Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Stephanie Quintana. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Stephanie, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

Since I was a little girl I always desired to be in the beauty industry, whether it were hair, nails, or makeup. The year in Highschool when I could take a regional occupational program cosmetology was removed. I explored the heath career & quickly learned blood and needles were not for me.
After Highschool I was interested in attending cosmetology school. My dad declined & insisted I attend community college.
Which I did… (it took me 7 years to received my associates) but I completed it, I received my General Business Management & Social and Behavioral Science Associates Degrees.
During those 7 years I moved up the corporate ladder, managing a top selling store.
The entirety of my early 20’s I always inquired with beauty schools. I toured them, got as far as the financial aid process but I always had close family and friends insist on the “rewards” of a stable and comfortable career instead. I never pulled the plug to the outside noise.
In 2019, I booked a microblading appointment (for my brows) with a well known brow artist, former makeup artist, whom encouraged me to follow my dreams and for a split moment I got a taste of someone other than myself believing in me.
That same month a well know celebrity makeup artist posted her 3 day makeup course in Los Angeles…. again I had those who fed me doubts that I shouldn’t do it, but this time I knew in my heart & would tell myself every moment “what’s the worst that can happen”. My boyfriend at the time gifted me for Christmas this class, and to say the least I was over the moon.
This course I remember having the basics and no makeup just tools. When I saw the display of makeup & learned the hardships the instructor went through to be where she was, I grew an inspirational spark in my soul.
From that moment on I craved and desired to finally let my creative inner child grow.
Although I wish I started sooner & maybe I should have, I know the way the cards have played out for me to this day are exactly as they were meant to be.

I am now enrolled in cosmology school & within the same week I fulfilled my dream to assist on set in Los Angeles.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Stephanie Quintana (aka Vibesbysteph on social media). I am a year shy from 30 & it’s beginning to feel like my decade. Since I was a little girl I always desired to be in the beauty industry, inspired by my upbringing, my aunt used to cut the entire families hair for $10-$20 each. I always told my dad when I grow up I want to be like her. He would say “no Mija you have to go to school so you don’t have to work so hard”. My parents immigrated from Mexico, I am a first generation Latina & their furthest education was 6th grade)
In middle school my sister would always get her nails done at the local nail shop with her best friend. I was fascinated by the process & I would ask every person as I watched… “How did you get into this?” I was expecting the most magical story and it was always “I just took the 3 month course”. I’d go home and tell my dad it’s only 3 months & he would say “No Mija, go to school be a doctor or a lawyer”
Towards the end of middle school my dad finally let me cut his jerry curls, I was beyond excited and he smiled at me and said good job mija…. Knowing that I had just given him the worst cut & ruined his style.
I’d continue on to dream about this career in math & history class, oh how that bored me. I would bring my straightener & nail polishes and ran my little salon in my last periods during 8th grade.
The year in highschool when I could take a regional occupational program cosmetology was removed. I explored the heath career & quickly learned blood and needles were not for me.

After this class I returned to my small town Smartsville CA dreaming of leaving and moving to Los Angeles. I was set that I was going to save for the next couple months and move to LA to follow my dream. Then COVID hit, everything was shut down. Luckily I didn’t quit my job when I landed from LA. I used the next few years to learn more about the art and invest in my kit & education.
I would stay on top of all post of the Celebrity makeup artist who inspired me. I would screen shot to the gods & screen record her lives and her Timelapse videos. I would take notes, press pause and rewind. Watching over and over again what she did so effortlessly.

I am most proud of my growth as an artist. I have taken 9 different makeup courses ranging from 1 day to 11 weeks in person and online from artist whom have stepped on sets I dream of.

Although I wish I started sooner & maybe I should have, I know that the way the cards have played out for me till this day are exactly as they were meant to be.
I continue to learn daily & remain inspired but most importantly I remain a student… of not just makeup but life.
Although I’m the beginning it felt like everyone was against me, at the end of the day it’s me against me. This decade I dedicate to betting it all on me, myself and I.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

A part of my journey that really tested my resilience was in 2020, when everything shut down & seemed like there was no end I lost my grandpa on my dads side and my grandma on my moms side months apart from COVID. It was the hardest time due to the fact that my mom hadn’t physically seen her mother in over 30 years.
It clicked to me that life is short and I need to do what I want to do in this borrowed time.
At the time I was still managing a top selling corporate store.
Later that year I got COVID, it hit me like a ton of bricks physically, mentally and spiritually. Especially having just lost 2 people in our family to the virus.
I took an extended leave as I became depressed.
When I was going to return my store was given to someone else.
I thought to myself this is the sign to finally pursue makeup full time.
I had been taking clients while working there on my days off & would request PTO as I couldn’t take Saturday’s off as a manger.
When I decided to not go back to the corporate life, I had a dream with my grandpa who helped raise me.
In this dream he went with me to an interview with the celebrity makeup artist that inspired me in LA, he was waiting outside with me as I nervously held my small basics kit. He looked at me and said don’t be scared Mi hija I see everything you’re doing and I am so proud of you. Keep going. I hugged him for so long, when I woke up I was crying like a baby, sobbing for hours. Thinking if there wasn’t signs already this was my biggest one. I stopped job searching and I withdrew my 401K. I went all in on my dream.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is helping clients see the beauty in them with and with out makeup. That hour or 2 of the makeup session is sacred, it’s a moment to themselves and the outcome is the enhancement of their natural beauty.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vibesbysteph/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/people/Vibes-by-Steph/100077484322938/
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCKojlpXaIE2-ADAuyF3oGbw
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@vibesbysteph