Jinson Pineda and Héctor Alvarado, a duo of friends who dance to fulfill a dream in 'Soy el mejor'

In Ecuador, their outstanding work as makeup artists supports them. They have collaborated with several screen figures and the proposal to integrate the production of I am the best, as participants, was a surprise for both of them. Jinson Pineda and Héctor Alvarado are part of the contestants on the 2022 season of the TC Televisión dance show.

“We received a call from the directors of the channel and when we received it we thought they were calling us to go make up the talents, we did not understand, and when they told us they wanted us as part of the cast we were surprised. They explained the background of the competition to us. I never visualized myself in a space like this. And for example, when we wanted to undertake, we didn't have a penny, I was afraid. And I felt that fear although I was also excited, but Hector is the opposite, he told me let's accept. He was the one who convinced me”, says Pineda, 25 years old.

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In the dance competition, Pineda and Alvarado will perform as a team together with their dancer. “When we were recording the promo for the program we couldn't believe it, we were next to actresses and professionals we admire, and when we went to rehearsals we also realized how sacrificed this is. We are preparing very fed up in the dance part ”, he adds.

“The first rehearsal we had was very key, it served to coordinate ideas. We have something very clear and that is that we do not want to lose our essence, not only our personalities, but we do not want to lose the essence of being able to show the public that we are boys who have grown little by little, that we had nothing, that although we have had and we started this project with fear, we can get ahead. Héctor and I want to show that in our show”, explains Pineda. "Our personalities will always be on stage."

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Their participation in the production has also led them to restructure their work schedule so as not to be separated from their beauty studio and makeup classes. "We have projects that are still underway, such as launching our line of cosmetics, which in fact we already have a line of eyelashes created by us, but we are trying to fit our academy class schedules well," he adds. .

Both will sponsor a woman who aspires to open her own hair salon.

Sacrifice leads to success

Originally from Zaruma, in the province of El Oro, Pineda assures that the road traveled towards his current job stability has been long and sacrificed. Belonging to a large family (with seven siblings), he has worked since he was little. “We were raised only by my mom, because my dad left when we were little. I grew up working, since I was around 7 or 6 years old, because my mother worked in the market, shelling beans, peas. It's not that we were the owners of the stall, my mom worked for another lady. We would leave school and go to my mom's to help her shell the beans. After that I dedicated myself to selling jellies in the market, the ones in the glass, and after that process I have worked on what you can't even imagine”, he says.

To this list of informal jobs, Pineda adds others such as shoe shiner, newspaper vendor, and waiter. “I have worked cleaning, in neighborhood stores, and after that I went, at the age of 14 or 15, to work in the mine. I worked in mines, it was the one I liked the least, but I realized how we adapt to different situations. I did it to help my brothers, I knew that this was not for me. I worked in a restaurant with a wonderful family that taught me to believe and dream. I worked with them for five or six years, they taught me that one has to study, they gave me advice, and when I finished school, they motivated me to leave my town and that's how I got to Guayaquil," says Pineda, who settled in the Main Port approximately five years ago.

With the only experience of secretly doing makeup for her friends when she was in school, Pineda reveals that she lost her fear of following her dreams when she moved. “I arrived on a Thursday and began to distribute my resume in restaurants and stores, and the next day, in the afternoon, they called me to work in an online sales service until later I ended up working in a hairdresser's. I never planned anything," he says.

Her beginnings in the field of makeup were empirical, as time went by she took training courses with international specialists and various workshops. One of these was with Jennifer Lopez's personal makeup artist. “I saved and I was paying the course in installments, but I enrolled. This course changed my life, my make-up technique and contributed a lot to my career”, she mentions.

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Fulfilling dreams

Working on television has always been a dream for 30-year-old Héctor Alvarado. “TV is my lifelong dream. I remember that I was about 15 years old and I would go to A todo dar, Megamatch, La guerra de los sexos, I would go and earn my 10 dollars when I participated or went as an audience. I remember that I used to sit in the afternoons at home, on a television with a knob, and the only channels I got were Ecuavisa, Teleamazonas and TC Televisión. I watched the TV divas from my neighborhood, in Guasmo. The people who live in a humble sector see television as a dream, as impossible, and now that I am here it is a joy and a satisfaction, I always thank God because every moment has a purpose. We are happy with this opportunity, because we do not consider ourselves talented, we are guys who like to do make-up, do our hair and who like to make women pretty”, he says.

About three and a half years ago, Alvarado and Pineda met. Initially they did not have a good relationship until they met and managed to establish a great friendship. “I started studying beauty at the age of 17, from the age of 5 or 6 I liked to play with dolls, I always struggled with this; Although I have never been ashamed of my sexual preferences, I have always handled myself with respect. When I was 14 years old, they sent me to work in a mechanical workshop, later I sold lunches, washed cars, sold cable television from door to door, I was a waiter, and after a while I went with my photocopied ID card to go do casting to the channels so that they would give me my prize if I won it. There, for example, I saw Gabriela Pazmiño arrive in her car,” says Alvarado.

Alvarado also says that his mother and his neighbors at the time are very happy for the achievements he has obtained.

The Duo from Ecuador is born

They met at a hairdresser's where Pineda already worked. Alvarado arrived for a job interview. Approximately three years ago they began to undertake their own studio and makeup academy.

The name was chosen at the suggestion of a friend who advised them to promote their work on networks and platforms. “When we worked in a hair salon, sometimes there wasn't enough for lunch and one brought the rice and the other the tuna, and that's how we shared. Since then we have always been friends, we are through thick and thin," Alvarado emphasizes. (AND)