I declare right here and now that it’s OK to quit a dream!
Almost no one talks about how quitting can be the best and bravest choice to put ourselves on the path to greater happiness.
The prolific onslaught of motivational quotes telling you to “never give up” are valuable when you need a reminder to stay focused on your end game, but where are the quotes about when it’s time to give up, pack it up and move on?
Quit smoking. Good for you!
Quit your dream. Unacceptable.
People will come up with a hundred cliches to tell you to keep going -even if it’s not in your best interest – but how can anyone know what’s right for you?
Does anyone have a measuring stick with a point on it that says, “You achieved success. You can stop now guilt-free. Game over.”?
I didn’t get one of those, so if you have one let me know. I’d love to borrow it sometime.
Somehow we have it ingrained in us that it is downright virtuous to trudge up the mountain side and walk through fire over and over again for the great glory of having “made it”.
If you’ve been stomping the same path of following your dream for so long, that it has turned into a drudgery of yuckiness, it might be time to reassess some things — I’m just sayin’.
Sometimes the kindest and bravest thing you can do for yourself is to give up.
Choose to stop the merry-go-round, so you can move on to something that gets you jumping out of bed in the morning and inspires you to go forward and expand.
It’s scary to acknowledge when your old dream no longer feels like the right fit.
I think a lot of times we go to blaming ourselves that we have to try harder to make our dream happen, but what if it’s just not working? And we’re not getting the message because we’re hanging on to some fortune cookie that said, “never give up.”
So I realized it’s time to quit a dream I’ve been keeping alive for 10 years: I’m letting go of a being a full-time a makeup artist and am leaving New York City.
Let me explain why…
The dream that started it all
10 years ago I told a therapist about my completely absurd life goal: to live and work as make up artist in Milan (and learn to speak Italian fluently).
I felt embarrassed to say it out loud, even in a private office because to me it was such a pipe dream that it felt ridiculous to even want it.
At the time I was living in Portland, Oregon, had a stable job as a 27-year old CFO at a famous music company (no joke!) and spoke about 10 words of Italian.
Regardless, I made the decision to risk (what felt like everything) and follow the dream I’d had since I was 13, to be a top makeup artist traveling the world.
Later people would say how lucky I was to be going to Italy as a makeup artist. Luck had very little do do with what happened.
For over a year I worked three part-time jobs to save money. Including glamorous gigs doing mini makeovers for L’Oreal at Walmart. I’m not making this stuff up. (Evidence below. OMG!!)
I sold my car and half of what I owned, studied Italian in my free time, and booked a plane ticket to Milan in the early spring of 2007. I was desperate. I was hungry. I wanted something more and to see how far I could fly so badly!
Every fearful and tearful moment I pushed through to get to Milan, and later to NYC, was 100% worth it.
What I learned from that was:
When a dream scares the crap out of you and your heart aches wondering “what if?” — that’s the one to follow. That’s the one that will drive you to do the seemingly impossible. That’s the one that will pay off.
Hustling
I hustled with the best of them. I found the guts to live and work in Milan as a makeup artist. Yes, I did learn to speak Italian fluently. I had to pinch myself at runway shows all over the globe working with the best makeup artists in the world, like Pat McGrath, Charlotte Tilbury, Dick Page, Peter Philips and many more. If you’re curious, you can see my resume here.
I stood outside the show tents in Paris at 6am before Dior and Louis Vuitton with tears in my eyes hardly believing I was about to do makeup on Pat McGrath’s team. For me it was the ultimate dream come true.
Backstage at Dolce & Gabbana in 2008
But then it started to wear on me. It wasn’t enough. I couldn’t relax.
The competition. The politics. The ego stroking to get ahead. My love for doing makeup was withering.
It just wasn’t what I thought it would be
The glamour and the promises didn’t fill my soul the way they used to…or maybe they never did.
Finally coming to terms with that was big, and it was scary.
I stayed until I found myself resenting my own dream.
