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

Alright, Donny thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

If I could go back I would have definitely started my creative career a lot sooner. I started doing makeup about 11 years ago while I was working in kohls as a clothing department lead. It started as me just doing makeup on a friend for a while. Then I had the opportunity to move into the beauty department as the lead. I was so nervous but I knew it’s what I wanted. I always loved makeup and the things it could do to a person and the way it could make a person feel. I wish I would have taken bigger leaps and really put myself out there more, but I was so scared of being judged or for not being good enough. I feel like if I had started sooner, I might be farther than I am now in my career. I’ve done really amazing things since but just the thought of what I could be doing now had I of started a little sooner always races through my head. There will always be that “what if” question lingering in the back of my mind

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Well, I guess first and foremost my name is Donny. And I’m a make up artist. My interest makeup started at a young age. Growing up, it was always me and my mom and as a single mother raising me by herself, we spent a lot of time together. Starting in elementary school, I would find myself sitting with her every morning before she went to work, and I would always watch her get ready for the day. That’s where my first love of makeup started, Watching her get ready with her daily routine every morning watching her do her makeup before she went to work. as time went on, and she was at work, I would get into her make up and play with it. Obviously , I was no good, but I still was intrigued with the thought. I continued to play with makeup, never really thinking that anything would come from it when I was a child. But as I got older, I realized It was something that I truly loved. After my husband and I had moved into our first apartment, I ended up meeting a friend named Dana. After hanging out for a while, we talked about the art of drag and make up a lot and eventually she let me start putting her in drag make up. And of course again starting out not the best but I got a lot of practice. Drag make up is very different from your every day make up, but it still put my foot in the door and gave me the confidence to really try. We had both been working at Kohl’s at the time and I was just working in a clothing department so I still had no real experience with every day make up. I had been working at Kohl’s for about seven years and ended up finding another Kohls store that was looking for a makeup lead, so I took the leap and I applied and I ended up getting the position. It was my first chance to build my expertise and to try new things. Through the three years of working in that department, I started doing make up a lot more on people and started learning different techniques and different styles. I had, or still have, one client/friend (Brittanie) that I’ve done make up on once a week since I started. She’s my number one client and has helped me grow so much in my own art. Once I got comfortable enough, I started doing makeup outside of the department at Kohls and I started going to people and doing makeup at their houses for all kinds of different events. Eventually, it led to me doing makeup for photos , weddings, and quinceañeras and any kind of event that I could get myself in. It was such an amazing feeling to get to do something that I had always been interested in and I remember telling my husband that I really wanted to do this for a living. His response was, “ I don’t see you doing this for a living”. and of course, I mean, who doesn’t want to prove their spouse wrong? So over the next few years I worked my ass off and I really push myself to do the best I could. I kept telling myself is that “I’m going to be an amazing makeup artist, that I’m going to be THE makeup artist.” After a while, I didn’t like working at Kohl’s anymore. I ended up leaving and it was one of the worst mistakes I made. I fell out of love with makeup, and tried to find a new career because I still didn’t feel good enough. When I finally decided that maybe I made a mistake, I tried to go back to makeup and that’s when Covid hit. It took me another three steps back and I didn’t think that it would be anything else from there. But eventually, I had a “wake up” moment and I told myself that I need to get myself back in the door. From there, I got a job at Sephora in Kohl’s. So there’s to say I should’ve just stayed and not gone through those two years of losing interest in something I love. Since I’ve been back after Covid, I have done incredible things that I could’ve only dreamed of before. I have done a TON of fashion shows, weddings, events, dance festivals, quinceañeras, and so much more. I am now going on my fourth year of doing Denver Fashion Week, which I am incredibly grateful for. One of my biggest accomplishments is the fact that I have done New York fashion week now as well , and was invited back a second time to do another fashion show in New York . The second time I went was incredible. I got to go with one of my best friends and my makeup partner, Brianna. During that time they ended up putting both of our makeup looks on a billboard in Time Square, and it was one of the proudest moments of my life and my career . When I finally made it to New York fashion week, it came full circle with my husband. He finally saw me as a makeup artist, and he finally saw that this was something that I could actually do for a living. One of the other biggest accomplishments was the fact that I got to do my sisters wedding makeup, Somebody that has always supported me from the beginning with my silly little dream. The people that I’ve met doing the thing that I love has been such an amazing experience the things that I have got to do and I will continue to do I will forever be grateful for.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

All in all my goal in this journey is to do what I love. And to make people feel the best doing exactly that. There is no greater feeling than seeing a client look into the mirror after you’ve done their makeup and just see them light up. To have somebody in your chair that has never worn makeup, and them scared to death they will look like a clown ,and once you are done, for them to feel that confidence, it’s something so beautiful in that moment. I want to continue doing make up for the rest of my life and making people feel the best that they can.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

That’s hard… For me, the most rewarding aspect of being a makeup artist, is everything. The people that I have met, the lives that I have changed, including my own life. It’s something I would never thought would happen. It takes a lot for somebody to choose you to do makeup for them for any kind of special event, including weddings. So when you get asked to do that kind of thing, it’s so rewarding because they have trust in you. They see you in a way that you never saw yourself before, and they believe in you. I have made real friends doing what I love and I have met incredible clients that I do make up on repeatedly.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://Www.instagram.com/makeup_by_donny
• Facebook: Donny Teran