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

Erin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

One day as I was walking down historic King St, I was stopped by a young woman who liked my make up. I was encouraged to apply with her company. Shortly after, I began working at Sephora as a cashier with only the knowledge of doing my own personal makeup. At the time, I honestly had no desire of learning how to do other people’s makeup. Throughout my tenure, women that looked like me, would come in and request that I do their makeup and different services. I refused for a while but over time my managers (whom I loved dearly) pulled me into the office and suggested that I take the necessary steps to learn how to professionally do makeup. With lots of trials and making my clients look absolutely crazy, my make up journey began. Even at this point, I still wasn’t convinced that this could be a successful career. In January of 2019, I left Sephora to work for another popular makeup retailer, for about nine months. This allowed me to build early cliental. In September of 2019, I was let go from this position and immediately I sat in my car upset and feeling defeated. I then told myself “You only one day to be upset”, and then it’s time to hit the ground running. I told myself, “Make up was all I had after dropping out of college and THIS make up career had to work”. By this time, I decided to enroll in school to become a licensed esthetician. While in school I was only getting about 4 clients a week and barely making ends meet, thus still passionate and determined to make this work. In February of 2020, I graduated esthetic school with nothing but a dream and $200 to my name. Shortly thereafter, the world shut down. As a direct result, clientele was practically non-existent. I got defeated, and almost resorted to a part time job. Just one month into the pandemic out of NOWHERE my clientele blew up! My books were being filled quicker than I could keep up with, and I was still able to grow during this time. I was able to connect with all sorts of amazing people and was able to make them feel like their most beautiful self, all in my small dining room space. By November of 2020, I quickly realized that I could no longer take clients in my home since the business had grown so much. In January 2021, I moved into my own salon suite and was able to gain the clientele of my dreams. Brides and wedding parties were now becoming a major focus and I was consistently booked each week. In August of 2021, I landed my first television job with a major network- Bravo TV! The rest was history. I am continuing to grow and expand my clientele each day and locking down major opportunities that are of my wildest dreams. What a ride…

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

Beyond the make-up, my goal is to ensure that my clients feel beautiful. Both inside and out. I take the time during each appointment to learn the intimate details about their skin, their routine, what they like and dislike. From there, I take their vision and my creativity to create a masterpiece. I use high quality products on all my clients, to create a flawless-long lasting makeup application. My clients often tell me that they came for a makeup appointment, but it always turns out to be so much more. The shoulder that they needed, the pep talk that was well overdue, or just a safe space to confide in. I am most proud of the strong successful women that I encounter each and every day, they inspire me so much.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One lesson that I had to unlearn, is that I cannot say yes to every single opportunity that comes to me. No matter how much I would like to. I found myself almost completely burnt out mentally and physically This quickly taught me to be selective in which opportunities I’m able to accept- which I understand is a privilege. This allowed my business focus to shift from quantity to quality.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

A part of my story that is unpretty, is that I dropped out of college twice. I lost both of my parents, and I was mildly depressed. I never gave up, no matter how bad the odds were or how cloudy life got. I always keep going forward, even if I was unsure of the path. The mindset, the perseverance and the humbleness has allowed me to be in rooms that I would have never imagined for myself. I am beyond grateful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Erinmichelleartistry.as.me/
• Instagram: ErinMichelle___
• Facebook: Erin Davis

Image Credits
Digital Dru Dash gettyimages Sean Evans Photography AG3Dphoto Frozentime Weddings