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

Jeanette , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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.

Everything started with an intense curiosity. I grew up going to the same salon all my childhood life where the same woman, Doña Marta, would cut hair for everyone in my family. The salon where there was always free candy, big books with crazy hair looks, and that one little TV always playing something for all the señoras to watch. A place of comfort and community, it showed me how something as simple as a haircut or a change in style can be so rejuvenating both physically & emotionally.
One of my first loves in life was hair. I remember being 9 and learning everything either from youtube or random hair classes that would come on tv. It started with simple cute girl hairstyles & then progressively became “how can I make a bird cage out of hair?”. A question I’ve finally gotten around to answering recently actually. Unfortunately, somewhere during middle school, my passion and drive for hair was stunted after my family faced the loss of our home. We spent some months living in the shed next to our grandparents’ garage after that. I was 13 and didn’t know how to process that at the time, so I picked up video editing. Editing and shooting my own silly videos became my escape from reality, a way to create my own world away from the challenges I was facing.
Knowing what I know now, I think my learning process took the time it needed & is still taking its time. My journey’s been about chasing what I love and soaking up inspiration from my roots. Through my learning experience, the most essential skills for me were definitely attention to detail & patience!!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hey there, I’m Jeanette Ponce, also semi known as @kittypiddl3 on Instagram. I’m a 20-year-old freelance multimedia creative from Altadena, California. I’ve taken an unconventional path in my pursuit of creativity, which has led me to explore various artistic mediums like shooting and editing videos, photography, and hairstyling. Beyond that, I’ve also dabbled in 3D animation and crocheting. I started out on a traditional path by enrolling in community college, but quickly realized it wasn’t the right fit. I dropped out 3 months in and didn’t tell anyone until 2 more had passed. It felt especially scary and risky because it deviated from the traditional path my mother had always envisioned for me. As a single mother who immigrated from Guatemala, that conventional route was the only one that seemed logical to her. She has been a constant source of inspiration for me. The unwavering pride she always had in her roots had always fueled my determination and given me the strength to follow my own path.
Another significant influence on my creative journey was my sister. When I was 18, I had rekindled my interest in hairstyling, around the same time my sister embarked on her modeling journey. I would frequently style her hair for various photoshoots and tag along sometimes to capture behind-the-scenes footage. Over time, I formed connections with new people and learned how to utilize social media more effectively , naturally expanding the scope of my services.
Currently, my playground revolves around shooting and editing concept photos and videos, as well as creating unique hairstyles.But I’m always eager to explore new creative avenues. Besides my main pursuits, I’ve also been diving into 3D animation, crocheting, and experimenting with various hairpieces, accessories, and props. I plan to combine my hairstyling skills with crocheting to craft unconventional and versatile pieces that can be worn in different ways – in your hair, as clothing embellishments, or even as jewelry. Excited to see where this is all going.
I believe in the power of storytelling and connection. My goal is always to help bring a vision to life through various creative mediums. Whether it’s through a compelling video, a captivating photograph, or cute hair, my services assist in telling a story and forging meaningful connections with an audience.
What I’m most proud of is not just the growth in my abilities but the growth in myself as a person. My creative journey has been a path of self-discovery, I’ve seen my skills progress, and I’ve evolved as an individual. I have so much love and appreciation for the authentic connections I’ve built with fellow creatives along the way. I’m grateful to those who have supported me on this journey, and I’m excited to keep going.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Bridging the gap between ideas and reality. One of my first successful experiences doing this was designing, producing, and selling my own senior sweaters. Seeing people excited to wear my art gave me the confidence to take on future passion projects. It was especially rewarding to see, as the process of bringing those ideas to life was not without its difficulties, but those challenges made the final outcome what it was. For video, it can be such a long and tedious process to complete but when it’s completed, it’s magic and I watch it 1000 times. A similar feeling with crocheting, it was the first time I really saw my crumpled up ideas as something real and in my hands. Turning nothing into something! This sense of transformation and creation is a thread that runs through all forms of creative expression, whether through video, fashion, photography, etc. The sense of community that comes with creative work is also what I find most rewarding. It’s a beautiful feeling to be able to connect with other creators/artists and have that mutual support for each other’s artistic ventures.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I definitely wish I had known about the Ghetto Film School program earlier in my creative journey. Unfortunately, I discovered it after I was no longer eligible to be in the program. It’s one thing I know that would’ve been really great for me now, however, my past self wasn’t even aware of my passion for film production, so I try not to dwell on it too much. It’s a reminder that sometimes creative paths unfold in unexpected ways, and I’m still grateful for the experiences and knowledge I’ve gained along the way.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kittypiddl3/