Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Hash.
Jessica, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Well, let’s just say, I probably had makeup on while I was in my mother’s womb. HAHA! I have always had an interest in anything girly or in the beauty and fashion world.
From a young age, I always loved to play dress up and into my mom and grandmothers makeup.
When I was younger, my dream was to be in the entertainment industry. I was apart of amazing professional dance companies for six years and competed and trained to pursue becoming a professional dancer. I even went from public school to homeschool to be able to practice and pursue dance full time.
Unfortunately, the plan to move to LA was not able to happen and pursuing that dream came to a stop.
I was a little lost on what else I wanted to do. As I became an adult and started the work field, I quickly realized that makeup and fashion was not just a hobby for me but I had a true love and passion for that industry. I loved playing around with different makeup looks as well as learning how to do different hairstyles and coming up with beautiful and in style fashion trends.
The more I started learning my own self-taught techniques, the more attention I noticed I was getting.
Once I recognized, I wanted to do this for a living and make the beauty and fashion world my career, I started trying to figure out how to go about that. Sadly, I had not had the opportunity to attend cosmetology school or any professional make up courses at this point.
Although, I saw on social media and YouTube you did not necessarily need a degree in order to be able to pursue this as a career.
With that being said, I knew I wanted to at least try to start to get my name and myself out there on social media and be able to give my take, advice, and tips on affordable makeup looks and fashion trends in clothing.
I just recently started to pursue putting my work on my social media, mainly Instagram and have been able to get some amazing support that I am very grateful and appreciative of.
I have also taken the step to go to cosmetology school so I can further pursue my passion and get my degree in a field that I love. I also am in the works to hopefully start up a YouTube channel to provide my take on makeup looks and techniques and also on affordable clothing and teach people how they can be in the now with trends without breaking the bank.
I also have plans to start a blog website and still provide products, makeup looks, advice and all my tips and tricks for all the beauty lovers out there.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
So, this has not been a smooth road for me. As I touched on, my life has taken many turns as far as allowing me to pursue opportunities to further my passions as a career. Something that has been an obstacle for me which some people finds a little hard to believe is I have unfortunately had a lot of judgment in the sense of always being dressed up and have almost been looked down upon by certain people in my life.
I have been made to feel like the odd person out and as if there was something wrong with me for being interested in this so much. It was really hard for me for a while because I could not understand why people were judging me so hard on expressing such a love and interest in makeup and fashion.
I started to question why was I interested so much.
Was I insecure? Did I not have confidence? Was I coming off conceited?
Those were the questions I had always asked myself because of the other people and the way they treated me.
Thanks to the amazing people that I have discovered on social media and YouTube, (as well as my fiancé) who are in love with doing make up and sharing their tips and into clothes and fashion as much as I am, it showed me that I am not the only one out here that is this way.
I also grew up with not a lot of money, so I never was able or had the means to buy expensive or high end make up or clothes. I thought without those things you couldn’t be taken seriously and would not be looked at in a good light compared to the others who could afford that. So, because of that, I have been able to show how to feel confident with makeup and putting looks together with a low budget and still look high end.
As I continue to put these looks together, I am always asked what products I use or where I got my clothing from and people are surprised a lot of the time that I use drugstore make up and even get a lot of my clothes from a second hand or used store.
Unfortunately, I did not have a lot of support as I was younger because people did not take this type of field seriously and thought it was just a hobby or an easy way out from what they consider a real career.
My advice to anyone out there who may feel the same way or is questioning should they go forward, is to absolutely pursue whatever your dream and passions are as hard as you can!
Sadly, I have learned that there are a lot of unhappy people out there and sometimes, if someone feels or thinks that you will become more successful or happier than them in whatever it is that you want to do they will try to tear you down and convince you that you shouldn’t in order to make themselves feel better.
Try and surround yourself with as many people who truly and genuinely support you and want to see you succeed. There are so many new ways in this day to be able to pursue your dreams and goals.
I also would like to tell people its never too late. I am 32 years old and finally on my way to going after my dreams and goals.
If you truly have a genuine love and passion for something people are going to see that and react and if you have talent, persistence and consistency are always key I’ve learned.
What should we know about Beauty/Style Blogger? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Right now, I am self-taught. I am always putting makeup looks together and fashion trends and posting on Instagram and Facebook for right now. I am always watching and learning all of the latest trends and watching beauty gurus on what they do.
I would say as of now I specialize in or what sets me apart is my style.
I like to be able to show people how to look high end or show them how to do in style looks or what is trending at an affordable price.
One of my other favorite things to do is to put looks together especially with clothing that is popular but still sets you apart just a little bit and gives you a little extra something so that you once again look “in trend” but not the exact same as everyone else.
Who do you look up to? How have they inspired you?
The women that have inspired me I would have to say would be my mother and grandmother.
Both of them have had a tough road and they have shown me how to stay strong and have thick skin and to never give up on what your passion is, no matter how hard it is to get there.
Also, I look up to a lot of the beauties on YouTube.
The three women I have looked up to for years and have inspired me are Carli Bybel, Desi Perkins, and Amanda Ensing.
I can relate to all of them in so many ways and they keep me motivated to keep pursuing my passion.
Contact Info:
- Email: jessicahsh@yahoo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hshjessica/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessdance16
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
