#LoveYourself: Alicia Souza On Being True To Yourself

#LoveYourself: Alicia Souza On Being True To Yourself

We’re celebrating Love Yourself Month all of February on Hauterfly. Apart from a fun series on cool things to do and buy to show yourself some love, we’ll have some of our favourite #GirlBosses tell you a little something about loving yourself a little more. How’s that for self-love and self-expression? #LoveYourself

Meet Alicia Souza, illustrator and designer, who makes adorable sketches that you can totally relate to. Her Facebook page is filled with doodles and illustrations of Old Wives’ Tales — a series which talks about old myths that we still believe to be true. Her daily illustrations will either leave a smile on your face or crack you up. While Alicia is based in Bangalore, you can shop all her cute products from her online pop-up store. Alicia is a great source of inspiration for girls our age. In a candid interview, here’s what she has to say about loving yourself.

1. How and when did illustrations become something you do for a living?
When I left university, I promised myself that I would only be in the design field if I got to illustrate. Initially, I did it on a part-time basis, which then went on to become my full-time job. I freelance full-time now!

2. What do your illustrations say about you? Do they reflect your mood?
Only if it’s not for a client. When I draw without a brief, it ALWAYS reflects my mood as mostly it’s a visualisation of my thoughts. So it’s mostly happy, cuddly, and hungry.

3. What does loving yourself mean to you?
Everything. It’s the decisions you make, it’s the promises you make to yourself and others, it’s in line with your personal happiness.

4. How often do you spend time by yourself, doing something you really like?
Because I work solo at home, I get a decent amount of quiet time to myself. It’s so essential for my work, especially because the silence gets my thoughts flowing. And I’m pretty much always doing things I like, be it drawing for work or pleasure, stitching, cooking, exercising or just eating. Although I like eating with others more!

5. Do you depend on anyone to make you happy, or do you prefer taking charge of your own happiness and being your own boss?
Oh, I totally believe that if you’re not happy as an independent person, no one will be able to fill your cup of happiness. I love being my own boss but also I love working with others. I love clients and I love the people who work with me. Everyone’s thoughts and ideas make projects better, and take it towards directions only a team could put together.

6. Does being an artist have a lot to do with who you are today as a person? What impact has it had on your life?
I don’t call myself an artist really, but what I do for a living IS the first way I define myself as a person. It has not impacted my life but rather IS my life.

7. What message would you like to send out to women who’ve just started to discover who and what they want to be?
Be true to yourself. Take advice, fall down, stand back up, fall down again, stand up again, take time off, do things you love, and do things that scare you. You are far stronger than you can ever imagine.

8. Have you ever gone on a solo trip before? Would you like to?
Yes, I used to take a day to roam the nearest city, if my flight had a layover in another country. It’s very nice in a way that you don’t have to do anything you don’t like. If you like museums, you can go to museums without a time frame or without being worried that you’re not suiting someone else’s interests. These are the only trips on which I’ve been able to keep a travel journal to record my thoughts because when I have company, I’m always chatting away excessively.

9. Do you splurge on yourself often?
Not really. I’ve been in the financial slumps a bit too many times to comprehend all too well the value of every rupee! Having said that, I do buy myself goodies when I absolutely love them.

Check out some of Alicia’s super cute products below:

 

Alicia_Souza_Calendar_2016_Hauterfly

2016 Let Go Colour-in Calendar (Rs 399)

Alicia_Souza_Hauterfly

Alicia Souza Soul Mates Magnet (Rs 199)

Alicia_Souza_Badge_Hauterfly

Wondering Woman Badge (Rs 120)

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