Mercury Stardust, the Trans Handy Ma'am, is a professional home maintenance technician, performer, and award-winning activist. Mercury credits her TikTok success to her experience teaching burlesque, where she learned to communicate and create a safe space for students who had frequently experienced trauma. She's been featured in stories by NBC, NPR, Buzzfeed, Newsweek, Washington Post, and Pink News. Her leadership within the trans community has led to collaborations with such brands as iFixit, Lowe’s, and the trans-healthcare company Point of Pride. Mercury lives in her home state of Wisconsin with her partner and two cats. She’s a world-renowned and internationally award-winning burlesque entertainer and ran Wisconsin’s only weekly burlesque show, Five Star Tease, for 5 years. Her work on and off the stage earned her Madison’s Trans Activist of the Year in 2021 from Madison’s Outreach, and she raised $2.3 million for trans healthcare in 2023 with Point of Pride.