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

Hi Gem and Gel, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Our mission is simple. Beauty can be an area where certain criteria is expected. That’s not what we do here. We remain authentically ourselves to allow our clients to be authentically themselves. We are the hype women who will root, cheer and find your inner beauty that reflects the outer beauty we create. It’s about loving you JUST AS YOU ARE, today, tomorrow and everyday.

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?

Gel and Gem are Twin Sisters who have two separate Businesses but share a partnership in a Bridal Wedding Business. Gel is the Makeup Artist and Gem is the Hairstylist.

Gel started her business in 2015 when she was pregnant with her twin daughters and was the Senior Education Consultant at Sephora inside JCPenney. Unfortunately her pregnancy was not an easy one and lost one of her twins at 19 weeks. Due to the difficulty of her pregnancy she stepped down from her job and gave birth to her other daughter at 27 weeks. Her daughter was born with complications to the stomach and was considered a special needs child. Gel tried freelancing to support her family, the beginning was very slow but year after year Gel built her business to be extremely successful. She built such a great network and amazing clientele that she was able to purchase a home, pay off her debts, and now has her own studio that she takes clients in her home town.

Gem started her business in 2018 working part time assisting Gel in her makeup business, through that she had a desire to learn hair. At the time Gem was a Lead Trainer for a restaurant working full time and doing wedding jobs on the side. In 2020 Gem took on a full time leadership position traveling and opening restaurants in and out of state but realized she wasn’t fully happy in what she was doing. When Gel’s business took off Gem left her job and attended cosmetology school at Clover Park Technical College. While she was there she met very amazing mentors and her Teacher Ms. Carine praised her for her talents. Which inspired her to begin her own business venture in Hair. She graduated with a 4.0 and was the top in her class. She then began a partnership with her Twin sister.

Gel and Gem are mobile Makeup and Hairstylists specializing in Weddings but also do photoshoots, events, stylized shoots, and editorial work. They offer natural to full glam looks. They work with all skin types, hair types, ages, and with every gender. Gel and Gem are all inclusive artists and want every client to feel comfortable and beautiful while they sit in their chair.

Gel and Gem are all about customer satisfaction and experience. They always make sure you’re having a great time and want your appointment to feel like a fun and exciting thing to do. They will listen to clients wants and needs. They also are very welcome to children coming along to the appointment as well. They are the hype women clients never knew they needed!

Gel was featured in Seattle Bridal Magazine, Boudoir Magazines, Fundraisers, and many local events.

“We have large plans of expanding further but we are truly loving the seeds we are planting here. We are known as the “Wedding Rescues” whom we will book anyone whether that makes our day a little longer or take the super last minute client. Why? Because we understand and we care about you. Things happen, life happens and above all things, kindness is our brand. Cause a kind heart keeps you beautiful, forever.

We are hardworking, reliable and dependable. On such important plan days such as shoots and weddings, this is a PRIORITY. We refuse to be the reason anyone has to shift their plans.

We work for our clients cause you are the reason we are even here.“

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A huge lesson we both had to unlearn was to stop “people pleasing” we had situations where the get ready space had to be changed. Or they had one less person that was on the contract. Or we didn’t charge for travels. We went above and beyond our means to make our clients happy but we learned we are still a business and needed to charge accordingly. Our job was to assist our clients, they hired us for our expertise and our time. If we continued to go around in circles for clients it was draining our expenses. We had to learn to set boundaries and charge appropriately in order to maintain business and gain a profit.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Being AUTHENTICALLY US. We are proud of the people we are and who we built because beauty has standards. But we are shifting those standards to include everyone. To have everyone feel beautiful, feel like they belong and feel like they are capable of being the best they can be. We are not here to change you, we are here to find the you that you can love every day. Through this message we have grown an amazing clientele that stays loyal to us and recommends us to friends and family. It has been an increasing slope of positive outcome.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://makeupbygel.com/
• Instagram: @gem_the_stylist @makeupbygel_
• Facebook: Gem The Stylist, Makeup Artistry by Gel

Image Credits
aika foz Photography jasperbluephotography Debbie Gilman Logan Westom Cindy Nguyen photography