42
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[00:00:00] Hi everyone, it's Angie. This is episode 42 of the Artist to Artist Podcast. My apologies, I'm a little congested today, so I'm probably gonna sound a little nasally today.
We're talking about something I know a lot of you feel, but don't always say out loud, and that is. The pressure to be further ahead in your career. Maybe you're not getting booked as much as you thought you would. Maybe you feel like you're still building your kit, or you're not as fast or as confident as other artists that you follow online, and I know how much this can really start to mess with your head.
I have been through this many times. You start telling yourself you're behind,
but here's the truth. You are not behind. You're just building. And building is something that takes time. One of the biggest things I think I see newer artists struggle with is comparison. And when I go through dms that I get sent, this is the theme that I often see. You scroll social and suddenly you're looking at artists who have been working for five, 10, maybe 15 years, and you think to yourself, why am I not there yet?
Why am I not [00:01:00] getting as much work as this other artist I know? You see a client list maybe, or a specific client they're working with, how fast they work, their content, their kit, and suddenly you're kind of questioning every choice you've ever made about being a makeup artist. But to be real and honest with you, you are comparing your year one to someone else's year 10, and that's not.
Fair to yourself, and it's definitely not helpful, and I know it can feel like everyone else is moving faster, getting booked more, getting ahead, getting more pr. But most of the time what you're seeing online is either. Highly curated or not actually the full story at all.
And I know for myself, there have been times where on social it looks like I'm super busy, everything's going amazingly well, and at home I'm having the worst time of my life. And that is no exaggeration.
And that is very important to remember because if I'm doing it, other artists are doing it as well. For me, the turning point came when I realized that the [00:02:00] pressure. I was feeling or putting on myself was not helpful at all. It wasn't motivating. It was very draining. I chose this career because I love the work, but the constant pressure to be further ahead was pretty much destroying any fun or any enjoyment that I was having in this career choice.
So I made a conscious decision to not let myself feel behind anymore. That doesn't mean I don't still feel pressure, because of course I do. I feel pressure from clients, other artists, of course, myself. But now I see pressure differently. I think pressure can be a good thing.
I think it can push you to do better. I know that's what it's done for me, and it can definitely sharpen your instincts, which you really do need good instincts when you're working in this job, but only if you are grounded in the fact that you're not racing anyone.
This job takes repetition. You hear me say this all the time on this podcast. It takes mistakes. It takes time in the chair with real clients, not just watching content, learning tips, learning how to do things in five [00:03:00] steps. If you feel behind, you have to ask yourself compared to who and then based on what.
That's a good self-reflection to have as you're scrolling through social. 'cause I know that's when most of these feelings come up. For a lot of people. Now we have to talk about imposter syndrome. And this is maybe a hot take, but I think a lot of people use this as kind of a blanket excuse and it's become very.
Common to say, I feel like a fraud, or that's just my imposter syndrome kicking in. But sometimes what you're actually feeling is just inexperience, and that's not something to be ashamed of. That is just part of this whole process. I. But here's what is not gonna work for you, and that is waiting for someone to rescue you or to fix things for you.
If you're constantly hoping that maybe an opportunity with a more senior artist will give you answers or a specific client, or you're gonna magically book some campaign that makes you feel legit. That is not going to be happening for you. You have to be the one to shift your mindset and decide, this is [00:04:00] my business and I am responsible for where it goes.
And to me, that was a very helpful and kind of powerful thing that I would say to myself when I was feeling a bit down or feeling a bit behind. It's like I am responsible for myself and I know I can do this. Nobody's coming to validate you. And honestly, they really shouldn't have to, especially when you're a self-employed creative.
It all comes from you, and that can be scary and stressful to a lot of people, but it can also be very empowering.
I wanted to go over some of the common things I think newer artists are doing that make them feel behind. And the first thing is, uh, maybe you're still assisting. And I get this a lot in my dms as well, and assisting is a really good thing. You're learning. I still assist when I can. You get to see how other artists work.
It's very valuable. A lot of artists that I know and that I work with, we assist each other. They. Take opportunities to assist even though they are 5, 10, 15 years into their career. So that doesn't mean you're behind. It just means you're taking advantage of really great [00:05:00] learning opportunities and it is a form of experience, so that's helpful as well.
