Today is the one year anniversary of making the day dream the day job. If you know me or follow me on other forms of internet media, this isn’t a new story. It’s one that I tell often and will likely commemorate every year. Sometimes you spend your life trying to climb to the top of the ladder only to realize not only that you’re on the WRONG ladder, but that ladder is leaning against the WRONG wall too.
The corporate world was the final phase of my journey on the makeup side of the beauty industry. While I was in college, I saw a picture on IMDB of Orlando Bloom getting his makeup touched up and I was like, oh wait, there’s a career to be had in beauty SIGN ME UP. After college I moved to Los Angeles, went to makeup school and started working as a freelance makeup artist.
I never hit celeb status but I worked pretty consistently and had some amazing clients. Then I got older, truly out in my own and I got tired of chasing invoices (if you’re wondering when I became such a stickler about saving, planning and and running a small biz- it’s because in my 20s I literally made ALLL of the mistakes). So I thought, ok, new path, find a brand you can back and work your way up. I worked my way up from retail until I got that corporate dream job, a job that was LITERALLY made for me. But the problem is, the shoe just NEVER fit. I always felt like I just couldn’t GET corporate culture and to be honest corporate culture didn’t get me either. It took me YEARS to figure that out. It wasn’t all bad, I met some amazing people that will for sure be lifelong friends and I got to pretty much make New York a second home (speaking of New York, I’m long overdue for a visit).
Even though the corporate world and I were not good bedfellows, there was no doubt in my mine that I was meant to be in the beauty industry and to make my living as a creative and I just had to trust that the right path would present itself- I just had to follow my gut and trust the process.
Years ago I became fascinated with nails and started buying all of the things, staying up all hours practicing, absorbing as much information available (thanks YouTube!) and it was SO fulfilling. But like, who leaves a cushy gig to trek into the great unknown. But, nailsmade my heart feel things I didn’t think I’d ever be able to feel again.
After doing some research, I found a local school that offered flexible scheduling and night classes. I finished, got licensed and the rest is history. It was the right ladder, the right wall and the right path. The later-in-life love that I found and was fortunate enough to make a reality.
I also want to say THANK YOU to everybody in the industry that was so generous with sharing their knowledge, whether through online content, in-person classes, YouTube videos, email or just friendship in general. Thank you to the makeup artists from my past who were eager to bring me onto shoots and help me ease back into the industry. I honestly never thought I’d be on set again and once I got back, it was like I never left. It was HOME. Thank you to the photographers and fellow creatives that I’ve met and had instant soulmate friend connections with. Just all of it and all of YOU. I vow to always be generous with my knowledge and to do everything that I can to elevate this wonderful industry to its rightful place.
There’s a reason I’m a stickler and so passionate for the industry and our standing in it as manicurists, because I honestly don’t know what I’d be doing if I wasn’t a part of it. We’re in a place right now in America (and TBH the world) where everything feels topsy-turvy. California has been sheltering in place for MONTHS, I haven’t touched a client since mid-March will likely go another 2-3 months. While a pandemic is certainly not an artist retreat or motivational seminar, I’m doing my best and taking advantage of the downtime and trusting my instinct for adaptability.
Even with all of that, I still can’t picture myself doing anything else. Id’ rather be unemployed knowing that someday I’ll go back to holding hands with my clients and creating rad art. It took me a long time to get here. Making a career change in your thirties is hard- especially when it’s at a time in your life that expectations of other milestones are purported to give life as a woman meaning and purpose (i.e. getting pregnant and having kids). The only advice I can give is to just put in the work and trust yourself. Learn everything you can. Be generous. Follow your path and march to the beat of your own drummer. It’s worth it, I promise.
