Meet Tatiana Aguilera | ART STAR

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

Hi Tatiana, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
We as people are like sponges. We absorb what we entertain and keep around us. I worked in music for 6 year (in audio and drums). Audio is 2% female, with a constant battle of proving yourself regardless of your experience. I struggle with depression and anxiety and in 2023, my mental health dropped to an all time low. My closest friends have their own businesses, making clothes and jewelry. I live in their designs, wearing them everyday. Not just because they are friends but because I truly love the piece’s. When walking around and shopping at flea markets people would ask where my booth is and what I’m wearing. I dress kind of weird and like to push boundaries, for that, people always think I’m a designer or a stylist. Even my friends have told me for years to make my own clothes. I started channeling my energy into making things in 2023. Creating gave me new life. I held onto my first batch of designs for a year before releasing them. The friends I have in fashion have helped me get to where I am now. As someone with deep anxiety, I’m overly critical and constantly talking myself down. Working in this realm of creating these objects that don’t use words or lyrics, the visuals speak for themselves. It’s very freeing. I owe it all to the people in my life who have helped me get here and the challenges that have been presented to me within the last 2 years.

Ive always led a life of revolt and resistance. For me, my business is a form of resistance against my own demons. Creating helps keep them at bay.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I don’t like to think of myself as set apart from others but funny enough, I don’t like to be grouped in a category with others either. I’m 32 and have tried almost every job out there. Aside from the usual waitressing, sales associate, minimum wage norms, I’ve mostly tried to make a name for myself as an individual millions of different ways. & none of them failed, I just… moved on.

I’ve been a:
Circus performer
Mermaid (seriously)
Audio Engineer
Cosmetic tattooist
AR Director in music
Dog Rehab trainer
Flight attendant
Yoga Therapist
& the list goes on.

Through all of these jobs I’ve learned more about myself. & the one thing that has been the most evident is that I have severe ADHD. I need to be stimulated, create and yet also need stability. I need to organize and have consistency but not too much or I’ll get bored or overwhelmed. It’s a hard mix to balance. So in learning this, I decided to invest my time and energy into myself. To build something for me instead of spending hours on end building someone else empire or corporation.

I want the world to know that I am human. I am not perfect but I am trying. & that’s what my brand is about. It’s a brand for misfits, who don’t quite feel like they belong.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I had a friend visiting LA I would make sure to take them to these neighborhoods; Little Tokyo, Los Feliz, Silverlake, and Echo Park. Both for food and thrifting.

I keep to myself most of the time but these places are very walkable. I love wandering around aimlessly. The thrifting is best in Silverlake and my favorite place to eat is in Echo Park. It’s called Tribal Cafe. It’s a worldly little hidden gem with healthy food that’s got every cuisine option squished onto one giant menu.

I would make sure to take them to a Dodgers game for sure. Summers, I love walking Sunset to get to the stadium, stopping at all the tacos spots on the way ( I’m a huge foodie).

The best true LA experience to me is catching a low riders show. Every summer, low riders cruise down Sunset Blvd in Echo Park, typically on Saturdays and Sundays. They fill the streets, causing traffic but it’s the best. They say to experience true LA, one of the things on the checklist is seeing a ghetto bird (police helicopter). At the low riders shows, you’ll see plenty as they fly overhead and try to disperse traffic. It’s just an very true experience, that’s rich in LA and Latino culture. I’m proud to be a minority and at these events, I feel less alone. I can’t explain it, you just have to see for yourself.

Lastly, and this is very California of me, I would take them surfing. No one ever expects me to be athletic but I do surf. I go quite often. It’s the most humbling and cathartic activity.

Off the top of my head I love these other activities too:
– hiking at Elysian with my dogs
– watching a movie at the Alamo downtown
– going to a Cinespia movie at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery in the summer

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate my ShoutOut to Veronica of EyeCandy & Chris of Lesser of Two Evils.

Website: shopartstar.com

Instagram: @shopartstar

Other: TikTok: @shopartstar.la

Image Credits
Tatiana Aguilera Veronica Munoz