Today we’d like to introduce you to Mars Chasolen.
Hi Mars, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was raised in River Vale, NJ and if you’ve been to northern New Jersey, the first thing you’ll notice is… the sameness. I grew up being taught that standing out was a bad thing, that my goal should be to blend in; that there was safety in being just like everyone else. Frankly, they weren’t wrong. Making a lot of noise in suburbia rubbed people the wrong way, standing out too much made people uncomfortable and I faced the consequences of that – confused parents, mean kids, and a lot of self-doubt. When I was in the 6th grade, I filled a diary with all the places I dreamt I could go, the people I could meet, the person I could be…if only I could just break out of the vivarium of New Jersey suburbia. I couldn’t settle for the banality, I needed…. more. In 2011, I headed north to the icy tundra that is Ithaca, NY where I studied Documentary Filmmaking at Ithaca College. I’ve always had an innate passion for storytelling – I wanted to share others’ stories. I wanted to make the world feel a little bit smaller, make people to feel a little bit more connected.
Thinking back, it came from a bit of a selfish place – I knew how desperately I wanted to feel seen and heard and how isolating that felt when that yearning was left unfulfilled. I wanted to be a person who really saw and heard others, I wanted to offer a mirror for people to see themselves and a window for them to see others. One week after I graduated, I drove cross country to Los Angeles. I worked at a coffee shop, a sports bar, and on a Christian rock opera. I was overworked, over-caffeinated and broke but I wouldn’t have done it any differently. One day I answered a random job posting for a position at an animation studio, an industry I had no experience in and landed an interview. My boss will tell you he hired me because I showed a lot of potential, drive and eagerness to learn. I still tell everyone I got the job because we have the same TV show, Futurama. Four and a half years of mentorship and hard work later, I am now spear heading our development department and am on the fast upward trajectory to becoming an executive producer. These days I’m telling stories a little bit differently than I thought I would, but it’s just as fulfilling as I imagined.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
At this point in my life, I have been diagnosed with a bit of a laundry list of mental health disorders – anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2012, I lost someone I loved in a tragic accident and it all too quickly slammed the door on my innocence and my youth. There were a lot of moments after that day that I didn’t want to go on – I was consumed by my own grief, overwhelmed by guilt and fractured by loss. Losing Derek taught me that life can be so unkind and one of our only guarantees is death; A lesson that has both haunted me and given me strength. Life is short, don’t f***ing waste it. So, I made a promise to myself and to Derek that I wouldn’t let life make me hard or cold or angry. I refused to let it dim my light. Now I guess I try to let those struggles guide me; my sensitivity is my strength. I care deeply about others and I think it’s important to share my vulnerabilities with them so that maybe, they’ll feel safe sharing theirs too.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I consider myself a content creator – I do a handful of different things, so that feels like a safe all-encompassing title! My day job is working in development for TV animation development at OddBot Inc Animation Studio in Los Angeles – I work closely with creators, artists and writers to produce series for kids 2-5 and 6-11. I get to work with an ever-growing roster of diverse creators and help them tell their stories. My favorite question to ask is, “what do you wish was on TV when you were a kid?” I mean, what’s more fulfilling than creating the content you wish you had growing up? TV is an escape for kids, it makes them feel seen and heard, it teaches them about their world and it expands their wildest imaginations. When I sign off for the day, I work on… I guess we can call it my personal brand @yung.planet.
On Instagram, I’m known for being a heavily tattooed makeup artist, content creator and internet goofball. I create makeup looks ranging basic to avante-garde, I style all of my sets and I shoot and edit everything myself. A combination of skills I learned from film school and watching way too much YouTube. I studied makeup gurus, their techniques and the trends like it was a college class. I’m not sure exactly when, but at some point it shifted from trying to look traditionally “good” to trying to create art. It feels good to continue taking it to that next level. I’ve always found so much solace in internet communities and friendships – I grew up finding safe havens of creative people with shared interests on MySpace and on Tumblr. It made me like I wasn’t alone. Now I hope I get to be that same person for someone. I try to encourage everyone to try anything and to give it their best shot. I think the worst feeling is thinking you shouldn’t give something a chance because you won’t be good at it or because people will think you’re trying too hard. Be bad at things! Try as hard as you can!
I’m not an influencer, I don’t want to sell you something. I don’t want anyone to think I have a perfect life or that I always look perfect. I’m just another person doing my best – I share my struggles and my vulnerabilities, I share my best and my mediocre work, I share what I can about the causes I care about. I think what sets me apart is that I don’t want you to want to be like me. I want you to be confident being you. All of the direct messages in my Instagram inbox from strangers sharing their experiences of loss, their makeup journeys and telling me their stories shows me that I must be doing something right. I hope to continue creating that safe creative space for people.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
For anyone reading this, give yourself permission to make mistakes and be weird. And above all else, remember to be kind, be patient and be gentle with yourself and with others, we are all fighting invisible battles. Don’t let life make you hard. We can all use a little light.
Contact Info:
- Email: business.marschasolen@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/yung.planet
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQoZRvM8y9mTqpBaeOWDH8g
Image Credits:
Featured Photo – Photographer – Paige Margulies – IG @drelladarko
