Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandi Anderson.
Brandi, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Let me start by saying this; I’ve always liked makeup since the 6th grade. My interest in different looks and techniques increased when I became a Lipsense (Senegence) distributor in 2017.
But March 2019 is where the journey began, and it changed my life and my focus on becoming a Freelance makeup artist. I met with Makeup Artist Jamiee Dionne to take a private 1:1 session, honestly, to get better at my makeup application. The private 1:1 was my very first with a professional makeup artist, so I didn’t know what to expect, other than my expectations were to upgrade my makeup application. Weeks before the session, Jamiee and I were chatting via Instagram direct messager, and she asked me if I had a model, and my response was “no.” So I was told to bring one, still clueless of the expectations of this session.
On the day of the appointment, the questions that she asked me were: “who is your clientele?” “what type of makeup would you like to do?” “what do you want to market to?” “how many people have you done makeup on?” “who do you want to market to?” and “what type of makeup artistry would you like to focus on?” I am sure there were more questions asked throughout the session that I can’t recall. But when asked those questions, I was confused because my focus was just my makeup application.
One thing I forgot to mention when I showed up to my appointment, Jamiee, did ask me, “Did you bring your makeup kit?” And of course, my answer was, “no, and what kit?” I was not ready. As my model and I proceeded to the private session with Jamiee, she walked me through application techniques, things to consider when applying makeup on other people, demonstrated how to use multipurpose products, shade ranges, and so much more. The session set up with Jamiee was her showing her application on one side of my model’s face, and I had to replicate what she did with her guidance. The results were shocking! I couldn’t believe I did that. I was super proud of myself, but I was in a state of confusion because I thought what am I going to do with this, and I don’t think I can be a makeup artist and apply makeup on others.
Now that session was on a Thursday evening, and my church has a service called “Friday Night Fire,” which is a pray service we have every third Friday of the month. When I got to church that Friday, I couldn’t wait to show the photo of my model and how much my side of the makeup application looked like the makeup artist. After explaining to a group of my friends about the session and showed them the photo, the question came up,” Brandi, do you want to be a makeup artist?” My response to them was an immediate “No!” and let me tell you why. I honestly was ashamed, thought to myself makeup artistry isn’t a real job, and I didn’t want my friends to judge me for wanting to pursue a career as a makeup artist. To me, they have professional jobs; what do I look like.
These thoughts had nothing to do with my friends; it was insecurities with myself and the decision. That Sunday, one of my friends pulled me to the side, and our conversation confirmed how I felt about becoming a Freelance Makeup Artist. That one conversation drove me and pushed and still motivates me. That conversation made a significant impact on me to move forward with pursuing a dream of mine. I thank God for that conversation, and I thank God for my other friend volunteering to be my model the day of the private 1:1 makeup session. From this point, my business was birth.
I am a believer in God’s word, and throughout my decision making, there was a word from God that had been prophesied over me that confirmed and gave me clarity of the decision I was making. I look back at that word all the time!!! I ordered the CD to listen to it again and to be able to write down the prophecy word from word. That word keeps me grounded and trusting God throughout the process.
One thing I didn’t mention is Jamiee put me onto another makeup artist, located in DC, her name is Tiyana Robinson, who is the business owner of Makeup Mogul University. Makeup Mogul University is an online curriculum for makeup artists specifically who want to take their makeup business to the next level. After Jamiee sent me her Instagram information, this was around the time that Tiyana was starting her Makeup Mogul University online courses for makeup artists. I immediately signed up to help jumpstart my business.
Throughout this journey, I’ve gotten published in two local magazines, and I am now a team member, Makeup Artist, of Carlos Vincent Photography as of December 2019. What I want other artists to know is once I made the decision, I wanted to practice a lot, so there were times I would take on free gigs or asking my family and friends to come over to the house to get their makeup done. During this journey, I discovered what direction I wanted my makeup artistry to go. Originally I wanted to do what other makeup artists were doing and nothing against them I’ve learned for myself that wasn’t the direction I wanted to go.
But that was a journey in itself, and I am still exploring that journey, but it’s gotten easier. My makeup artistry will focus on everyday women, headshots, photoshoots, classic glam, smokey eye, and just enhancing the beauty of my clients. I still have a lot to learn, and I continue to invest in my learning while providing my client with the beauty experience.
