Kendall Monroe: When I was younger, I was always telling my mom that I wanted to be on TV, but doesn't every kid tell their parents that? Eventually, I started doing community theater and little school plays. And I just loved it—it was just something that I just wanted to continue to keep doing and doing and doing. After that, I went to this competition with IMTA, which was where I got an agent. My agent really started getting me some auditions and I started taking acting classes. So that's pretty much where it all took off. Now here I am, loving what I do.

GL: That’s awesome! What's the coolest thing you've done in your career?

KM: I did a Pop-Tart commercial. That was really, really cool. I got to work in a real science lab and do a science experiment while we were filming. I was putting the Pop-Tarts in the liquid nitrogen, and it was just so much fun to work with a real science experiment while filming such a cool thing. The commercial has actually gotten over 25 million views on YouTube as of now, so it’s so cool to have had so many people see it, and to have it go viral.

GL: What's something that you would really want to do for your career?

KM: I would love to work with Elisabeth Moss. She's an actress and she's absolutely amazing, I literally want to be just like her. Everything she does is just so amazing and so powerful, and I would love to work with her one day.

GL: Looking forward, what's something you're excited for?

KM: I just started my nonprofit organization, Kindness Speaks. I'm so excited to be helping others and empowering others to do the same. I used to get bullied a lot when I was younger, and I still do now, so I started noticing that there wasn't as much kindness in the world as there should be, and I wanted to change that. Kindness Speaks works to empower and help others and help our community. We hold events where we have speakers come and share their stories and how we can all change the world, one act of kindness at a time.

Kendall's Faves:

Fashion trend: "Air Jordans, I'm such a sneakerhead"

Artist: "Dua Lipa, she's so versatile"

Thing to eat: "Samosas, I can't stop making them"

Place to travel: "Italy, it seems so pretty"

Aesthetic: "Indie-kid, with everything saturated"

GL: What was your inspiration behind starting Kindness Speaks?

KM: My inspiration was seeing others get bullied, along with me. I knew that it didn't feel good to be bullied, and I wanted to change that. I want our world to be full of kindness and to show everyone that kindness is a language that we can all learn to speak.

GL: Right now, what is Kindness Speaks doing?

KM: As of right now, we are working with an organization called A Place Called Home, which is empowering youth in South Central Los Angeles to develop a healthy, purposeful and fulfilling life. And we are also starting to work with Elizabeth House, which is a shelter, and they give lifelong personalized care for pregnant and parenting women in need.

GL: What do you plan to do with Kindness Speaks? What's your ultimate goal?

KM: My ultimate goal is to be able to have a very well-known organization that has brought kindness back to our world, and has brought everybody together to where everybody can just be themselves and we can all be accepted.

GL: Do you have any role models that you look up to, either in your charity work or in your career?

KM: My role model would be my mom, because she raised me and my brother and my sister all by herself, and it's just amazing to see that somebody can do that and stay strong. She's just so amazing. I love everything that she does, and I want to be just like her and have her outlook on life.

GL: If you had any advice to someone who's either interested in starting their career in acting or interested in starting their own nonprofit, what would you give them?

KM: Just go for it. Don’t sit back and think, “Oh, maybe it's not a good idea.” Trust me, it's a good idea. And if you go for it, that's when things are gonna happen for you. You just gotta have the confidence to just go for it. Confidence is key in absolutely everything.