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BYU–Hawaii senior Zully Davila says her art and business has helped create positive university experience

Zully Davila wears a brightly colored striped shirt with a white background
Photo by Claudia Reyes

Having a passion for art, Zully Davila, a senior from Peru majoring in art education, described her art as a personal escape from everyday stresses. She has used her passion to work for local artist Sarah Caudle in Mele Murals, an organization which promotes art education through mural painting, and to start her hair and eyelash business Z The Change.

Fellow art education major Emma Kleinhenz, a junior from Indiana, said Davila has been a creative and personal inspiration. “I look up to her because she is wise and has a wide range of knowledge. She also runs her own business … She works so hard and it’s really admirable.”

While she was still in high school, Davila went to cosmetology school to learn how to style hair, eyelashes and other skills. “I would go to school 40 to 60 hours a week, doing high school and hair school … [they were] definitely long days, but it forced me to grow up.”

Davila said she knew she was going to start Z The Change before she came out to Hawaii. “It was the only way I would be able to afford living here.” At Z The Change, Davila cuts hair for men and women, but her specialty is eyelash extensions.

Davila said it is a long and delicate process, “You have to place each extension individually on each eyelash, so it takes a very long time.”

One of her clients, Matt Stripling, a senior from Canada majoring in accounting, has been getting his hair cut by Davila for two and a half years. He said every time Davila sees someone she recognizes, she is excited to see them. He said her outgoing and energetic personality has made his experience with her a positive one.

“She’s not afraid to talk about her life and things she's going through, it becomes a very personal haircut, you just talk about things in life.”

Kleinhenz also has experience with Z The Change and Davila’s positive personality. She said while Davila was doing her hair, and she told Davila about a personal matter, “She actually listened to me, [and] that doesn’t happen with a lot of people.”

Kleinhenz also said she respects Davila as an artist and described Davila as someone who is always willing to try new things, and said, “As an artist, Zully [has] a lot of potential and is very expressive with her work. I admire her skill a lot.”

Art has been another important aspect of her life in Hawaii. While here she has worked with Mele Murals.

“We paint murals with the kids, and it’s based on Hawaiian culture with kids, we paint with kids and tell stories based on the location,” she said.

After graduation Davila said she plans on staying in Hawaii for a while longer to expand Z The Change, and her art business. She plans on selling and focusing on her art and thinking back on experiences that have changed her life.