Today we’d like to introduce you to Alan Hanley.
Hi Alan, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Hello, my name is Alan Hanley. I’m an Artist, Creator, and Social Media Influencer knows as MintCoaTea.
I’m a 24-year-old Florida native, and as the middle child of a large family, I literally shed blood, sweat and tears to balance to the family function and finances.
Most times when growing up, we’ve lived impoverished, so I worked very hard in my early life to provide for my family.
I even opened a bank account when I was several years underage so that way, I can accept payments from a variety of customers and open the doors to more opportunity.
Unfortunately, journey begun a bit rocky, I have always strived to create content and sell products from an early age, to help my financially fragile family, however things went very badly as we are about to see.
I opened my first online shops around 2013-2014, between the age of 13-14. These shops were on Listia, a second-hands goods marketplace, and Shapeways, a marketplace for 3D printed products.
That was okay money, but not enough to pay all the bills. So, then I got into creating video games and apps, and I installed Stencyl on the PC in order to create the next big game.
But, unfortunately, the hard drive with most of my siblings’ files and my projects on it was in hard drive failure. I tried to fix it, however I just made things worse, and then all the files were gone, including thousands of my siblings’ and I’s artworks, and my video games.
I felt very guilty and ashamed of myself. I was also going through body image problems, such as wanting to look more feminine, and fitting into a small pair of black pantyhose. I’ve kept my desire to be feminine to myself after previous godawful experiences.
Such as my sisters making fun of me for wearing girl clothes, and my farther confronting me when I would wear girl clothes, like this one time was really traumatic when I was helping him at the door with the groceries, and he saw me wearing black pantyhose and green short pants. And he was like, “Alan why are you wearing stockings? A man doesn’t wear pantyhose! Take them off.”
So, I went to my room and took my pantyhose off and hid them under my bed.
I returned to my farther and my sisters were laughing at me. My farther thanked me for taking the pantyhose off, and he suggested that he can get me sweatpants if I’m cold. And I was like, “no thank you”.
I felt upset after seeing pantyhose in the store after that. The PTSD is real, and I talked to my psychiatrist about it recently.
Nowadays, my family accepts me for being who I am. And my farther actually complimented my dress earlier, so that felt beautiful to me.
Anyway, back to 2017. The way I saw myself was that I was ugly, and that I desperately needed to be fixed, or become prettier.
Losing weight felt so amazing to me, it very much became a sport and an obsession, because I never felt satisfied with my weight, even at 87 pounds.
I was also very paranoid about the consumption of sugar, or foods that I deemed ‘unhealthy’. So, I would primarily eat small portions of healthy food and food I’ve grown in my garden, such as peppers.
This eventually led me to become very skinny and at the age of 16 and weight of 87 pounds.
My energy had become very low at this point, and I didn’t even have enough cushioning on my buttocks to feel comfortable sitting. It felt like I was sitting on bare bone.
I love to garden, but I was losing the energy to water my plants. Making matters worse, I fell directly front headfirst one day after tripping in the hallway of our home. This made me even more paranoid about my diet because I’ve read online that foods such as fried foods are bad for healing a damaged brain.
So, I ended up losing even more weight.
My mother recalls me telling her that “I’m dying”.
My farther drove me to the hospital under my mother’s advice of taking me to the emergency room tonight.
It was early 2017 when I was hospitalized in 2017 at the age of 16 over Anorexia, and I spent nearly a month between hospitals, and eventually a mental hospital after I’ve reached a medically stable weight,
The hospital was a very bad experience for me, and I felt depressed a lot of the time, and I thought to myself “I was so close.”
I was close because I withdrew about $61 dollars from Inboxdollars, a survey website to earn cash, and I was going to use the money to purchase another game engine license “GameSalad”, and with that license I was going to create a hit game that was going to get my family and I out of poverty.
But, no, I got hospitalized and lost my pace of success, and sanity.
