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

Alright, Jose thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

GalmKings being a Mission-driven company focus on delivering value back to key stakeholders, including customers, shareholders and employees. I don’t, however, seek to benefit a broad, global population beyond these stakeholders. Mission-driven companies measure success by revenue, profit and customer engagement.

1. Driven by the business opportunity
The company executes solely driven by the business opportunity upon them. It was founded because the founder found a way to make money and is driven by making more of it. When the founder tells you about their company, they’ll explain a business model.

2. Driven by the business opportunity but with an added mission
The company was founded in 2017 because the founder Jose Clark-Hilery found a way to make money but added a reason to believe in the company’s greater purpose. As it’s an add-on, this often falls into some social good that is detached from what the company actually produces. A good example is Tom’s shoes, who give away a pair to people in need for every pair you buy. It might be a good thing to do, but their shoes are not better shoes because they give a pair away.

3. Driven by the mission
The company was founded to solve a certain problem which is represented by its mission. In this case makeup is an art form. It’s not about the beauty but the experience! The founder is driven by solving the problem in bigger and better ways. The mission has a direct impact on the company and product(makeup artistry). The product (makeup artistry) gets better as a result of the mission.
4. Being mission-driven is not fluff, it’s focus and commitment
Understanding your mission helps you execute with focus and builds commitment to the cause, not just the bottom line. This is true for the entire organization, not just the founders

5. Your mission helps you stay on track
Your mission not only helps everyone understand what the company wants to do but also what it shouldn’t do. For mission-driven companies, it’s a huge advantage to be able to quickly kill ideas and opportunities in order to stay on track for the long-term.
In turn, if you don’t have that clear north star to guide you to where you’re going, the signals you get along the way will drive where you’ll be in the future. This creates a huge risk that you’ll end up building a product that is a Frankenstein of features and a team that marches in all directions.

6. The anatomy of a good mission statement
First off: “To be the number one Makeup artist in the world” is not a mission, it’s a business goal. Your mission is not something you can reach and be done, it’s the purpose that drives what things you do.

With all this being said my reasoning for this is to show anyone who has a driven mission and purpose that your company’s mission should have a strong meaning to support its values. The meaning for Glamkings has and will always be “It’s not about the beauty but the experience!” This is said because commonly when women get their makeup done they leave feeling empty because they either didn’t learn anything or nothing was explained. The name GalmKings was chosen because of this. As a male makeup artist my goal is to enhance what is already there and glam up any women who is looking to learn, grow and become a self-artist for themselves!

Jose, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Jose Clark-Hilery. I am the owner and CEO of Glamkings, LLC. I am a celebrity makeup artist and have been practicing my craft for 24 years! I started Glamkings in 2017 and use a variety of products with my artistry, I worked for MAC cosmetics for 20 years and retired from MAC in 2016. I realized my time as an artist was better spent servicing outside of retail. This gave me the opportunity to spend quality time with clients focusing on what they wanted or needed. I have been able to teach classes, 1,1 and even partnered with PMU schools to teach abroad as well. Not only am I a celebrity makeup artist I am also a certified PMU Brow artist as well. I can do all areas of makeup from beauty, FX, Horror and Glam. I think my personality and tenacity are what set me apart from another artist. I am very open and welcoming to working with anyone. Something I am very proud of is being able to help anyone with their concerns regarding skin, blemishes, bruins, etc., Every client is different in many ways and it takes time to investigate while talking to each client so you can understand what is needed. Being the Owner of a makeup artist brand like Glamkings has been very rewarding. It has shown me there is a variety of things that can and will always be in the now! This is what keeps my artistry constantly evolving and learning! Any great artist will and should say they are always learning as being an MUA changes every minute of every day!

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

Stories or illustrations of resilience can be very healing and many people benefit from getting the opportunity to pass on their wisdom to others. This can be especially powerful for people who do not always feel that they have the chance to help others. Resilience is strengthened by recognizing that we are all experts in our own lives and we all have something to share with others. Another piece of this is starting to understand that words can have power—positive power—on others. As mentioned above, this is an under-appreciated benefit of narrative and storytelling. In appreciation of how important it is for people to be able to pass on their own stories, here are some quotes from some of the people I have talked to:

• “I wanted to help people have a voice.”
• “I thought, well, if anyone reads this at all, maybe it will make a difference in their life, or make them think, ‘Well, you know, I never really thought about honesty that way.’”
• “Words can touch people, and it all depends on how you want to touch them. Good or bad.”
Another well-known benefit of storytelling is finding your own voice. What does it mean to “find your voice?” It means learning how to express yourself and learning how to think about what has happened in your life in a way that makes sense. Writing it down or telling it to someone else can help you impose that organization on it, help you identify key events, and even help you just rehearse and remember the details in a way that helps you become the author of your own life.
• ” Conversations and learning models forced you to look in-depth at things and what you considered important in your life and I think if it wasn’t for the Laws of Life I did the three years of high school, I probably wouldn’t have started reflecting and my healing process would have been so much more delayed.”

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

When I first started working as an MUA I had NO idea what I was doing. I would meet people at the counter at MAC and they would come back to me. I learned during that time to start building a book of business so I could keep in contact with those clients,. That stayed with me for thee 20 years at MAC and even after because that’s who I maintained my clientele. One thing I learned was “word of mouth!” is a great way to get your name out there for new clients. Also promoting your business by using the right marketing tools such as comp cards that display your work and contact information and share it in public places such as Bridal shops, schools for prom, homecoming, etc. I’ve found this to be very helpful with generating and maintaining new and existing clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.glamkings.com
• Instagram: Glamkings
• Facebook: Glamkings
• Linkedin: Glamkings
• Twitter: Glamkings
• Youtube: Glamkings

Image Credits
@Malvie @PilarScratch