To the detriment of my career, I cared less about the fashion and more about what was happening to the models, who I felt were suffering. That’s part of what led me to start paying attention to what I was putting on their skin, and ultimately start using clean beauty products.
Even top model Cara Delevingne is over it and echoed my feelings about her departure from modeling and the fashion world in a recent interview:
I was, like, fight and flight for months. Just constantly on edge. I ended up feeling a bit hollow. Fashion is about what’s on the outside, and that’s it. There’s no searching, it’s just creating pretty things.
Like Cara, I too felt my soul was bruised, but how could I leave when I was so close to the top, working for people many aspiring artists would give their right arm to work with?
So I stayed — too long.
Will I become irrelevant?
Trust me, I wrested with this one for a while. I don’t have 18.5 million instagram followers (yet).
The ego loves to be able to identify with very specific set of labels to hold us in and protect us. That’s why it gets so frightening to change.
Giving up an old life for a new one means having to burst out of an identity that’s become familiar that it seems as if that’s really who you are, even if it’s so uncomfortable that deep down you know it’s not who you are at all.
What kind of crazy person leaves New York City?!
For some people New York is everything. It’s never been that way for me. It was just part of a journey I had to take.
Here in Manhattan there’s always a carrot dangling in front of you; pushing you forward another step – no matter how tired, worn out, or unhappy you’ve become.
Yes, it’s the concrete jungle that dreams are made of and Frank Sinatra’s crooning “if I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere!” feels so inspiring that I sing along every time.
I’ll admit I got swept up idealizing the hunger of climbing to the top of the heap in the “greatest city on earth”.
Whenever we imagine a big change, not everything has to break away. Some pieces can stay. They just get shifted around to make more room.
You have to be willing to make space for a new dream by letting go of the old one first.
I’m not giving up doing makeup and NYC all together.
I’ve still got clients, my agency and fashion weeks that will keep me flying back and forth often. I feel beyond grateful for the rich experiences and incredible people I have befriended and encountered along the way.
I L O V E the transformation of doing makeup and creating art on faces. It’s in my very essence of being.
I just don’t love toxic environments. So for years I’ve been pulling away from fashion and working more on commercial shoots, personal projects and green beauty and with clients/teams I like to be around, which has saved me.
The New Dream
It’s time to take all this amazing 10 years of artistry and knowledge so I can help people through my gifts and skills in an even more meaningful way.
The old dream has been my north star for a decade, but now the soft voice in my soul begs to have a garden again, to be surrounded by nature, family and friends.
Don’t get me wrong, I am so proud that I lived out my dream, even more fully than I had originally had the courage to imagine.
But I don’t want to miss another opportunity to look into my 95 year-old grandma’s crystal blue eyes for whatever time she has left on this planet.
The universe has been pushing me this direction for a while— and before it hits me over the head with a 2×4, I’m choosing a new direction first.
I’m choosing to quit and choosing to leave New York.
Butterflies
For the first time in a long time, I have that feeling of excitement over a big dream again. Oh and yes, it scares the crap out of me too on occasion.
Butterflies in my tummy are how I know this is exactly what I need to be doing.
We must be willing to reinvent. If we stick to our ways and become too comfortable in who we think we know ourselves to be, we can never truly experience anything greater than that.
So I will take the leap, go within the cocoon of transformation and hopefully emerge a more beautiful butterfly.
I am perched on the cliff’s edge of a dream that my heart has been calling for. A better quality of life and to become the leader I know I am meant to be in the space of “green” beauty.
So there’s my long narrative about giving yourself permission to quit. Thank you for reading the whole thing. I hope in some way this has given you a nugget of wisdom to take into your own life.
Will you share with me below how this impacted you?
I would love to hear from you in the comments below!
Your title is extremely misleading. You didn’t quit your dream; your dream changed. In fact, you LIVED your dream, something most of us will NEVER get to do!
I don’t wish you any ill. In fact, I can wish you well as you’re just another person trying to find happiness and treasure family, which is a relatable wish.
