We were lucky to catch up with Xotchil Martinak recently and have shared our conversation below.

Xotchil, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I was 5 years old when I was drawn to hair and make-up. I would play with my sisters hair and do their make-up (or attempt to). And when I was 13 I became aware that it was a career… and that’s when I knew.

Xotchil, 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?

My first experience in the industry was coloring my moms hair at 12 yrs old. My dad would walk me through how to apply and mix. I enjoyed the process but I enjoyed cutting my dad’s hair a little bit more. Later I worked at a makeup counter where I had a customer who had lost over 150lbs and thought that after losing the weight she would feel beatiful and confident but she was feeling the complete opposite. I handed her the mirror when I was finished with the makeup application and she was very happy with it and she became overwhelmed with emotions. That reaction was so rewarding that I knew from that moment that I wanted to be able to do that for more people and in order to do so I enrolled in cosmetology school. My cosmetology school experience was life changing. I had great educators, opportunities and meet some really great friends. I enjoyed my experience so much that I decided to work at the beauty school I attended a year later and this became my career for the next 12 years. That experience was rewarding in so many ways, from opportunities to work with some of the industries best educators, working backstage, continuing education, personal growth, to the relationships formed in 12 years, that was definitely the cherry on top. My proudest moment is having the opportunity to have had provided a career path for some of the students and watch them flourish in their careers and work along side them.

While working for the school, I also worked behind the chair, where I offer haircuts, Color/blonding services, texture, and styling. Product of choice is Paul Mitchell for color and styling products. There are other brands I enjoy for certain products such as Amika, schwarzkopf and Malibu C. Being behind the chair for me is a big responsibility and for that reason is why I choose products I feel comfortable with and making sure that the priority is to keep the integrity of the hair intact. Making sure my guest leave the salon with strong, healthy hair.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist or a creative is making you your form of art. As an your art represents you, your identity, your style, what you find beautiful. And I think that that is the most rewarding, people supporting your art or your creations because they love you! They love what you have created and they love spending time with you and I think that that is amazing.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Covid. Pivoting education (for a beauty school ) from in person to online in 3 days was definitely a challenge. I think that during covid so many people demonstrated resilience because the world was full of challenges for so many. But honestly I never thought that this would be possible… but with adapting every week to different challenges the students were experiencing until we figured out the best way to deliver this education. Definitely one of the biggest challenges.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: xo_beauty53

Image Credits
Daniel Gonzalez