Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lya Jasper . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lya , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I had been working in finance in the automotive industry since graduating college at 21y/o and would mostly spend my job earnings in fashion and travel. My job would allow me to work 9-10 days in a row and take 3-5 consecutive days off afterwards, so I took advantage of that and started taking trips all over the place. Mexico, Hawaii, Bali & Thailand were a few of the locations I traveled to for less than 6 days at a time. I began documenting everything from the hotels I’d stay at to the outfits I’d wear, to the food I’d eat etc. What started as a hobby slowly began to get more and more people’s attention and so my social media following began to grow. It was around that time that I realized what I was doing could be a good way for me to build an audience of potential buyers for a business idea I had since I was a young girl living in Puerto Rico which was to start my own swimwear brand.

That was a big turning point for me as I came to the realization that I did not want to work in finance for the rest of my life and slowly began to put more time an effort into blogging.

Lya , 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?

As I mentioned earlier, I started blogging for fun and slowly realized that my social media following could provide me with an audience for when I decided to launch my swimwear brand (Caribum.com). However, it quickly became a lot more than that. Even before Caribum’s official launch, I realized that I hadn’t just built my social media following but more importantly, I built a community.

On an almost daily basis I found myself having meaningful conversations with many of the women who followed and engaged with my account and they also began interacting among themselves – some even building friendships. This was the part that truly brought purpose to my work as a blogger/influencer. The job became less about me posting pretty photos to get people to buy from me and more about leading by example, living a life worth emulating and becoming a source of value for others. I usually say people follow me initially because they like my outfits, my feed aesthetic or my swimwear but the reason they stick around is the way I live my life both entertains and inspires them. I also like to think they see a bit of themselves (or the person they want to become) in my content. That’s the goal at least!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Learn to accept others for who they are rather than trying to change what you don’t like about them or agree with. I also think it’s important, as a society, to remember that there’s always something we can learn from the person next to us and that’s especially true the more differences we share with that person. Creatives often tend to be considered “different” by societal standards and I believe that both society and creatives tend to be better off when those differences are embraced and people chose the path of acceptance.

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

I wish I had spent more time building skills online (ex. through educational YouTube videos). Everything from photo editing to finance & business strategy would’ve been incredibly helpful & career boosting. This material is so easily accessible too. It pains me that I didn’t set aside the time early on to better myself in those aspects.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lyamariellablog.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lyamariella/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@lyamariella?lang=en