We had the good fortune of connecting with Natalia De Leon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Natalia, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I’ve always had a passion & love for creativity. I’ve always had many ideas but never knew how to express it, tried art & I’m okay at it I’m not the best, but then I took a course, a lashing course with Jerika Jordan, La Reina’s Lashes, at first it was hard but the more I practiced it the more I fell in love with being able to take one’s regular everyday look to something different! Sure there was a lot of trial & error but the more I practiced, the better I got, the more I wanted to get better & better. It showed me that my creative side & ideas could be expressed in a different way other than just drawing, painting, it could be done by something as simple as adding extensions onto a lash (which isn’t as easy as everyone thinks).

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My business is the same lash wise, but what sets me apart from everyone else is me, my personality, I listen to a lot of my clients, sometimes you just need someone who will listen to you, someone who will make all the worries go away even if it means getting your lashes or a facial done and taking a nap without having a worry in the world other than knowing you’re going to wake up looking like a better version of yourself. One thing about my journey though was that it wasn’t easy, I was struggling, I was debating on doing the basics of what everyone else was doing but I realized that I had to do it. I want financial freedom, I want to manage my own schedule, I have to be there for my family & son. My son plays a huge role in my career & the reason I chose it. He’s autistic & has a very rare chromosome diagnosis. Which means I have to be there unexpectedly at times when he isn’t doing okay, thankfully he has been at his best that he’s every been but he helped me overcome a lot, he taught me that the right people will have patience & can wait if you’re amazing at what you do. My husband also gave me the push to start & persuade this career & him believing in me is all that I’ve needed, besides his support as well. One of the many lessons I’ve learned along the way was that, “not all money is good money”, I’ve learned to turn away some potential clients because of the way they come off, or after taking them in and having reoccurring events happen they don’t respect boundaries after you’ve told them what wasn’t okay in the first place. To enjoy & love what you do sometimes means turning away potential clientele that doesn’t respect the boundaries from the start. I want people to know that my story & brand revolve & are because of my family, my son & motherhood. It’s important for mothers to take self care, we carry so much guilt everyday even after the day is over that we get so overwhelmed & sometimes let ourselves go. LashedMami LLC is based on my motherhood experience & my day to day life as a mother. A mother deserves the luxury to care for herself despite the amount of guilt one may feel. In order for your kids to be okay, mom has to be okay. I am a special needs mom, not many know but it is a completely different side to motherhood. One that not many understand and that I don’t expect everyone to understand. You don’t have to be a mom to be serviced by me regardless, my brand & story just simply showed me that being a mother is what pushed me to chase what I needed to chase & achieve in order to be okay for my son & family. You can put your dreams on pause for as long as you want but dreams don’t achieve themselves if you just wish for it & don’t do your part to reach it.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d love to give credit to Jerika Jordan, La Reina’s Lashes. She is the person who not only certified me but pushed me to get licensed. Nothing but full support & motivation. Bri’an Grant for also helping me with a few tips & tricks when it came to the small lash struggles I had, last but not least my husband & son. At the end of everyday they were always there & very supportive. I’d also like to thank, The Hair Cafe Cosmetology & Barber College, for being flexible with my life & being able to graduate. Also my current clientele, if it wasn’t for the upkeep of them I don’t know where my craft would be.

Website: www.lashedmami.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/lashedmami__?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Linkedin: https://linktr.ee/lashedmami

Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-qva9hlmhQE&feature=youtu.be

Image Credits
IG @kstudios_photos

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutDFW is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.