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

Alright, Bobbie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

I had graduated Makeup School 3 days prior to getting a call from my FX Makeup teacher asking me if I would like a job as a goffer for the head makeup artist on the set of a horror movie. I said absolutely. Little did I know that he had called 2 other people before me and they would not take the job. It was paying $35.00 for 15 hours starting at 5 PM that same evening. It is what they call an “All Nighter. ” I had 2 hours to prepare and get to the set. I showed up and was taken directly to the Makeup Trailer where I was introduced to a bunch of actors and met the Key Makeup Artist. She quickly handed me a bottle of FX Stage Blood and a bag of Q tips. Someone took me directly to a big empty Barn with a huge plank in the middle of the Barn with a huge replica of the main house where they were shooting the film. It was a Doll House filled with tiny dolls and furniture. I had to apply the blood to the tiny furniture and dolls. The Doll House would be blown up. As I was on my hands and knees doing my first job in the film industry I did not notice that the room had filled up with 50 + crew members. They came to watch the “New Kid” do her thing. It was like having people over for dinner and they all end up in the kitchen watching the cook prepare the meal. I finished my work on the Doll House and went back to the trailer to wash up. I was totally covered in Blood. When I got back to the trailer the head makeup artist told me to go to the main house. She handed me a box of tissue and wipes. My job now was to wipe the actors sweaty faces. As I approached the main house which was filling up with smoke i was given a gas mask to wear when I went into the house. As I was approaching the house there was a bunch of guys standing outside of the house and someone yelled “Here Comes Bloody Mary” and that is how I got the name “Bloody Mary”. A few years later I was asked to speak at an International Halloween Convention and do Demos on the stage of frozen dead people like I did for James Cameron in the mega hit film “Titanic.” Someone in the audience asked me if I made makeup and where he could buy it. I quickly said to him that my makeup line is called “Bloody Mary” and it would be available soon. Someone in the audience published a horror magazine and after my speaking engagement he asked if he could interview me. I was thrilled and during the interview I came up with a great idea. How about if you give me a column in your magazine and you call it “Dear Bloody Mary”. People can write to me and ask questions like How do you do this and that and make a Vampire or Monster etc…This is how “Bloody Mary” was born into a huge Cosmetic Company 27 years ago.

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.

