We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Arjia Thomas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Arjia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. The more we talk about good leadership the more we think good leadership practices will spread and so we’d love for you to tell us a story about the best boss you’ve had and what they were like or what they did that was so great?

Before stepping out on faith as a Business Owner, I worked for multiple Makeup companies on my journey. Throughout that time I experienced a few different bosses/management along the way. I would say every boss, trainer and/or ANY and ALL those of that title at M•A•C were the BEST. It wasn’t because they were nice to me or we were friends etc it’s because they pushed me and didn’t except nothing more than the best. They held me to a standard. They held me accountable for who I was as an individual/Artist, my professionalism, sales and as a leader myself. They didn’t accept excuses. It was “good effort but, try it again” They saw in me what I had no clue was there at that time and I am beyond grateful for the experience, training, tough love and to be in rooms with some of the BEST Artist, Some may have took it as the superiors were rude, some may have thought they disliked them but when someone sees something in you and take it upon themselves to develop a power house, it says so much about who you are and your potential. They saw something in me and they pushed and pushed and here I am, a success. All the Glory is given to the most high! At the time doing makeup was just a job while I was in college. Yes, I’ve always liked it but working for M•A•C I started loving it. It showed me a different way from what I was use to. My bosses and trainers help me realize that being a full time Professional Makeup Artist was my purpose which I’ve developed a deep passion for. Passion play’s a critical role to success and to have support to back it up, whether it’s a boss, relative, spouse, life coach etc the support for sure will encourage you to elevate to your highest potential.

Arjia Thomas

Arjia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi beautiful people!

My name is Arjia Thomas. I’ve been in the makeup industry for 26 years. I provide makeup services for all occasions with wedding being my specialty and favorite. I provide 1 on 1 makeup lessons for the everyday consumer and Makeup Artist development to those that aspire to become Makeup Artist. I also have a book that I released last year titled “Makeup Artist Development Guide” that will help aspiring Artist on their journey to greatness! Located in Louisiana and all surrounding areas, I am a traveling makeup artist I go wherever my services are needed, globally. I am also a cosmetic brand as well.

I got started on this beauty/makeup journey while in high school (11th-12th grade). I was about everything beauty. I can remember doing friend’s hair, makeup, nail designs and ear piercings lol! During that time I never thought of any of those things as a career because my Mom was very strict about college and obtaining degree’s. To her, if you didn’t have a college degree and/or work in a field that required a degree, basically there was no chance of you obtaining success/a successful career. Let’s just say I prove her wrong. So, I went through with the College journey, majored in Criminal Justice, successfully completed years of study/3 degrees. Through college I worked in the beauty industry (Lancôme, Estee Lauder, Clinique, Fashion Fair & M•A•C) While working for M•A•C that’s when it hit me, that I LOVED what I did, I loved my art, my gift and I was happy! I did 5 amazing years at M•A•C with some of the best Artist that taught me so much and inspired me in so many ways. In 2010 I stepped out on faith and created my own Eponymous Brand, Arjia Thomas, Professional Makeup Artistry. I have successfully been in business since then. It has been an absolute blessing to be here, to have come so far, as a Artist and business owner. I take great pleasure in enhancing my client’s beautiful unique features for their special events. I think my FAVORITE thing right now about my career, it’s SO CUTE, the husband’s and boyfriends are calling in booking the appointments for their wives and girlfriends because they love my work. lol! I love it! It makes me feel so good to get that type of reaction from them because we know a lot of out guys don’t care for makeup lol! I’ve definitely, successfully changed that narrative! lol!

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

For the most part I keep in touch with clients via social media by interacting on their post, posting different things on my page to get them engaged, I’ve recently started creating a weekly News Letter to keep them up date on what’s going on with ATPMUA, I send Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary, Happy Holiday text etc. I keep it professional but personable as well. It’s very important to me to show love and appreciation to my clients, without them ATPMUA wouldn’t be.

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

I have learned that every product used doesn’t have to be a high end brand to create a flawless experience for the client and/or yourself. For years, I ONLY used products from certain places and certain brands, and that come from working for high end makeup lines and as a teenager my Mom didn’t allow me to wear any makeup that wasn’t a high end brand, until one day I had an emergency where I did not have time to go into a Sephora, Ulta or Saks, Macy’s etc I had to take the quickest and easiest accessible route and that was CVS, LOL! I had to very quickly grab a brow pencil and head straight to a wedding party. One of the best and one of my FAVORITE brow pencils I’ve ever used (Revlon Colorstay Micro Waterproof/Long Wearing Eye Brow Pencil)

Just know you can’t judge anything until you’ve tried it. From that day I became more open to trying a few other lower end brands. One of my favorite foundations that look good on every skin tone, undertone, skin type, ethnicity which photographs beautifully, is the L’Oréal Infallible Pro Matte.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ATPMUA.com
• Instagram: atpmua_
• Facebook: Arjia Thomas, Pro Makeup Artistry
• Linkedin: Arjia Thomas