We were lucky to catch up with Kelsey Korte recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kelsey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?

I manage all of my own social media accounts! I went to school for marketing, with a focus on market research and statistics. However, I had grown up alongside the growth of social media, and using social media to reach new people and audiences. Through posting about who I am, what I do, and why my clients should book with me; I have developed a social strategy that allows me to be fully organic online. It also helps that I have a full-time desk job where my role is a social media marketing strategist, so I’ve been able to apply what I’ve learned to my own business!

Kelsey, 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?

Hey y’all what’s up? My name is Kelsey K, otherwise known as KelseyKMUA, and I wanted to thank you so much for being here today!

My story starts when I was first able to hold a tube of my grandma’s lipstick, and smear it ALL over my face. (Very evenly I might add…that L’Oreal lipstick was no match for me!) I’ve always had a passion for all things beauty! I remember from a very young age, I was always either playing with makeup, styling anyone’s hair that would let me, or even cutting my own hair under my grandma’s dining room table.

…In case you were wondering; no, that safety scissors haircut was not great…

Fast forward to high school, where I spent A LOT of time in the musical arts dept. where I was doing hair and makeup for plays and talent shows. After graduation, I continued to help out with hair and makeup, and even started gaining clientele for hair and makeup services for school dances.

A few years later, I started a job at this store called The Body Shop-and no, it’s not a store for cars or spray tans. To anyone who’s never heard of the brand before; I can best describe The Body Shop as organic/adjacent to Bath & Body Works. My job allowed me to play with so many different makeup and skincare/bodycare products, as well as applying makeup on people of a large array of skin tones and depths. That’s something that I absolutely LOVE about my hometown of Dearborn, Michigan – the DIVERSITY! Diversity and inclusion in business is something that is very important to me, so my kit is always equipped with products to suit all skin tones and depths.

Cue the year 2016 and the rise of YouTube beauty gurus and makeup tutorials; I fell HARD for the world of Influencer beauty. I would watch countless hours of makeup tutorials, product reviews, and would proceed to go out and buy anything that caught my eye. I started practicing different techniques and playing with different products, then posting my looks to my social media pages for fun. The next thing I knew, I had Facebook friends asking me to do their makeup for their weddings! (Note: I was terrified) I had done people’s makeup before, and done makeup for weddings of close family members; but never paid as a beauty professional.

I endured through a lot of imposter syndrome as I continued to promote myself and my work over the next 3 years. I was just having fun and playing with makeup as I was studying and working my way through college. (Note that I was in college for 10 years as a result of 4 different career changes…)

But what this industry has taught me is that beauty truly is so much more than skin deep!

I struggled with a lot of insecurity, low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression as a teenager and young adult. I hated the way my body looked, (and at 5’7 weighing in at 175 lbs, I shouldn’t have been so hard on myself) and was constantly trying to blend in and stand out all at the same time. But then when I was posting my makeup looks to Instagram and Facebook, it felt so good to have people tell me how good I was, or how amazing the eyeshadow looked. It sounds so superficial, but I truly felt like they were the words I needed to hear when I never believed I was beautiful. (With or without makeup.)

Over the years; between extremely supportive friends and family, Lizzo, and my amazing husband, I have been able to not only accept myself and my own body, but also be able to encourage others to love themselves as they are. Digital beauty filters have been proven to ruin the self esteem and self image of young girls, and my mission is to show every person- young or old, black or white, tall or short, thick or slim; that their true beauty comes from self love and acceptance. The acceptance that our bodies are simply shells that house our souls and personalities, and allow us to think, move, and be present. Accepting that what our bodies look like on the outside is not a representation of the beauty of our soul- and that our outer beauty is enhanced through makeup, as opposed to being covered by it.

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

The biggest lesson I had to unlearn is that not all makeup techniques work for every person. I had to learn that concealer should be used to well… conceal – not paint the face with. The first time I had a Mother of The Bride look in the mirror after a full face GLAM, my heart sank. She was so disappointed in how her makeup turned out, because I had used WAY too much concealer under her eyes. (She was still VERY nice about it and wore the makeup anyway, but I’ll carry that moment like a scar forever.)

I had to unlearn all of the beauty guru “looks good on camera” techniques, and provide my clients with makeup looks that still made them feel like themselves…and not wax figures. I’d say that my skills have refined tenfold since that day.

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

OH MY GOODNESS YES!

So I’m (embarrassingly) not a reader. I feel like I read slow, and most often I’m too impatient and would like to just get straight to the climax of the book. But when I was in my last semester of my undergrad, I had a professor that had us watch a TedTalk of Amy Cuddy. For those of you who don’t know who Amy Cuddy is, she is a professor at Harvard business school and a social psychologist. Her TedTalk as well as her book titled “Presence”, are about how your body position and body language has a HUGE impact on your hormones, brain, and how you interact with others. By taking up less physical space, it triggers our bodies to produce more cortisol – the stress hormone. But by physically taking up MORE space and using “power poses”, it triggers our bodies to produce more testosterone. More testosterone in our bloodstreams allows us to feel more powerful, and less likely to back down in a situation where you need to stay strong. “Presence is confidence without arrogance.” As I was interviewing for jobs post-graduation, I made sure to do a 2-minute power pose. And let me tell you something; the interviews where I didn’t power pose…I tanked the interview. (Coincidence? I think not!)

I also just recently read GIRL CODE by Cara Alwill. I was so genuinely inspired by this book, because it’s all about jumping the hurdles of female entrepreneurship. In the one sunny-day-by-the-lake that it took me to read this book-I felt like I learned more about mindset shifts and actions to increase engagement in my business than I ever could’ve learned in any single seminar. A lot of educational seminars on “How to grow your business!” will tell you WHAT you need to do to excel in your business, but often will not give you the tools of HOW to excel. Tools like what actions to take, how to support other women online, and what ways of thinking lead to success – and what thinking leads to failure.

Both of these books greatly impacted me as a business owner because they both focus on how the body and mind impact our everyday lives. How our minds are capable of attracting things into our lives simply by focusing on the powerful and positive. Every blessing I’ve received in my career has come from the fact that I asked the universe for it!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelsifymecapn/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KelseyKMUA/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kelseykmua
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtDz5X14zJ-g9agXmIJG5ug
• Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kelsifymecapn

Image Credits
Hannah Korte Photography LLC Nicholas McIntosh Photography Erin McConnell Kevin Barranco