I was a happily married woman living the big life with my husband of 10 years and his son who lived with us also. I was a Country Club lady and played tennis almost everyday and had a wonderful life. Had the big boat, sports cars just to give you an idea. Then one day my husband said to me “I love you and you are my best friend, but I want my life to be like Hollywood and I want a divorce. It was over. He walked out and I had to figure out what I was going to do with my life. It was not a pleasant time for me. The old life was over and I had to get a job. I was getting my hair colored for the last time at a salon I use to go to in Brentwood CA and was telling the hairdresser that I needed to get a job. The hairdresser next to mine over heard my conversation and he said that I should go to makeup school. I said are you kidding me? I should go to makeup school and do makeup on people like me. He said NO!! With your personality you should go to Makeup School to do Makeup in Hollywood. You would be great doing makeup for Television and the Film Industry. I quickly replied, Where do you go to school for that. Little did I know that he had been a soap opera star for many years and now was doing hair in a fancy salon. He mentioned 3 schools. One of them was in Hollywood and I immediately went into the back of the Salon to a pay phone and called information and got the number. This was on a Thursday. I called the school and had an interview the following Monday. On Friday I saw my friend Mary at the tennis court and told her about what I was planning to do. She said that is the greatest idea for you. Bobbie, Do It! I went for the interview Monday and signed up and started Makeup School the following week. I went to school for 3 months, I learned as much as I could and took this new endeavor very seriously. I watched videos of the famous owner of the school doing makeup every day for 2 hours by myself. I worked on the weekends doing different makeup for all kinds of projects. Some I got paid for and others I took just for the experience. On Friday afternoons someone would always call the school and ask if someone wanted to work that weekend. Could be a thesis for their film school they were attending or just for an up and coming person who needed to show his work to a studio. He kept me busy since my country club life was over and my fancy friends were not interested in my life if I was not part of the Country Club. It was what it was. I was making a new path for myself no matter what. No one else in my school was interested in working for a small amount of money and especially on the weekends. I took every job that was offered. I figured that how would I get to learn if I did not do these jobs. I would have paid them to work. I remember my first job. 3 days out of makeup school Pumpkinhead II, Blood Wings. I worked the first night for $35.00 and worked the rest of the film for 3 weeks and got $100.00. That is how I got my foot in the door. I took every thing that came my way and met lots of people and when they went on to another project they always remembered Bloody Mary. The makeup artist who always had a carton of cigarettes in her possession so when the crew ran out of cigarettes in the middle of the night she always came through for them. Then 3 years later came my last film I worked on, “Titanic”. While I was doing the makeup for the dead frozen actors one of Leonado DiCaprio’s stunt doubles was going to a Charger game Sunday and asked me for makeup for the game. I said what colors do you need and I gave him Blue and Gold face paint from my makeup kit. This was 5 a.m. on a Sunday when we got finished for our only day off. The next morning he showed up and was so excited to tell me he and his buddies were on television and were interviewed and everyone wanted to know where they got the face paint. I asked him what they used before to paint their face. He told me they use magic markers and sharpies. All I could think of is WOW!! I finished my work on the film and decided to ask some young man working as a Barista in a coffee shop in San Diego if I could paint his face. 2 days later I painted his face with the same Blue and Gold face paint I gave to the stunt double from Titanic. I took pictures of his face and had a printer blow it up and I made a mock up of a face Paint Kit The next day I drove up to Los Angeles and walked into UCLA’s College store and asked for the buyer of accessories. The lady at the counter looked at me and asked who I was and did I have an appointment. I said no, but I had just finished working on the film Titanic and had a great idea to show a buyer. I immediately had a group of sales people around me. Around 10 minutes later a gentleman came down the escalator to meet me and bring me up to his office. All he said to me was “Come with me”. I followed him up the escalator and 5 minutes later he said, I want 2 gross of these face Paint Kits. The exact colors you did and you have to do a College show in 3 weeks. I said OK. I had no idea that the Chargers colors and the Bruins were exactly the same colors. He made a call and got me a booth at the convention in Las Vegas and 3 weeks later I was at that convention and sold 46 colleges. No one had ever done college specific colors for the teams. That is how my Sports Fan Face Paint makeup business started and it just took off like crazy. That was 27 years ago. Then I was asked to be on some morning shows and make the newscasters look dead and frozen. Someone from a Marine base was watching who happened to be the buyer for the base and heard me say how my makeup never came off of the actors while floating in the water. He called the TV station and got through and told them to have me call him when I was off the air. He left his name and number. I do not know how he got through but an hour later I called him and the next day I was on one of the largest Marine Bases in the country and he said to me I need a new face paint for my Marines. He gave me 2 weeks to get back to him. By 4 O’clock that afternoon I received 2 more calls about Camouflage Face Paint for their PX Base. That is when I called my Dad who was a great business person and told him what was going on. He had my back and guided me on what how to do this business that I created with his input 27 years ago. His famous words were “You will figure it out!” Don’t worry, I am here for you!! I started the business in a garage in San Diego, CA. I did my first Government Convention 5 weeks after I was finished my work on Titanic. That was 2 weeks after I did the College Convention. I took the barista with me again to the Govt Show and he wore Camo makeup the whole 4 days. We had the longest line of anyone at the show and the smallest booth. A 10 X 10. We sold to the Army/Air Force, Navy, Marines and all the Special Forces. The buyers were there from all over the world. I was afraid no one would come to my booth so I got a Pop Corn Machine and a person to hand out the Pop Corn. We had to ask him to leave after 4 hours since there was no more room in the booth and I was one busy person. Our line to get to our booth was at least 30-40 people. They all needed a new Camo face Paint for the soldiers. As time went on I came up with a lot of ideas. Especially for Bloody Mary Products. I was asked to speak at so many venues and one of the ones that stands out is San Diego Comic Con. I had never been to a Comic Book Convention and this one is the biggest! I was the guest speaker on Saturday. I had about 10,000 people come to my presentation. I did some Demos on the stage, took questions from lots of people who all showed up in costumes of their favorite characters. It was amazing. After my presentation I walked the show and decided right there and then I have to write a comic book. That is where I came up with the idea “Tales of Bloody Mary” I went back to my little 200 sq ft office in San Diego and wrote a story line. Made myself into a Monster and made a large post card and gave it to the printer. I sent it to the biggest Comic Book Publisher and the following year I was in their booth signing the Post Card and selling Bloody Mary fangs and Bloody Mary FX Blood. Across from me was Hugh Jackman with the writer of his movie X -Men who I had never heard of. The writer came over to me and said Who Are You?? I said Who Are You? He said I am Stan Lee and I want a picture with you. My line was 1/2 block long. What a day!!! The following year Stan sent me a signed bust of Spiderman. I eventually wrote a whole comic book and sent it to the publisher and they took it and today we license my comic books to the likes of Universal Studios, Six Flags and numerous Haunted Houses all through the USA. I use to do the makeup for WWF/WWE and when I went to NY to do the Comic Book Show the guys with WWE helped me get a booth next to them. They kept sending Wrestlers to hang at my booth and brought lots of people in for me. One person came in and said to me, When are you going to make Bloody Mary Hot Sauce and Bloody Mary Mix. Needless to say I called my lawyer and had him address this idea and Trade Mark me for these items. No one had ever TM a Bloody Mary Drink. I could use all of my Comic Book covers for labels .That took off great also! We have been awarded “Best Labels” by the Hot Sauce community after attending many Hot Sauce Conventions. Today on top of these product lines we have a huge line of Bloody Mary Halloween Makeup and all the fixings to make great Monsters, Vampires etc… I think I have become successful in my business from just being honest and nice to people. I don’t promise anything I cannot deliver. We ship everything on time and with lots of fun surprises in our packages. You have to go the extra mile. There is competition always and you must be kind and honest to your customers. You have to take the next step always. I am mostly proud of the book I wrote 15 years ago, “I Can Do This, The Bloody Mary Story”. Mark Burnett did a TV Show about me from my book. I have been told that It is a super inspirational book about my story and about me and how I created my life today.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Sports Fan Face Paint was my first product I created for the colleges after I showed my prototype to the accessory buyer at UCLA and he ordered 2 gross of the kits on the spot. I needed to make the cards for the kits and since I had started a brand new company no one would give me credit. There was not one bank that would lend me any money. I even was told to go to a particular bank in San Diego which was “Woman Friendly”. They loved my idea. They were impressed that I knew exactly how much it would cost to make the kit right down to the face paint I had sourced. They would not give me a dime. So I drove up to Los Angeles in my Jeep and sold it to a dealer that gave me $6,000.00. That is what the card maker wanted for the cards he would be making for me. He told me the minimum was 30,000 cards. I remember standing on Ventura Boulevard waiting for Enterprise to bring me a car which I had rented for 1 month. It looked like an egg. I was standing there on the corner holding my Club from my old life when I drove a 911 Porsche and my LV Back Pack. My best friend wanted me to take one of her 5 cars to drive, but I said NO! I will rent a car. It cost me $400,.00 a month for the death trap of a car but it was OK! I drove it for 4 months till I found another used Jeep and the manager of the dealership sold it to me with $800.00 down. The Jeep was $4,000.00 and I showed him my orders for the 46 colleges I sold to and by then I had received my first hard order from a Marine base. He was very kind to me and had my back. He said leave the renal car here and we will take care of it for you and I drove away in my new Red Jeep and felt on top of the world.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