But you had huge success in one thing before age 30, and walked away from success and security to chase a childhood dream, which you got to live out. That may be inspirational to a 20 year old who’s doubting their dreams, and good for them if it’s what they need. But as someone pushing 30 who’s nowhere close to making ANY dream happen, this article was just another depressing reminder of how other people can manage the 3 jobs at a time to go chase a dream, and how my own body will never allow that now.
For those of us that have to give up on dreams because it’s just not physically possible, it’s cruel and heartbreaking to see someone talk about giving up on a dream they’ve been living for years. If you have been forced to give up because prolonged infection caused brain damage that makes it impossible to even remember your own name on bad days, or because a car accident caused by another person’s criminal acts destroyed your knees and permanently damaged your back (knee replacement surgery, btw, is almost never done on people under 60 because of how quickly the artifical joints wear out, so you just have to deal with the constant pain and external devices like braces or crutches or a wheelchair for possibly more than 40 years before you can get a properly functioning joint again), then a story like yours really does sound like you’re not appreciating what you have had the chance to do.
If I could go back a decade, I’d tell myself to stay the course in my studies, leave community college without an Associate Degree if necessary but stay the course and finish the degree I said I wanted at 18, because even though I likely wouldn’t have been happy, at least I wouldn’t have found a dream I would have no chance of getting to really chase. That, right there, is giving up on a dream: wishing you had never been introduced to the idea of it so that it wouldn’t be ripping your heart out to know you can’t have what you worked most of your twenties to do, and now you can’t even get a survival job because your degree is worthless to everything available. Giving up on a dream means you haven’t made it and you are coming to terms with the reality that you never will.
Your dream changed; it evolved and grew with you and your heart pointed you in the direction of the next dream which you seem to be excelling at as well.
For me, and countless others like me, our dreams haven’t changed but our reality has turned out to be such that holding on to those dreams is only causing more pain and distracting from the need to survive.
Don’t confuse your journey of one success after another with the struggle the majority of us go through which is more like a story of one failure after another after another after another until it becomes painfully apparent that there is no reason to hope your life story as a whole will change if the current path isn’t abandoned entirely. Most of us don’t get to even chase a dream. You lived it and got to find a new dream when you got fed up with the maintenance required to keep that dream.
Do those of us truly giving up on our dreams a favor and change your article title. It’s hurtful to those who don’t need reminding that others get their dream while we won’t.
Hi Katie, I can feel from what you shared that you have experienced great pain in your life. I thank you for taking time to express where you are.
Even though my life path and struggles may not be a direct comparative to your life, or feel as dire to you, it does not diminish what I have written or the inspiration it can provide (and has already) for others.
We each have a story to share about our own unique adversities. While they shape how we approach life, I do not believe that we *are* our adversities. I believe we are far more powerful when we connect into our Source.
In fact the most inspirational people I’ve ever seen, read or listened to tell stories of overcoming incredible, seemingly insurmountable challenges to accomplish their goals — with lives far more challenging that my own.
Should they not tell their stories because someone else in the world might have had it worse than them? I think not, because I want to find the inspiration.
I choose what I see and I choose whether I will allow it to inspire new belief and action into my life — or not.
Whether I feel that I have consciously created the conditions or they happened upon me in some way, I remember that I am always given choice to create anew. It takes continuous practice to believe and be able to act outside of the agreement we have given to our struggles.
Whenever I have felt stuck and like I was pinned in a place of “not getting” something, I turn to spiritual tools and therapy to help me find a way to enter into my own realm of possibility — and to cease putting energy and attention to arguing for my limitations, no matter how real or limiting they feel.
Brilliant! SO many insights and nuggets. Really helpful and so true- it is ok to course correct at any time our soul is calling us too. THANK YOU!! Also, I’m very excited to see what this next chapter holds for you!~ XO
You’re the perfect exsmple of ‘feeling the fear but doing it anyway’ ( there’s a great book with that title, I believe the author is Susan Jeffers). I am so happy for you. You had the courage to let go and because you allowed yourself to ‘quit’. You’re about to go to an Awesome level in your life, an ‘adventure’ that will impact and inspire many lives AND bring you immense joy. I wish you all the BEST.
