We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kristen Clemons a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristen, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Thank you for asking me to be a part of this. Yes, I believe that taking risks are what help you create the life you want. I have taken many risks in my career which led me to own my own hair and makeup business. My first risk was deciding to go to hair school after college. A college degree was a must in my family, my mom was a single mother who wanted me to be successful. In her eyes, the only way to do so was for me to go to college. The idea of opting out of college to go to hair school and follow my passion was frowned upon, so college it was. I graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor’s Degree in Family Science. After graduating I knew I wanted to follow my passion which was the beauty industry, so I took a risk and decided to go to hair school. Full of student loan debt and disappointment from family and friends I decided to follow my passion, start over, and choose a new career path.

After graduating from hair school, I took the risk and went a different route than most of the other students. I choose to not go to a salon to do color and cut services but to go into the styling side. I was told that I would not be able to make a living on “just” styling hair. After listening to others before when it came to my career choices, I decided I was not going to do that again, I was not going to let anyone else discourage me from what I wanted to do. So after graduating I applied to be a stylist and makeup artist for an on-location company, and not go to work behind the chair in a salon.

I was offered the job and had continued training in hairstyling, and I also learned makeup. Within a year I became a lead hairstylist and makeup artist for this company. Unfortunately, this was also where I was shown the not-so-pretty side of our industry. I was overworked, underpaid, and told that I wouldn’t be able to take my talent anywhere else. After a few years I decided to break away and take the biggest risk yet, I decided to open my own hair and makeup company.

Kristen, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi! I’m Kristen, a licensed cosmetologist and makeup artist and the owner of Kristen C. Artistry, an on-site hair and makeup company based out of Southern Maryland. We specialize in weddings, photoshoots, and special events. I have owned my company for the past 7 years. I have had the honor of traveling around the world doing hair and makeup as well as being a part of some major events such as The presidential Inauguration and D.C. Fashion week. I’m most proud of now being a team lead and sharing this success with my amazing team members. I’m so excited to have curated a team of talented ladies who offer both hair and makeup services.

We have the honor of being a part of some of the best moments in our clients’ lives. Our goal is to not only make our clients feel confident and beautiful in these moments but to build trust and lasting relationships with them. This allows us the opportunity to share more special moments with them in the future.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

To be resilient you must have a positive perspective and continued motivation toward an end goal in times of challenge. One of these challenges came when searching for artists to join my hair and makeup team. As a business owner, I want all my clients to feel important, understood, and for them to feel their absolute best when they are getting their hair and/or makeup done. When working with special events, and high-profile clients, showing up and treating clients well is of the utmost importance. This was a challenge as some artists didn’t see the importance of these values. During the early stages of my team building, I had artists that would cancel on special events last minute so I would have to scurry and find other artists to work with me. I had artists that would show up late, ask to leave early, and look like they rolled out of bed. In these challenges, I thought about scratching the idea of a team because I didn’t think I would be able to find artists that cared about my clients as I do. I was resilient and choose to keep looking for team members. It took many trials and trainings, but I finally found an amazing group of ladies that make up the Kristen C. Artistry dream team.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Yes, much like taking risks in life you must be able to pivot when things don’t go the way you planned. Like many business owners, working during the pandemic was one of these times when you had to pivot. Being in a luxury industry that specializes in special events was extremely difficult in 2020 because these events were all being canceled. Not to mention my job requires me to be in close contact with my clients which was extremely scary not knowing the effects of the virus. Not being able to work in person, and not having much of an income at the time, I pivoted and decided to teach virtual hair and makeup classes. I offered zoom classes to professionals wanting to start a hair and/or makeup career, and to those who just wanted to know how to apply their own makeup or style their hair. These classes allowed me to have an income, connect with my clients, and still do what I love.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.KristenCArtistry.com
• Instagram: KristenC.Artistry
• Facebook: Facebook.com/KristenCArtistry

Image Credits
Picture 1 taken by Kristen Picture 2 Amber Chole Photography Pictures 3 & 4 taken by Kristen Picture 5 Coastal Roots Photography Pictures 6-8 taken by Kristen