But March 2019 is where the journey began, and it changed my life and my focus on becoming a Freelance makeup artist. I met with Makeup Artist Jamiee Dionne to take a private 1:1 session, honestly, to get better at my makeup application. The private 1:1 was my very first with a professional makeup artist, so I didn’t know what to expect, other than my expectations were to upgrade my makeup application. Weeks before the session, Jamiee and I were chatting via Instagram direct messager, and she asked me if I had a model, and my response was “no.” So I was told to bring one, still clueless of the expectations of this session.
On the day of the appointment, the questions that she asked me were: “who is your clientele?” “what type of makeup would you like to do?” “what do you want to market to?” “how many people have you done makeup on?” “who do you want to market to?” and “what type of makeup artistry would you like to focus on?” I am sure there were more questions asked throughout the session that I can’t recall. But when asked those questions, I was confused because my focus was just my makeup application.
One thing I forgot to mention when I showed up to my appointment, Jamiee, did ask me, “Did you bring your makeup kit?” And of course, my answer was, “no, and what kit?” I was not ready. As my model and I proceeded to the private session with Jamiee, she walked me through application techniques, things to consider when applying makeup on other people, demonstrated how to use multipurpose products, shade ranges, and so much more. The session set up with Jamiee was her showing her application on one side of my model’s face, and I had to replicate what she did with her guidance. The results were shocking! I couldn’t believe I did that. I was super proud of myself, but I was in a state of confusion because I thought what am I going to do with this, and I don’t think I can be a makeup artist and apply makeup on others.
Now that session was on a Thursday evening, and my church has a service called “Friday Night Fire,” which is a pray service we have every third Friday of the month. When I got to church that Friday, I couldn’t wait to show the photo of my model and how much my side of the makeup application looked like the makeup artist. After explaining to a group of my friends about the session and showed them the photo, the question came up,” Brandi, do you want to be a makeup artist?” My response to them was an immediate “No!” and let me tell you why. I honestly was ashamed, thought to myself makeup artistry isn’t a real job, and I didn’t want my friends to judge me for wanting to pursue a career as a makeup artist. To me, they have professional jobs; what do I look like.
These thoughts had nothing to do with my friends; it was insecurities with myself and the decision. That Sunday, one of my friends pulled me to the side, and our conversation confirmed how I felt about becoming a Freelance Makeup Artist. That one conversation drove me and pushed and still motivates me. That conversation made a significant impact on me to move forward with pursuing a dream of mine. I thank God for that conversation, and I thank God for my other friend volunteering to be my model the day of the private 1:1 makeup session. From this point, my business was birth.
I am a believer in God’s word, and throughout my decision making, there was a word from God that had been prophesied over me that confirmed and gave me clarity of the decision I was making. I look back at that word all the time!!! I ordered the CD to listen to it again and to be able to write down the prophecy word from word. That word keeps me grounded and trusting God throughout the process.
One thing I didn’t mention is Jamiee put me onto another makeup artist, located in DC, her name is Tiyana Robinson, who is the business owner of Makeup Mogul University. Makeup Mogul University is an online curriculum for makeup artists specifically who want to take their makeup business to the next level. After Jamiee sent me her Instagram information, this was around the time that Tiyana was starting her Makeup Mogul University online courses for makeup artists. I immediately signed up to help jumpstart my business.
Throughout this journey, I’ve gotten published in two local magazines, and I am now a team member, Makeup Artist, of Carlos Vincent Photography as of December 2019. What I want other artists to know is once I made the decision, I wanted to practice a lot, so there were times I would take on free gigs or asking my family and friends to come over to the house to get their makeup done. During this journey, I discovered what direction I wanted my makeup artistry to go. Originally I wanted to do what other makeup artists were doing and nothing against them I’ve learned for myself that wasn’t the direction I wanted to go.
But that was a journey in itself, and I am still exploring that journey, but it’s gotten easier. My makeup artistry will focus on everyday women, headshots, photoshoots, classic glam, smokey eye, and just enhancing the beauty of my clients. I still have a lot to learn, and I continue to invest in my learning while providing my client with the beauty experience.
