We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alicia N. Migliore a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alicia N., looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

I work in an urban district of beautiful black and brown students. A few years in a row, the 8th graders had a dance. The social worker team decided to give back to the students who wanted their hair and makeup done for the dance. I was asked, along with a hair dresser and another makeup artist to help out. So, I donated my services to serve the students of my community. They got a kick out of getting their makeup done from Mrs. Migliore.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hey! I’m Alicia Migliore. I’ve been in education for 20 years and in the beauty industry for 15 years. Currently, I am an Assistant Principal of a K-5 Elementary school and owner of my beauty business, Alicia Migliore Beauty. I know it may seem disconnected, education and the beauty industry, but being an educator has helped immensely when working with clients. My makeup journey started in college doing theater. There were never any makeup artists for my shows. So, I had to learn how to do makeup on myself. Makeup on myself turned into makeup on others. Once college ended, and my career as an actress dried up, I went into education. As a teacher, I didn’t make any money. Therefore, I had to supplement my income with another job. Retail positions worked best with my schedule as a teacher. One retail job was in Bloomingdale’s. On my breaks or on my lunch, I would always venture down to the M.A.C counter. An artist at the counter always told me that I would be the perfect M.A.C artist. My style, my ability to sell, and my personality were all qualities of what she felt a M.A.C artists was. An opening came available and I interviewed for the position. I had to perform a makeup demo, something I had never done before. My hands were shaking the entire time, but the manager took a chance on me and I was hired. Working for M.A.C was a dream come true. I loved every minute of it. Being a M.A.C artist allowed me to express myself creatively and hone in on my skills. I am a self-taught artist and I had hands on training on a weekly basis. I was a permanent artist for 6 years and then become a freelancer with the company after I had my 2nd child. I had always been the oldest artist working. I was in my 30’s when I started, but that never intimidated me working with young 20 year olds. I had a large clientele and my sales were always top tier. In 2018, I wanted to work with a more mature clientele, so I started freelancing with NARS as well. So, I was a teacher, a freelancer for M.A.C, a freelancer with NARS, and freelancing for my beauty business all at the same time. My schedule was hectic, but I loved every moment of it. The pandemic was hard for the beauty industry. However, the pandemic allowed me to slow down. In 2021, after 12 years, I decided to end my working relationship with M.A.C and after 3 years with NARS ended my working relationship with them as well. It was a very hard decision, but at 41, it was time to give my beauty business my full attention. With my beauty business I have worked with clients of all ages, races, faces, and skin tones. I have worked with photographers, worked on a corporate campaign for BET, worked for the American Advertising Federation, and worked for Gloria Gaynor. I’ve been apart of Thread Beauty University, which is a PR program for artists and was featured on their site. I am super proud to be a Danessa Myricks Angel. This is another exclusive artist program with extremely talented artists. I was able to be apart of one of her campaigns last year for the launch of her new Yummy Skin products. My beauty services include special events, weddings, proms, and photo shoots. Most of my clientele is from word of mouth and I have had repeat clients for years. Not only am I a skilled artist, I pride myself with providing my clients with a stress free experience.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As mentioned previously, the pandemic was a hard hit for the beauty industry. As an artist for M.A.C, even as a freelancer at that time, they paid their artists the hourly rates they would have worked if the stores were open. They did this for the first month when the world shutdown. As artists you got paid on a weekly basis. So, this gesture was so appreciative. As the world shutdown, so did my freelance jobs. Venues cancelled events and weddings, which meant no work for me. Clients had to reschedule their events several times, and some of the rescheduled times didn’t fit into my schedule. It was a rough time, but a blessing in disguise. I was a full time teacher, worked a tutoring program afterschool, a wife, a mother of two young children, a freelancer at M.A.C, a freelancer at NARS, and freelancer for my makeup business. There were months where I would work everyday. For the first time in forever, I only had the 1 job of being a teacher. Once the malls started opening back up, I had to make some hard decisions. In 2021, I got called back to work for M.A.C and NARS. It was scary. Not knowing what to expect. I took a few jobs with M.A.C but then decided to end my working relationship with M.A.C. That was so hard. The job, the company, and fellow artists had been in my life for 12 years. I identified as a M.A.C artist and was so proud of all that I was able to accomplish working for this great company. I sporadically took jobs with NARS. Working meant having to full “beat” my face, but work with a mask. It was very challenging.

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

I started in the makeup industry at the tender age of 29. I was 6 years into teaching and during those 6 years supplemented my income. I taught and tutored afterschool, but that wasn’t enough to live the life I wanted to live. So, during those 6 years, I was also a hostess and food runner at The Cheesecake Factory, worked at Zara, Jasmine Sola, and Bloomingdale’s. Once I got married and the thought of children entered the picture, I wanted to work closer to home. Eventually, I transferred to the M.A.C counter in Macy’s in Menlo Park Mall. By this time I was 33. I worked 3 jobs up until 8 months of pregnancy. Did I have to work 3 jobs all while being pregnant? Absolutely not, but my work ethic wouldn’t allow me to do otherwise. I also knew I would be out for months after I gave birth. I did the same thing 2 1/2 years later when I had my second child. This time, I tapped out after 7 months. My body physically couldn’t do any longer. By this time I had 6 years into working for this company. I was always one of the oldest. I never let that stop me. I established great working relationships with my younger colleagues and age was never an issue. Though I worked part-time, I remained one of the highest sales associates and even was chosen to be in this program competition where artists with the highest sales from the Tri-state were invited. Unfortunately, it was a week long competition and I couldn’t take off from teaching for that long, so I had to decline the invitation. I had clients who only shopped when I worked, and many of those clients became clients of my mine when I started my freelance beauty business. Had I not had a full-time job as a teacher, I know I could of had a career as a manager or more for M.A.C.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Aliciamigliore_beauty
• Facebook: Aliciamigliore_beauty
• Other: [email protected]