Rising Stars: Meet Reagan Link

Today we’d like to introduce you to Reagan Link.

Hi Reagan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I have always had a passion for art, creativity, and making people feel beautiful. I began my career at 16 years old, graduating from cosmetology school before I even graduated high school! I began my professional career by working at a salon in my hometown, but I always knew I wanted more. When I was 19, I moved LA and began working in Hollywood. I spent several years working behind the chair, taking numerous classes, practicing on models, and perfecting my craft. I loved creating art and using hair as my canvas. Working in a salon environment brought a lot of joy to my life, but I also knew this was not the end goal. I wanted more and knew I could do more. So, five years into my career, I decided to totally switch gears. This is when I entered the freelance world. I began this new journey with education and trained under some of the top artists in the industry, including Chris Appleton, Ruslan Nureev, and many other celebrity hairstylists. I spent over two years assisting, learning to navigate a totally new world of hair. Those years were spent soaking in as much knowledge as I possibly could. Now, almost eight years into my career, I am working as an independent freelance artist and content creator. It is my ultimate goal to inspire the next generation of artists to find their creative outlet and do what they love.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think the biggest challenge for me has been incorporating social media into my career as an artist. Social media is SO important for artists, it’s literally free advertisement for your brand, plus you have the ability to be seen by anyone. The opportunities that can come from that are truly life-changing. But, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that social media has also negatively affected my mental health and well-being over the years. It’s so easy to look at all of the amazing things other people are doing and feel like you are not enough. I spent many years feeling like a failure, comparing both my social life and my career to everyone else’s. No matter what I accomplished, it was never enough. It’s only recently that I’ve actually been able to learn how to live in the present moment and appreciate the life I have created for myself. I stopped caring so much about the opinions of others and finally began caring about myself. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a constant struggle, but you can’t compare your own reality to someone else’s highlight reel. In fact, the people who seem like they have it all are probably the ones suffering the most. At the end of the day, we are all human and the number of followers you have or the amount of likes you get… they’re just numbers. It’s truly all meaningless when you look at the bigger picture. Once I understood this, my mindset began to change and my career began to take off.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a freelance hairstylist, I specialize in making people feel good and I’m known for making them look good, too! I have always had a love for all aspects of hair. There are so many routes you can go within this industry and I spent many years trying everything to figure out what I was most passionate about. Over the years, I’ve found that editorial work is where my heart is. I thrive when I have creative freedom and being able to make art through the medium of hair is definitely my souls purpose. I think my proudest moment in my career was actually my work as an assistant. Especially in the freelance world, being an assistant is an extremely hard job both mentally and physically. I truly think that my time as an assistant was harder than my job is now that I’m on my own. I went through some of the roughest times in my life as an assistant and I’m extremely proud of the fact that I was able to experience such hard times and never give up. I’ve always known what I am capable of and no matter how hard it gets or how bad I want to quit, giving up is never an option. I’m the type of person where I’m either 0 or 100, there is no in between. So, when I decide I want to accomplish something, I’m going to put everything I have into that dream and I’m not going to stop until it’s my reality… That perseverance and drive to continue even in the harshest circumstance is what sets me apart from others.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Rest and recovery is something that is extremely important to me. I never used to make it a priority… It got to a point where I was so focused on my career, I never said no to anything. I was working so much that even when I was showering, I was washing wigs or hair extensions in the shower with me. As time went on, I completely stopped taking care of myself. I was so overwhelmed and burnt out yet I still felt guilty when I took even a second to even think about anything other than work. This was an extremely toxic way of thinking and I lost myself because of it… Ultimately, working so hard for so long without ever taking time for myself brought me to an all-time low. I’ve since learned that rest and recovery is equally important to working hard. Recovery is part of the grind, too! You will never be the best version of yourself if you don’t take the time to rest. Saying yes to everything means saying no to yourself and that is only going to lead to disaster. You are the center of your own universe and anything that is meant to be in your life will be, so if your body is telling you it’s time to take a break, you should listen.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.reaganlinkartistry.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reaganlinkartistry/

Image Credits:
Daniel Mareno