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

Hi Aniya, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

My earliest introduction to doing Art in general is discovering my ability to draw, this was the stepping stone for me to start learning other forms of art and expression. Like makeup, painting, and fashion, which I all love. When I share how I started makeup with people, they usually laugh because I say, “well I didn’t have any eyebrows so I wanted some.” Referring to my thin, sad eyebrows I have had since elementary school.

I think if I would have taken my talents serious in high school, that would have sped up my makeup and creative journey. That would have led to me being more established and set in the present time, once I started my college journey. Along with that, I would also practice more and advertise myself more so that others can see my capabilities and generate more exposure.

We can all agree skills are important for any job or task that is being completed.
So, learning skills that require creativity or precision, you have to be patient with yourself while also learning from the mistakes you have made. That is something I unconsciously did for years. Be solution oriented. Anytime I messed up a drawing or makeup design, I did not get frustrated with myself, well maybe a little, but I didn’t let it affect me to the point that I gave up.
I think the only obstacle that stood in the way of learning more, was myself. That is because I would procrastinate or simply just be unsure of what to do next, which could have been cultivated with the right setting or business/school mentor.

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 go by Aniya Lafay, my first and middle name. My middle name is in remembrance of my mother who passed away, Rhonda Lafay Smith, who was into cosmetology related things like I am.

I like to say I am still a work in progress, figuring out which creative path I want to focus on mainly. I like to believe I am a Jill of all trades almost, although some people think that is a negative trait. I think its a good trait or skill to have because you will be able to relate to more people and just know more in general. A lot of things intersect in life and skills are always transferable amongst jobs/task. Especially being in my early twenties, I have to remind myself that it is okay to still be figuring things out. That’s something I think every young person should know or be told.

What separates me from other makeup artists in my opinion is my ability to gauge understanding and figure out what a client wants from their makeup. Working as a math success coach, that has really prepared me for that role because I can break things down and explain it well. Most of my clients are people who do not dabble in makeup themselves or are new to the makeup world. Therefore it is my job to inform them against or for certain makeup looks or products. I like to tell clients and friends, it’s never about the products you use, its about how you apply them. Although one thing you can’t go cheap on is setting powder and spray if you ask me.

I would like for potential followers or clients to know that my creative work is not full time for me. It is something I actually enjoy doing and getting results part time. The best work in my opinion is from someone who is passionate or has a love for their work.

Amongst those multi-talents, I am leaning more towards the content creator side of makeup and canvas painting. Coming 2023 I plan to be back doing makeup on clients and selling my artwork.

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Everyone has an intrinsic or extrinsic motivator or even both, which can be symbolic or literal. My motivation is more intrinsic, which means my motivation comes from within instead of outside.

What drives me on my creative journey is the thought of just being happy and enjoying life. In life, I think we as people get caught up on how much money we will make instead of what we are passionate about and enjoy doing. I think any passion/hobby can be profitable even if its part-time or a side hustle, just to get you where you want to be. For example, I love math, I love working with students, and I love creative things. Not only do I enjoy these things, I also am skilled at them. Assessing my situation, I said to myself “ok, I can be in school to become a math teacher and do my art on the side.”

While doing this I am also still impacting students and anyone of my clients. Building rapport with students and them being able to learn from me is another motivator for me. I want them to know they can do whatever they put their mind to no matter the circumstances. Not only that but I am a person they can go to if they need to talk about the difficult things. It is a self-rewarding career when helping others makes you feel good.

Going back to what I said before, I also realize any field someone goes into, there will be positives and negatives. But if you enjoy your job, those negatives won’t seem as bad and you can move past them. On the other hand, if you’re doing something you don’t enjoy, those negatives will just constantly build up until you’re drained mentally.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Society often views artistic jobs as less, as if it does not require skills and dedication like any other job or career. It may not be as serious to everyone else, but it usually does mean a lot to the artist. Art usually comes from a place of expression, whether it is happy, sad, or confused. I think to help artists thrive, society needs to be more open minded and encouraging to upcoming artists. Support does not always have to be from a purchase, like most people think. There are other ways to support and help creatives like: sharing posts, like/love posts, recommending their work, and just being intentional about trying to support and connect. Just be open-minded and encouraging, no one wants to always hear the negatives about pursuing their artist/creative journey.
Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there will ever be to know and understand.” Creativity and imagination is how we figure life out, society should give artists/creatives the space to explore and discover. That’s how we have all the modernized things in the world today.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/niyawiiya/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aniya.walker.735