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

Hi Layla, thanks for joining us today. What was one of the most important lessons you learned in school? Why did that lesson stick with you?

Without realizing it the first time I learned this lesson was in 2nd grade. The counselor would come in once a week and show us flash cards demonstrating different important words such as teamwork, determination and mental health. The word that I have a true core memory of learning was perseverance. The counselor said, “Before we start today’s lesson does anyone remember what this word from last week means?” I remember raising my hand quickly, being called on and saying, “Perseverance, it means to keep trying even when things get hard.” For a long time, I went back to that memory consistently, often times it was just random thoughts and me thinking about how it was cool that I remembered such a “big” word at that age. However, it wasn’t until I got to college where I truly realized the importance of persevering even when you feel like you can’t anymore. To give some backstory, I had been wanting to become a psychologist to work with younger kids since I was 12 years old. It’s all I’ve thought about doing, until I started getting into makeup. The struggle begins senior year, I was very torn between going to get a degree for psychology or starting cosmetology school. I talked to all my friends, family, and even teachers that I knew really understood me. In the end, after going back and fourth my entire senior year, I decided to go for my bachelors in psychology with a minor in criminal justice. Little did I know that was just the beginning of the longest yet also shortest four years ever.
My freshman year was 2019-2020, covid year. I began at Johnson County Community College for a year and one semester. The first six months I struggled with learning how to manage everything on my own, as a first generation student with no scholarships and having moved out on my own, I felt very alone trying to navigate my way through. Trying to keep up in an entirely different setting as a student adult is hard. Learning how to balance school, life, work, and family can become so exhausting. Then covid hit so even when I started to feel that I got the hang of it, we moved to online and hybrid classes which was a whole different story. That year landed me in academic probation, which really had me questioning if I had picked the right path. I knew that I had a real interest for the degree I’d chosen, but I kept questioning if I could even manage so much work load. I had two options: take the summer classes and give it one more try in the fall semester or just drop it for now. However, that really meant I only had one option because I was honest enough with myself to know that if I were to drop college at that point, I more than likely wouldn’t go back. Therefore, I picked the first option.
Second semester at JCCC was better, I passed all my classes but I decided to transfer early to Park University to play soccer. I was at Park from 2021-2023. Since I was still on academic probation when I transferred I couldn’t play that spring semester, which was a bummer and I felt a bit ashamed because I really put school on the back burner. This is when I decided that I would take summer classes to make sure I could try to stay on track since I failed so many classes at JCCC. By the fall of 2022, I was starting to feel real burnt out, I remember every time I would complain or start to doubt myself I would really just go back to that memory of my 8 year old self learning the meaning of perseverance, other times I would think about my mom and the rest of my immediate family, this would be for all of us not just me. This was also the first semester where I would be able to play college soccer, which had been such an unattainable dream for my younger self, so even though the circumstances weren’t how I’d wish them to be, I was more than excited to be there. In December of 2022, I talked to my counselor and they let me know that if I work just a bit harder, I could graduate within the four year time frame. At this point, I had already done so much I couldn’t fathom putting in any more effort, but at the same time because I had already done so much, I couldn’t not try a little more for a little longer.
Looking back at this moment, I am still so proud and surprised at how I decided to go for putting a bit more work for three semesters more. The next two semesters I was taking 18 credit hours, and the last semester I was taking 24 credit hours worth of classes, on top of 6 credit hours doing an internship.
At this point, I shifted my entire lifestyle to ensure I finished by the goal of three semesters. I would have to choose which family events to skip just to do homework, the times that I would go to family events I’d spend some of the time at the event with my laptop doing homework, and I would get jobs that would allow me to do homework at work, since I couldn’t work full time at the job that did pay me well. Outside of perseverance, another very important lesson learned is that sometimes you’ll have to change your habits, and the way you live your life, if you want to achieve certain goals.
May 5th, 2023 could not come soon enough. The lesson of perseverance was well learned now that I am officially able to say that I am a first generation Latina with a bachelors in psychology and a minor in criminal justice. I am the second person in my entire family to have a bachelors degree. Seeing the proud look on my moms face, and hearing my older brothers tell me that they were proud of me really made those four years of struggling but continuing to persevere all worth it.

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.

For those who don’t know me, my name is Layla Vazquez. If you know me you’ll know that I have to let everyone I meet know that the phonetic pronunciation of my name is actually “Ly-luh.” I am a 22 year old beauty and lifestyle influencer, who has recently graduated college with a bachelors in Psychology and a minor in criminal justice. I started makeup in 2016, first as a hobby, creating a lot of colorful and creative looks. Then I decided to get more serious about it in 2020. My instagram, tiktok and Facebook page is makeupxvlaeira. Since I began my makeup journey, I’ve been prone to learning more, growing more and expanding a part of my personality through my interest in makeup. I am always looking forward to trying new techniques and makeup styles.

What sets me apart is my versatility, I am not only a makeup artist. I am an athlete, a college graduate, and a hard worker. I love makeup, but I also love that I can do all these other activities that are different from makeup. Being a makeup artist has, in one way or another, entered into all parts of my life. Meeting many different types of people and still having them come to me and discuss makeup looks and the concept makeup has as art has been something that has made me very happy to be in the makeup community. The best part is learning more about myself as I grow, which is why I have also began to give a sneak peak of more than just makeup. As I mentioned, I am an athlete which makes me very interested in health and wellness, which is something I advocate for on my page as well.

I want my page to be a space for learning, a space for entertainment and a space where we can connect and share ideas. I try to give my audience tips that have helped me to improve different areas of my life, I try to share creative and fun looks that could provide entertainment and I try to be inclusive to make sure that my page is not just for women in beauty and lifestyle wellness. It is for everyone, everyone should strive to learn more, be more at peace and build a bigger connection within their own community.

How did you build your audience on social media?

The times where I see the most results and social media engagement are when I take the time give back. For example, I will ensure to post consistently every week for a month. I will post reels, photos, and carousels all week and at the same time, take the time to explore the page of those following me. I make sure to engage with the audience that I feel has similar content and ideals as me. Whether it’s as small as a like and a follow, to sharing their post and commenting on it.

I have found that building a community is really what social media is about. Following pages that you believe will improve your life and that shares content that you can share that will help others as well. However, the biggest tip is consistency and clarity. When people see the content you post, what does you content say? Is the post for entertainment, information or persuasion? Trying to be as authentic as you can while still maintaining the topics at hand can be important to keeping your audience coming back for more.

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

I think sometimes people who are not creative struggle with the concept of being creative because there may be an expectation that although it is creative, creative means it has to look a certain way. I would say that sometimes its more about just getting the piece started, and the process of doing it rather than the end result itself. For example, when I do makeup looks, I don’t always spend time deciding what the creative look will be, sometimes the best looks happen whenever I sit in my makeup section, and I let my intuition choose for me. I don’t always know what the end result will be, and sometimes even when I do know, it doesn’t always work out that way, but what I really enjoy is allowing myself to feel the creativity. Sometimes I love the outcome and sometimes I hate it, but its really just about the process of how I even got there to begin with. Also, creativity is a skill that should be practiced. It is important to allow the creativity to flow several times, before you shut out the idea of being creative.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: makeupxvlaeira
• Facebook: makeupxvlaeira
• Youtube: Ly-luh Vazquez