We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Angela Sulai Kaeser a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Angela Sulai, thanks for joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Two things have been a guiding force throughout my life, the fear of regret and my intuition. They are still the main drive for my decisions in my personal life and in business.
I’m usually not the one that immediately jumps, but I’ll let it simmer and marinate and then I jump. Without taking risks, I would most probably never have became a Make-up Artist,
moved abroad multiple times or just simply become who I am and living the life I am today.

I used to work in corporate and it made me sick, it just didn’t nurture my soul. So to make a long story short, after I finished Make-up school and realised you can actually create an income
as a Make-up Artist, I just couldn’t go back to the mundane 9-5. So I took the risk, with $ 50.- in my name, a fancy apartment and a car to pay for, I quite and declared I’m a Make-up Artist now.
Was it nerve-racking? Yes. Was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY. That decision lead to a career of almost 19 years and still going, traveling the world, connecting to humans of all walks of life, extraordinary
friendships around the globe, finding a ‘home’ in a chosen family, living in different cities/countries/continents and mostly allowing me to grow into an Artist, a Creative, a Healer, a Free Spirit when I
barely dreamed that that could even be an option.

I could not imagine a life without taking risks, to me that feels disempowering and not taking your life in your own hands. But then I also know people that love security above all
else and live a good life. Everyone has different ideas, priorities and desires. I guess living a full life to me, means freedom, freedom to choose, freedom to follow my heart, freedom to fill my soul the way
I see fit, the freedom to walk a path less traveled and not what society and others believe to be appropriate and smart.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I would like to start with what I’m most proud of looking back on my journey and may it inspire others too.
I’m proud that I allowed myself to dream, to listen to my heart and not let other people’s limitation stop me while always striving to stay connected to my truth..

I’m a Swiss-born, black biracial Make-up Artist and Reiki & Somatic Healer who is currently also venturing into Ceramic Art.
After business school I first built a career in the corporate world until I fell in love with the art of make-up after years of seeking my path and struggling with my health. And I went all in, finished Make-up school, left the 9-5 and started working as Make-up Artist in advertising, tv and fashion first in Switzerland, then throughout Europe before making the move to NYC.

Somewhere along the way, my physical and mental health forced me to address the affects from a rough upbringing and racial trauma. It was the start of my healing journey that turned from ‘when the student is ready the teacher appears’ to ‘when the teacher is ready the student appears”. Today I offer Reiki & Integrated Somatic Trauma therapy with a strong focus on Women of color, to allow a safe space to be seen, heard, understood and consequently activate and empower them to become their own healer.

For the last 6 years here in LA, I have been working as a Make-up Artist, co-creating with amazing talented creatives in print advertising. Supporting Women of color with my Reiki & Somatic Healing session, being part of anti-racists organisations, learned to surf in my 40ies and now just started selling my first unique handbuilt ceramic home decor pieces and sculptures, which has been another outlet of processing and expressing emotions from this journey called life.

In everything I do, my approach is holistic, calm, reliable, intimate; sprinkled with kindness, compassion and honesty
guided from my intuition and sensitive observant being.

With the goal that we may all experience more beauty, connection and love and a life fully lived.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

We live in a capitalistic world lead by corporate greed and it often feels like as an individual you can’t create change.
But change starts small, it starts with you. One way it starts, is with being more intentional how and where you spend your money. Buying goods and service from your friends and local small businesses, literally puts food on their table and you therefore allow them to keep going. The more people do that, the stronger we can build communities and create change in the areas and causes that matter to you and us. And if you don’t have the financial capacity to support in that way, use your voice, show up, share, recommend, learn about the artists and creatives in your area and what their mission is and connect with them and connect others to them.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Non-creatives often can’t fathom the fact that our creative work is still work, a job, our source of income and not a hobby. Just because we chose a professional path in a craft that we enjoy, doesn’t mean we don’t have bills to pay with our income the same way, non-creatives do. Just because we love what we do, the value of our work (the education, the years of trial and error to hone our craft) doesn’t just disappear on Saturday even if it’s your birthday.

And at the same time, as Artists and Creatives the lines get very blurry for ourselves, as we might have started our craft as a hobby and we love what we do, we tend to not stop creating and our free time becomes a time to create as does our work time and we don’t differentiate which then can lead to burn out as we stopped creating space and time to actually rest. When is it fun? and when is it work? when work is fun…we have to create boundaries with others as much as we have to with ourselves. And we have to value our art/creation/work ourselves first so others appreciate and understand the value of our work as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.angelakaeser.com www.angelasulai.com
• Instagram: @angelasulaikaeser @sulai-ceramics

Image Credits

#3 & #4: Sally Montana
#6: David Malana