Today we’d like to introduce you to Livia Hooson.
Livia, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I moved to Los Angeles fresh out of college from Colorado, with curiosity at my heels and the eagerness for inspiration on the southern coast of California. I worked for one of the leading luxury eyewear companies in the world, Oliver Peoples, as an optician in their Malibu location in the Country Mart.
Working for one of LA’s legacy brands, developed and created here, I was able to dig into the culture of the city in a direct way. Conversing with producers, actors, agents, and creatives who were our frequent customers at the store. The film and music industry revealed what innovative, expressive and driven talent lives within the pulse of the city, and I jumped at every chance to have coffee with industry professionals and go to live shows at the Ace Theatre and, of course, the Hollywood Bowl. It didn’t hurt that the store manager at Oliver Peoples and my associates were born and raised LA locals, and contributed to my love for the city. Allen Voskanian and Cameron Phillips showed me some of the most iconic eateries in the city; we traversed West Hollywood and Culver City with forks in hand to find the best of LA’s culinary scene.
When I wasn’t working seaside at the store or eating my way through the weekends, I gained an appreciation for the landscape of Southern California. I lived in the Santa Monica Mountains above PCH right above the Pacific Ocean and called Malibu home for over four years, and spent years hiking the hillsides come springtime, paddle-boarding from the Malibu Pier on a weekly basis and even trying my hand at surfing third point at Malibu Beach and just north of the city at the Ventura county line. After a year-and-a-half at Oliver Peoples, I got a job offer at the Malibu-based luxury lifestyle magazine, Robb Report, to pursue my passion for writing. Perched on the entrance to Point Dume, our boutique offices were home to the majority of the company, with the other branch based in New York. This is where my editorial writing would blossom while learning how to operate a digital magazine and eventually working with the brand’s editors to begin writing content for the website. We covered international hotel and travel brands, high-end fashion, architecture and design.
My journalism and writing career would quickly become the focus of my life, and I knew that in order to grow my voice and international lens, I would need to spend some time overseas. I left my job at Robb Report and spent the next six months building my freelance career so that I could work remotely from anywhere in the world. In 2019, I booked a one-way flight to Costa Rica to enroll in a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training course. From there, I would solo sojourn across Latin America for the remainder of the year and into 2020. This included teaching yoga in Ecuador during extreme civil unrest in the capital city of Quito; living in Medellin, Colombia to build my portfolio and understand a city recovering from the drug war in the late 90’s. I traveled the coastal desertscape of Peru, hitchhiked at the foothills of the Andes Mountains and walked the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu. I also tested my physical limits by summitting Cotopaxi, a 19,000-foot glacial volcano in Ecuador, unfortunately contracting dengue fever in Sayulita, Mexico; and swimming with stingrays and sharks in the turquoise waters of San Andres Isla. I am currently residing in the surf town of Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica during the COVID-19 pandemic and writing from my outpost by the beach while we all experience the Great Pause.
My goal of contributing to the digital publishing world, sharing global narratives from firsthand perspectives and connecting in creative ways to my communities here and from Colorado to California, is being fulfilled. I am tracing my roots while having newfound discoveries abroad, it is a widening of the lens so that I can share my lessons on the page through stories of travel, self-growth, diversity in cultures, along with the beauty and challenges of living abroad.” you can delete the spectrum of humanity part. And I know I wouldn’t be here without my time spent living in Los Angeles, where diversity and creativity abound. Where you can visit a world of culture from the beaches of Malibu to the Downtown Arts District, without ever crossing the border. I look forward to bringing my own global perspective to the streets and storylines of Los Angeles upon my return.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Building a career in the digital age means you pretty much have to be online. And that can be the single most challenging part of it all. I think standing out and staying relevant is something we all want, but when it comes down to it, the most rewarding part of gaining an audience and sharing your craft with more people is doing it for the sake of doing it. Because you love it. I love to write and expose my shadows and describe the world around me through language, and no matter the number of followers I have, money made, subscribers and sponsors, I have to remember why I come to the page. I don’t want to look back on this experience as a freelance writer and documentarian and miss out on the joy of building something new until that moment when I ‘make it.’
I have to remind myself that I am already exactly where I need to be.
And my advice for not comparing yourself to others while you create your artistic path? Limit time on social media, make more time for creative pursuits and get into nature to break up the mind’s patterns of thinking.
The Honest Blonde – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I started the Honest Blonde as a blog to share my life in LA as a hungry artist and writer wanting to always dig a little deeper into the emotional honesty of the journey to the self. Now, my blog hosts travel stories, poetry, mini-docs, guided yoga classes, and meditations. I also host all of my professional editorial stories on my site to showcase the amazing talent I have the privilege of interviewing and getting to share their narratives with a larger audience. Right now, my online presence as the Honest Blonde is part blogger, story-teller, photo-journalist, and contributing writer for local and international publications.
My writing sets me apart because I don’t shy away from the details, the grit of the soul’s journey, and the heartbreak and frustration that comes from being vulnerable, both in love and as a solo traveler. It all comes down to the willingness to express our fullest selves and that is what I want to promote while teaching myself daily that to make art, you must experience the world and it’s lessons, then sit the hell down and write. If I can move one person to pick up their pen and write their own prose and explore their own voice, I am happy, I am already fulfilled.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success changes for me daily. Sometimes it means positive feedback from an editor on a published story, or a reader who wants to share their own story because I told part of mine. Sometimes success is money in the bank and a press trip to Mexico. Other days it is the freedom and time I have to write for myself, to take a minute to create behind closed doors, to process the self, and know that I am supported in doing so.
Currently, I am the Features Editor for Iconic Life Magazine, interviewing industry leaders from the art, design, culinary and wellness realms, as well as a contributing freelance writer at Nuvo Magazine, Boulder Lifestyle Magazine and various other outlets across Canada and the U.S. In my pursuit to cover more counter-culture brands and people, including underrepresented designers and creators, my most successful moments are when the subjects of these articles feel honored and seen through my story-telling. It is in this journalism work that I aim to bring light to diverse voices, innovative thinkers, creative activists, and the boundary-pushing and intentional artists. If I can continue to work with these individuals who are shaping the world as we know it into one of more inclusivity and thoughtfulness, then I will be successful.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.the-honestblonde.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @_thehonestblonde
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzD3M_SDcOQQ_oIjGV9jaIA
Image Credit:
The picture of me teaching yoga with the branches framing me and the students: Walter Cedeño C. Tel. 84-36-6463
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