Growing up as a Latin American immigrant in a homogenous country like Sweden, I never found myself represented in mainstream media and the products I consumed. Especially in beauty.
Hair and beauty has always been a central part of my culture. My father was a hairdresser and had set up a hairdresser chair equipped with a styling mirror and product cart in our living room. He often cut hair for family and friends and would spend hours braiding my long hair.
As I grew older, my dreams evolved with me. Determined to create a different future for myself than the one of my parents, I embarked on a journey of my own. I moved out of home at the age of 18, was the first in my family to get a degree, joined the tech industry as one of few women and eventually relocated to the U.S. for work.
Upon arriving in the U.S., I reconnected with my Latinx heritage. For the first time I could see myself in others and realized how many have grown up in-between cultures, just like myself.
A pesar de la comunidad latina moderna que yo conocí, junto con el hecho de que la población hispana representa un veinte por ciento de la población de los EE. UU., todavía observaba el vació enorme de representación latina. Por lo tanto, comencé a sentirme una responsabilidad fuerte de impulsar un cambio.
