We were lucky to catch up with Christina Barras recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Christina, 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 moved to Los Angeles to become a professional dancer. I trained in dance since I was 8 years old and it was the only thing that I was consciously passionate about for most of my life. I moved here and took classes, went to auditions, sacrificed all the security and stability I could have had from a normal job to pursue this passion and through tons of rejection I also lived out dreams greater than I had ever imagined. I performed at award shows, danced in music videos for Snoop Dogg, Tyga, Paula Abdul and more. Danced on stages in Brazil, Paris, New York, China, Miami and even landed a recurring role on the Showtime show Penny Dreadful. I accomplished many of my dreams as a dancer and had to be resilient through all uncertainty and rejection that came from that career. The moments dancing on a major stage, living my 8 year old dream, made all the turbulence worth it.
Then, during one of my dream jobs, dancing for Iggy Azalea at the Maracana in Brazil, I had a seizure in the middle of our performance. It was live and televised internationally. It was caused by the extreme strobe lights placed directly in front of us on the stage. The experience was shocking, terrifying, humiliating and so disorienting. At first, I never wanted anyone to know it was me. I returned back to LA and for months I didn’t talk about. I carried on as usual but always carrying in the back of my mind that this sensitivity to flashing lights is going to be an issue in my career as a dancer.
Eventually, I made the decision to dive completely in to one of my other passions, makeup. As a dancer, even from 8 years old, makeup was always something that lit me up. We had to put on full stage makeup for performances so I joke that technically I have been glueing eyelashes on me and my friends since I was a child. As an adult, I applied the same steps I did to become a professional dancer to become a professional makeup artist. I took classes, I practiced, I honed in on my craft and I made connections. Dance gave me the blueprint of hustling in this industry and I just applied it to something else.
Through this quest, word of mouth spread and I was able to start charging for my services. Now my career as a makeup artist has grown and I’ve worked on national commercials for Pet Smart, Staples and Proactiv. I am the Key Makeup artist for the Super Bowl hosts for 2022, 2023, and gearing up for 2024. I’ve toured with artists, worked on music videos, had my work published in numerous editorial publications and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon.
My entire adult professional life has been based on resilience and my ability to adjust and adapt. And to be honest, I didn’t really know how to answer “where do I get it” until I started to type this out. I think I get it from being inspired to live my truth. I am an artist. I only want a career where I am doing what I love and I will face countless challenges to make that happen. The first dance job I ever booked taught me that it was possible to make money doing your passion and I knew from that point forward that doing a job just for money would never be enough. I was determined to earn a living doing what I am passionate about and that is what motivates me to be resilient through all of the obstacles.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Now I am a full time makeup artist and always accepting new clients. My main clientele are various hosts for events NFL and hosts of FanDuel. I also do red carpet events and editorial photo shoots.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. Adapt and adjust 2. Always be kind
3. Always be a student
Whatever it may be, honing in on your craft is always great not only to get better at what you do but to network and meet new people in your field. Often times the people who have given me the biggest opportunities are people who have gotten to know me and trust that I would be good energy to be on the project. So I know it sounds cliche, but work hard, be nice to people and don’t give up and you will be amazed at what can come from it.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
They let me believe that I could accomplish anything I put my mind to. The supported me in all my endeavors.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.beatbybarras.com
- Instagram: christinabarras
