We recently connected with Jaime Quintana and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jaime , really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
This question really stood out to me because in “time “ growing as an individual, as a human being it ties into your career eventually and sometimes they both collide . The way our journey can shape us has everything to do with how we view life and sometimes it can dictate or shape our purpose in life . When I first started my career , I wanted to show those people that once weren’t there for me , that I can be someone in this life without their help . I never had a connection with my father so he was a huge inspiration to want to elevate my path . Through out my journey , I would push harder and harder so that one day he can see that I had everything that he couldn’t provide . When my father passed away last year in January , it felt like all the eggs that I had been saving in my basket had finally shattered . I was mad , frustrated and confused . With time , healing and enough time to process things , I found myself having a new purpose for my art and for my life . I realized at that very moment that I didn’t need to get any type of validation from anyone at all . I had my own power this whole time and the purpose to everything was for myself . I matter , my feelings matter and sometimes as humans , we forget the type of strength, power and creativity that we carry because of all the emotional damage that one may be going through . I’m still discovering who I truly am and why I’m put on this earth . My drive is a little different and right now , my purpose is to try and learn as much as possible and be the best human I can possibly be
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My passion originally was hair . It wasn’t untill I had a partner in comso school that was amazing at makeup and I asked him if he can teach me . Unfortunately he declined to ever want to teach me anything and I didn’t fully understand why . He was my partner and this was probably the first time in my life that I felt like , I needed to show someone what I was capable of excelling on my own . So what I did was that I would go to Walmart and buy cheap makeup and charge 5$ for makeup . I wasn’t interested in becoming rich , in becoming the next biggest makeup “sensation “ . I wanted to learn skin types , face shapes and textures .
I’m now a self taught Makeup Artist for a little over 15 years . I focus on television, commercial and film . I started my journey in retail then later when into haunt . Haunt allowed me to develop my early beginnings to monster making . When there’s a little down time from work , I like to produce my own “spooky “ content with my own team . This allows me to practice what I’ve been learning at work and “put it to use “ . We’ve been featured on multiple social media platforms , Magazines, Articles and I’ve have had the honor to have worked with multiple film Directors .
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?
This is probably going to be a rough one to answer because I’m still learning this myself , but I’ll try and break it down .
1- NEVER GIVE UP ON YOURSELF- the moment you start putting excuses for not completing, for not achieving, for not acknowledging, you’ll start to feel a heavy with in yourself . Maybe even a little bitter ? STOP! Pick up the pieces and keep going !!!! It only takes one step at a time. It’s worth it because you’re worth it .
2 – NEVER UNDERESTIMATE YOUR STRENGTH- people around you can easily stir you into thinking that you’re not worth it . Maybe they don’t wanna see you succeed ? Or maybe they are just reflecting their insecurities onto you . BLOCK THAT , stay focused and stay strong . You will win and you will achieve all in due time . All it takes is your STRENGTH to keep moving forward and focus .
3- ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR WHERE YOU CAME FROM – it’s very important to always remember where you come from . Your story wouldn’t have started if it didn’t have a beginning right ? Don’t forget your past , but embrace it and learn from it .
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
There has been different people in my life that I feel have been a great help during my journey. So many co workers , artist, managers and different bosses that have been such a huge inspiration to me . But no one on this earth would compare to my mother . My mom has been my dad , my mom and my best friend and her advice has always guided me into the right direction of things . My mom isn’t a makeup artist herself, but she taught me how to be a respectable human being and how to treat others like I would like to be treated and that alone beats any production I can ever work for . She taught me how to love myself , how to show empathy and compassion tords others and not to be afraid of being your true authentic self . These are all fundamentals that you’ll need to embark your journey .
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Jayqartistry
Image Credits
Raymond Loy – photographer Cinepacks – production Madison Estrada- model Samantha Lokelani – model Bret Gustafson- model Ciara Black – model Dani Panek – model.
