Today we’d like to introduce you to Silvia Moreira.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Silvia. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
So, where do I start? I am from Houston born and raised but my parents are from El Salvador. I come from a family of immigrants. My parents came to the US with my older brothers from Central America with nothing. They both worked multiple jobs while taking care of us to give us a better life. And boy did that work and I will always be thankful for all of their sacrifices. I learned to work hard from my parents through their example and started working at the age of 17 selling CD’s at a retail store while going to school. I then attended college at the University of Houston while I worked part-time at a law firm as a clerk. My parents didn’t have the money to pay for my education so I had to work and pay for it myself, apply for financial aid and student loans. I always thought that to be successful I had to go to college and get a higher paying job. While that’s not always true, in my case it was the fastest way for me to earn the money I needed to later help me pursue my passion and things I love to do while being able to help my parents and give back to them. I was the first to graduate college from my family and right after graduation, I started working in corporate America. I was living the life making good money, buying things, traveling places, I was finally able to help my family and live the lifestyle I wanted. But something was missing.
After four years of working in the corporate world, I started growing tired of it and I wasn’t feeling fulfilled. I felt guilty because I felt like I should have been grateful for what I had and everything I had accomplished. But I felt lost. I didn’t know what to do, I wasn’t happy at my job and I felt stuck. At that time, I started watching YouTube a lot as an escape and fell in love with makeup tutorials and videos. I started playing more and more with makeup which sparked my love that I always had for beauty. I always liked makeup because of how it made me feel, I had acne when I was younger and I used makeup to make me feel more confident. But then, it became therapeutic when I did my makeup and helped with my anxiety that I was feeling from not being happy with my current job. I started applying to other jobs because I thought that was going to help me feel better if I left the company I was working for. But every time I applied to the same jobs, I knew it wasn’t something I loved.
When months went by and I couldn’t find another job, I was feeling at my lowest. I felt like I wasn’t doing anything meaningful with my life. I started getting the thought of what if I started my own YouTube channel and share the things that made me feel happy to help others feel happy too. I started researching on how to start a YouTube channel by watching other videos and asking questions. For the new year, I decided I was going to post my first video on YouTube. I was so nervous and scared but I did it anyway, I knew that it was something I had to do in my gut. I started from 0 and almost three years later, I’m now at 3,000 subscribers and over 600k views, which may not seem like a lot but I found something that I loved to do, which is creating content. It hasn’t been easy at all, I have taken multiple YouTube courses, learn how to edit, and create new videos and staying consistent posting every week as much as possible. There are so many people on YouTube now so the competition is fierce, if you don’t have a passion for this then you will fail because it’s years of not seeing much of any return. I still don’t make enough to make a living from YouTube but I have already been given so many great opportunities, this interview being one of them, that I would have never had if I didn’t start my YouTube channel. I am still working at my corporate job which helps me maintain my channel for now but I hope to one day make it my full-time job. But even if I don’t, I will still be ok with doing videos and working at my job because I love it. I love helping other people with my videos and it brings fulfillment to my life.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. There have been many times where I wanted to quit, but I just took breaks, recharged and kept going. Some of the struggles I faced along the way, were sleepless nights, staying up till one or two in the morning editing videos, filming for hours, having technical issues with audio or computer and needing to re-film and re-edit videos which takes hours to do. Having the stress of essentially having two jobs and the pressure of staying consistent. The sacrifices of staying in on the weekends working instead of just watching tv shows or going out.
My advice for other women would be to remember why you started, if you don’t know your why, then it will be hard to not give up and keep going. You have to have a strong why and always remember it in order to stay focused and reach your goal. Find what makes you happy and do the things you love. Don’t feel like you have to do something you don’t love because of what others might think. Do your research, look up educational videos, books, find out as much information as possible and then apply it.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with SilviaMBeauty – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
I am a Latina beauty content creator on YouTube and I focus on making videos on cruelty-free beauty. I am proud of how far I have come and the message I bring to others from my content. I love animals and I love makeup. But I don’t believe that any makeup company should use animals for testing. There are so many other brands out in the market that doesn’t perform or allow testing on animals that consumers can support so that animal testing can end. I think what sets me apart is my cultural background, work ethic, and honesty. I don’t like to sugar coat things and I also don’t see many Latina channels that support cruelty-free beauty brands. Which I am here to bring awareness to and that there are other amazing options.
There’s a wealth of academic research that suggests that a lack of mentors and networking opportunities for women has materially affected the number of women in leadership roles. Smart organizations and industry leaders are working to change this, but in the meantime, do you have any advice for finding a mentor and building a network?
Honestly, I have never had a mentor. I was my own mentor and have been ever since I started working. I’m kind of a loner like that and just worked on things alone without any help from anyone. I guess because I always felt like I couldn’t go to my parents for help since they didn’t know English or had the education to help me. I got used to figuring out things by myself. I found mentors online because I didn’t know anywhere else to look. There are so many online mentors and authors that I feel like anyone can find who they resonate with. Some of the people I call as my mentors online are Dave Ramsey, Gary Vee, Tati, Eva Gutowski, Erika Vieira, and Sean Cannell. There are podcasts, YouTube videos, books. So many ways to find a mentor and someone that can help online. I love the internet!
Contact Info:
- Website: youtube.com/silviambeauty
- Email: emailsilvia.m@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silviambeauty
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SilviaMBeauty/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/silviambeauty
- Other: https://obsw.it/smb
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