We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alyssa Fitchie a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alyssa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

What a timely question! About once a year, usually in the dead of winter when production is slow and jobs are meager, I find myself wrestling with the question “would it be easier to have a regular job?”. And then I frantically apply to open roles and look into fields that I have experience in, but would really rather not jump back into knowing that in the long run they won’t be satisfying and I’d be dreaming about freelance again. The teeter-totter of life!

And then calls start coming in. Someone finds your work and wants to hire you for a role. Production starts again and you’re just want the client is looking for. The pendulum swings in your direction and somehow you’re onto your tenth year in the industry.

Do I believe I’m happier as an artist or a creative? Absolutely. While the struggle is taxing and very real, the opposite is just as true. You get to create beauty, art, music, magic. I have to remind myself of this when I’m considering making data spreadsheets for a living, something that lights some people up (!), but for me, being true to my calling and authentic is what got me to where I am in the first place. While trust and hope are finicky things, something always turns up.

Alyssa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

With close to a decade of experience in the beauty industry, I’m an accomplished and versatile Hair & Makeup Artist. My work spans across editorial, commercial, and runway environments, featured in prominent publications such as The New York Times, Real Simple, Vogue, and Oregon Brides.
I’ve had the honor of working with global brands such as Adidas, Nike, Sonos, Anne Barge, and Salt & Straw, alongside local favorites such as Malbon Golf, Cozy Earth, Emily Henderson and Rugs USA. I’ve recently expanded my skills into the creative production world and fully enjoy taking a concept and creating an image or video to portray the message.

I started my career in 2016 after completing cosmetology school and knew I wanted to work outside of a salon and in the film and TV world. So, I started knocking on doors. I reached out to everyone I could find to ask if they’d want to meet for coffee or if they’d share their story on how they began. Networking is really the best tool for getting your name out there and for finding opportunity. My first role was as a production assistant on an indie film, I definitely was faking it until I made it and since then, I’ve been finding myself on set ever since!

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wasn’t aware for a very long time that there were agencies and leader boards that represented artists and could help them find employment and gigs. I was relying strictly on word of mouth for too long and that’s often where my discouragement would come from. Finding an agency to represent you or posting your work on a job board is a great resource to get your name out there and visible.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I wrote a mission statement early last year that has helped give me some sort of compass for vision and what’s driving my creative journey. I’m happy to share it here:

“I ask myself “why do I keep going?” as I’m failing. And then I think of the people. The ones quietly letting me know they were inspired to try something new because they saw me trying. The ones who say they wish they were brave enough to do something new too. And I remember my “why”. It’s them. The more I uncover myself, try new things, get familiar with vulnerability, the more they believe they can too. It’s for freedom. It’s for bravery. It’s for becoming playful, powerful, gentle. It’s also for me. For becoming everything. All the goodness that’s living inside of me. It’s to honor myself.”

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @Alyssa_fitchie
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssafitchie

Image Credits

Brenton Salo
Kaitlin Green
Tais Photo
Laura Gordon