I get asked this question so much as a hair and makeup artist: “Why do you do what you do?”. Honestly, it has been hard to answer this question right off on a whim. I really have to think about it. I don’t want to say the typical answer, ‘I want to make people feel beautiful’, because it’s not just that. Of course I want to do that, but that’s a given, right? If I’m doing hair and makeup, of course I love to see people light up when they see themselves. I feel like this question has a deeper meaning.  Answering my ‘why’ is not easy for me because there is no straight answer. 

I’ve always been passionate about hair ever since high school. I always had a new hairstyle (that looked pretty good too!), and I colored my hair A LOT. I helped my friends try new hairstyles as well, and I loved being creative with hair. I knew I wanted to be a hairstylist. I love what I do and I love meeting new people. I fell in love with making people light up when they look at themselves in the mirror. But I feel like that’s not the full reason why I do what I do.

I tried getting into other things as well, and I even thought about going to school again for a different degree. However, it always came back to hair and makeup. I couldn’t shake the happiness it brings me to see a client’s smile after enhancing their natural beauty. I love how instinctive using a makeup brush feels and feeling the texture of hair as I mold it into the style someone loves.

I feel like my ‘why’ involves all these things and just that I’m good at what I do. If I wasn’t good, I wouldn’t be in this industry. I love serving people in any way I can, but in order to serve them, I have to be good at it. Styling hair comes very natural to me and I knew that since I went to beauty school. Makeup also came pretty easy, and when I went to makeup school, I understood the techniques taught and I picked up on it relatively quickly.

I’m not perfect and I know I have a lot to learn. I still want to perfect my skills in both hair and makeup. I am still taking hair classes to learn new techniques and I’m taking makeup classes to see other perspectives. I do not want to get stuck in my ways. I want to try new things and be better for my clients. I love serving YOU, and there’s always something new to learn!

So to answer the real question: “Why do you do what you do?” 

I’m doing hair and makeup because I was meant to do hair and makeup. I love everything about this industry and it runs in my veins. I cannot see myself being an engineer or a high school teacher. I can’t even see myself being in a salon doing hair cuts and color services. I do hair and makeup because this is what I was born to do. 

xoxo,
Katlyn