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

Kate, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

The idea to become a professional makeup artist came about, unfortunately, during COVID-19. After graduating with a BFA from Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia I found myself switching jobs quite often. I was working in retail, I was waitressing, and I was doing social media management wherever I could find freelance work. For years I felt directionless and idiotic for going to school for something as trivial as painting – why didn’t I go for something that actually paid and gave benefits? I was always self shaming for not having any idea what I wanted to do with my life when it seemed all my peers were thriving in their office jobs and going to corporate happy hours with their middle aged coworkers.

Then on March 13th 2020, the entire world shut down and I was laid off. Feeling even worse than I did the years prior, I decided to really lean into all of my new found free time – I started an Instagram account to document the makeup looks I was doing on myself to pass the time. I had always had a love for makeup -I’d watch Youtube beauty guru’s to unwind after work, I’d wait in line for a new eyeshadow palette, Id always ask my friends to let me do their eyeshadow or blush before a night out, but I never considered it a career option. The more I created and posted, the more I found that my fine art skill was mirroring itself in my makeup looks. Color theory came in handy when matching shadows, and undertones were easy to understand. Creating a contour was simple because I had studied so many faces and bone structures in figure drawing classes. Understanding aesthetics was easy because I had a wealth of art history knowledge and could reference back to time periods to determine what a client means when they say ’60’s Mary Quant vibes’. Makeup was painting. Makeup was art. And it unlocked what I felt I had been trying to decode for the previous 10 years – what I wanted to do with my life. It felt so silly to realize, like it was under my nose the whole time – obviously this was what I should’ve been doing, I had just never let the idea fully come to fruition. It was only after I was forced into unemployment and into many days of boredom, did it come to light.

As time passed, my presence on social media was becoming more well known within my city – my follower count went up and I was receiving more and more inquires to book. I was taking practical advice and knowledge from other makeup artists and combining it with my understanding of the human body, colors, light and shadow and creating looks from a painters point of view. It excites me everyday – it combines all of my passions and allows me full entrepreneurial and literal creativity. Putting this idea into motion was the best thing I’ve ever done, and birthing this idea changed the trajectory of my life for the better.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Kate and I own and operate Kate News Makeup. I collaborate with clients to create a perfect makeup look for their wedding day, an editorial photoshoot, or a night out glam just for fun. I take their mood boards and inspiration photos and find a happy medium between what they want and what I can achieve given their facial structure, coloring, and skin texture.

I got into this industry by studying fine art and painting in college and discovering that makeup was another avenue for painting – just in a different format. My background sets me apart from other artists because I have extensive training in color theory and figure drawing and painting. Im proud of the progress I’ve made both as a business owner and an artist over the past four years – I dedicate a lot of my free time to education, product knowledge, and entrepreneurial research to better serve my clients and improve my skill.

I want clients and followers to know that I am passionate. I wake up and I think about makeup. I go to sleep and I think about my clients and their schedules. I take care to be sensitive to skin issues or personal preferences that may arise during an appointment. I care so deeply for this lifestyle because I created it myself.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Both The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and Many Lives Many Masters by Dr Brian Weiss.

The Artist’s Way is somewhat of a workbook to reinvigorate the creative process – it prompts you to write three full pages of thought everyday before doing anything else, and take yourself on an ‘artists date’ once a week, among other things. The morning pages and the artist date, however, were my two main takeaways from the book. Mental dumping on a piece of paper before all other tasks for the day allowed me to clear my mind of any little random thoughts bouncing around in my mind – ones that would potentially distract me during a session with a client or a long day with a bridal party. Getting them out onto paper released them from my mind and re-centered my brain to focus on things that mattered – not the trivial things I spelled out every morning.

Many Lives Many Masters is truly one of the most influential books I’ve ever read and I recommend it to anyone who struggles with anxiety or fear of the future. I was always so scared of the unknown that it would sometimes debilitate me into panic attacks and fear spirals. This true story is of a psychiatrist who hypnotizes a patient and she recalls her past lives. It unlocks key struggles she has in her current lifetime and releases her of those fears. She places her trust in the universe that her life is playing out the way its supposed to, as all of her lives before lead her to this exact moment, and once she lets go of her anxieties she moves into abundance and peace. It made me realize that all things I’m afraid of can be overcome by trusting that what I am doing is exactly what I am meant to be doing. As someone who is very spiritual, this read impacted all aspects of my life.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I was persistent. I was annoying. I was posting 3x a day and tagging brands and businesses. I was reaching out to fellow makeup artists to pick their brains. I was going out and posting everything I was doing to stay relevant and active on people’s feeds. It was HARD. It still is hard, sometimes I wish I could hire someone to post for me, because some days it is a full time job in addition to makeup. It’s intimidating to put yourself and your voice out there for people to perceive but you have to just do it. You have to mess up and post and delete and edit captions and learn those lessons. The more active you are, the more opportunities you’ll have to show up on a potential new client or follower’s page. It keeps you top of mind and you never know who’s feed you’ll pop up on.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katenewsmakeup/?hl=en
• Other: Tik Tok : https://www.tiktok.com/@katenewsmakeup

Image Credits

B&W image – @kiernanromephoto
Film image with dog – @cheesy_parisi
Film image from far away – @cheesy_parisi
Image with me holding a green brush @marshallscottphoto