After my discharge, I was very paranoid and shameful of what transcended. I was out of my mind at the hospital, because it felt like I was dying, and it made matters worse when the staff would give me Ensure protein drinks. After drinking the Ensure, it would become very difficult for me to recognize members of my own family and I would go into this state of psychosis.
At home, I would just stay in the front ward and stare endlessly into the abyss, until someone would call my name or notice me.
One time when staring into the abyss, I was fantasying about going to the military for the purpose of being ended by a bullet.
Thankfully, I wasn’t ended by a bullet, but something just as bad did happen.
The social workers paid us a visit, and they deemed that we were being abused.
My younger siblings, and I were taken into custody by the state, leaving my parents and older siblings without us.
After spending some time in the hospital for observations,
our grandparents were given sole custody of us.
we spent about 8 months at our grandparent’s house where we were taken into a small private school.
School other than homeschool was alien to my younger siblings, because they’ve never went to school outside of the house. And the last time I’ve been to a public school was kindergarten when I was 5-6 years old.
So, being in school with people outside of our family was an adjustment for us, but we eventually learned a lot and caught up to speed with our education. My younger siblings were finally able read fluently, and that made them and me so very happy.
My parents and older were only allowed to visit every so often because of the rules set by my step-grandmother.
My grandparents were definitely hard on me and my siblings a lot of the time, and we would get into many arguments and disagreements. We would get in trouble for literally everything, it seemed. So, seeing our family, and going to school was a relief for us.
In February of 2018, we were finally released back to our parents and older siblings, in the weirdest and coolest way.
My brother basically had temporary custody of us now, because of a legal loophole. Even though the court rolled out negligence with my parents, my parents had to take a “No contest” plea, to get us back.
Returning home was very intriguing experience, the interior of the house was renovated from retro 80s brown, to modern sleek white. Everything looked new, but we soon adapted back into the environment and felt at home.
There was one major change though, my farther finally got a job again, but it’s in California. So, he wouldn’t be home with us 24/7 anymore. This was disappointing because from then on, he could only be with us when he flies to Florida on his off days, or speaks with us via smartphone,
The social workers continued to visit us every now and then to check on us, and after many months we were given the greenlight to be left on our own.
In 2018, I left high school after my parents’ advice to leave because I was too old for 9th grade and could be in college.
Alas, college didn’t happen, and I don’t think it’s even happening for me. I’m just way too far behind, and I just prefer to pursue other things, such as making a hit video game and music.
And that’s what I did.
After finishing some FLVS driving courses, I really took putting my career as an artist into full gear. P.S. I didn’t get my license in the end, because we didn’t go to the DMV for the driving assessment, unfortunately.
Anyway, in September of 2018, I brought the domain name “SquidMetry” and I began working on a video game named “Navigate Nudibranch”.
This video game had themes from my life experiences combined with cute sea creatures and fun adventures.
However, tragedy struck again when I was selling gift cards on eBay in the early beginning of 2020.
I was scammed for hundreds of dollars from the eBay buyers who purchased my gift cards.
The scam buyers essentially claimed that they never purchased the gift cards, and eBay sided with the scam buyers.
This led to the scam buyers keeping both the gift card funds and getting an automatic refund from eBay.
The funds came out of my PayPal funds, and my PayPal account was hundreds of dollars in debt.
I needed a way to get my PayPal account current again, however I didn’t really have an actual 9-5 job at the time.
So, 19-year-old me got desperate. I joined the call center Dynata through the ShiftSmart app, and in my bathroom I was handling lots of Political Survey Calls.
The job didn’t go too well, a lot of the time the people on the calls were very offensive to me, and the most I made from the job was $20 dollars.
My mother found out about my job, and she disapproved of that job.
So, I quit my job, and went on a desperate job hunt.
I landed on this blog which encouraged you to produce adult films for money, and the author touted that some mothers even help their daughters produce adult films.
So, that really lighted me up to the idea.
Then I visited this one popular adult film site, and I joined it, and soon became quite popular there.
