Meet Lolly Vieira

We were lucky to catch up with Lolly Vieira recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lolly, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I think my resilience comes from all the times I’ve given up. I know that sounds counter intuitive, but those moments where all hope was lost and I let go of my will to try anymore, they all eventually led to this odd form of acceptance that let me finally breathe. In that breath is where my resilience was born because it was when I asked myself, “What’s next?”
It took me a while to realize that was resilience, though. For a long time I felt shame over my moments of weakness. Only recently have I begun to understand that without those opportunities to continue on, even when I saw no way out, I wouldn’t have been able to cultivate the resilience I have today.

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?

Currently, my main profitable artistic endeavor has been my abstract canvas paintings. I would call myself a painter, however, I find it difficult to truly pick only one label for myself. I more so relate to the old saying, “Jack of all trades, master of none— though often times better than master of one.”
I partake in many creative ventures such as poetry, music, photography, and graphic design in my free time. I also used to make wire wrapped jewelry before developing a chronic illness which made it difficult to work with such a strong material as metal.
Additionally, I’ve worked a variety of jobs in the Pet Care Industry for the last 15 years. I am a certified Pet Stylist and have volunteered with all kinds of stray animals. I’d say for now, though, I’ve been prioritizing pet sitting and dog walking. In my earlier stages I used online platforms and services to find customers, but these days I’ve built a clientele list that keeps me busy year round and most people I work with had me recommended by word of mouth.
I place all my odd ends and gigs under the title of Lolly’s Little Lovelies because my hope is that with everything I do in service of others, I leave them with a little dash of something lovely in their lives. Whether it’s pictures of your typically anxious dog cozied up on my couch, an abstract painting symbolizing human consciousness, or a macro photography style picture of a sunflower you bought from me off of iStock, I want to bring a smile and a sense of peace or pleasure to those around me. And not just in my professional life, but in my personal life as well.
The newest part of my creative journey has been working more closely with designing digital flyers for the several fundraising groups I’ve joined to help my son’s school. It has definitely made me think about considering more non-profit work, as that’s proving to be where my heart is at. For many years I’ve felt a passion for helping others. So discovering that I can mix my artistic skills with doing good for others has been a wonderful surprise.
I’ll also be partaking in my first spoken word performance with the nonprofit LMNT Poetry this October. It’s such an honor and excitement for me to have been invited.
I can’t pretend I really know what will come next in my journey, but I am certain that whatever may come it will be because I followed my heart.

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

I think three things that have helped me the most are openness, a willingness to learn, and faith in myself.
Keeping an open mind is so important in life, regardless of what field you want to excel in. I’ve found that 90% of the time, things actually do not go the way I planned them. My rigidness was something that stood in my way for quite a while. I’d have a very meticulously planned scenario for how I wanted to achieve something and it would be a lot of distress when things inevitably went off course. Being able to embrace surprises helps you get into a better flow where you can accomplish more. Staying inside the box rarely leads to anything extraordinary.
And with openness, a willingness to keep learning and growing is so important. I think the folks who think they know it all are the least intelligent of us. I have yet to meet a person who knew everything, so being able to cultivate humility in the face of change is where true knowledge is gained. Just because everyone around you has always done it that way doesn’t mean it’s the only way. Looking at failure as an opportunity to learn has been the biggest game changer for my mental health and successes.
But with these two qualities, I believe it must be mentioned that having faith in yourself is a necessity. While of course being open and willing to change is great, sometimes your intuition will know better than what others around you are saying. If you listen to everyone but yourself, you won’t get to walk your own unique path. It’s a balancing act for sure to be confident yet humble, open yet oriented. I think listening to that fiery passion inside of you is a must, it may not tell you how to get somewhere, but it will let you know the destination you seek.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I would love some non-profit organizations to eventually collaborate with. Animals and mother nature will forever hold one of the most tender spots in my heart. While I think it’s great to focus on what we all can do as individuals to help the planet and ecosystem, I also firmly believe that large scale change comes most readily from wide-scale organizations.
I’d also love to help with any human-centered efforts as well. As someone who experienced severe childhood trauma and homelessness, I know that finding some way to help others in similar situations I was in would bring me such a sense of joy. Vulnerable populations especially have so much empathy from me, being a non-binary, Asian-American with a child on the Autism Spectrum. I’ve seen firsthand the ways in which American society is stacked against so many groups of innocent people. Much of my artistic expression comes from the deep emotions I’ve felt surrounding the injustice of the world.
The best way to get ahold of me for collaborations would be through email: [email protected]

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/lollyslittlelovelies