerly Moms don't have time to read Books. If you loved the show, tell a friend, leave a review, Follow me on Instagram, ibbeowens and spread the word. Thanks so much. Oh, and buy the book.

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