Maybe you don't have a kit of luxury products, or you don't have the products that you would like to have in your kit at this very time, and that's just called being financially responsible. You're self-employed, so it's smarter to build slowly and intentionally than go into debt over some luxury packaging or some luxury products that might not even work for you.
A lot of newer artists, you still don't know exactly what you need in your kit. You don't know the colors and textures and formulations that you like, so spending a bunch of money on your kit at the beginning is not necessarily the right thing to do.
Maybe you are an artist that is not booked out. As often as you like to be, and I have mentioned this also in the past on this podcast, and I will say it again.
Client relationships take years to build. Not weeks, not days. Not one single post on Instagram, we're talking years. Most of the artists that you admire did not blow up [00:06:00] overnight. I know it seems like they did, but it usually means they just didn't stop when things got really difficult.
And we have to talk about Instagram and TikTok because I feel like these platforms really warp reality for everybody and sometimes it still catches me. What you see on social is the highlight reel. Perfect lighting, perfect models, perfect skin curated looks, everything seems so edited and just effortless. I know we see a lot of artists reposting praise about their work, or they're bragging about income goals that they've hit, but behind the scenes, remember you don't actually know what is going on.
If someone says they made six figures last year, great for you, but was that gross? Was that net? What are your expenses? Do they live in a city where six figures is actually enough? Because six figures a hundred K in Toronto is nothing right now, and it's not the same as six figures in a smaller town.
If you're measuring your progress against someone else's metrics, you are setting yourself [00:07:00] up to feel like a failure for no reason. The real flex in this industry is longevity, developing a really great reputation, developing skills that make you a versatile artist, skills that hold up under pressure, skills that attract clients, that rebook you for years to come.
That's what's really important in building a career as a makeup artist. I have done a few mindset shifts in previous episodes, and I know a lot of you really get a lot out of these. Here's your mindset. Minute for today, you are not behind. You are just early. You are doing the hard part right now. You're showing up when it sucks. You're practicing. You're fixing what doesn't work. You are improving every time you do makeup.
So when you say, I feel behind, or I'm behind. Instead of saying that, just say, I'm still building, because technically you are not supposed to be booked out fully yet. In your first couple of years, you're supposed to be learning at this point how to get to the point where you are booked out. I know for me, the biggest [00:08:00] realization that I had was I would watch other artists and instead of feeling intimidated by them, I would be like, okay, wow, that's.
Really inspiring. What are they doing that I'm not doing? How do I get to that point? What are the steps that I need to take? Instead of sitting there being like, oh my gosh, I'm never gonna be able to do that. I'm so behind. I don't have a kit that looks like that. On a lot of jobs, I would just sit there and say to myself, this is where I'm supposed to be.
I'm a new makeup artist. I am not supposed to know everything and I can't be expected to know everything. And that mindset shift for me was very helpful. It took a lot of pressure off, and it just gave me an overall attitude adjustment. When I was in situations where I was feeling intimidated, like I'm newer, I'm supposed to be just learning.
And that is totally okay. We all start somewhere. I think it's important for me to not just talk at you during these episodes and give you some things or tips that you can do as soon as you're done the episode, to take what you've learned and actually apply it in real life. So what I want you to do after this episode is go through your social [00:09:00] feed and if someone's content is making you feel anxious or behind, mute them, unfollow them.
Whatever you have to do to protect your mental health, you should do that. If you are looking for inspiration or you're creating mood boards, go to Pinterest. Don't go to someone else's curated Instagram highlight reel. For me, Pinterest is so much more enjoyable to scroll through.
It kind of gives you ideas without. Attaching them to one specific artist that you end up obsessing over and we've all done this and I used to do this a lot when I was just getting started, and you don't really need that. It's not helpful. And remind yourself that skills develop slowly. This is a craft.
If you've been told a few tips and tricks or some templates, or some formulas or certain products are all you need to book up your schedule fast, that is a complete lie. It takes time, it takes practice and experience, and you, you can't skip past that part. There's nothing that replaces the experience of doing makeup on a human being in a real life situation.[00:10:00]
All right everyone. That is it for today. If this episode hit home for you, send it to another artist who's been putting pressure on themselves to be further along. And remember, just because you're not there yet doesn't mean you're never gonna get there. You are not behind. You are just getting started. I hope you have a great rest of the day, and I will talk to you next week.
Bye.
