Life & Work with Elaina Karras

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elaina Karras.

Hi Elaina, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in a very small, rural town called White House, Tennessee. The area has grown a lot but when I was growing up, the population was around 3,000 people and my only real exposure to beauty was a $7 haircut at your pick of one of maybe 3 local salons & breaking into my mom’s caboodle makeup case. Somewhere around 6th grade, I discovered and become obsessed with MTV ‘Making The Music Video’ & TRL & all of the fashion magazines with beauty editorials or makeup “how-to” articles. Then came the ‘True Colors’ kiosk at the mall and my mom bought my sister and I the whole package and it was game over. I would always practice doing makeup on anyone who would allow it. There was always a fire inside of me to somehow contribute my art and voice to this world. I genuinely had no idea how to make this happen, but the desire to find a way always persisted.

I went to college to study journalism because it was the closest field that I could rationalize that might help me inseminate this elusive world. I realized while writing for the school paper that getting an assignment to write about beauty was going to be a very long road and the journey there was not something I could see for myself. A dear friend I was in college with drove me to a cosmetology school, and she in turn presented a new avenue for me that I didn’t really know existed. After doing alot of homework to convince my dad that this was the right move, I enrolled at the Aveda Fredric’s Institute in Indianapolis and really loved school for the first time.

I worked in salons, primarily doing hair at the start of my career in Atlanta, and five years later, I moved back to Nashville. I made a friend- Katje Lael- that was working as a makeup artist onset, and she brought me on as an assistant and hairstylist on some really fun music videos and photo shoots for huge artists (often with LA-based crews), and I instantly realized that creating and contributing in this capacity with people of this level of expertise and passion was the place I felt simultaneously most alive and most at home.

I moved to Los Angeles eight years ago and made it through a lot of life, loss, and challenges. After my first year in LA, my partner who I was financially & emotionally dependent on at the time left to go back to Nashville & I was all of a sudden having to really look at myself and having to face a very different survival challenge at the same time. I felt completely alone in a strange and foreign city and ended up getting evicted from my apartment because my rent was late several months in a row. I had to leave everything I owned on the side of the street and walk away with what could fit in my car and my amazing chihuahua named Channing Tatum who has been by my side through thick & thin. I basically had nothing but my dog and my dreams.

I can without a doubt say I’m currently living those very dreams & I’m beyond blessed and grateful every day I get to wake up before the sun and go to work doing something that feeds my soul the way my profession does. I know how rare that statement is and I do not take my journey for granted. I’ve been blessed with so many incredible mentors and an incredible network of artists that inspire me and uplift me. It’s taken a lot of grit, strength, stamina, self-awareness, endurance, sacrifice, discipline, and determination to get here; but my journey and artistry has taught me that without the darkness, it is impossible to see the light.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’ve lost everything and slowly rebuilt a life I’m really proud of. I survived a pandemic by becoming a personal assistant for six months and another six-month strike because I had private clients that kept me afloat. But, financially, I’ve really gone without so much for a very long time. I’m only just now getting on my feet, but it’s taken me nearly eight years in LA to accomplish that. Being a freelance artist is not for the faint of heart. You have to be almost insane with passion to pursue this career path.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a freelance celebrity hairstylist, makeup artist, and groomer. I specialize in commercials, red carpet, editorial, and celebrity. My clients work with me because I’m supportive and encouraging, I take TONS of BTS, and I’m always willing to take creative risks while executing them well. I like to incorporate a lot of playful color and dreamlike whimsy into my work for an extra hit of dopamine and interest while still making people look polished, relevant, classy, and chic. Being from Nashville, I am a musician at heart; so I’d like to think I bring a lot of emotion into my work. I also just completed my yoga teacher certification so I have a lot of amazing tools that help me to stay calm in stressful situations (which is helpful when working in production) & I have the knowledge to be able to help other people calm their nervous system with asanas or breathing techniques before a big event, appearance, or shoot.

I’m most proud of having several long term clients that I’ve been working with for years. It’s always super fun getting to work with a big name on something exciting but there is nothing that compares to or is more rewarding than when you get to grow with people and experience these amazing career highs with people I genuinely love and have been working with and investing my time and energy into for some time. There is no greater professional high for me than that.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
First, follow your heart and intuition. It is a very powerful tool and the most important internal mechanism we have. Second, detachment. Let things go. You can’t make every client happy, and you ultimately don’t want to. Alignment in professional relationships is so important & I only really want to work with people that value me and really want to work with me. The energy exchange in that dynamic is so symbiotic and loving and I don’t end up feeling like I am selling myself short or like I have something to prove.