We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Zaria Watson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Zaria below.
Hi Zaria, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
At 16, my first job was as an apprentice at Lovely Nails, on Kirby. It was an eye-opening experience for me working at that salon. It was the start of me of developing a craft. That environment taught me how to tackle language barriers, conflict, and my self-esteem. I used to go to work right after school on Fridays and worked almost all of my weekends from 16 until now. Granted, I take off for special events, but I’ve truly sacrificed part of my freedom to be of service to others and the establishments I’ve worked under over the years. What I have learned about work ethic, is that it should be a personal measure. I often second-guess putting my career, and/or the pursuit of a career, over figuring out what it is that’s going to make me happy. I’ve had to back track to discover who I am. I have not taken a break from nails for the past 8 years. Balance is still something I am working on, but I’m grateful to know what sacrificing feels like. Purging for your dreams feels really hard when the future is so uncertain, but I’m learning to take it a day at a time.
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 professional model and entrepreneur. I am still in the beginnings of my modeling career. Being signed over a year ago, I am at a pivotal point of discovering where I would like to take my career and actively working towards that. In July of 2023, I spent 4 weeks in New York for acting school at the New York Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, and it was an amazing experience for me. I digested the responsibility of individuals in the entertainment industry, and I explored parts of myself that I was not aware of. Leaving New York was hard. The city itself is inspiring. I brought home a fresh outlook on life. As far as my business, I’m currently curating a plan to gain more capital to take my business to the next level. Turning a hobby into a full-time job has been a challenge. I have found myself loosing passion over the years with nails, but it’s a relationship. Every day is not going to be sunshine and rainbows. However, if a choose to give up, I know I will regret not being consistent after dedicating this many years towards this profession. At this point, I’m taking things day by day.
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?
I think discipline, confidence, and honesty have been the most impactful qualities of my journey. Being consistent with goals requires a certain level of discipline in your day-to-day activities. I am learning the importance of sticking to a schedule with tangible goals, but offering leniency with more personal goals. Balance gives me permission to live at my own pace while feeling productive at the same time. Confidence is something that I still struggle with, and it boils down to how I am communicating. I’ve recently enrolled in therapy, and I discovered that I did not know how to properly stand up for myself. Along my journey, I realized that I was masking my emotions with a smile, which later led to feelings of being overwhelmed and misunderstood. To change that, I had to start being more honest about my feelings. I was afraid to tell someone how they were making me feel, out of fear of consequences or disapproval. I started practicing honesty with myself and others by placing more firm boundaries around things that mattered to me, like my career and love life. I had to come to terms to the hard truth that everyone will not like me or see the value in what I have to offer. I am learning to be okay with that. My advice to anyone that’s discovering their purpose here on Earth: like yourself. You are the only person that’s living your experience.
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
As I progress in my modeling career, I hope that I am able to work with organizations who have an open view of the world. An organization is like a person, so I am looking for the same qualities that I would look for in an individual. “Are they kind?” “Will I gain something positive from this encounter?” These are the questions I ask myself as I’m maneuvering through opportunities. I have the obvious dreams of gracing Vogue and walking for Chanel, but more importantly working with organizations that are committed to opening doors for women who look like me. The goal is to serve as an inspiration for generations to come, so I hope that I continue to connect with people and organizations that have that same vision. That’s the ideal client for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fussovernailco.etsy.com/
- Instagram: zariaofficial
Image Credits
Nikita Kristopher-Samarsky Lue (@shotbylue)
