Today we’d like to introduce you to Sophie Mazzaro.
Hi Sophie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in Berlin, Germany, and always knew I wanted to be an artist. Every day after school, I would come home and draw – but even in school, I’d get in trouble for doodling on all my assignments, notes, and even school desks. (I got kicked out of class plenty of times for that!). Ironically, I was still a straight-A student and graduated best of my school district. At 16, I moved to Austin, Texas alone to do an exchange year. I barely spoke English at that point. I got placed with a host family and ended up learning the language mostly through them because they patiently taught me and corrected me. That year in Texas was the biggest reason I wanted to move to the US; it changed my life in the best way possible. (I still talk to my host family almost every day!)
After graduating in Germany, I packed one suitcase and moved to Los Angeles, a city I had never been to and didn’t know a single soul in. It was a rough start, to say the least. I arrived with one suitcase. I slept on the floor of my first apartment for weeks, and it took another few weeks to get power and gas turned on. It has its hurdles as an immigrant when you don’t have a social security number or any safety nets, and no one wants to lease to you. I have always been a tomboy that loves streetwear and sneakers, and have always hated wearing the same things others are wearing. So I started drawing on my shoes, too. One day, I went to school wearing my new Nike Blazers that I had painted – and a kid from my school bought them from me. I rode my bike home in socks.
Fast forward to now, I have lived in Los Angeles for 13 years. I have painted sneakers for Clayton Kershaw, Steve Aoki, Redfoo from LMFAO, the Marley Estate, Pizza Hut, Skechers, and many more. I have painted projects for the NBA, EDC, Halle Berry, Expedia, Dj Skee, Art Basel, Complex, and the US Bank Tower and have been featured in Maxim and many more news outlets.
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?
The road has been as smooth as LA’s roads, so more of a pebbly, ragged, pothole-filled, janky cobblestone path of hell haha. But I think that’s life as an entrepreneur and as an artist in particular. Our brain works differently. It took me years and years to build up confidence, and I have been through my fair share of people ripping me off and trying to take advantage. There have been endless tries to get me to do work for free, and it’s always the same story of “Oh you like drawing anyway so you should just do this for free” or the infamous “But I’ll pay you in exposure”. The hardest part was for me to put up boundaries and learn to say NO. I finally know the value of my work. But with every mistake or every attempt of f*cking me over, I learned a lesson. I tweaked my strategy. Now, I want to make sure other artists aren’t taken advantage of.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m known for painting super large-scale murals and extremely detailed custom sneakers. One of my favorite projects was in downtown LA. A few local artists were selected to paint what LA means to us on the penthouse of the US Bank Tower. It was an incredible honor and just one of the most organized, and well-thought-out projects I have ever been a part of. I ended up painting a native Mexican woman as well as Mexican flowers inspired by their tiles because LA is a city ruled by hard-working immigrants. Another project I’m really proud of was the Kobe Bryant mural I painted after his passing for the city of Venice. I didn’t get paid for this; I bought my own supplies because I wanted to give something to the community. Normally painting murals is a pretty lonesome job and I’d just listen to music, but at that time people kept coming up to me to watch me paint and share their stories about how Kobe inspired them or motivated them. It was an incredible experience.
A deaf-mute girl communicated with my mural in sign language, and everyone kept bringing flowers and candles and made the mural into a Kobe vigil. It was a breathtaking experience that even a couple of news outlets covered. I was featured in the book “Sincerely, Los Angeles”. And I even became close friends with one of the people observing me paint! Just an incredible experience, hard to describe the emotions I felt those days. What sets me apart is my dedication and tenacity. I won’t quit. No matter how many times I get beaten. I will always get back up. I refuse to go away. My mom and I always joke about this, but after a job interview, if someone tells me “Okay, we’ll let you know” – I would say, “I’ll wait here”.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Contracts over everything. No matter how well you know the other person or how likable they are – always get a contract if you plan on working together. Even if they’re your friends – especially if they’re your friends. Unfortunately, I got screwed over one too many times and learned the hard way that you need the details in writing. But this is a lesson every artist has to learn, and once implemented it’s not that hard to uphold. As creatives, we struggle enough to find inspiration and most days my motivation laughingly passes me by in the hallway, but you have to learn to build some sort of schedule and stick with it. Being creative isn’t for anyone. There are lots of insecurities, starting with health insurance and job security. You have to be good at managing your money, budgeting, and planning ahead. You can’t just wing it, you have to treat it like a regular career and get things in writing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sophiemazzaro.com
- Instagram: sophiemazzaroart