Kristen! I really enjoyed your article. I can relate with so much of what you said. I did the same thing and decided to leave NY, taking all the experience and knowledge that only comes from living in a city like NY with me. I chose a better quality of life that works for me. I’ll always love NY in the way you love an old friend, knowing she’s only a plane ride away if we need to catch up. Best of luck darling!!
Hey Kristen,
I’ve found your article by chance on the internet. I am Italian, I live in Como (lake), very close to Milan and found your article very interesting and inspiring! Because at this stage of my life I’m doing everything I can to change my life to become a MUA in Milan and maybe one day in New York !! Just like you 10 years ago!
On one hand I’m quite sure my dream will become as big as yours, all of me is telling that! But on the other one I also know that the world of fashion can be frustrating and exhausting. I really hope I can find a balance between my “artistic and deep soul” and this world of superficiality. I really do.
I wish you good for your new project! Send me an e-mail if you will come back in Italy! 🙂
Take care
Elisa
Kristen, I wish you nothing but the best in your journey to happiness. You are so inspiring and I hope you get to achieve that big dream!!
You are such an inspiration! Being a part of the beauty industry myself as a makeup artist and hair stylist; I have also started to realize how becoming a well known artist doesn’t within itself fulfill this yearning I have to make true positive impact on the world! Thank you for having the courage to be an example for others to realize that it is OK to change your path at any point in time within ones life! This is how we all ultimately grow for the betterment of humanity. Cheers!
Thank you so much for sharing this article. Over the past couple of years I’ve started transitioning from my twenty year career as a professional theatrical dancer. I’ve often felt disappointed with myself, but the last few years I wasn’t loving it. I still love dance, but the hustle of putting myself out on the line with hundred other dancers at every audition wasn’t bearable anymore . Reading your article really touched me because I realized that I’d given 250%, reached many of my goals, and that yes it was ok to quit! Seeing that in print was an “aha” moment for me.
Thank you, and all the best for you and your transition!
As someone who has lived in the Pacific Northwest all her life, I don’t
see how you could have left. But if you hadn’t, you would have always
wondered…. At 56 I have finally realized this, what we call life in
the end doesn’t matter that much, all of us living in 2015 will die someday
and a new generation will think everything is about them as did we.
What does matter is if you are happy, doing whatever makes you happy…
On your deathbed, you are not going to wish you had worked more, earned
more money or been prettier….it’ll be wishing you had spent more time
with family, enjoying nature etc….
I absolutely love this post. You are so inspiring. I’m excited to see how this next dream of yours unfolds. Wishing you much ease and grace on this next part of your journey.
If we don’t listen to the little voice inside us when it speaks, eventually we stop hearing it.
It’s good to honor where you are in life, even if it’s scary. Often what’s most scary is where we need to move to, so that we can continue to grow as human beings. You said: “The universe has been pushing me this direction for a while— and before it hits me over the head with a 2×4, I’m choosing a new direction first.” Isn’t that the truth?
You will never regret spending time with your grandmother, and once she’s gone, it will be a comfort to you.
Thank you so much for being open and honest! I wish you much joy and success in your new phase of life 🙂
Warmly yours,
Amanda
I never comment online but I just feel compelled to say I’m so happy that I stumbled on this article. I was trolling for more info on green cosmetics and then randomly caught this post. This is something so close to my heart as I’m struggling with the decision over whether I should continue my small business. So many times I feel that what I really want is harmony, and not to constantly be fighting for my ambition. But wrestling with failure or quitting is also so difficult. Thank you for sharing. It helps me feel comforted to hear someone else say that sometimes it’s just time to make room for other things. Wishing you the best on your new chapter.
