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

Alright, Heather thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

Yes, I am so much happier doing what I love, I love to create art. I love the process and the journey; I love the highs and the lows because without them I wouldn’t have grown and become the artist I am today. I love a challenge, I love to learn and create because it truly is a passion of mine. I think when you take a chance on yourself and you do the things you love you live a happier fulfilled life. There’s something beautiful about living in your truth, doing what YOU love and working towards a dream you may have no matter how crazy it might sound to others. You don’t need anyone’s approval to do what makes you happy, at the end of the day you need to create the life YOU WANT FOR YOU AND YOU ALONE.

I’m very blessed to have a supportive group of people who love me and support my dream. I don’t think I would be able to work at a regular job mostly because I would get bored of the same routine everyday for 5 days a week. There is no job I would enjoy more than being a creative artist, my heart is set on it and to be honest I really don’t know if I would be good for anything else.

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?

Hola my name is Heather Yesenia, I’m an actress, photographer, and artist; I am the photographer and creator of shotsdeamorx and her sister artdeamorx. I am currently developing a film production company that’s going to focus on stories about Latinos, our stories, our struggles and our accomplishments. As a Mexican American who was born and raised in Los Angeles I think it’s important to tell stories that truly come from the heart and experience.

My love for the arts came at a young age when I used to perform in school plays; but I took it more serious at 16 when I took a drama class in high school. Since then I’ve been in love with creating and telling stories with each character I played. At the age of 15 I was already using my mom’s cell phone as a camera, she blessed me a year later with my first digital camera, a Sony alpha and I was obsessed. I never put it down, it was always with me and my family were over it by the first week. My love for photography grew as I got older, it’s something so fun to do and I love to go on long drives with just me and my camera. I always have a camera with me, big or small (my collection has grown since then). I’ve even began to shoot film photography which has opened up a whole new world for me; I get excited when I get my photos back. It’s a whole other way of looking at photography and what you wanna capture because you really take the moment in, snap and let it go.

I’m an artist and I truly love everything about art, I began to draw when I was around the same age. I only drew when I was feeling sad, but I eventually began to draw more as I grew older because I started to really enjoy it. I get into a different head space when I’m not thinking about anything and just drawing as I go. It’s fun to just draw for you, eventually I started sharing my art because I was proud of everything I’ve been learning these past couple of years.

My overall goal and dream is to tell stories and help people; it’s my main focus because it’s something that’s very important to me. It’s important to always do what you love and help others as you go because you never know who might need someone like YOU. I hope everything I create with my art inspires someone to go out and accomplish their dreams.

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

I think my goal and mission that’s really driving my creative journey is people and how much I want to create something meaningful for others. I want to tell real stories, stories about life, dreams, having faith, and overcoming the impossible. I have a chronic illness that also drives my creative journey because I want people to know that YOU are still able to do what you love, and you are still worthy of dreaming BIG. I’ve met many artists who have given up their dreams because of their struggles with a disease or illness. I want to remind them that no matter what you can still do what you want, don’t give up because life threw you a curve ball. Instead rise up and keep going because you might surprise yourself, and your story might help someone else.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think people who aren’t in the field of work I’m in won’t understand a creative person’s process and journey. I never had friends who were creative people, not until I met the people in my acting studio. I was always an outcast, I didn’t really fit in because I wasn’t interested in the things most kids my age liked. So it was hard for them to understand my journey or the joy I felt in just trying something new in my art. I think people who aren’t in a creative person’s shoes will never understand the things a creative person feels or thinks. I don’t think they would understand the importance of our art, how no matter how big or small a part in a commercial or film is booking it for us is HUGE. They won’t understand the process we go through to transform into a different character, the process of photographing someone (the idea and vision) or drawing something so random because it made you feel a certain way. They won’t understand the sacrifices we make to accomplish our dreams, the struggles we face and the rejection we face everyday.

At the end of the day it’s all okay, it’s okay if you’re not understood, art itself isn’t always understood. We are creators, we see things differently and we feel things in a different way. We have opened our hearts and minds to tell stories that need to be told. I’ve learned to accept how different I am from my family and friends; and they have learned to accept my path and dreams. I’m thankful to have a really supportive family because it can be hard when no one else believes in you. I think if you are a creative person you should surround yourself with like minded people or people who love and accept your creative journey. If you are not a creative person and you know someone who is then I would say to support your friend/family member on this journey. Watch their work, support their business, celebrate their wins BIG OR SMALL because you have no idea how much your support will mean to them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm9759727/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shotsdeamorx