We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ashlyn Ayers. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ashlyn below.

Ashlyn, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I would say that when I was a child, I understood that I was creative and good at things like drawing. But it wasn’t until I was a freshman in high school that I had made up my mind. Originally, I wanted to go to school to be a Fashion Designer. That dream was alive for quite some time until one day I was reading a magazine, saw an outfit that was so strikingly similar to a design a sketched earlier that week and immediately I decided that being a Fashion Designer wasn’t for me anymore. Around this time, I started learning about makeup and wearing it more and thought of what alternative creative profession I could pursue. Quickly, I became that one friend that always had makeup on, so naturally my friends started asking me to do theirs and a light bulb went off in my head. At that time, I knew I wanted to be a Makeup Artist.

Ashlyn, 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?

Let me introduce myself…My name is Ashlyn Ayers, and I am a Los Angeles based Makeup Artist. In 2012 I decided that I wanted to pursue this as a career. I bought a one way ticket to LA, shipped my car with all of my things inside and created my own path into the Beauty Industry. I have been doing Makeup for 11 years now and I still love and feel fulfilled by what I do. I have worked on TV shows, feature films, music videos, print campaigns, along with providing my services for weddings, red carpet events and more. Through my journey, I think that one of the things I’m most proud of is being a self taught Makeup Artist that has made it as far as I have without professional direction. I paved the way on my own and feel as though my experiences can provide others great insight on what to do without having to spend years making lots of mistakes to get there. I pride myself on my work ethic and my skill set. I’m not happy unless my client is happy with my service.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

One of the major ways society can support artist and creatives is to tag and post their work giving them credit which in turn promotes their work to others. A lot of times, Makeup Artists and other creatives like Hair Stylists do someone’s Makeup/Hair and that person goes on to post on social media and doesn’t tag the Artist responsible. In this industry, referrals count for a large portion of our business. So tagging someone is a way of referring without actually referring, because someone will come across that post and if they like the look, they may very well contact that artist to book them. All it takes is one satisfied client to book you repeatedly and also refer you to others. It’s a whole cycle.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Ultimately, seeing the look of happiness and satisfaction on my clients after I’ve done their makeup is probably the most rewarding aspect of what I do. Knowing that I’m capable of providing that to someone by applying my knowledge, skill set and creativity is such an amazing feeling.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.ashlynayers.com
• Instagram: @ashlynayersmua
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashlynayersmua

Image Credits
Aaron Lacy Ty Moore Jamie Bruce Gianna Dorsey Matt Jong