We were lucky to catch up with Codie Scott recently and have shared our conversation below.

Codie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

While I’ve always had a love for art, I never planned to become a Face Painter or pursue anything artistic due to the discouragement I faced growing up from my mom’s Husband. Despite studying Early Childhood Education and dreaming of opening a preschool, circumstances led me to leave my career a couple years after obtaining my degree to care for my children. Slowly we began to struggle financially due to my partner’s low motivation to work and my inability to work due to the limited childcare I had available. In January 2017, after an injury my kids father had gotten in an accident which escalated his inability to work. A local mom group provided support and an opportunity for emergency assistance, through the Chapter of the PEO Sisterhood. With their generous financial aid I covered all of our past due bills as well as saved money for the next month’s expenses. Once I was done I had $250 remaining from them I took a leap of faith and invested in a small ember of hope. for a few months I’d been face painting my own children and did a few bazaars over the holidays to earn some tip money to buy them Christmas gifts. Maybe I could turn this small hobby I did with my kids into a business. Starting with just that $250, I slowly built my business, expanding my network and finding success. What began as a daunting decision to spend money my family need, praying it would truly be for my family’s benefit turned into a thriving business that now supports me and my kids. I am grateful for the generosity and support that paved the way for me to pursue my passion and provide for my two children.

Codie, 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?

I sort of fell into this industry I hadn’t even realized existed before. Aside from knowing people do face painting, I had no idea that it could be your actual job. While I was doing my seasonal craft bazaars over the fall and winter 2016 I decided to ask if I could also do face painting for tips in my spots. All of the organizers were so excited and most even gave me a little extra room to do so. While I was at on of these bazaars a family asked me for my information for face painting. I quickly made up a fast facebook page “Tiny Art Face Painting” on the spot. I had all of 2 likes on my page by the next month. In January a mom messaged me and asked if I could paint at her daughter’s birthday party. By this time my then Husband had been in an accident and had completely stopped working. We needed some kind of money coming in and I was looking at the last $250 from an emergency financial aid grant from a very generous organization (Chapter of the PEO Sisterhood). I hoped and prayed using that money would be worth it and got everything I needed to start a Face Painting business. By summer my calendar was quite full on the weekends and I had made back that $250 many times over. Since then I have made it a goal to learn a new service or skill every year. This has taken a lot of time and dedication to practice but I have found the more services I can offer and do well the more bookings I can bring in. Currently my services include: Face Painting, Balloon twisting, Henna, Airbrushing and Glitter tattoos. Being able to take care of any service need sets me apart from a number of other companies. However the community here is very amazing and we very much help, support and share jobs, training and information. I love working with such amazing artists and enjoying teaching them new skills as well. I love seeing so many of my clients growing up every year into kind young people. And I love seeing the joy on their faces when I can help them feel beautiful or special for the the day.

How did you build your audience on social media?

From very early on in my business I was connected to a group of photographers. One of the first things I did was attending an open shoot where models and photographers get together and take pictures. This was to be a woodland animal, fantasy shoot so I was invited to do face paintings on site for the models. This quickly led to some great connections and I would regularly do trade shoots for pictures. I used these professional pictures of my work on social media which helped me gain an audience quickly. I also learned how to take better photos on my own, posing, lighting, backgrounds all matter when creating your online presence. Taking the time to edit your pictures before posting them is also very important. Remove any eye catching unnecessary things, clean up the clients skin if needed or specks around the product, adjust colors to be as true to life as possible. Besides good photo content what you say matters as well, I always try to keep things uplifting and positive, as well as informative as possible. Where will you be so your easy to find, thank you to everyone who came out to events or thank clients who booked an event. Staying active is also very key to keeping and growing your audience. The average person may need to see your content 6-7 times before they click on it, like your page or decide to make a purchase from you. Seeing consistent content helps clients build a familiarity and trust in your company or brand. If you remain in there sites then they will contact you when they are in need of the service you provide or recommend you if a friend is in need of what you offer as well.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I was at one of my summer festivals, a weekly event I have done for a few years. Just a random sunny day but I had extra artists with me, so I decided to dress up as a fairy and do Magic Fairy Bubbles instead and let another artist Face paint. Many kids come see me every week at this event but there is one little girl who started coming to see me at one and a half years old at this event. Always so excited to see us, she is my little Joy. That day she was loving the Fairy so much and kept running to me for more magic Fairy crystals. (I turn the bubbles into small crystals that bless you with sweet dreams at night.) my little Joy had a good handful at the end. The next week her mom was almost in tears as she told me that my sweet little Joy had been plagued with night terrors for awhile, and they were gone. She believed in all of her crystals she had gotten from the fairy last week so much that her bad dreams were gone. I think that was one of the most touching things I have been told by a family. The most rewarding part of my job is all the little lives I touch, memories they make, the joy in their faces. Every single one of my kids are special to me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @tinyartfacepainting
• Facebook: @tinyartfacepainting

Image Credits

Picture 1 (main picture) Photography by Skye Phoenix Photography

Additional photos:

Picture 1:
Little Unicorn girl
Photography by Skye Phoenix Photography
Wings by HelloFaerie

Picture 2:
Alice in Wonderland body painting
Photography by Skye Phoenix Photography
Editing by Jos Riv Photography
Model Jessica Kilpatrick

Picture 3:
Me as a fairy
Photography by Daves Photos PNW
Wings by HelloFaerie

Picture 4:
Maternity painting
Photography by Jos Riv Photography

Picture 5:
Fairy face painting inspired by artist Mark Reed
Wings by HelloFaerie

Picture 6:
Me working on model Christance adding her prosthetic for a Zombie look.
Photography by Journeys in Color

Picture 7:
Zombie
Model Christance Elizabeth
Photography by Jos Riv Photography
Hosted by A Masquerade and Costume

Picture 8:
Just a cute Valentines design I painted.