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

Chrome, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I’ve known this for quite a while honestly. I’d even say I’ve known this since I was like. 7 years old. Ever since I started practicing how to write my signature on a piece of paper, I knew I’d be putting it behind something important, be it music or other creative means. Originally I’d have to say it started with me singing at first and then when i branched out into other fields, that’s when I knew I was expandable enough to do whatever I set my mind to.

Chrome, 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?

Well Howdi! My name is Chrome, im a 20 year old designer with a knack for making things that are a little out of the box! I started making these masks when I was 18, living out of the back of my car, and out of a job! I know, not really good news to be happily proclaiming, but I’d rather be honest than to say that I started on a clean slate. Taking inspiration from one of my closest friends who also makes masks, I decided to further expand on the idea of using a mask as a canvas and create masks that act as a representation of people in their purest form! Our face tells a lot of our story, so why not simplify the amount you have to share by adding some of those details on a mask? I work with my customers one on one to come up with a concept that they feel would best describe them as a whole in order to make those dreams become reality! Whether it be an extravagant mask with many minute details, or a minimalistic mask with solid initials embroidered into its surfacing, everyone has a different way of presenting themselves. Currently I make masks and accessories, however, im working on expanding my business in order to include clothing and apparel down the line. I’m honestly proud of my perseverance, from being homeless in my car to now being able to work in a studio doing the things I love, my main advice to anyone looking to start a career in Anything, is to have faith in yourself. The more you stay true to your own beliefs, the more doors will open.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Everybody Is not your friend. You may have coworkers, or business associates that you may be cordial with but do not make the same mistake that I did, thinking that most people have your best interest in mind. I’ve nearly lost my life on two occasions thinking that I could trust certain people, who clearly did not support me, appreciate me, or care about me whatsoever. And sometimes it might take that to realize that you’re better off on your own at the end of the day.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media is very finicky. Originally I started on TikTok when it first surfaced, making videos that I found were funny or content worthy but nothing really took off until I started hopping on the trends that were coming out at the time. Once I did a “hit or miss” video my account got blasted overnight and I had about 14k followers, then from there it’s stayed the same since. Social media has become such a driving factor in success and popularity I can’t really say I can get behind supporting it. Nowadays if you don’t have a social media presence, you aren’t conceited enough to continuously post content about yourself, or if you don’t have anything “cool” enough to post, You won’t go anywhere. My main point of advice is, don’t stress yourself out over social media followers. You won’t be happy with yourself, and you’ll always be focused on how others have more than you. At the end of the day it’s all just numbers. More people wind up buying followers as opposed to earning them so just keep doing what you’ve been doing. People who are actually interested and want to show support, will come along the way.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @monochromecandy
• Facebook: Mono chrome
• Twitter: @monochromecandi
• Other: Twitch: @monochromecandy27