We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Luna Avila a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Luna, thanks for joining us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?
Happiness is subjective. Am I happy as an artist? Sometimes. Being an artist is one of the hardest forms of being, you get artist blocks all the time, the projects you envision can sometimes fail on you or not exceed your expectations. Nothing is original now and days I think, everything now is definitely a personalized form of everything that already has been made. Am I happy as a creative however? Absolutely, you’re exposed to beautiful people, beautiful creations, beautiful experiences. You see life as a really cool movie you know? Not just as a constant loop in simulation. Seeing people as an individual and not a common copy of everyone else always intrigues me. Being a creative, you definitely run into that. Do I sometimes think about what it would be like to have a regular job? Oh absolutely, we all wonder what our lives would be like abnormally. Working a 9-5 would absolutely destroy me. Of course I admire and respect the brave ones who can handle a regular job. Personally, I need chaos, I need change, I need to do something different everyday. There is so much that I don’t know and so much that I would love to see. Having a regular job I think would take those opportunities away. The last time I thought about having a regular job would probably be last week honestly. I genuinely think about it often, if I paved my path to be just like everyone else. How I would have become, how I would have felt. When I was in middle school, there was a time where I wanted to fit in so badly. I craved an acceptance that I could only give myself. I learned, as I grew up, that you cannot force anything that is not meant for you. No matter how much I tried to put myself in a box, I would always fight out of it. It was me versus me for a very long time. As an adult now, it can still get that way. However, I have accepted more of the fact that I am who I am. Therefore, I am enough.
Luna, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Hello, I am Luna Avila! I am the manager at The Lovely Boutique Market, the Personal Stylist Coordinator at The Mall at Millenia under The Forbes Company, Assistant for Fused Fashion and am the owner of my own independent fashion styling brand, Luna Avila. I have been in the fashion industry for about five years now. I started when I was very, very young. How I got into the industry? Even from this day, I didn’t have a clue I would get this far. There was a time where I had no idea what I wanted to pursue in my life. I come from a beautiful family of successful people who I’m obsessed with making proud. I never want to fail them or fail myself. It was an emotional night, I was with my kitty Boba, crying in my room. My thoughts were racing: “What do I want to do?” “What am I even good at?” “Where do I go from here?” You know, the constant questions you ask yourself when you get into your feelings. My closet stood right in front of me, the clothes were all looking back at me. I thought to myself, “I love to plan my outfits.” “Each morning I always style an outfit in my head.” “I buy a new outfit for any event I am going too.” There it was, an answer that was right in front of me. I guess I just needed to be dramatic first and cry about it, lol. From then on, I began to tell everyone I knew that I wanted to pursue fashion. The whole world needed to know that I was going to pursue fashion and I had absolutely no idea how exactly I was going to do it. I just kept throwing it out into the universe. I needed to manifest this, I needed this to happen. I don’t care how, but it needs too. One day, I was at one of my good friend’s Juliette’s house. Her parents own the best art gallery in Orlando, Snap! Juliette’s mother Holly got me in touch with Tammara Kohler (love you fashion mama!) who owns Fused Fashion, a wardrobe brand. From that point on, it was like a rocket. Everything happened so fast, I met so many people, I started just doing. No thinking, just letting myself get engulfed into the fashion world. Slowly but surely, I began to create my own brand and got involved in four different jobs all rapidly consuming my entire life. It sure is a thrill, I can tell you that. Now, hard work definitely is involved. Sure, it happened fast. However, to maintain it, you must work. You must understand that this industry is a hustle. It’s a craft of transforming people into an art form, clothing is everything. The types of services I provide is Fashion Styling, Editorial Styling, Virtual Styling, Commercial/Production Styling, Model Portfolio Shoots, Vintage Era Photoshoots, Event Styling, Magazines, you name it baby! I love styling all types of shoots, it’s all about the experience. The main problems I solve for my clients would definitely be sourcing the clothes. A lot of times, my clients need that extra help to find exactly what they are looking for. What sets myself apart from others will always be my intentions. No matter who I style, young or old, my intention is for them to feel beautiful. To help radiate their confidence. Everyone deserves to feel that.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
The main story that has shaped me into the woman I am today would most definitely be when I had to move across country from California to Florida. Unfortunately, my parents ended up in a divorce. Which pivoted us having to move to Florida. It was just my Mom, two brothers and I. My brothers and I were very young. It was difficult for us to leave our school and all of our dear friends and family. We had very little money coming to Florida and roughly, barely anything at all. Yet, we all persevered. My family of four cried together, laughed together and kept going. In that moment, I realized that a home is what you make of it, it’s a feeling. Not exactly a place. Having known this from a young age, I began to illustrate my own resilience within my work. If something goes not exactly how you plan it to be, you make do with what you have. You create your own harmony.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is simple. Just making people happy and inspired. One of my favorite things to do is make people happy. It’s rewarding to me.
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Image Credits
Photographers include: Kristen Weaver Photography Frolova Photography Marc Richard Tousignant Photography