Today we’d like to introduce you to Saint Pablo
Hi Saint, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was 23 when I first got here(L.A.). Me and two more dreamers from Texas sharing a studio in Lincoln Heights. The reason that brought me here was a couple of call backs from castings I had done back then, so I needed to be relocated to the area.
Suddenly I got this contract with a well known name brand, They were renting my image for whether their hair products or make up lines. Trust me when I say “renting my image” means what you do or say belong to them literally!! You can’t just support random causes, your posts on IG is not necessarily what you feel like sharing, you would have to show up and socialize at parties for certain amount of hours, if you were expressing yourself on stories but the manager thought that was not appropriate content for the brand vision, then you would have to delete it and things like that. However I was very happy, and very poor, this was being my biggest hit on my career so far and this was gonna give me a very comfortable lifestyle.
Unfortunately after 1 year the company didn’t renew my contract. Media and marketing evolved. The “Influencers” were born and that meant a pretty face and a full hair was not enough anymore. Companies were betting now for personalities who had relatable opinions, a lot of humor, and with that a lot of followers on their media platforms. I was not one of them, and I didn’t care, “𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮!! 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬!”I THOUGHT!!
I was completely wrong. I couldn’t get another job like that quickly, but with all the humans I had to socialize with, I met the person in charge of running a very famous restaurant on Beverly Blvd. She offered me a position hosting and greeting the costumers. That didn’t sound too bad, plus rent was coming up and to be honest I was not ready to go back home yet! That would have been like an “I didn’t make it” type of feeling. The payment would allow me to have my own studio in Miracle mile, so I took the job and kept it for a few years.
Great decision because that’s how I met many celebrities and people who work for the entertainment industry. I got to welcome and see them so often that we eventually became friends. Believe me this is the type of popular restaurant where you wanna have connections to.
In an instant everything stopped, the world was paralyzed due to a virus in the air named COVID-19. No more job, no more parties with famous people, no more WeHo, my Hollywood lifestyle vanishing on a finger snap to suddenly be buying groceries at 99cents store to save whatever I could, I have no family here or anyone who could support me financially. I remember those rough times as my skinniest season haha.
My closer friends always told me I should tape myself, posting the way I live, sharing my thoughts and comments on random things, they kept saying is funny to hear me speak, even costumers from the restaurant would ask”𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?” they would assume I had to be profiting with my personality, somehow they were sure I had something to do with social media.
After a long time locked up I was bored and the only thing near me was my phone connected to internet. I needed to come up with something cause Mrs. Rent was knocking at the door very often and my stubborn taurus couldn’t let me go back home defeated. Some good ideas came to my mind.
One day, I remember watching 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 and thinking “𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘗𝘰𝘱 𝘛𝘷 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯?” Ding ding ding!! There you go! @saintpablovila YouTube Channel: what you should know about how to be what I founded as “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘏𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘺𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥” with tips on what to wear, skincare, hair, workouts, how to make a cheap meal look expensive, basically sharing my real knowledge on topics I know. On the other hand on IG sharing moments of my daily schedule and creating real-time content for that platform. Thank God it worked, followers appeared to increase and finally brands reaching out for campaigns and collaborations. Whew… that was close.
I always thought I liked to dress up with a lot of style, so I decided to take it to the next level, a master degree in Fashion Marketing opportunity from 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘥. Wow!! That sounded so pro! But you know what, it didn’t feel like enough to me, after I finished the course I realized I don’t like fashion, I love it! I was now immersed in luxury brands management, digital marketing and business strategies.
I recalled myself being in front of the mirror often thinking my outfit was missing something, there was always in my head the need of making my outfit look in a certain way, I was never ok with it. So guess what? Once again I brought it to the next level. Starting the process of launching SAINT PABLO CLOSET, my own clothing & accessories line for men’s and women’s. Took me two whole years to see it from my dreams to my hands but it eventually happened.
We were making last decisions, the label needed to give back what it was being invested, I didn’t want to partnership with sponsors, I was not sure how much and when would I start receiving the payback. Again, that voice in my mind saying “it’s missing something” one more time.
My brand was not complete. I was not satisfied with what we just had. It couldn’t be just another store. Wondering every morning the same question: 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭?… one of those mornings by and by, it arrived. Glam squad service. ‘Til this day my make up experience was watching a team of artists doing it on me, but that wouldn’t had been enough. So now the main idea was not only offering exclusive pieces, but also adding hair and make up done, in the other meanings assembling not just an outfit but a complete look. In order to produce that I needed to become a beauty expert. 𝘗𝘢𝘶𝘭 𝘔𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 in Pasadena, this academy granted me the honor to make me an esthetician but also granted me the opportunity to create a firm that will embellish you from head to toe, but literally! Including your hair and your shoes.
Actually SAINT PABLO CLOSET company serves as wardrobe for some entertainment shows and news productions mostly on YT. We bring different costumes and options for the talent on camera. Now a days business is also positioned putting up looks for every type of event, not necessarily for a show, in fact some of the costumers do not require our gown manufacturer but only our glam team, or sometimes only MU service. We adjust to your needs. The last addition is a “𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮” service, where I basically stay at your event retouching, fixing, and making sure you look exactly like when the party started but all the time. I keep growing up as an artist and the company continues expanding.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Instagram
Spotify
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ifeellikepablotoday?igsh=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@saintpablovila
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ifeellikepablotoday?_t=8neW4o5eP3m&_r=1
