Meet Alina Gobbi | Makeup & Hair artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alina Gobbi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alina, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I want to inspire people and show that you can achieve anything you want without being rich or famous, that you can live your American dream even if right now you’re at the very bottom. Nothing is impossible as long as you’re ready to work hard and take risks.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Originally I’m from Russia. Our family lived pretty poor back then constantly in debt. All the money my mom and I made went towards paying our bills. I didn’t have money to fill up my gas tank , never mind going to America. But one day I was so frustrated and in despair thinking of such a bleak future I decided to risk it all and chase my dream. I signed up for an exchange program for students to go to America to work for a summer season and make some money. The cost of the program at that time was $1,300 that obviously I didn’t have. I decided to sell my car, even though it wasn’t paid off, so I could have money to pay for the program. And I did it! In 3 days my car was sold. I sold my car not knowing if I would be approved to get the US visa. In the worst case I would be left with no car, even though I would have the car payment and a bunch of other debt, no visa – no exchange program, I would’ve lost $300 because of the non refundable deposit for the program so I would not be able to get another car and I would not be able to get to work without it. I would’ve simply put myself in a bigger struggle. But luckily I got the visa. I worked all summer as a hostess and a housekeeper and that summer I met my husband. I’ve been in America for 5 years. My first year living in America I started to think about my future career in this country. I had my first thought of become a makeup artist when I was preparing for my wedding. Like every girl I gave lots of thought of how I wanted to look on my wedding day. It was very important to me, especially considering that I am a perfectionist. I was looking at different hair updos and makeup created by Russian artists (since I’m Russian). I knew exactly what I wanted and then I realized that I couldn’t find anybody around here who did these techniques … Everything was just the wrong style. I had a different vision for my look and I did not want to pay money for something that I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied with. That is when for the first time I thought that I could bring something new to the American beauty industry and do something different. Not long after that I became a student at cosmetology school and a year later a girl, who until recently barely spoke English, successfully graduated at the top of my class and got my cosmetology license. A short few months later I was doing hair and makeup for a local magazine cover, events, photo shoots, fashion shows etc and was well on my way.
Being an immigrant I feel like I need to work 10 times harder than people who grew up in this country because first of all I don’t know a lot of people, I don’t have any classmates, family or friends who could be my first clients so I need to make sure as many people as possible know about me and my services. Secondly English is my second language. I didn’t speak English 5 years ago when I first came to this country so it’s very important for me to speak good English. That’s why I also work on it all the time. And of course I need to work on my techniques to provide the best quality service to my clients. And let’s not forget about creating content for social media, promoting, restocking supplies etc.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
At least 3 of those 7 days would be dedicated to activities on the water. At least one day would be spent off shore fishing, I am lucky to live in the area with world class sport fishing. Another day would be spent on the sand bar at lake Boca swimming, snorkeling and grilling. A third day would be needed just to cruse the ICW sightseeing and barhopping. I would accomplish this with Akula charters which is made up of an amazing and knowledgeable group when it comes to all water activities. They can be reached at akulafishing@gmail.com. The remaining 4 days would not nearly be enough time to show all the interesting beautiful and diverse restaurants, shopping and places of interest from Mizner Park to Red Reef Park the list goes on and on.

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?
Definitely my husband. He always inspires and supports me. He is my love, my friend, my mentor, my everything. I am blessed to have him.

Website: www.alinagobbi.com

Instagram: @alina_gobbi_beauty

Image Credits
Photographers – IG @alyssaaduncan – IG @themanwhotakespictures