We recently connected with Christina Vanlandingham and have shared our conversation below.
Christina, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
I developed my confidence and self-esteem by focusing on what I want in life and where I see myself. I stopped letting others thoughts and opinions matter or hold me back. I was a very shy kid growing up and dealt with my deal of bullies who laughed and joked about my body or my looks. Those mean comments created insecurities that I would beat myself up over. I never let myself think I could ever be as cool or confident and outgoing as all the popular kids. I always loved makeup videos on YouTube and wanted to create content and one day my own makeup line but I was always to scared and thought I would be judged. It took until I was about 21 when I had to go through some self-reflecting that made me realize that this is my life and I only get one so I have to make it worth it. I learned that those who judge have insecurities of their own and they are just taking it out on to others. I had to stop caring on what others thought about me and stop running from failure and from there I was able to get creative with content creating and haven’t stopped since. I fell in love with bettering myself and learning that I deserve to win just as much as the next person. Now with this confidence and motivation, I’m now working to start my own makeup line.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a licensed cosmetologist. I work in the esthetics field doing facials, brows,lashes etc. I create makeup, lifestyle, fashion content on TikTok and YouTube. I love creating content and it’s so special to me because I’m finally doing what I love. I am not a big creator but I have been building such a supportive community and I love all the internet friends that I have created and I can’t wait to make more. Even if one or 400 people watch my videos, I will keep posting and creating content in hopes that it inspires just one person. I just want to make a difference and support small and big creators. We all deserve to win and succeed. I am also in the process of working to get my bachelors in business and marketing. I also have a makeup line in the works that will hopefully be up and running in 2025. I am so excited for that since that has been one of my biggest dreams since I was a kid. It’s also named after a very special person in my life who has inspired me to be who I am today. I can’t wait to see where this journey takes me and who follows me on this journey.
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?
Courage,Strength, And Being willing to change were all very impactful qualities in my journey. I had to change my mindset and outlook on what I thought about myself or what others thought about me. I always cared about what others thought and it held me back from chasing my dreams and grow in a more positive way. Once I self-reflected, I finally gained courage and strength to stand up for myself and go for what I wanted in life. Only my opinion mattered because I am the only one living this life. I learned how to be independent and more positive instead of negative. I changed my outlook on life and started thinking outside the box. Thats when I finally started creating and posting content on tiktok. Some advice I can give for anyone who has felt how I felt, just know this is your life and you only get one so make it the best that you can and shoot for stars. Life is like a ladder and you might fall a couple of steps but you can keep climbing till you reach where you wanna be. Never give up because you will reach your goals and dreams no matter how long it takes.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
I think an obstacle that I am facing is trying to grow my platform. The more I grow on TikTok, the more opportunities I can get to work with brands and reach more people when I start my makeup line and grow an amazing supportive community. I am trying to overcome it by posting consistently and working to connect with others more so that they would want to support and watch my videos. I set mini goals for myself so when I reach them I can celebrate because a win is a win no matter how big or small. I would love to hit a goal of 10k on tiktok so I can share my future makeup line and other life/makeup content with more people.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: christina.___
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chrissytinaaaa?reload=9&si=URZf1VaJNUhjiBs4
- Other: tiktok- @christinaaa.___
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