When I was making these films, I would dress very feminine and have long hair and look very elegant on camera.
I wasn’t too sure of how I would be perceived by the public at first, but soon I got a lot of attention from adult males loving my content and paying me to watch me.
That brought in a new wave of confidence for me.
People found me pretty, and they weren’t making fun of me.
So, this encouraged me to produce even more, and more content.
I even won 2nd place in the ScrubHub contest, so that was a very happy day for me. I felt so honored.
By the end of the year, I still didn’t earn enough money to buy my PayPal account out of the debt hole the scammers put it in, but that was okay. I didn’t have to follow the rules anymore. PayPal knows that they did me wrong, why should I pay for my punishment?
I brought 3D printers with my year’s earnings instead, and it was such a joy to finally have 3D printers in the house. I brought a toy-like 3D printer for myself, and a larger more professional model for my brother who is now a professional 3D printer moder. I’m very proud of him, and I believe it was worth fighting in the Drama War that sent me into a very unique and unprecedented path.
By the way, my video game Navigate Nudibranch which I scarified years and lots of money for was too big to publish in the end, so I had to create a smaller version with way less features and less content. The smaller version worked just fine in the GameSalad engine, however, it was a total glitchy nightmare once it was published on the Google Play Store. So, I suspect that the game engine is to blame, or at least something that happened in-between. The GameSalad team was awesome and patient, nevertheless, and I’m very grateful to their efforts with helping me.
I did manage to publish the soundtrack of Navigate Nudibranch, though. The soundtrack was published across nearly all streaming services, and that to me was like graduating a child from college, beautiful and wonderful!
Around the early 2020s, I created an Instagram, TikTok, and FaceBook accounts by the handle @MintCoaTea.
My social media presence grew gradually, but really picked up in mid to late 2023, where my @MintCoaTea TikTok videos would gain hundreds of thousands of views.
This made me very happy and more confident in my ability to be a content creator.
In late 2022, a police officer accused me of stealing things, so he cussed me out and followed me around the town in his mighty tall black police car.
He kept threatening me and kept calling me the B world. I just happened to be filming this event, and I have uploaded it to my YouTube Channel @MintCoaTea Videography, afterward.
The cop was telling me, “You guys don’t live here!”
And I was like, “We Do.”
I told him that I wasn’t stealing, it was my own DoorDash food in my hands, and I just lost around my apartment complex, so that’s why I was walking around.
The cop got back into his car and left.
Even though the cop left, my mental scars didn’t leave with him, and I get PTSD when I’m outside in urban areas now.
I tried to send my story out to NEWS publications, but it was a no go, no one responded. So, I felt a bit alone.
My mother and the rest of my family were very helpful and supportive, though. My mother took me to the apartment manager and we showed the video to her, and she was very sympathetic towards me, and I appreciated that.
In May of 2023, I was scammed out of $585 dollars, then about $135 dollars. I was buying a laptop from OfferUp, but it turned out to be a scam, and I became very depressed because I sold my laptop for that $585, and now I couldn’t do 3D and Graphics work because I’m out of money and a laptop.
The lady who I gave $585 dollars to never gave me a tracking number for the laptop, and ended up blocking/not responding to me.
My farther found out about my misfortune, so he gave me $300, and I was very appreciative of his generosity and understanding.
I went to OfferUp again to look for a graphics/gaming laptop compatible with my line of high-process work.
But, then again, I was scammed. He said he was honest, and to provide it, I could just give him half of the laptop price first.
So, I sent him $135 dollars. However, after that he got really weird and stopped writing me just like the last person.
After that last scam, I became even more depressed because now I’ve ruined my second chance and I was stupid enough to fall for another scam on evil OfferUp.
OfferUp, Chime, nor CashApp, helped me in my situation.
They could have reversed the funds I sent to the scammer, but they didn’t, and this sent me into absolute depression.
One night, there was a knock at the door, so my farther answered, and two police officers showed up for a welfare check on me, they wanted to know if I was depressed.
