Hilda Dora Zavala shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hilda Dora, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
I’ve felt really proud these past few weeks because I found out from the toy photography group I’m part of that I won 1st place on a challenge we had for the month of July with the theme “sand”. I enjoy going to the beach and taking photos of my Barbie dolls; this is my happy place and it gives me joy.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Hilda Dora, and I would like to share my story on how my love and passion for Barbie and photography originated. I was born in Mexico and was brought to California at a young age. Ever since I was a little girl I loved to play with dolls but my family couldn’t afford to buy me a Barbie doll. I went to college to become a Fashion Designer dreaming that one day I could apply at Mattel. I haven’t had the opportunity to work in anything related with Barbie but around 2019 I created my Barbie Instagram account as @myhurricanebarbies to share with everyone my ideas and concepts.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who taught you the most about work?
I liked photography since I was young but I couldn’t buy myself a camera. So when I was around 19 years old and had my first job, I bought myself a point-and-shoot camera to take photos of my family. Then in college I started taking photography classes to learn how to take better photos. Until this day I keep taking photos of my family to create and preserve memories. This is how I started my hobby as a photographer and I combined this with my other hobby of creating a Barbie story through the eyes of a collector.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
I have had the fear that I’m not good enough in everything I do all of my life. That fear has been holding me back to accomplish my dreams. With the support of my husband and my mom’s help I have succeeded in some but I’m still battling my fear that I’m not good enough to accomplish anything. But with the baby steps I take daily my fear of failure has been dwindling as I progress with my photography skills.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
My friends would say that what matters to me the most is my family. My family is a very important part of my life; without their support I wouldn’t be able to pursue my passion of toy photography. They give me encouragement and advise from time to time on things that I might be overlooking while I try getting the perfect shot. So, to come back to the original question a friend would say I’m a family-oriented, barbie doll photographer that tries her best to be a mom, friend, mentor, companion, care giver and last but not least a dog mom.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I would stop procrastinating since I do that often with a lot of my projects. I either have my project half-way or just in my mind to be created; for example one of these projects is sewing new clothes for my dolls. I hope to make some time to design and sew clothes for the dolls so I can open my little store. I always make excuses for myself to not start doing stuff that I like and enjoy. I would also love to travel a little more. We stopped traveling because of the COVID pandemic; but we have visited Italy, some states in the United States and some states in Mexico. My husband and I’s goal is to visit all the United States, hopefully before we retire or at least visit almost all of them. I would also try to relax and let go of the stuff I don’t have control of, I get stressed easily of everything that is in my surroundings (the house chores, kids, husband and of course can’t forget them, our 4 dogs).
Contact Info:
- Instagram: myhurricanebarbies
Image Credits
All photos are taken by me
