We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alexandra Cook a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Alexandra, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
I developed my confidence and self-esteem by really believing in myself and my artwork. It can be easy to be self conscious or judgemental of yourself, the true challenge lies upon making a choice to better yourself and truly do what you love. I realized that the impact I make on people through my art far outweighs any negativity I have towards my self confidence. Putting those smiles on children’s faces once they seen their facepaint keeps me going.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Opal moon facepaint is all about bringing joy and happiness to people through art. Whether that be facepainting, henna, makeup, or even murals. I love to create something new for the world to see. Being an artist is such a beautiful gift, because I am able to inspire others. I am so fortunate to be able to create pieces of artwork for my business, and I hope people are inspired by what I do, and realize that they too can pursue their passions for a living as well.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
A quality that was most impactful on my journey was definitely to have resilience. It can be easy to get caught up and want to give up because running a business can be challenging. It’s easy to go and get a “real” job or stable income, however I have worked hard to pursue my passions in art, and stayed resilient!
Another quality/skill that has impact on my journey is to be open to new ideas with other artists. Collaboration with other artists can help you advance. Instead of looking at others as though they are competition, view them as peers. It is truly a beautiful thing when artists come together and share their ideas, skills, talents, tips and tricks with once another.
Lastly, one more quality/skill that has really helped me on my journey is having people skills/communication skills. I know alot of artists can sometimes be introverted. I am an introverted person myself. Having excellent communication skills has helped me advance and really sell my art work/my skills to people who I would never imagine. It truly makes a difference to network and meet people. Speaking with people about what you do can open doors for you that you never even knew existed. My advice I to open yourself up to speaking with people more about what you do, and what you are all about.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
When I am feeling overwhelmed, I realize sometimes I need to take a step back for a second. It is ok to feel these things. Once you realize what you are feeling, you can then go ahead and process them. I like to personally write down all of the reasons that I am feeling overwhelmed so I can visualize what is going on. Next I cross out all of the things on that list that are out of my control. Once that is completed I look at the things I can control and one by one I go down that list and check off everything I need to accomplish. Sometimes all it takes is compiling all of those thoughts onto a sheet of paper to see what is truly important.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.facebook.com/opalmoonfacepaint
- Instagram: @opalmoonfacepaint
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/opalmoonfacepaint