I lied and told them that I was okay, and then they left.
My family had a talk with me about my depression, and I opened up to them about it.
My brother and farther brought me a new laptop. I felt a guilty about it, but my mother informed me that I was supposed to get a laptop for my birthday earlier anyway.
I was and still am very appreciative to my family for being so amazing to me in that dark time.
Alas, another dark time was on the horizon.
In Mid-September of 2023, I tried to castrate myself because I just couldn’t take having large amounts of testosterone be produced in my body anymore. Although, the plan didn’t pan out because the painkiller I took some moments prior made me feel like fainting,
So, I opted to go to sleep. I sent out a video explaining what I was going to do to myself, and I sent a text to my parents.
In the morning, my farther took notice of my text and became greatly concerned, and he talked to my mother about it over the phone. This led to almost the whole family gathering around me to comfort me and urge me against doing the DIY-Surgery.
My mom instructed me to throw away my surgical supplies I purchased, so then my sister helped me out with throwing away the surgical supplies.
My mom said that she would reimburse me of the cost.
To be honest, sometime after getting the surgical supplies thrown out, I was deeply disappointed that they were discarded.
But then I noticed a surgical supply which I missed, it was the castration clamps, and I felt very happy at that realization.
My thoughts of self-surgery never really went away, though my logic, family, friends, and medical pros warned me against self-surgery, I just keep getting curious about preforming surgery on myself.
The high costs of femininizing surgery and the walls surrounding it, always make my mind consider a DIY route. I actually did my first piercing on the 14th of June 2024. It was a scrotal piercing, and modifying my privates like that on my own accord made me so happy.
Anyway, In November of 2023, my younger sister and I got professional surgeries in an actual hospital
The surgery I received was a spinal straightening surgery.
The surgery went smoothy, but the healing and recovery process was super painful. But what are pillows for? (:
Anyway, thank you so much for reading life in the past 10 years today.
I hope my story has inspired you in a way,
And remember, don’t be locked into guilt and regret,
sometimes things happen in life to help you not forget that you are built for anything,
and you deserve nothing but love.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’ve been hurt, scammed, cheated, bullied, and nearly killed. But I always try to come out the other end stronger and smarter. No hater, nor scammer has the power to take away me, from me.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As a modern artist, I do a combination of 3D Art, 2D Art, 3D Prints, Audio, 2D Illustration, and Video of fascination.
What I’m most proud of would be the music I’ve been producing over the years.
I get to capture raw moments of my story telling and broadcast it to the masses.
I’ve always been fond of making music, and there are videos of 7-year-old me singing a melody with a toy horsey.
What sets me apart from others would be my raw and unapologetic storytelling.
I’m not afraid to raise bars or break boundaries in stories and art.
I feel that being relatable and vulnerable can potentially make someone feel more comfortable and prouder of who they are.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Turn your speakers into a tour of Audio heaven by listening to my mystical music on Spotify / YouTube Music @SquidMetry
SquidMetry Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7zRuvLlFt381XP3jsITewc?si=ulMG_T4OS-eXFm6Vswzj7A
SquidMetry YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCEBr0_qWZkEXVODsQRXeGwQ
My Kickstarter Page @SquidMetry has a wealth of cool creations:
https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/squidmetry/created
You may collaborate with me by sending me a private message over at my TikToK @MintoCoaTea
Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@mintcoatea?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
Or my YouTube Channel: MintCoaTea Videography
Link: https://www.youtube.com/@mintcoatea/featured
I also accept financial donations via my CashApp: $agoPalm
Link: https://cash.app/$agoPalm
Thanks so much for your support! <3
You’re dazzling and amazing!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://squidmetry.blogspot.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mintcoatea/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SquidMetry/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mintcoatea/featured
- soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/squidmetry
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7zRuvLlFt381XP3jsITewc?si=FwJl9wJMQwO3k6zEZlx3Ww