Hi Kristen,
My comment seems to have been cut off before I finished so I just wanted to add thatI know how difficult it can be to feel conflicted between what you love to do and things that make you uncomfortable and I truly admire you for following your instinct, even though you have to sacrifice some of the things you do love. I’m sure you will strike a perfect balance, continuing to do what you love in a more meaningful way to you.
All my best,
Marlene
Hi Kristen,
I just wanted to wish you all the best in your new adventure. I met you on The Taste of Health Cruise a few years ago. You were invited to join our group for dinner and I had the fortune of sitting next to you at the table. It was clear to me what a sensitive, caring person you were, even in the brief time that we spent talking. I know how difficult it is to make a huge change in your life and move in a different direction. I also can imagine how difficult
Well said, you are so right and there is nothing Brave about doing what you’re doing, you’re just changing track. I’m looking forward to reading how you’re getting on, it will be brilliant. Good luck!
Is it too soon to throw up a “West Sizide” hand sign? Welcome back, you. 😉
NEW YORK CAN BE A GREAT EXPERIENCE IN MANY WAYS BUT IT IS WAY TO INTENSE FOR ANYONE WHOSE TRYING TO GROW SPIRITUALLY, CREATIVELY & HEALTHILY AS WELL. IT WILL ALWAYS BE A PART OF YOU BUT YOU ARE DEFINITIVELY IN TUNE TO MOVE ON AT THE TIME IT FEELS RIGHT TO. ALL THE BEST TO YOU KRISTEN ON YOUR JOURNEY & THANK YOU FOR ALL THE GREEN, OXIGENATED KNOWLEDGE SHARED
God Speed Kristen. I used to do the same moves years ago and found it very rewarding. Now I can no longer move and want to so badly. I have lost almost everything in my life and lucky to have a roof over my head. But painting is my one love and I am trying to do that but I need to move again soon for the building I live in has roaches, mice, you name it. I don’t have the means financially to make a move as I wish but I will not give up trying to find my way to paint and hope that some day I can help myself. Good luck to you and looking forward to all the newsletters.
Ciao Kristen,non fai affatto male a lasciare N.Y anzi…..:-) e il cambiamento è vita!!!rimani solo sempre fedele e in risonanza con quello che il tuo cuore sente e vaiiiiiiiii,un bacio grande e attendo i cambiamenti,non sei sola 🙂
Stefania
Remember that you’re not alone on this journey. We are better and stronger once on the other side…best part is dreams are free.
After 36 years of living in Southern California, I chose to move back to Chicago – where I grew up. I lived in Southern California for the majority of my adult life – I completely understand your need to make a change. Good luck with your new endeavor – I know whatever you do, you’ll be successful.
Kristen! Bravo! and Congratulations!
Such a wonderful post!
It is so refreshing that you were mindful and respectful of yourself and brave enough to re-invent yourself.
I believe that every 10 years we should all go through a reinvention to varying degrees. It can be very minor or a complete evolution, but I think its essential to our mental and emotional well being and will help move us forward along our path.
I think its especially difficult when one is a pioneer of a field, as you are. As an integrative veterinarian I often find myself torn between the conventional world and the holistic world; much the same way you must find yourself torn between green beauty and the fashion industry. I do have faith that both of our warring worlds will someday combine, as that is the future.
I look forward to seeing what the future has in store for you. Regardless of the what, I know it will be bright!
I am very excited for you too because you have lived your dream, once you have done what you have dreamed, what then? I think you choose wisely, it’s like another dream you are trying to fulfill. I am currently in the middle of mine and can’t wait to complete it. I am studying for criminal justice and next year I graduate from my bachelor’s and off to law school. It does freak me out, but I have learned that if you truly want something you will have it.
Kristen, this was a beautiful and encouraging read. I can definitely relate to your sentiments about New York, the city can be so draining on one’s spirit. I know I am feeling the same way about my life, my dreams, and where I’m meant to be right now.
