Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Deida Massey. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Deida, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I’ve been doing missions with The Uzima Center through my nonprofit, Reel Beauty, Inc. for 12 years. The name of the mission is called, “Uzuri Wa Kweli” Swahili for Reel Beauty. In 2016 while on my first missions trip there, I traveled across the Indian Ocean to Zanzibar, Tanzania and visited the Spice Farm. While walking through the spice farm, one of the tour guides led me to a plant. He then said, “it’s called the LIPSTICK PLANT.” This was an Ah ha moment for me and that’s when I knew my reason for visiting the spice farm. From this plant, I created/curated 15 lip colors with my chemist in Chicago and my company today is called Bixa Beauty. Because I found the plant in Zanzibar and my program for girls has was established in Mwanza, Tanzania, 10% of the donations from Bixa Beauty helps further the educational opportunities for girls at The Uzima Center. It is another way I choose to give back and help the girls with their educational needs. It’s my greatest MUSE.

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?

Hailing from the Southside of Chicago, Illinois; I am the Founder and CEO of Reel Beauty, Inc. and Bixa Beauty, Inc. Twenty-five years ago I took a leap of faith by leaving my job as an advocate for abused and neglected children with The Cook County Public Guardians Office and moved to Los Angeles to start a career as a makeup artist in TV and Film. While living in LA; I quickly landed opportunities working on music videos, editorial shoots and working with many celebrities. Later, I return home and began working as a makeup artist and Key artist on films; Divergent, critically acclaimed film Chi-raq, Transformers 3, Netflix’s BEATS and more. With lots of sacrifice, hard work, commitment and perseverance I landed a Key Makeup Artist position on the hit NBC TV show Chicago Fire. I worked with the One Chicago hit show for 7 years. My many years as an experienced Makeup artist has gained me valuable experience in understanding and implementing color theory and more. ⁣
As a Serial Entrepreneur, my proudest accomplishment is being the Founder/CEO of my organization Reel Beauty, Inc. The organization is a 501 (c) (3) that has serviced girls for 17 years throughout Chicago and within Chicago Public Schools. In 2010, I took Reel Beauty’s program internationally and implemented its curriculum in Swahili at The Uzima Center in Mwanza, Tanzania.
In 2016, Deida I my first beauty memoir ‘Face Values-The Foundation of Beauty’. I am also the co-owner of business collaborations; Last Looks Chicago a women-minority owned business for professionals in the TV and Film industry that offers a work force development program to provide people with the resources and knowledge to work behind the scenes, Social STEAM a collaborative project to create career paths for girl in STEM. Two of my current goals is to produce a biography series, win and Emmy for a TV series an Oscar for makeup in a Motion Picture feature.

One thing I’m most proud of is transitioning myself from the field of Law to a successful career as a makeup artist. It takes a lot of intention, courage and FAITH to create a life you want.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I remember when I wanted a cosmetic line and researched it over 12 years ago. I realized I kept running into the same research issues. Meaning private label manufacturing was the popular option if you desired to have a cosmetic line. In my formative years of planning, I acquired a business partner and legal representation. After a few years that idea never really materialized. I remember creating names for the product. I wrote everything down in a small spiraled notebook. When that idea of having my own cosmetic line never happened, I pursued other things and it wasn’t until 2016, when I was in Tanzania at The Spice Farm that I knew the purpose and vision had not faded to black. Without knowing I pushed through (resilience) with the idea of wanting a cosmetic line and eventually end up having one years later. Perseverance meets resilience.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Bixa Beauty is and has been self-funded. I finance my business with my income while working in TV and Film. I later received a Small Business Loan to help purchase the packaging, pay for the logo design, the web-site, social media and marketing. Bixa Beauty is my exit strategy and I’m hoping for more capital to scale the business.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.bixabeauty.com
• Instagram: @bixabeauty
• Facebook: Bixa Beauty, Inc.

Image Credits
Photography & Design by Paulina Fadrowska and Erika Bracey Photography