And with it, kind of slowly, the whole business idea started coming about. I started observing sort of how makeup had become the creative outlet that I had on a daily basis as a way to reclaim that moment or that experience. And once I was in such a focused area of law, I realized it kind of made me leave a lot of things behind that I really enjoyed and needed to feel a well balanced life. And it wasn't creative enough- which was something I didn't realize till I had been out of school for a long time where I was forced to do creative things as part of my curriculum. So there was, there was I'll never forget the first day I came to work at the law firm and I was wearing bright red lipstick, and the reaction I sort of got was, "Whoa, that was a very bold choice." At one point, as a lawyer, I felt I had sort of left women behind in a way and left my community behind in a way because I was so wrapped up in what I was doing. There was a lot of perception at times it felt like not always but at times that you know, you are going to be a smart, capable attorney you couldn't be vain.
At that point, it became a little bit of a loaded choice. When I became a lawyer, it took on a different meaning, in the sense that it was more personal. And it wasn't something that a lot of other women adopted, but it didn't seem to matter how far I moved from home it was it was there. So I showed up to law class with makeup every day. Even given multiple opportunities in my life and in my educational career, I never abandoned it. and going to college where no one really wore makeup, it was very much always present, as a story line in my life. That had always been part of my narrative. It's considered sort of an art form and part of who we are and part of putting yourself together. Makeup in a lot of Latina cultures, and in particularly in Mexico, is not quite optional. You witnessed a lot of how feminine power and your notion of yourself as a woman was very closely correlated to this ritual that you watch all women around you engage in every single day. But you see makeup in everything, from during the Mexican Revolutionary War with the adelitas who were the women that were helping during that time and wore makeup and did their hair in braids, all the way to telenovelas, the soap operas that took took a stronghold in the 80’s when I was growing up in Mexico. That is on display in so many different things that you'll see in Mexican culture. You'd be hard pressed to find a Latina that isn't surrounded with notions of femininity, beauty, makeup as power, how it's a tool that we use to reveal and express parts of ourselves to the world at large. Makeup had always figured very prominently in my life.
RM: So the inspiration was really actually rather personal. What was the what was the inspiration to to leave law behind? TP: And so then from there, you then at some point made the jump to makeup. And a year later, I got moved to the bankruptcy department, because our firm represented Lehman in the bankruptcy. So I walked into my first job at a big firm, based out of New York, but I was working in their Dallas office, as a real estate attorney for Lehman Brothers. I actually graduated from law school before the 2008 financial crisis. Regina Merson: Yes, I was a lawyer for over six years. But before that you got your start in law, is that right? Ponders: I'd like to start by talking about you and the makeup company that you created. And it's here that I think you'll get the most out of my conversation with Regina Merson- in front of MFA accession number 2015.3130, Dos Mujeres (Salvadora y Herminia), the first painting Frida Kahlo ever sold. Rather than on the wall, this painting is on a pedestal, so you can read the inscription on the back. Head to your left until you find the room with the painting that's not usually where you expect to see a painting. Head to the American wing, past the Chihuly sculpture and up to the third floor- not quite all the way up to visit Venus on the fourth. Today, we're at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. But I would be remiss if I didn't give you a piece of art to sit in front of while you listen. I got a chance to sit down with Regina Merson, founder and creator of the makeup company Reina Rebelde, to talk about starting a business, the art of makeup, Frida Kahlo, and the intersection of makeup and Latinx culture.
Today, I'm very excited to present something new for the show, our first ever interview.