Today we’d like to introduce you to Chloe Vazquez.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Chloe. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve always been an art kid and a nerd first. It didn’t matter what my pursuit was or the avenue I was pursuing – an intimate love of knowledge, academia, and art has always been my motivating factor. I grew up in Staten Island, NY with my mother until her passing when she was only 33-years-old, and I was almost nine. She gave me gifts that I carry with me to this day, like a deep love of singer/songwriter music and drag queens. She would pump the brakes to make the car dance to the rhythm of Prince or David Bowie or Annie Lennox, etc. Through it all, she was a fierce fighter who taught me that in spite of the cards life may have dealt you, it’s still your hand to play.
All through my childhood and up to my late teens my entire pursuit was creative writing and photojournalism. However, about a year-and-a-half into college for communications, I was emotionally and mentally in a bad place and didn’t really know which direction to go in. A friend of mine who was a hairstylist for Toni & Guy suggested beauty school might be a good idea for me given how creative I was. At first, I thought it sounded ridiculous, considering I couldn’t even flat iron my own hair without guidance at that point, but through a very tumultuous next few years, I did make it through with my license. I’ve now been a cosmetologist for ten years and have been an educator at Paul Mitchell for two years. Somehow it all went from being a ridiculous idea to I now work at one of the best salons in Atlanta and help to educate the next generation of professionals.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has definitely never been a smooth road for me, physically or mentally and continues to be one that challenges me every day. Depression has been a daily battle in different forms through the years. Losing my mother early definitely changed who I was, and who I became as a person ultimately. It taught me to be very self-reliant – sometimes to a fault – and to learn to be empathetic to others’ own hidden struggles, though sometimes to the oversight of my own. I also live with an invisible illness as I inherited systemic lupus and arthritis from my mother. I am fortunate that lupus is different for everyone who has it, and I have many more answers medically than my mother did. Part of why I work so hard is to make up for that the fact that I am a lot more capable than my mother ever was physically, and she would want me to take full advantage of my life.
My advice, if any, would be this – trust in yourself, and your own strength. Go towards your goals with confidence, even if you’re afraid of a “no.” The sting of rejection is much less than that of a dream never followed.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I am a hair stylist and makeup artist currently working at Salon Red in Brookhaven, and the Color and Makeup Specialist at Paul Mitchell the School Esani in Roswell. I also do freelance work, including special FX and cosplay/character makeup. I first started in makeup doing airbrush and fx for places like Scarowinds Halloween Haunt, before growing into more television and film. I later worked with Cirque du Soleil for their Charlotte, NC run of “Totem”, and still count that as my absolute turning point when it came to really understand attention to detail and quality of work. I am also still a nerd at my core, and love to cosplay and make it a point to go to DragonCon every year here in Atlanta.
What sets me apart is my approach to clients and their individual wants and visions. It is my job to make the client see what others already see, what I see or what they want to see themselves as. I grew up never feeling attractive. I struggled with weight my entire childhood and graduated high school at almost 300 lbs. I know what it is to not love yourself, to feel less than, and the incredibly difficult road it can be to finding true self-worth. I try to bring that care and consideration to every client or student I work with.
Were there people and/or experiences you had in your childhood that you feel laid the foundation for your success?
As a child, my parents did a great job of allowing me to choose my own path, and to take the world for what it is and accept others. My mom was very much an LGBT Advocate before it was acceptable in the early 90s. I grew up feeling a little like a child of two worlds – my mother’s side Irish-German, and my father’s side Puerto Rican. Growing up a kid in Staten Island, NY I had no idea what it was to be racist or homophobic – it just wasn’t in my field of vision. I grew up exposed to so many different cultures and beliefs. I love the fact that parents raised me to be so open and curious about other cultures and respectful of people’s differences; that is what makes our world an interesting place to be I wouldn’t want to live in some homogenized “1984” vision. Our uniqueness is what makes us beautiful.
Pricing:
- Cuts starting at $55
- Color upon consultation
Contact Info:
- Address: 804 Town Blvd Suite 1045, Atlanta, GA 30319
- Website: https://salonred.com/book-online/
- Phone: 9804225997
- Email: chloeevazquez@gmail.com
- Instagram: @ms_chloebowie
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chloevazquez
Image Credit:
Chloe Vazquez
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