Bishuwish

I found this Maybelline lip gloss in a binder from high school at my parents house the other day it is
over 10 years old
sitting in the same little pocket it lived in when I was in high school
Back then I used to sit in that tiny bedroom in my small town and daydream about doing makeup for a living
about working with the brands I was obsessed with
about somehow making beauty my full time job
Fast forward from high school to 2024 and I’m sending long emails to Maybelline pitching myself
sharing my numbers
my media kit
my heart
and getting a very polite no
What you don’t see behind that no are the years of people telling me this wasn’t a real career
that I was crazy for letting go of my salon
that content creation wasn’t sustainable
that I should be “more realistic”
You don’t see the nights I stayed up researching algorithms
teaching myself e commerce
learning how to film and edit
pushing content when the views were embarrassing
absorbing comments from strangers and whispers from people I loved who genuinely did not believe in me
You don’t see the conversations where people I considered close made fun of what I was doing
talked about me behind my back
judged me for wanting more than what our small town expected from me
But I knew in my gut that this was my path
and I decided their version of me was never going to become my truth
So I kept going
I kept posting
I kept learning
I kept showing up for my community
I kept choosing kindness even when it would have been easier to be bitter
Two years later I am not only working with Maybelline I work with every single brand that once told me no
The same brands that passed on me now email me daily
send PR to my doorstep, send me on trips
and trust me to move product for them
This is not a brag
This is a reminder
You are going to be told no
often
People are going to doubt you
judge you
laugh at you
project their own fear and limitations onto your dreams
You cannot let their opinion of you become the story you tell yourself
I have believed from day one that if I combined ridiculous hard work with genuine love for people
if I stayed humble
if I treated others well
if I used my platform to actually help someone
that I would be taken care of
I am a firm believer that you cannot be a horrible person and live a beautiful life
The blessings that have shown up in my career are not just from numbers
They are from energy
from intention
from refusing to let success change who I am on the inside
From supporting others and being happy for their wins
Clapping for people when it wasn’t my time to shine yet, but theirs
Staying humble and not letting a new culture change me, my morals or the way I love others
Since starting this journey I have met some of the sweetest souls
Some of my closest friends in this industry are in their 50s and started content creation only a few years ago
There is no deadline on starting over
There is no age limit on becoming the version of you that you know you are
There is no age or timeline where you should ever stop dreaming
If you need a sign to keep going
this is it
It is never too late to try something new
never too late to put your whole heart into a dream
never too late to feel proud of a life other people do not understand
Save this for the next time someone tells you no
and remember a no is not the end of your story
It might just be the plot twist that makes it worth telling

To you it’s a picture of a lipgloss, but to me it’s a picture of a dream that started many years ago, and I never let being told no take that dream away from me. 💜