We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shyia Simmons a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Shyia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I’ve known I wanted to be a artist since I was a child. I use to watch the Disney Channel & say to myself I can do that. I use to watch movies and would act out my favorite roles. I would hear songs & pretend I was on stage performing it. Singing, acting & dancing (even though I’m not much of a great dancer) has been a highlight in my brain since I was a kid. I use to say if i can’t do this I can’t do nothing else. Being a entertainer has always been a dream of mines. I always knew a 9-5 was never for me. Once I got a taste of being behind and in front of the camera I knew I would stay with this for a long time.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
When I was a teenager I signed up for a summer job where we could act & out on a play at the end of the summer. For me, that was the best thing ever. Making money & doing what I love. I went on to highschool & always looked for the acting classes. I was sure about wanting to be a actress by then. I still couldn’t dance but I was determined to make the cheerleading team which I did so that was exciting. I got into the studio theatre program in 11th grade it’s on 14th street nw and I took it very serious. My teacher told us she taught 2pac so I was really excited about that. I went to The University Of District Of Columbia and majored in Theatre Arts. I also decided to go to makeup school once I junior in college as well. I knew that if I couldn’t be on the stage or in front of the screen I could be behind the scene & I figured makeup would do that for me. Makeup is a wonderful, fun & creative career. I’ve been able to network, make great money, travel & make people feel beautiful. The best part about being a makeup artist now is that I’m able to show up for myself even better because I know how to make myself more polish. Now I’m a year in to content creating and I’m having fun with it. At first it was frustrating learning the algorithm and editing and learning how to get a audience attention, now I’m having fun with it. I’m at the point now I can go create content, edit it & upload it in the same day if I’m not busy and I love that for me. I’m now realizing I actually am a actress now. When I create content, tell stories through my videos or bring a vision to life. Now, people hire me to bring their visions & stories to life. I had 1 job I had to create content for a wedding & tell her wedding day stories in 10 short videos and I realize how important my job really is. I’ve been flown out to do makeup, people have flown to me to take makeup lessons & im so blessed that people hire me to do their makeup & teach their makeup. One thing I never take for granted is when people meet me and they say they love my spirit. That’s probably one of the most top tries compliments you can receive. I feel my spirit & the way I tell my stories is what separates me from other people. I’m also very disciplined once I’ve made my mind up it’s considered done and I love that about me. If u don’t create discipline early it will later become a burden.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
So I knew I wanted to be a makeup artist & I knew I had to become a M.A.C makeup artist. I had looked at many makeup artist & I had noticed all the people that worked at M.A.C had great careers & went on and made wonderful businesses for themselves. I wanted to work at the best, and at the time M.A.C was the best. After I graduated makeup school in 2011 I went straight to interview with M.A.C Cosmetic & if you don’t know their interviews are long, intimidating and you got to come as your best. I knew I wasn’t at my best but I went anyway. 4 years, is what it took for them to finally see me. I went back every year. They looked at my wardrobe, makeup, ask questions and I never passed. I finally got passed & was able to get to the makeover test of the interview. I passed that and was finally ask to be a M.A.C Artist. It was a hour from my home but I didn’t care. I was now officially a M.A.C girl and I knew it was the beginning of my career and it was. M.A.C challenged me to be a better makeup artist, better worker, better dresser & great at customer service. I know for a fact M.A.C has played a huge part on how I show up now for any buisness.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I would really love for social media to let creatives be free. All any of us want is a chance to be seen. With the rules, and shadowbanning & constantly changing the algorithm it puts a burden on creative. We can’t just create, we now have to create, figure why our post aren’t being seen, study the new algorithm and it’s just too much. Everything in society is about control & I feel that’s why so many people feel smothered. All any of us want is to be seen. If people don’t like the content then that’s fine, but not giving the chance to be seen hurts a lot of people.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Shytown1988/Pricelessmakeup23
- Facebook: Shyia Simmons
- Youtube: Prince n shy/ shyia simmons
- Other: Tik Tok: Live.love.luxury4
Image Credits
Shyia Simmons