Meet Jesus Flores

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jesus Flores a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jesus, 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?

Confidence and self-esteem is something that, to this day, I have always struggled with and overcome though every new journey and part of my life. There are times where i will feel like i will never fit in and that people either don’t like me or judge me by how i look or things I do. But with that being said, its those same feelings that push me and help me gain the confidence i need to keep pushing forward. I begin to see being different is not a bad thing but a tool that can be used to stand out far beyond others. So, for instance in my art, I am willing to take that risk of drawing something abstract as a background that will make my subject stand out rather then make it look like it fits in and just disappears into the picture or even make use of adding colors or designs that you don’t see normally in eyes or backgrounds such as neon or pastels where people will go for more traditional colors. Even when I do magic I will do certain effects in my close-up acts where people would traditionally only do in a bigger setting or on stage and vise versa or use props people are afraid to use such as nontraditional designer playing cards versus more common ones that people are familiar with. And same goes with my photography when it comes to picking a subject or location and backgrounds. Now knowing that standing out can put me in a spot light, I use that to my advantage because I don’t really feel need to waste time comparing my self to others or in a way care what others will think and it allows me to put more focus on what I’m doing and doing it in the best way possible that only I can do. Which in turn boosts my self-esteem and self-worth because without the unnecessary comparison i stop trying to be, look, or act like everyone else and I feel that being my genuine authentic self is what draws people to me and makes them appreciate the work i do and how I do it.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Well professionally I do a little bit of everything between doing my art and art shows, doing magic shows for parties and events, and photography for products or people, and though I have not been actively acting I do still do skits on my social media to keep my skills fresh. I would say the thing I have been putting more time into is my art as my style is always changing, learning new techniques, and trying out new materials such as types of tools, paints, mediums, what material I’m putting my work on, or what venue and events I am vending at. I try my best to adapt to the venues themes so I have things people are interested in which sometimes can be a challenge. So if the event is an EDM festival, Punk Rock shows, or Holiday events such as Christmas or Halloween I will change my style or subjects accordingly. Now at the moment I am working with Follow Your Art and have some of my work for sale on their online gallery at Followyourart.net/gallery until early October when I decide to either renew my contract to keep the current selection or exchange/add new ones. As far as my magic goes, most of my work and advertising is word of mouth. As I am a former member of The Magic Castle in Hollywood, I tend to get most of my work from people who had seen me perform there in the past. Other ways is through direct contact on my social media @Nexxus130 on Instagram and the Gig Salad website where you just type my stage name Nexxus and I’ll pop up. I’m still new to the site so it may be a little dull but I’m there. Just this year I was fortunate enough to be able to perform for birthday parties, graduation parties, and even a Red Carpet Magazine Launch by Creative Artist Magazine where I got to perform for one of the cover stars Tavi, who is an amazing artist and clothes designer, and many of models from 2024 Fashion Week. Now when it comes to my photography, I tend to do more product photography for people who are selling products for their personal sites or even kick starters, which is really fun. I’m mostly working with other magicians so most of my work is either magic supplies or playing cards. I have also done other subjects such a food and drinks for restaurants and boba shops, such as Uno Tea House who has posted my work for their social media and stories in their early opening days in my early days as a photographer. Other work even include taking photos for bands at concerts and capture awesome moments of them at the show or the audience so they can share them on their platforms such as These Handsome Devils (The Smiths Tribute band) and In The End (#1 and only Linkin Park approved Tribute Band), and many others. You can see some of my work for them and others on my instagram. My newest projects are for myself in promoting my art with my unique style in photography and for my wife who is starting up her own business called Nema Skin Care on Facebook and @nema.skincare Instagram where I take photos of her products, such as sugar scrubs and uniquely designed and scented soaps, for her pages and soon to be website. On top of all this, I am still constantly working on building my modeling and acting repertoire by taking and editing my own photos and videos of my self in different outfits, styles, locations, and videos/skits to post, which you can find on my instagram and tiktok under @nexxus130. And though it may seem like I am doing a lot, it is so much fun and brings me joy seeing people enjoy everything i do whether its buying my art, commissioning me for certain art projects, hiring me as a magician for thier events, liking,commenting,sharing, and interacting with my posts, or hiring me to take photos of them or their products.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

First and foremost is have fun. Do not do it for the money because you will put so much pressure on yourself to make things so perfect that any little “wrong thing” or criticism will discourage you and make it hard to continue doing what you love and you will miss so many opportunities to do great things because you will not put yourself or what you are working on in front of people for them to see.

Secondly, take criticism as an opportunity to grow. No matter how harsh or negative a person is, take it as an opportunity to grow and adapt. Doing this will open so many doors for you. But always keep this in mind, Dita Von Teese once said “You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there’s still going to be somebody who hates peaches.” These are words to live by. Trust me.

And finally, is just practice. But contradictory to what people say, practice does NOT make perfect but it does make YOU better than the YOU you were yesterday and that’s all you need be. Remember, life isn’t you against the world, its the YOU today versus the YOU from yesterday. Even if you only get a little better, slow progress is better than no progress.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

The number one book that really has helped me is one that my wife bought me called The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck. It teaches you that one should try and find meaning through what they find to be important in life and to only put time an energy into things that they can control. For example, popularity is not something you can control and no matter what you do some people won’t like you for the same reasons some people do like you and the other way around. So why stress over being poplar when it only makes you become a lesser version of you for approval of others who may not even stick around for the long run. This I feels works on multiple levels in life and what you do whether its a product your making, art you made, a photo you took, or a song you wrote it all can be applied the same way.

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