How They Did It | Lucybloom Webb from Makeup Artist to Yoga Instructor
This is a summary that accompanies the original interview published on Work In Progress Podcast. Here we highlight our favorite parts from this conversation and some useful resources at the end of the article. The full interview is here.
“You don’t always know the answer and that’s okay.”
—Lucybloom Webb
Tell me about your previous career
Lucybloom started her career in London where she worked as a freelance makeup artist. A lot of her work were editorial shoots, fashion shows and videos. In fashion shows she was usually given a brief and was free to create makeup looks as long as she stuck to the brief. However, the stress of living in London took a toll on her health and she started to have anxiety; as a way to deal with the stress she started doing yoga in her spare time and it was effective. Eventually she moved home to Dublin, Ireland where she continued to work as a makeup artist but on film sets instead of fashion shows.
Life as a makeup artist on the film set was excruciating. The days were often 15–16 hours long with hour-long commutes since film sets are often in remote locations. Makeup artists were one of the earliest people to be on set and often the last ones to leave, therefore it was typical to leave home at 3–4am and returning late at night. Film makeup was much more specific than fashion show makeup so there was not much room for creativity. To add to that, there was a lot of hierarchy and ego in the film industry. She found herself new to the industry, tired from the demanding hours and feeling small most of the time.
She continued to practice yoga while going through these changes. The hierarchy on the film sets and the letting go of ego in yoga teachings were two diametrically opposed ideas that she experienced first hand almost everyday. She gravitated closer and closer to yoga philosophy as she continued her practice.
Tell me about your transition
As Lucybloom’s practice grew stronger she started to teach yoga during lunch time at work and was encouraged to pursue it further. With all the money she saved up from doing makeup she flew to India and went through a 200 hours course on theory, philosophy and yoga training. For the first time in her life, she felt that she was where she belonged. She did the training to enrich her knowledge of yoga without the intention to change career; the push to take the leap came later.
After she finished the training and returned home, life resumed to the same long hours just like before. On a rainy early commute, her colleague crashed her car on a narrow country road and Lucybloom hit the car due to poor visibility. Luckily, no one was badly injured but Lucybloom’s disenchantment with work plus the accident solidified her desire to leave this industry. She took it as a sign that there was something (literally) blocking her path and the universe was telling her she was going the wrong way. Within the coming weeks, she started working at a yoga studio and was getting more work so she never worked on film again.
In hind sight, Lucybloom said leaving behind the makeup artist career was not premeditated. She became passionate about yoga as her practice grew, and at the same time she felt frustrated with the long hours and egos in the film industry that made her she realize it was not the kind of life she wanted to live.
What was it like starting your own business?
She didn’t have much money to begin with due to the nature of freelance work. In the beginning it was hard and it took a long time to build a client base, but she took the perspective that her job is to serve and help people; she knew by sticking to that ethos, she would be coming from the right place. “If you had smaller number in your classes, you [might] feel a bit disheartened but really that’s just your ego” and at the end of the day you need to put that aside because your job is to help people who show up at the class.
When you switched to yoga, was there anything difficult about it?
No, “it felt easy and right, I felt at home. I just actually felt like I came home.”
Work In Progress Question: what does your next career look like?
Writer. Writing is something that comes naturally to her and she’s always enjoyed writing.
Resrouces
- Website: https://www.lucybloomyoga.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucybloomyoga/
- The Yoga Feed Retreat: https://www.theyogafeed.com
Work In Progress is a blog hosted by two twin sisters passionate about transitions in career and life. Our series “How They Did It” features interviews of people who successfully changed their careers in all walks of life.
Our belief is simple: if people are able to pursue the careers they like, they can lead more fulfilling and meaningful lives. And we want to show readers that it CAN be done.
