We were lucky to catch up with Julia Choldzynski recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Julia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

It’s funny to think that if we’d met about 2 years ago, I’d never have chosen this theme to tell an anecdote. I was finishing my second year of a master’s degree in business law, specialising in taxation, and I was going to sit the bar exam to become a lawyer – my life seemed already mapped out for me – but it all seemed unreal, as if it wasn’t really my life, my choices. I felt more and more like the prisoner of a character I’d created over time that wasn’t me at all. And one day I decided to stop the charade. I finished my second Master’s degree and changed direction. The year that followed that decision was one of the hardest of my life, a sort of year of floating, of self-reflection, of trying to understand. To understand who I was, what I loved and what I really wanted in life. So I took the plunge. As someone who had always been passionate about fashion and art, it was decided: I was going to make my own way in this world. I left behind everything I knew and all the cosy, comfortable paths that were open to me at the time, to go down an obscure path strewn with pitfalls and uncertainties, but one that called me from deep inside. Today, I continue to make my way in this environment, looking for what suits me best, every day is not rosy but I have never regretted my choice.

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?

I got into the fashion/beauty industry out of passion. After 5 years of law, I felt out of place and not in tune with the choices I’d made. So I decided to start from scratch. I went back to school to study art history and I really got into my passions, which were fashion and photography. I was 16 when I made my first photo book, my parents bought me my first camera when I was 16 too and they developed my interest in art from an early age. But being brought up in a privileged environment, social pressure got the better of my life choices. I therefore abandoned these passions, thinking that I had to become ‘someone’ according to the criteria of others and more precisely of the society in which I was brought up. It was only a few years later that I regained control of my life and decided to follow my passion and make it my profession.

Over the years I’ve noticed that young artists in the world of fashion and beauty often find it hard to find paid work, even though they are just as talented as others and deserve to be given a chance!  By creating this agency I want to give young artists a chance to make a living from their art, but also to encourage all those who get discouraged because they can’t make a living from their passion! In the end my aim is to create a virtuous circle for the various players in the fashion industry. Young brands often find it hard to find the right people for their photo shoots because of their budget. On the other hand, school leavers, freelance photo models, photographers and hair stylists find it hard to find anything other than offers to work with them. The idea is to bring them together so that brands can develop their collections with the visuals they want within their budget, while allowing young artists to be paid for their work, even if they are beginners.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

It’s going to sound strange but I think that my aim through everything I do is above all self-knowledge and healing. Pure creation requires you to be totally transparent with who you are and what you feel, it’s a whole process that’s constantly evolving. The further you go, the more you’ll expose yourself and get to know yourself. Although not easy, this process is also a source of peace and healing. It’s a way of expressing your vision of life, your emotions, your thoughts, breaking codes, denouncing excesses and so on, which is a form of healing for an individual. I’m convinced that art is a form of therapy.

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

For a long time I believed that there was only one way to succeed in life, that you had to follow what others said was good for you in order to succeed and that you had to fit into a box for life to go well. There isn’t really a single story that leads to the realisation that all this is false, but rather a series of life experiences that have helped me to realise this. Travelling the world with a backpack, meeting people who don’t have the same life as you and sharing with them, remains one of the most enriching parts of my life that allows me to evolve every day. It’s helped me learn to look at the world and the people around me again.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://juliamcholdzynski.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julia_nski/

Image Credits
Photo 4 : -Photographer Cendrine Buch @princess.photographie -MUA Cleia Facy @skymidamua -Hairstylist Erwan Carel @erwan.carel Photo 5 : -Photographer Chris Vanhove @chris__vanhove -Male model : Matt Vuaflart @matt_vflrt -MUA : Cleia Facy @skymidamua and Erwan Carel @erwan.carel -Hairstylist : Andrei Shelomentsev @shi.vuss -Photo 6 : Photographer Erika M. Peisen Erraez @erikaerraez__ -Photo 7 : Photographer @parislikeamovie Dress designer @rent_dress_paris_photo