Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Hall.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
For as long as I can remember art has been a fundamental part of who I am and how I function. Every aspect of my life in some way can be tied together by the creative field. I started designing and sewing at the age of 5, and fashion was my gateway into the arts. Designing lead to my hunger for more. I learned early on that the world of fashion took an army to fully finish your vision, I wanted to be every piece of that army. I took it upon myself to learn the skills I would need to succeed in the fashion world. I fell in love with understanding the art of the human body through sketching and painting portraits in my art classes. This cultivated a love for the human body in a new way, finding such beauty in the way each human can use fashion and art as self-expression to share with the world. Once I had an understanding of the human body, I knew my next step was to put that knowledge to work, deciding to learn the art of hair and makeup. I fell in love very quickly with the beauty world and the art that hair and makeup truly are. I pursued experience in the HAMU world first for events friends would attend (homecoming, formals, prom, etc.) which lead to bigger events later down the line (weddings, fashion shows, photoshoots, etc.) My education came into place during the height of the pandemic received my Makeup Artist license online in 2020 and currently going back to school at the Aveda Institute Dallas to be licensed fully in cosmetology est. September 2022. While working behind the scenes with photographers on set as hair and makeup I slowly became more and more interested in the world of photography. When I was 16 a dear friend Kenneth Sicson (@ksisconphotography) took me under his wings and started to teach me the basics of photography. This was the turning point in my career. Photography has given me an outlet to show off the beauty in the world, from people to products, each photo tells a different story, which is one of the most special things about this art form. Seeking beauty. A goal we’ve sat back and seen society hunger over for years. Trends changing, cultures shifting and humans evolving into their own personal expressions. Beauty is a trait longed for by many, yet if we open our eyes, we see that beauty is found in everything. My goal as a creative in a beauty-filled industry is to help each person who comes in my path find their own personal self-expression, to pull the most vibrant version of themself to display for the world. I create to empower people, not to change people. My path in the industry has been nothing but full of twists and turns. I didn’t know how to choose one art form to fall in love with, so I led with my heart and a whole lot of faith and decided to run with them all.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Yes and no. With the side of communal support, yes 100% my road has been smooth. The people in my life, for the most part, have been extremely supportive of my path. My community was always prepared to be my test subjects for new projects and was more than excited to share the journey with me. But more important than that was the support I received from my family. There was never a fuss between my family and me about wanting to be an artist, they knew when I was young that the creative field is where I belong and that is something I will forever be grateful for. The parts that have been bumpy in my path mainly were the growing pains, the seasons of creative burnout, questioning if I was truly “good enough” to make it in the industry, fighting the urge to “just pick one” instead of following my dreams of pursuing all of the art forms I love. I’ve had to learn how to let go of the idea of perfect and fallen in love with failure as the more I seem to “fail” the more room I have given myself to grow. I knew it would be a lot of hard work but man it is work that I will always be willing to make and the payoff has been beautiful.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
The best way to explain what I do is as a freelance creative. I currently work as a social media manager and graphic designer for a wonderful coffee shop in North West Dallas. Under the umbrella of this job, I run photography, branding, social media, and any graphic updates for the business. I work small freelance jobs in graphic design and photography under my company Ziggy as well! On the other end of things in the beauty world, I currently am a vendor at Vantage Street Studios as the in-house hair and makeup artist as well as freelance for any events or shoots that come along the way. I would like to say that in all of my crafts I specialize in an end result that shares a story and accentuates self-expression amongst my clients. I’m known for pulling out the fun and the funky in my work showing off each client’s personality, my work is less of a reflection of me and more of a reflection of my clients, in that you can see my heart for people and my mission to help people discover who they are. I’m most proud of my hard work. At the end of the day, all of my achievements could be taken away or looked past but I will always know deep down the faith, hard work, and effort I have put in to be where I am today and to me, that is something to be proud of. I believe what sets me apart from others is the way I work from person to person. As I previously said, I want my work to be a reflection of my client with the finish of Tori.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Don’t be afraid to compliment others. I think in today’s world we are so shy to speak out when we see the beauty that we often can miss some of the most wonderful opportunities. You can never waste words when it comes to kindness. Tell people when you see something you like, start a conversation with your fellow artists and learn to appreciate the differences in our fields. I don’t believe a mentor needs to have the same style of vision as you to be a good fit, so don’t be afraid to seek after an elder creative with differences to mentor you. Lastly, I can’t stress enough the importance of kindness, I have met some of my greatest networking connections just from a kind Instagram dm complementing each other for one work. Don’t be afraid and be kind, that’s the best advice I can give.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: VictoriaFHall
Image Credits
KSisphotogrtaohy
