We had the good fortune of connecting with Domi M and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Domi, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
My interest and love for nail artistry started in middle school. I’ve always loved nail art and enjoyed going to the nail salon with my godmother, who was also one of my teachers. Once I was “allowed” to have acrylics and working part-time, I went CRAZY! I loved long, bright, colorfully designed nails. I was the creative director of my nail designs, however I could not do them myself. I became frustrated with certain nail salons when they didn’t understand my nail vision, or showed zero interest in actually doing quality creative nail designs. Fast forward to 2019, after working years to achieve my professional career goals, I realized that I hate everything corporate America stands for. The commute, office politics, professional politics, operating on someone else’s schedule. There was no room for creative or innovative ideas, mind you I was in the field of marketing and communications. I hated it. The 2020 pandemic changed my life, for the worst then BETTER! I received an unpredicted amount of downtime and taught myself how to do acrylic nails. I would practice for 10 hours a day. Going over the same design and shapes until I got them right. By August, I had my application and structure down pack! I then introduced my baby, Beauty Bombgold, to my online community and the DMV area.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Since high school I always knew I wanted to work in media and communications, I just wasn’t sure how. College introduced me to mass communication. I learned print journalism, public relations, radio, and broadcast. However, public relations and marketing were the only two functions to keep my interest. I received my first opportunity in the industry my spring semester of my freshman year and my professional career took off! I’ve worked for top public relations firms, nonprofits, local governments, the federal government, hospitality, tech companies, you name it. But something was missing. I felt like I had to fight to do good work. I hated the office and professional politics. I hated the lack of creativity and innovation. Plus, I was never passionate about the work, I was just great at what I did, and knew the industry could pay me well. My passion has always been in beauty. Growing up all I cared for was hair, makeup, and nails. However, college and a professional career were the only things pushed down my throat. I never in a million years thought I would be a nail artist, but my interest in glam was always there! Any opportunity I had to dress up, get my hair and nails done, and wear makeup? Sign up me! Football games, homecoming, concerts, and proms were my time to shine in high school. Weekends, and sometimes weekdays – I never missed an opportunity to be glam. God began to strip me of everything I worked for, but I didn’t realize that he was destroying everything that assisted in wasting my time, creativity, and passion. The 2020 pandemic was the most stressful blessing that I have ever received. I was blessed to have the opportunity to focus on art and creativity without the worries of monetizing. I was able to educate myself, train, grow and become a licensed nail artist. I taught myself something that no one can ever strip from me or control. My own art that can provide my needs and celebrate my wants in life. In the beginning, it was hard! I’m a perfectionist so I overly criticized everything I did. I had to learn to be gentle with myself. When things weren’t working out, I would travel down this mental rabbit hole of “shoulda, coulda, woulda”. “Why didn’t you do this straight out of college”. “Why didn’t the adults in my life talk to me about my interests”. “You could have done this in college”. And one day I had to say, STOP! Every one of my life experiences have built me up for this moment. I have the professional tools and knowledge to run a business! I know how to brand, communicate, and market. I know how to manage my business accounting and finances. I know how to professionally engage and speak with clients. My life has literally built me up for this moment and I must be proud of every challenge, struggle and hardship! At one of my lowest moments of life, something beautiful and inspiring was created – Beauty Bombgold! This journey has taught me to always bet on myself! All I must do is identify exactly what I want, identify the steps to get there, understand that I am not exempt from challenges, and always be ready to pivot for things that may be completely out of my control.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Living in Washington DC, my favorite places to eat and drink include: Astoria DC (asian), D’Lena (mexican) and L’Ardente (italian). These three places provide great food, aesthetically pleasing decor and layouts, and BOMB drinks. I love a great cocktail!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck! Before reading this book I was worried about the wrong damn things! Wasting mental and emotional energy and time on things that literally do not matter. This book introduced me to the fact that life is a constant battle of overcoming challenges and difficult situations. And, no matter what you do, you cannot escape that. But to truly enjoy, live and be happy, we must be very specific about the things we value and give a f*ck about! Once I figured that out and applied to my personal life and goals, my quality of life became amazing!

Website: www.beautybombgold.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautybombgold/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beautybombgold

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTP_WH91tbPr5vVkgTfq51g

Other: https://www.pinterest.com/beautybombgold/ Book site: https://beautybombgold.as.me/schedule.php

Image Credits
Beauty Bombgold

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.