I am grateful for every opportunity I have with photographers, models, and recommendations.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The journey has had a few challenges, but God has ordered my steps. I had an opportunity to be a part of the Speaker’s Bootcamp with Kristen Guillory, and she got me in touch to have a mentoring conversation with Riska Crowder and Laila Monet, which was such a blessing. The stories they shared with me were pretty similar to mine. The things that were challenging were thoughts of, can I do this?, will my husband support me?, who will book me?, do I believe in this?, and how will I manage this with wanting to extend my family. Honestly, it was a bit overwhelming.
Other challenges were I didn’t have a studio, so people were coming to my house, and something about having strangers coming to my house was unsettling. I prayed about the direction I wanted to go, and again I went back to that prophecy to see what God said, so I made to decision to travel to people and not have them come to me.
Building my makeup kit was a challenge. I would watch other makeup artists and, there were items in their makeup kit that seem to be standard, but there were makeup items that were so different. It depended on what worked for them, so that was a challenge, and I am still trying to figure out what will work for me.
Pricing was a challenge. Tiyana’s university taught me so much about that, and it still is a challenge because you don’t want to diminish the industry. Understand who is my client. But I have a better direction of where I want to go, so it’s making it easier for me to know who I want to market too.
Building my makeup kit was a challenge. I would watch other makeup artists and, there were items in their makeup kit that seem to be standard, but there were makeup items that were so different. It depended on what worked for them, so that was a challenge, and I am still trying to figure out what will work for me.
Pricing was a challenge. Tiyana’s university taught me so much about that, and it still is a challenge because you don’t want to diminish the industry. Understand who is my client. But I have a better direction of where I want to go, so it’s making it easier for me to know who I want to market too.
Please tell us more about your work. What do you do? What do you specialize in? What sets you apart from competition?
The name of my business is the Beauty Experience with Brandi. I am a Freelance, traveling Makeup Artist located in Fort Worth, Texas. My specialty is makeup for headshots, photoshoots, editorial, soft and natural glam, smokey eye, and red carpet events. It’s been a humbling experience to connect with the people I have throughout my journey.
I’m known for natural and soft glam. I am a mom of two girls, and I am teaching them throughout my process that makeup is an art and experience. I also want to help other women understand how to use the tools they have to create looks they can appreciate. So, when I work with my clients, I want to enhance their beauty and not take away from it. I enjoy working with stylists, hairstylists, and photographers to create a vision and art. It is so much fun. I love doing photoshoots, and working with Carlos Vincent and his team of makeup will continue to help me focus on work around sophistication, class, and creativity.
What sets me apart from others??? That is a tough question because every makeup artist is unique in their artistry. But if I have to provide an answer, my goal is to enhance the person’s features and teaching them how to use the tools they have to create a similar look. I am a helper in nature, so I enjoy teaching people things when I’ve learned it or even mastered it.
I’m known for natural and soft glam. I am a mom of two girls, and I am teaching them throughout my process that makeup is an art and experience. I also want to help other women understand how to use the tools they have to create looks they can appreciate. So, when I work with my clients, I want to enhance their beauty and not take away from it. I enjoy working with stylists, hairstylists, and photographers to create a vision and art. It is so much fun. I love doing photoshoots, and working with Carlos Vincent and his team of makeup will continue to help me focus on work around sophistication, class, and creativity.
What sets me apart from others??? That is a tough question because every makeup artist is unique in their artistry. But if I have to provide an answer, my goal is to enhance the person’s features and teaching them how to use the tools they have to create a similar look. I am a helper in nature, so I enjoy teaching people things when I’ve learned it or even mastered it.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success is not all about money. Success for me is when I can see growth, investing in yourself, and doing self-evaluations. Success is also meeting my expectations, goals, measures, and how I want my clients to feel when they walk out of my chair. You define success, don’t let other people define it for you. I am building a legacy for myself and family, especially my girls.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://beautyexperiencewb.wixsite.com/website
- Phone: 8175652504
- Email: divinelipsbybrandi@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautyexperiencewithbrandi/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeautyExperiencewithBrandi/
Image Credit:
Soul Fire Photography
Carlos Vincent Photography
Cree Kell
Jade Turner
Taelor Wine
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