Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Avalos.
Victoria, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started selling vintage & second-hand clothes on Instagram in 2016. The following year, I started making my own designs & creating my own line of clothes. I really fell in love with sewing & I made some pretty decent money off of it. I built an in-home studio & organized my own photoshoots with local models. I even worked with local photographers & videographers too. They would shoot outdoors for me because I was never too good at outdoor photography. It was so fun & we even would take small road trips to Joshua Tree to get some awesome shots of my models in my clothes. After a few years, I decided that it was more of a passion than a career path for me so I dove headfirst in the beauty industry when I enrolled in Cosmetology school. Since I made that decision, I completely fell in love with doing hair & makeup. One day, I hope to merge both my passions into a career for myself.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It hasn’t been a smooth road. Coming from a traditional family, going to a four-year college was just what I was taught I was supposed to do. It wasn’t for me & dropping out of community college was so scary. After doing it, everything slowly started to make sense. I began to realize that college isn’t for everyone. It’s taken me longer than some people to decide on what I want to focus on but in the long run, I know I’ll be happy because I went through trial & error before I found my true callings.
What do you do? What do you specialize in?
I am proud to say I specialize in more than one thing. I think it’s important to understand that you don’t have to do ONE thing for the rest of your life. If you work hard you can create a living for yourself doing all the things you love to do. I love to sew, do hair & do makeup. I’m working on finding a way to do all of those things simultaneously.
What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership, in your industry or generally?
I think having self-confidence is a struggle a lot of women have. And if you do have self-confidence, coming off as conceited or bossy is a constant struggle as well. My advice to women is to never shrink yourself to protect someone’s ego. Walk into a room & be unafraid of being yourself. Be proud of who you are & your work. It might be an uphill battle but you won’t get far dimming your light just because others are insecure.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @hairspraywhore
Image Credit:
Model: Taylor Shaffer, Model: Daniela Perez, Model: Bri Wallerstein, Client: Tatum Gilkey, Client: KassRoseGold
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