I was told by a customer I should do the Halloween Show. I said “Why should I do a Halloween Show?” I had only been in business less than a year. He said that all of the party stores come to the Halloween Convention and they would buy my Sports Fan Face Paint. I asked him where was the convention and who do I call? He gave me the name of the Convention and I immediately called the company that put on the convention. They said they did not have any more booths left but could put me in the back of the convention and make some space for me. They faxed me a sign up document and asked me to tell them a little bit about myself. I filled out the paper work quickly since the Convention was in 3 weeks and I had to get it together quickly. Get a Hotel room, Plane, and what and how I was going to do the space they were giving me in the back of the convention up against a wall next to the Exit. Within 5 minutes I got a call from the director of the Halloween Convention and she asked me if I would be their main speaker at the Luncheon for the Haunted House owners and do Demos on the stage. I said sure. I would be happy to do this. They had 400 owners signed up for the luncheon. I did not think much of it other than I needed a model and asked one of my reps who lived in Chicago if he would be my model. I walked into this convention and saw my Photo on all of the Poles saying my name and “Speaker” for the luncheon. I walked into a room that was packed and people sitting on the floor. They had to bring in Box Lunches for them since they ran out of space at the tables. They actually were eating on the floor. They read my bio and were pretty happy to meet me and hear what I had to say and how I did the makeup for the Film, Titanic. As I was applying the makeup to my Rep I happened to mention that my nick name in the film Industry was “Bloody Mary”. They all started calling me “Bloody Mary” or “Mary” and asking me how much I would charge them to come to their Haunt and do a class to teach their actors and makeup artists how to do “Horror Makeup”. It got crazy in the room. Finally when the luncheon was over, I packed my makeup case and went to my booth in the back of the Convention. There was a long line already there waiting to talk to me. There was a publisher of a Haunted House magazine right up in front of the line and he asked me if he could interview me for his magazine and could he take pictures. I said why don’t you let me do your makeup while you interview me. He thought that was a cool idea and then I told him “You should give me a column in your magazine, “Dear Bloody Mary”. He loved the idea. He asked me what were my best products that I sold. I blurted out immediately Bloody Mary Blood and Fangs.. That is how Bloody Mary Makeup was created 26 years ago.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dearbloodymary.com – www.camofacepaint.com – www.Sportsfanfacepaint.com – www.bobbieweiner.com
• Instagram: @bloodymarymakeup
• Facebook: @bloodymarymakeup
• Twitter: @bloodymarymakeup
• Youtube: @bloodymary1