You are an inspiration and a true green beauty leader! I know you will find much success in whatever you pursue and wherever you go next. Hope to see you soon! Stay in touch.
xo
Awesome post! Your expanding not quitting, changing direction is both courageous and inspiring! You are leading others in ways you may not see yet. I’m so grateful to read your honesty and the fact that you had the balls to share it.
Thank you for being you.
I’m not seeing you quitting a dream. I’m seeing you create and pursue fresh dreams. Kick ass. Take names. Much love. : )
This speaks to what I am finding in my life. The dreams we hold onto can become cages and hold us back from what is even more fulfilling. I am at a very similar place and I’m so encouraged by your post. Thank you for sharing your heart and trusting your instinct.
Congratulations on having the clarity, courage and faith to quit! I can’t wait to read about this next part of your journey. You bring a very important message to beauty and I hope you will continue.
I love your message. Quitting takes enormous courage, clarity and faith. What you do next will be an inspiration. I can’t wait to read about this next part of your journey. Congratulations to you for all the work you have done that brings you to this new opening. You bring a fresh perspective to beauty. I hope you will continue.
So inspiring Kristin! I am so excited to follow you on your new journey. Many blessings and bright days ahead! Xo
Beautifully written and wish you the most of luck in your NEXT dream:) hope you keep us up to date on any (beauty) secrets you may have as you continue down another road. xxStacey
Get out of my head. I’m experiencing the same feelings. Kudos to your for listening to your inner voice and thanks for your “giving up” testimony. Peace, love & light to your future 😉
congrats on being honest and true to yourself. You are right, many people do not talk about what happens when you ” get your dream” or when you accomplish your dreams.. what next? it is always about asking the questions–awareness is what is truly important. It’s so important to always be asking questions to yourself—what makes me happy? what makes me feel alive? and those answers will always be changing.. to ask yourself the questions is courageous and to follow through is even more so. good luck to you on your beautiful journey. hope we get to see goodbye in person! 🙂 cheers.
D
I don’t see this as quitting at all. You accomplished so much and you will continue to accomplish a lot. I think we grow and change as we age (if we’re lucky). Having the wisdom to be introspective and find out what makes you happy and fulfilled is a great gift. I think understanding when to be true to yourself and what you want out of life is so very important. As they say, you never want your tombstone to say ‘she worked so hard at her job’! That isn’t what a happy life is about. Family, friends, health and happiness are the most important in my opinion. Best of luck in the next step of your journey.
“You have arrived” if you are the one making the decision to change your dream. It’s not quitting. And I’m sure you will succeed in making your next dream come true.
All the best to you Kristen and your Grandma!
xoxo,
Karen
Kristin,
First of all congratulations to you and lots of good wishes. You are so courageous and inspirational. I feel as if I know you from your posts and look forward to reading more in the future. Time with family is the most important thing and you made the perfect decision not to miss out on having it with your beautiful grandmother. Best of luck! Dana
Wow! Such a powerful moving post I recently decided to let go of my dream to pursue a career in fashion for similar reasons and am embarking on a new journey that I hope will fill my soul! Thank you for saying out loud what so many of us want to say! Wish you all the best and look forward to reading about your new adventures!
Best of Luck to you Kristen! I love reading your green beauty posts. I’ve always wanted to be a makeup artist, though I knew I never wanted to go to New York or travel the world. I am a licensed esthetician and nail tech. I have been able to help people in salons and spas I have worked in. At one point a couple years ago, when the economy was really BAD, I had to take an office job, to be able to pay the mortgage, and I needed the benefits and healthcare that you don’t get from working in the beauty industry. (on a commission based salary)At least not in the places I worked. So I am still licensed, and still love all things skin and nail related. I keep my license active in case I ever want to do it part time. I do manis and pedis for friends and family. I look at skin care differently too. Now I want all things to be more “green.” and gluten free in my case. Your site helps with all that. You have to follow your heart. You will do well no matter what you do. Best Wishes!!!!!
