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

Alright, Bailey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

The key for me has been focusing on my clients wants and needs, and making sure that they are happy with the service that I provide. There are so many Makeup Artists to choose from in Columbus, so its important to really build your brand in a way that differentiates you from the rest. Maintaining relationships with clients and vendors has been the key to growing my business over the years. Most of my clients come from word of mouth and referrals. Whether its a vendor/venue I have worked with or a past client, it shows that they enjoyed working with me and recommend me to others. Success comes from putting in constant work to better myself and my business, and ensure that I am offering the best service possible to my clients.

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

Throughout my life I have always been into creative, artistic hobbies. I went to college at Bowling Green State University and received a Bachelors degree in Apparel Merchandising and Product Development, with a minor in Marketing. I really thought I would move out of Ohio after school and start my career in the fashion world, but that quickly changed upon graduation. I moved home to Columbus to save money before moving out, and landed a job at a Financial firm. This was clearly not in line with what I wanted to do, but I accepted the job and ended up staying for 8 years. During that time I became very interested in the cosmetic world and started teaching myself how to do makeup. I was constantly buying and trying everything, doing my friends makeup and practicing on myself. In 2017 I got married and decided to do my own makeup for my wedding, along with helping my mom and bridesmaids. Makeup quickly became my biggest passion and I was heavily encouraged by those around me to start a side hustle business. I started my business shortly after that (Makeup By Bailey, LLC) and began taking on clients for events and weddings. It went from helping friends to gaining clients that found me through social media and consistently grew over the years. I was balancing my full time job with my makeup business for a few years until it got to the point that I was booked almost every weekend leaving me no personal time. In October of 2021 I left my corporate job to pursue my makeup business full time. Since then it has continued to grow at a rapid pace and I am now booking weddings more than a year in advance. It has been the most rewarding experience and I am so thankful to be pursuing my passion as a career. In 2022 I provided services at 55 weddings, participated in several styled shoots & a local fashion show, and opened a studio in Grandview. It was by far my biggest year and I can’t wait to keep growing my business. I also offer 1 on 1 shopping trips and mobile tanning which have been great additions to my services. Wedding makeup is my primary focus, but I also offer makeup for other life events, headshots, and photoshoots.

I am so proud of where my business is today. I have put a lot of effort into providing a service that I would personally want to receive. I pride myself on being reliable, personable and professional. My goal is always to make you feel like an elevated version of yourself and boost your confidence so that when you leave my chair you feel incredible and ready for wherever you are heading afterwards. I make sure to listen to their concerns before starting the service, and check in at the end to make sure they are happy! I always ask if there is anything they want changed, adjusted or added/removed before they leave, and encourage them to be honest with me. At the end of the day all I want is for the client to love the finished look. I believe this is what has led me to clients coming back for all of their life events and referring people to me to receive the same experience. A lot of wedding vendors only work with their clients for their wedding once, I am so thankful that my business is something they can continue coming back to once their wedding is over and love keeping in touch afterwards.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social media was the first step I took when I started my business. I created an Instagram, followed my friends and family, and immediately started posting. At first, I was just focused on consistency and posting regularly to build my Instagram. I used hashtags and shared what products I was using by tagging brands. My friends and family were so supportive and always shared my posts and work to help get my business out there. I began posting in October of 2018, and my first bridal client that came from Instagram was in May of 2019. During the months in between that, I was posting work that I had done on people I knew, and made sure to start posting before and afters. Shortly after that, I landed my first photoshoot thanks to my wonderful best friend who was (and still is) in the hair industry. She recommended me to a local spray tan company for their upcoming photoshoot. It was an amazing experience and was my first time working with a professional photographer as well. Having the professional photos from that shoot was so helpful for my social media. It led to other photoshoots afterwards with the same photographer which introduced me to other companies for their shoots. One of the models from the first photoshoot also referred me to a bride who ended up booking me. I quickly realized how powerful social media and personal connections would be to my business. Being tagged in posts or shared to stories by other people really helped gain new followers. I began posting once daily to stay consistent and sharing so many makeup transformations. I wanted to make sure that my followers could see the before and after’s of my work. I also started doing 1-2 giveaways a year through Instagram, usually involving other local businesses. It was helpful for every business involved because we had different clientele that would discover the others from it. I find that giveaways are most helpful when you limit it to local winners, not just having them tag everyone in their friends list. If they tag people who might genuinely be interested in winning, they are more likely to keep following you once the giveaway ends. I also do one giveaway a year by myself as a thank you to my loyal clients. Every year they can enter solely by leaving a review for me, which means they have to have received a service to win. Anyone who has ever left a review is entered, not just the new clients of the year and the winner is drawn at random. This keeps clients engaged on social media, and reminds them to leave a review if they haven’t already. Reviews are one of the most helpful things for new clients to see prior to booking.

My advice for social media is to stay consistent in posting, tag and share posts, and interact with followers. I really try to keep my grid visually appealing, and provide important information in my profile. I also have a linktree in my Instagram profile that connects them to my website, reviews, products and other favorite businesses, making it easy for people to find everything they need. The easier you make it for people to find the information they need the better. I also recommend setting your Instagram up as a business profile so that you can use the insights. It can help with timing of posts, demographics of your followers, and so much more! It shows your engagement numbers and allows you to see which content is being viewed with the most. I have found the insights to be a very valuable tool. Instagram is constantly changing their algorithm so it takes constant trial and error and can be discouraging at times. Keep putting in the work on social media, it pays off.

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

Referrals and word of mouth have consistently been the best source of new clients for my business. I have found that my best clients come from previous clients or vendors that refer them. When a client comes to you and has already heard amazing things, they come in with a level of reassurance and trust that they are in good hands. When I get a client who found me from searching google or Instagram, they only know what they read about me online and see in photos. Clients who come in from referrals have an idea of who I am as a person and business owner based on someone else telling them about their experience. If the past client was amazing to work with, it gets me even more excited to work with who they sent to me. Photographers and Venues also have a huge impact on my business and sending clients my way. A photographer is able to recommend me based on experience with past clients and are able to tell them how my makeup shows up not only in photos but in person. They spend the most time with the clients on the wedding day, and they have seen all sorts of makeup. Its a huge compliment when they send clients to me and I always appreciate it!

Contact Info:

• Website: MakeupByBailey.com
• Instagram: BaileyThorpe.mua
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/baileythorpe.mua

Image Credits
The Howard Brand Lauren Lee Photography Brittany Bradley Studio The Off Path Photo Peak & Sparrow Creative Ashley D Photos