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

Elijah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Looking back over my almost eight years in the hair and makeup industry, I’ve done many meaningful projects that I am incredibly proud of. However, if I had to hone in on the most meaningful thing I’ve done in my career, it would be the personal effort I put forth to change how my clients and others view the industry as a whole.

For so long, the beauty industry has often benefited from focusing on an individual’s insecurities and exploiting our basic human desires for profit. This idea is based on the perception of others, how they view you, and if you’re “pretty” to the outside world. Everyone must be palatable and fit into one standard box. To me, beauty has so many aspects to be explored, and I want to use my skill set to tap into all of them.

Every day I do hair and makeup for people; I search to find the balance in who they are on the inside and use the tools I have to communicate who they are on the outside. Getting to help someone manifest a new version of themselves full of infinite potential, or being trusted to let my creativity run wild on someone, reimagining them in a way they had never considered, are more meaningful to me than anything money could buy.

Whether you are a model who has their look changed daily, a bride looking to feel like the most elevated version of yourself, or someone stepping into a salon for the first time looking for something fresh, I want to give each individual that sits in my chair the same feeling. The feeling of self-realization and self-expression.

Prioritizing hair and makeup is often seen as a superficial and vain concept- frivolous and meaningless. As someone who grew up in an extremely conservative community, beauty became so much more. My physical appearance was one of the only ways I had to connect with the person I felt I was inside since nothing else in my life matched who I was. It became a source of power to reclaim my agency and allow myself to take up space. That firsthand experience has only made me more excited to share that power with others.

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?

My name is Elijah, and I’m 26 years old. I was born and currently reside in Fort Collins, Colorado. Being in the cosmetology industry fell into place organically for me. I have been doing traditional art my whole life, specializing mostly in drawing. Because of this, I knew I wanted to pursue a creative career but wasn’t sure what that would manifest itself to look like. I was between my junior and senior years of high school trying to figure out what direction I wanted to pursue when I had a friend recommend cosmetology to me. I had always been interested in the industry and decided to book a tour at a local cosmetology school, Keith James. After my interview, they decided to offer me a full-ride scholarship. I still don’t know why they decided to bless me with such a gift, but at that moment, I knew I needed to see where this career could take me. When Victoria, the head of the school, gave me this scholarship, her words to me were, “Just do something nice for someone else.” I seek to bring that kindness into my work every single day. When it comes to the services I provide, I strive to bring a level of fine art to each and every person I do hair and makeup for. When I’m in the salon in Fort Collins, Colorado, I specialize as a colorist. Blonding, rainbow hues, pastels, balayage, and lived-in finishes all make my heart sing. All of these have been techniques and skills I’ve been building upon my whole career but combining my artistic background with the necessary chemistry.
My styling and makeup work comes from multiple inspiration sources that I cater to serve each project to my fullest. Baseline; my inspiration is instilling confidence, but that looks so different to each person. I’ll always choose to take an editorial approach to my work- whether it’s for editorial, bridal, or even simple grooming for a headshot. It’s also important to me, as a hair and makeup professional, to be able to work with any client that comes to me. It should be standard to do your highest quality of work on every skin tone, hair texture, and gender identity/expression. To be someone that can make anyone and everyone feel like art is so important to me.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

It’s cliche but quite true; baseline, it costs nothing to support creatives in your personal life and that you see in the world. Like their Instagram posts, share something of theirs you love on your story, and if something makes you stop scrolling-comment something encouraging on it! Don’t like using social media? Tell a friend about the work your creative friend is doing, and speak their name in rooms you wish to see them in. Word of mouth is everything. I’d also say if the world stopped expecting creatives to work for free, they would see so much more creativity in their daily lives. Just because someone enjoys what they do doesn’t make it free to make, and it doesn’t mean they get to turn in personal joy in exchange for rent money. Pay artists for their art. Period.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

First off, I think everyone alive is creative and an artist; their mediums may just be different than “traditional art.” An accountant can be a creative and artist if they bring passion, ingenuity, and push boundaries in their work- just as scientists, customer service employees, full-time parents, etc. possess creativity.

However, if there was something I would love to shed light on from a creative’s perspective, I would love to break down the idea of, “love what you do, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
If you love what you do, you will be working harder every day, putting in the effort, energy, and constantly pushing your boundaries. Loving what you do is late nights, early mornings, nitty-gritty behind-the-scenes work, creative blocks that you still have to work through, often sacrifices on a personal level, and that’s just the surface.

I remember once a family member asked what I was doing for work, and I told them. To which he replied, “oh, so not like a real job.” Let me be clear; if you love what you do, not only will you still work, but you will work harder than anyone that is clocking into a “real job” if they hate it. You trade in a 9-5 for a 24/7 365. I’ll respond to emails until I fall asleep and text client confirmations from the bath. I’ll be doing FaceTime meetings from the grocery store parking lot and sleeping in new hotels weekly.

Loving what you do is incredible, but to my fellow creators, don’t ever undervalue your work because it brings you joy; it’s absolutely still work. If I could offer a piece of advice to all the creatives out there; take a day off sometimes, please. Not a day of fun or easy “work,” or responding to emails while wearing your “fun” pajamas, but a day where you go on a walk and get a coffee and sit. Maybe go frolic in a field or something. Do people still frolic in fields in this economy?

Contact Info:

• Website: Elijahcordovacreative.com
• Instagram: @elijah.cordova

Image Credits
My headshot- photography @sarah_hill florals @ivagracefloral 3rd image- photography @orange_sunshines wardrobe @olaelkhazindar 5th image- photography @whitneymichelle_photo model @luciafates_ model @kiayahpapayaa 8th image- photography @boo_jay_snaps designer @mozzedesigns Model @mizz_chelsea_cheyenne