An Inspired Chat with Christine Lloyd of Culver City

We recently had the chance to connect with Christine Lloyd and have shared our conversation below.

Christine, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
I’ve always wanted to get involved in music in some way and be a performer. I think in many ways this is what originally started my makeup career. My first videos of me ever sitting down and filming a makeup look were always inspired by music or a song that was speaking or relating to something that I was going through or embodying.

I used to sing and perform a lot as a kid. I was the lead singer in my preschool performance and was the only kid in a 100 person choir for years in elementary school. I had lead and singing roles in plays, and even won an award for a comedy monologue in high school. I played musical instruments – violin, saxophone, guitar. At some point my life started to get really hard and I lost myself completely and just felt like I had to “grow up” and had to deal with a lot of adult issues too soon. My life became about a different kind of performance. Music has been the one thing in life that has gotten me through the hard times and continuously inspires me.

I think cringe culture and internet hate has made it so difficult to put ourselves out there without criticism. I also have a pretty serious inner critic and I think I convinced myself that I shouldn’t even try things unless I was going to do it at a professional level or else I would look dumb. I’ve had this idea for a DJ character for a decade and had no idea how to pull it off or make it happen so it just got shelved as I focused on developing a career and craft that didn’t make me feel so vulnerable and got comfortable being behind the camera.

Unexpectedly, I was recently selected as a finalist in one of the world’s largest beginner DJ competitions and will be performing in a live showcase on Nov 16th at CatchOne in LA after only 6 weeks of training. I’m scared to put myself out there, especially fast track learning a skill that is highly technical, but it’s been a beautiful catalyst for me to materialize this concept that I’ve been dying to do, no matter how imperfect or cringe it might be. The craziest part is that there’s going to be music industry people at the event judging the winners and the grand prize is getting flown out to play at a major festival. It’s been a wild experience and I’m still in shock about the opportunity.

To come see what I’m cooking up and watch me perform live – DM me for discounted hardcopy tickets or use my code “CHIMAERA” at yourshotdj.com/tickets to get them online!

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Christine Lloyd, a Los Angeles-based creative who has spent the past several years building a career at the intersection of beauty, art, and transformation. As a makeup and hair artist, I specialize in translating emotion and narrative through the face using color, texture, and form as storytelling tools. My brand philosophy centers around authenticity, self-expression, and the belief that beauty can be a language of empowerment. Whether I’m on set directing character looks for film or creating avant-garde editorial concepts, my goal is always to reveal something true about the subject, the story, or the collective moment we’re living in. My newest chapter of my creative journey is learning to DJ, and I’m currently working on a project that will incorporate my special fx makeup with musical storytelling and healing.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Before the world told me who I had to be, I was endlessly curious and creative about the natural world. I was that kid that played with bugs and lizards. I thought animals were way cooler than humans. For a large portion of my childhood my mom dated a guy who lived on a sailboat and was a private pilot so I spent a lot of my time on Catalina Island underwater with all the sea creatures and flying all around Southern California in single engine planes observing life from above. I loved extreme adventures. I sang, acted, danced, played musical instruments, and played dress up often. I think as kids we just wanted to make things beautiful for the joy of it and didn’t worry about labels or outcomes because we were just in the present moment following whatever made us feel alive and inspired. In many ways, I’m still learning to return to that version of myself who creates from intuition and wonder rather than expectation.

What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
The most defining wounds of my life have been the moments that forced me to wake up to who I really am. I’ve experienced a lot of narcissistic abuse and periods of deep isolation as a result of recognizing it and ending those generational cycles. There have been so many seasons that tested my self-worth, my boundaries, and my sense of belonging, but those same challenges also taught me how to rebuild myself from the inside out.

Healing for me has been about turning pain into clarity and choosing growth over bitterness – remembering that we always have a choice in how we respond or react to the circumstances of our lives, and that is where our true power and freedom lie. That process has become the foundation of my creative work, which is all about transformation and remembering your own light, even after it’s been dimmed.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
The biggest project I’m committed to right now is myself and being the happiest and healthiest version of me. I think people in the creative industry can get so consumed by their art, their identity, or their next achievement that they forget to nurture the person behind it all. For years, I poured everything into my work and my vision, but I eventually realized that if I wasn’t grounded, inspired, or healthy, none of it would matter. So this season is about rebuilding from the inside out – mentally, emotionally, and physically. It’s slower, more intentional work, but it’s also the most meaningful. I know that the more I invest in my own wellbeing, the stronger and more authentic everything I create will become.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What light inside you have you been dimming?
I think the light I’ve dimmed the most is my ability to see. I’ve always had a deep intuitive awareness of the patterns beneath the surface, in people, nature, and society, but for a long time I muted that knowing so others could stay comfortable. As women especially, we’re often conditioned to downplay our intuition and our connection to the unseen, and that disconnection can pull us away from the parts of ourselves that hold real wisdom. When you see through illusion, it can unsettle people, and for years I internalized that discomfort until I started to doubt what I knew to be true.

Reclaiming that light is the foundation of Chimaera, my current DJ project, which explores the intersection of sound, consciousness, and ecology. It was born from my love for nature and my fascination with the structure of reality itself – how everything is connected through vibration, frequency, and perception. Through Chimaera, I want to invite people to question what’s real, remember their connection to nature, and reconnect with their own power and the intelligence that lives in all things.

Contact Info:

• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/christine-victoria-lloyd

Image Credits
Jacob Museo, Jocelyn Campbell