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

Hi Devin, thanks for joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

The biggest risk I ever took was the decision from a young age to skip out on law school and pursue a career in the arts; my instincts despite what the status quo was.

I attended Art and Design High School – back then I wanted to be a Comic and Tattoo Artist. At a very young age I was apprenticing in tattoo shops, trying to find my tribe.
At the same time I was interning at music venues and for a music pr firm. I’m also a vocalist with eight years of vocal training. Music is in my blood and I feel alive around live music. But I really loved writing press kits, searching for artists and connecting them to the right avenues. I had a knack for it, and I figured with doing all these things I was bound to be successful somewhere.

One of my biggest risks after losing my home in Hurricane Sandy was moving to Los Angeles by myself in my early 20’s to do makeup for film, television and celebrity. I didn’t have much money and I only knew one person but I was determined to make it work.
That tenacity lead me to many amazing opportunities; putting in the work and paying my dues by apprenticing under accomplished artists and continuously giving my heart and soul to everything I worked towards.

Now I live by the beach in Florida and own my own Makeup and Esthetics studio – another major risk!! Moving to a new place and building a whole new network. But I love the challenge and unknown of what will come next.
So far, since opening in October I have been on the morning news four times talking about Makeup Trends and being Type 1 Diabetic for 32 years!

So the biggest risk I ever took? Was betting on myself.

Devin, 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?

What sets me apart from others is my managerie of experiences that allow me to combine and share my interests in the form of services. My craft started with basic life drawing and grew into using different mediums to express myself.

As an artist, I am always looking to create – whether it’s a new facial theme, new makeup concept for a photoshoot or film. Plus being able to make my own logo and do all of my own marketing and press allows me to reach a broader spectrum of audience.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In 2019 I lost my eyesight due to Diabetic Retinopathy. I was in severe malnutrition with undiagnosed Celiac Disease.

It was one of the darkest points in my life – being stripped of life as I once knew it. I left Los Angeles and moved to Arizona to be close to family at that time. Soon after the pandemic happened and quite literally the whole world changed. I knew it would be impossible to do makeup professionally at that point and my eyes were still healing.

When we moved to Florida, I decided to take some marketing courses but ultimately I knew I wanted to get back into makeup. I did not give up my dream. I went back to Esthetician school to learn Clinical Esthetics – and here I am with 90% of my vision back!!!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

What helped build my reputation in my market is alot of tenacity and determination.

You have to make yourself be seen by your target audience – place yourself in those environments. I do A LOT of networking, not just with other artists (which can be limiting from a business perspective). I align myself with those who are savvy in business, marketing and the principles I need to improve upon and learn from.

As a small business owner, you never know where your next client will come from so it’s important to make personable connections with those in your community

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.devinalexisart.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/devin_alexis_art
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devinalexisart?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

Image Credits

KDACreative
Lesa Amoore
Vijat M
Paulina Maria