Conversations with Thalia Mesa

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?

My exposure to the arts began at a young age through dance classes and piano lessons that my parents signed me up for, something I’m deeply grateful for today. Those early experiences planted a creative seed and gave me a foundation in music that would continue to influence me in ways I didn’t fully understand or appreciate at the time.

But it was in my late teens when I became most curious about painting. I wasn’t particularly talented when I first started, but that didn’t matter. I painted because I found it deeply therapeutic, especially at this time of my life when I felt misunderstood and struggled to express myself. Painting brought a sense of inner peace and freedom that nothing else could at the time. What began as a creative outlet for self-expression eventually became a passion, part of my identity, and ultimately, a form of medicine I wanted to share with the world.

As I deepened my connection with my creativity, so did my curiosity to explore other forms of expression. I’ve always been someone with many interests, and somewhere along the way, I decided I wasn’t going to limit myself. So I let my creative curiosity lead the way, and inevitably, my expression expanded beyond the canvas. I’ve explored various styles of dance, jewelry-making, singing, and ukulele while simultaneously building my career in education and counseling.

I began working in K–12 education long before I imagined that my creativity could become part of my professional path. I earned my bachelor’s in Sociology from CSU Long Beach and eventually felt called to expand my work into the mental health field. In 2018, I moved to San Francisco for graduate school, where I earned my master’s degree in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in School Counseling from the University of San Francisco and went on to become a school counselor.

Although I initially enjoyed the work and found it rewarding, it began to burn me out over time. Supporting students and the school community was meaningful work, but it weighed heavily on me. At the same time, I was doing my best to keep up with my art practice, but the truth is that I was feeling depleted of my creative energy. I began to feel like I was living two separate lives: my professional self and my artist self. Eventually, I realized I no longer wanted to separate the two.

That realization led me to wonder what it would look like to integrate my background in counseling with my passion for the arts to create experiences that help people heal, connect, and feel empowered through creative expression. I didn’t know what that would look like yet, but I knew I had to follow my creative curiosity once again to find out.

Then, in June 2024, I made one of the toughest decisions of my life. After a lot of thought, I resigned from my career as a school counselor without having another job lined up. It was scary, but I knew in my heart that I needed to give myself the space to explore entrepreneurship and discover what building a more creative life could look like for me.

That leap led me into one of the most challenging and transformative chapters of my life, and eventually, it also led me back to my hometown of LA. Now, I share creative offerings through mindful sip-and-paint events in spaces around LA. I have also expanded as a singer-songwriter and started to release my own music. I have come a long way, and at the same time, this is only the beginning of my expansion as an artist, facilitator, and entrepreneur.

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?

It has certainly not been a smooth road. When I resigned from school counseling, it initially felt liberating. I trusted that the universe would provide me with the perfect opportunity, perhaps a part-time job with a decent salary that would not burn me out, while giving me the time and capacity to build my creative business. I mean, I have my master’s degree; of course, that is possible for me, right!?

Months were passing me by; I was in the darkness of the unknown, and I was running out of money. I was still living in my own apartment in San Francisco, but I had to confront the reality that I could no longer afford this lifestyle… for now. So I had to make yet another hard decision: leave my apartment and community I’d built in San Francisco and move back to LA to live with my parents as I navigated this career transition. Although I was grateful to have a home base and family to support me, a part of me couldn’t help feeling like a failure for not figuring out another way.

I had to face one of my greatest fears: letting go of what I had built, not knowing what would come next. That experience brought me face-to-face with scarcity wounds, self-doubt, and limiting beliefs that had been hiding beneath the security of my career. Through a lot of inner work, I’ve learned to move through those fears and heal many of those wounds, but the growth is always ongoing.

As difficult as this transition has been, I now see that I needed to move through it to become someone with the resilience, courage, and self-belief to bring my creative visions to life on a grander scale. I’m still learning, still building, and still navigating uncertainty, but the difference is that I now trust myself and my path in a way I didn’t before.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

I do many things! Which is why I call myself a multi-dimensional artist. Although my creative expression takes many forms, the common thread throughout my work is using creativity as a tool for self-expression, healing, and connection.

One of the ways I do this is through the creative wellness experiences I facilitate. I created Flow State Sip & Paint, a mindful approach to the sip-and-paint experience. Instead of sipping alcohol, we sip tea, and instead of everyone following a step-by-step painting process, each person is invited to create something unique based on a prompt. The intention is less about creating a “perfect” painting and more about slowing down, tapping into a flow state, and learning to trust our creative intuition.

I also created a Sound Bath & Paint experience, which I’ve been co-facilitating in parks throughout LA. These experiences combine meditation, sound healing, reflection, and intuitive painting. I think this is where my background as both an artist and counselor really comes together. I love integrating painting with other healing modalities to create experiences that feel holistic, restorative, and uplifting. My vision for what these experiences can become is continuing to grow.

Another facet of my creative life is music. I am a singer-songwriter; I have released three original songs so far and created two of my own music videos, something I am very proud of! I write songs drawing from my own personal experiences that explore themes of self-belief, hope, and romantic love. Singing is one of the newer expressions I’ve allowed myself to be seen creatively, so I still feel like I’m in the early stages of my growth. Stepping more fully into my voice and discovering this dimension of myself as an artist has been both vulnerable and empowering. I’m grateful I said yes to this calling, and I’m excited to see how this part of my creative journey continues to unfold.

And, of course… I also paint! Painting was my first creative love and is a home base that I always return to. My work is inspired by nature, the cosmos, and human emotions, and my preferred mediums are acrylic and watercolor. Some seasons I’m actively creating and selling my work at art shows, and other seasons, painting becomes more personal, a space to process and simply create for the sake of creating.

What I’m most proud of is not one particular project, but the fact that I’ve given myself permission to build a creative life that feels authentic to my soul, no matter the odds. Managing multiple creative projects and forms of expression is not for the faint of heart, but I’ve come to realize that this is how I move through the world; it’s the life that I can’t deny!

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?

I’ve realized that I don’t necessarily chase success. I aspire to be fulfilled. So, for me, fulfillment is success.

Fulfillment means living in alignment with our soul’s purpose and bringing the visions within us to life. I’ve also learned that success isn’t measured solely by how much we accomplish or how much money we have in our bank account. Financial abundance is certainly important to me, but I’ve realized that the feeling of wealth comes from within. Fulfillment is feeling worthy, abundant, loved, connected, and whole on the inside.

I believe a fulfilling life is rooted in meaningful relationships, community, and connection. It’s found in the relationships we nurture, the communities we contribute to, the lives we touch, and what we create in collaboration with others. For me, there is a deep sense of fulfillment that comes from sharing our unique gifts in ways that create a meaningful ripple in the world.