Yay for you Kristen, to leap boldly into the unknown, and create a new reality for yourself!! xo Sending big hugs for a happy time ahead with your new life bringing with it all that you are hoping for and more so xo
It’s funny really to read such a personal post and feel like it was meant for me. Thank you for sharing it! I’ve been feeling stuck in my life for a long time now and looking for a way to find myself again. This post is inspiring! Good luck with everything and thank you!
Girl, you are a leader no matter what you do. You did what you wanted, and then you did what others are afraid to do (what I do daily) which is out the Greenwashers. You have to stay true to you and I admire and adore that about you. No you aren’t crazy to leave NYC. Yes I love it, could I live there? Probably not. Good for you, every wish of happiness and health are with you from one greenie to another. Way to GO!! Xo
Kristen, wow! What a message, and much needed for me to hear right now as well. Thank you for your honesty. Having the wisdom and courage to know when it’s time to move on to the next best thing that is going to grow you is no easy fete, but it beyond worth it in the end. I look forward to the great things you will do! 🙂 Denise
Thank you for the honest shoot from the hip wisdom! Anyone living in NYC suffers from the mentality that they have to “make it” no matter what the cost, no matter what the sacrifice. It takes courage & self-awareness to walk away when the timing feels right. In bocca al lupo, bella donna! 🙂
I literally am crying over this post. Yes, I’m sad to see you leave Manhattan but I’m crying more for tears of joy for YOU- you are amazing and you are so talented and you are incredible. I’m grateful for having you in my life and for working with you and having you do my makeup! You’re such a genuine person and this post says it all. Let yourself fly, go girl go! You deserve it. I’m so happy for you and so proud of you.
This isn’t good bye. I know I’ll be seeing you soon and of course you’ll have a fabulous ‘leaving NYC’ hugging fest where I’ll be! Thank you for this inspiring post; you’re an inspiration to many people in your shoes who are too scared to say these words and take the leap!
Big hugs.
xoxo
Amie
Thanks for opening your heart and sharing. I met you at a market in Oregon through your cousin Ingrid who was working for me. It will be exciting to see where your courage and determination take you next. My plunge into the natural Personal care products industry came unexpectedly and at a great price. (Story is on my website ). But I couldn’t be happier with where this journey has taken me. Kudos to you and let’s have coffee when you come to Oregon next time.
Hi Kristen-
Thanks for sharing! I’ve been following you for some time now and I had a sense that you weren’t fitting in NYC anymore and it was time to move. Must be a makeup artist intuition. I love what you’re doing in the makeup world right now. And I consider you and the Green Beauty Team my top on-line beauty mentors. Keep following your dreams and now Milan is somewhere else. Xxoo
I am so excited for you!! Quitting something you’ve poured your heart, soul and years of your life into is terrifying, and exhilarating. I can’t wait to hear about the new path you’re on. ???
Hello lovely…. An incredibly true and courageous statement. I don’t know what you’re planning to do next, but I can promise you that everything that has come before has prepared you for this next chapter. I hope you love your garden and get to make tissane from it to share with your grandmother… Often. Wishing you so well in this next phase…
Congrats for having the courage to move on! Life is short, you can choose whatever path brings joy. No rights or wrongs or even “quitting”. Just walking down a different path. And finding a new joy. Enjoy!
A beautiful share, Kristen. I’m very excited to watch your Metamorphosis, and hope you’ll continue to share your story as the chapters unfold. It’s so important to pull up your roots and cut back your branches and replant yourself when your pot becomes too small. Keep evolving and you’ll keep blossoming!
Kristen Arnett, I wish you all the very best for your new journey and path. I hope you always recognize your path, and follow you bliss.
Sass Brown
I think you must celebrate! You’ve lived your dream! And that’s more than what many people get to do. I think when people are first struck with their dreams and passions, they don’t make a timeline for it. They think that it’s just something they’re gonna keep doing forever. But as time goes on, we change and grow and we realize we need different things…
Best wishes in this new chapter in your life!