On the righthand side of the Marketplace checkout counters is Erica Garcia, wearing vibrant eyeshadow every weekday morning. Garcia said she started working at Occidental Spring 2024 and takes pride in bringing joy to the dining hall, students and her coworkers.
Marketplace Supervisor Sandra Saavedra, who has been working across departments at Occidental for over 13 years, said Garcia’s makeup and kind demeanor initiates a positive atmosphere.
“She’s a very sweet, hardworking co-worker,” Saavedra said. “She helps wherever we need her to help […] she brings joy to a lot of people I’ve seen because of her makeup.”
Garcia said she did not start trying out eyeshadow until she was old enough to buy her own makeup at 18.
“I was probably 23 when I started saying, ‘I’m gonna go full force, let’s see if I could get away with it at my [old] job,’” Garcia said. “Little by little, I added on, they never said anything […] I challenged myself to not repeat one design.”
Garcia said that since working at Occidental, she has received enthusiasm and excitement from students and staff for her makeup.
“There was a group of three boys [who] started having a bet when it came to Halloween [and] what my next character was going to be,” Garcia said. “They know Halloween’s my favorite.”
Garcia said she starts and completes her makeup at night before she goes to bed, which surprises everyone she has told. Garcia said as a working mom, this night routine works better as she is busy getting her daughter ready for school in the morning, and designs take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to complete.
“I tried [doing makeup] in the morning and it does not work,” Garcia said. “I have prints on my sleep shirt of the design that I did, a heart shape on my shoulder.”
According to Garcia, the ritual of doing her makeup each night has become a meditative space where she can unwind.
“My mind goes 100 miles a minute […] ‘What am I gonna do for dinner the next day? I need to do the laundry, I need to pay this bill,’” Garcia said. “I feel as though if I’m sitting down, I need to do something […] I just started justifying that this is [my] relaxing time.”
Garcia said this time has also allowed her to spend time with her husband, providing a place where they can coexist after a long day apart.
“My husband and I will just sit there, even if he’s not playing his video game,” Garcia said. “We’ve been together for 12 years. So, we do our separate things, but together.”
According to Garcia, most of her makeup ideas come from conversations with her husband or daughter, who suggest certain designs and characters based on the current holiday or season.
“It’s either my husband giving me ideas, or my daughter choosing colors,” Garcia said. “I use very cheap things. I don’t buy $60 makeup kits. I bought a $5 eyeliner palette off of Temu, and then the $3 concealer from Elf as a primer. Everything else, I’ve just gotten from Dollar Trees.”
Garcia said she did face painting at her daughter’s school, where the kids identify her by her makeup, and even parents were excited to get their faces painted.
“All of the kids loved it […] some of them were getting their face painted for the first time,” Garcia said. “The Dia de los Muertos [design] was very popular for parents and staff.”
Garcia said having an outlet for creativity in a non-structured way has been monumental in her self-confidence. According to Garcia, in high school, she completed a six-foot chalk painting of her best friend, but was momentarily discouraged by her art teacher.
“Even that didn’t get an A, because I didn’t do it the way [my teacher] wanted,” Garcia said. “That’s when I told myself, art is [subjective]. […] What does it matter what anybody else says?”
Saavedra said she encouraged Garcia to post videos online and document her looks.
“I’ve told her that she should go professional […] but she has also said that it’s just a hobby,” Saavedra said. “She really enjoys it, and she doesn’t want to lose that.”
Garcia said she has received judgmental looks in public, on the bus and in the grocery store for her wearing colorful makeup looks as a mother — but she tries to approach it with her levelheaded mindset. Garcia said she has observed the exhausting environment of coming of age as a girl at this time, and hopes to instill this self-confidence in her daughter.
“We are very open with her about the negativity, and she’s starting to see it, unfortunately,” Garcia said. “I want her to have that independence and that confidence in herself, rather than going and looking for it as approval from others.”
Jenny Mendoza, a cashier who has been working at Campus Dining since 2004, said Garcia has a commitment to joy throughout her day.
“She rushes here because she takes her daughter to school, she gets here, she still comes happy, [has a] positive attitude and she’s great to work with,” Mendoza said.
According to Garcia, she hopes that people she interacts with or the students she sees at the Marketplace embrace their unique ways of expressing themselves.
“Everybody would be boring if we all thought the same,” Garcia said. “As far as I go, I’m just someone who loves art, loves to see the smiles on people’s faces, [and] start conversations.”
Contact Lucinda Toft at ltoft@oxy.edu
