We recently connected with Julie Taing and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Julie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us a story about a time you failed?

Before I became a permanent makeup artist, I was a traveling makeup artist and spokesperson for Sephora. I was one of 12 elite artist representing Sephora both internally (product development, artistry education, content writing, you name it) and also externally (fashion week, red carpet, celebrity, print, influencer relations). Our job in the beginning was unique where we had to audition every year for it. This was about a 6 month process where all artist within the studio were able to audition, then through a series of challenges and 3 rounds they cut it down to top 30. The top 30 then compete in the big Sephora conference. Our work is judged by some of the leading artist. I remember I was already on the team so I had all this wild travel to Asia, San Francisco, New York while going through the audition process. By the time the finals hit I was dead tired and I remember the final walk way where we had to create an advant guarde look I bombed it. I could not find it in me to create anything because I was so exhausted. And the judges saw that it was bad. I thought my career was over but after crying my eyes out and talking to my colleagues I had to own it, accept it and have that honest talk with myself that everything happens for a reason and everyone is allowed a bad day. I had to come to radical acceptance that. As they were calling all the winners it was down to the last spot and I told myself if I don’t get called it was my time to bow out and if I was called that it was my time to learn to speak up for myself and give myself agency.

Well, I made the team and eventually became one of the lead artist for the team. I had to prove myself once again why I belonged on the team. I didn’t let my failure become my weakness but my opportunity to do better and to investigate what went wrong. And a lot of that was giving myself breaks. I had to ask for what I needed. And through that experience I learned a hard lesson that you can’t put all your eggs in one basket. That I had to take care of myself physically, mentally and spiritually fit so that I don’t get to the point where I was a zombie trying to be alive.

I knew from then on that I had to re-prioritize my life and that led to me becoming a lead artist and later opening my business that I have today.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Julie. I grew up with immigrant parents that entered to America from refugee camps. They taught me their definition of work ethic and drive to go after what you desire in life. We grew up poor and I knew at an early age I didn’t want that for myself anymore.

I did what I was told and got a college degree in Marketing but with the market crash I was told by my professors I wouldn’t find a job and if I was good at what I was doing then go do that so I decided to audition for the Sephora Pro Team. Over 700+ artist audition and I won one of the 12 spots on the team. I later became a lead artist and after 14 years with the company decided it was time to leave. I was tired of the 80% of the year travel. And on top of that I was working with agencies doing red carpet, celebrity (Olivia Culpo, Maye Musk, Bea Miller, Ashley Graham, Deepak Chopra were some of the artist I had the privilege of working with) and print work for companies such as H&M, Sephora, Marie Claire that I was burnt out. I didn’t want to touch a makeup brush anymore.

I saved up money so that I could go on my eat, pray, love journey where I found myself in Indonesia studying yoga and meditation completely unplugged and then spent time in Europe. And it was through that travel that I realized it wasn’t that I hated doing makeup, I just needed to do it different and at a different scale. I remember being in Cinque Terre Italy and writing all the things I love to do and what I didn’t do. And at the root of everything I did I knew I have a passion for people and community. I love connecting with people and helping people. I also knew one day I wanted to own my own business.

When I came back to the states I decided to dabble in makeup which led to me meeting other artists in San Diego. I knew this was important because most people knew me as a Los Angeles and New York artist and I didn’t really have much community in San Diego. I met a fellow artist who was doing permanent makeup for eyebrows and she got me curious with permanent makeup. I only knew of the old school tattoo that my mom had and wasn’t a fan but she was telling me about the new way of doing it.

In 2016 I decided to take my first class and I loved it! It was so different and I felt like a student again. I love learning and one of my motto I would tell myself is if you’re not learning anymore it’s time to go. And with makeup, that was where I was at so with this new adventure I felt like a student and was so humbled.

Fast forward 2017 I decided to freelance as a makeup artist and start my journey in learning the world of permanent makeup. I took more classes that lead to Microblading, Lip Blushing, and Ombre brows. And decided to have my own business.

2021 Adoure Beauty LLC was established. I got through covid and all the lockdowns. And during covid advanced my training with taking more classes learning eyeliner tattoo, lip neutralization, advanced microblading and also decided to write a lip blush curicculuum which I launched this year too. I opened my very own studio and academy and reached my goal of being my own boss.

2022 I decided to take on body tattoo and established Adoure Ink as the sister company to Adoure Beauty offering fine line tattoo.

What sets me apart? Everything that led me to open my business from my upbringing, my career choices and my personal passions are what sets me apart. I knew that the permanent makeup industry lacked education. I felt like it was a decade behind makeup in terms of color theory and designing a look that worked with the individual. There was a lot of “paint by numbers” sort of looks I saw and I knew that I had a lot of knowledge in this.

I also wanted to break the stigma of a body tattoo shop that felt intimidating and overly masculine. I wanted a space that people felt comfortable. A fun hang out spot with your friends with a feminine touch.

If you’re meeting me for the first time I want you to know that my mission is life is to help people feel confident about who they are. With the help of beauty services, this is the step in that direction but my goal is to expand to other avenues. Incorporate the mindfulness practices I’ve learned throughout the year. Cultivate a culture within my studio that people can truly explore who they are. That’s my life goal.

I’m an artist who is passionate about people.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Covid is a great example of my resilience. I was out of a job for 9 months. It was a humbling experience to life off EBT, government assistance and being forced to not work. It was so uncomfortable for me but I knew that I wasn’t going to let it bring me down. I got creative with how I marketed, what I did with my time. I learned to be extremely conservative on my spending. And during that time I saw it as an opportunity to write a lip blushing curriculum. I also continued to make social post and posted educational tips for my followers. And eventually when we were open I was fully booked for months out. And a lot of my clients told me they had been following me for a year or so and saw how proactive I was with my business that they decided to go with me.

After 3 months of being fully booked I decided to open my own studio. Everyone told me I was crazy to do it while we were uncertain how long covid would be but I did it anyway. Lots of blood sweat and tears to open, but it worked out. I managed to have the most successful year financially beating out my numbers pre-covid and i’m still in business and thriving with 4 artists in my studio.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Owning a business means you’re working 24/7. I used to feel guilty taking time off and was scared that if I gave myself a weekend that money would go dry. I was scared to even hire anyone because I was worried about the “what if.”

I had to learn to let go of control and allow others to help me. I had to learn to ask for help and to delegate certain parts of my business and hire out. I also had to change my mindset of money. And re-program myself to seeing my life is abundant and not scarce. Like the book rich dad, poor dad. I had to see things as investments and opportunities for growth and trust the process.

I hired a marketing team and financial team to manage parts of my business I didn’t like doing and it has helped freed up so much space for me to focus on business expansion.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.adourebeauty.com and www.adoureink.com
• Instagram: adourebeauty and adoureink
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julietaing/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/adouré-beauty-and-ink-san-diego-3

Image Credits
Jerson Navasca photography