We recently connected with Maggie Paridon and have shared our conversation below.

Maggie, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

I am so fortunate that I have always had the most supportive parents. Growing up they always told me “We don’t care what career path you take, as long as you always give it 100%.” I have always taken that to heart and even when I’ve had moments where I wanted to give up or choose a different path, I’ve always put my all into trying to make things better for myself and my career, and it always works out. They truly have supported me in my career and have loved seeing my growth as a person and business owner. They never once pressured me to do something I didn’t want to do or choose a certain career.

Maggie, 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?

I’m Maggie Paridon, Makeup Artist and Owner of MKleinman Artistry. As a young girl I grew up dancing competitively as well as acrylic painting. Those two things led me to my career as a professional makeup artist. I had to learn to do my makeup for dance competitions, and painting is very much like doing makeup in a lot of ways! Understanding the art of painting from a color, texture and placement standpoint has always given me a very artistic approach to making up a face. I began professionally doing makeup at age 18 and never looked back. Working for MAC Cosmetics for the first 5 years of my job as a Makeup Artist really kicked off my career and gave me the customer service skills I needed to start my business. It also gave me tons of valuable product and ingredient knowledge, and the invaluable ability to work on any age, race and skin type.
Once I knew the sales side of Makeup Artistry was not going to be my forever path, I took a risk and started my business, reaching out to anyone and everyone I thought might be able to use my services that would take a meeting with me. As my business grew from primarily Bridal and special occasion makeup, into more and more commercial and celebrity makeup, I knew I didn’t want to completely leave the Bridal side behind and I grew my Bridal business to have 5 wonderful contractors on my team to help me with the flow of weddings. Now with my team, we are able to take on larger wedding parties than I was able to take on alone, provide both traditional and airbrush methods of makeup application, and make our Brides feel their absolute best on the most important day of their lives. I am also able to have more of a work-life balance as my team has grown and can take on the jobs that I really want to do because I have more time to do them.
Outside of weddings and managing my team, I work full time as a freelance Makeup Artist working on set for international brands and with celebrity clients. I also love to teach the skills of makeup application to people wanting to learn them.
Some of the most notable clients I have worked with are Machine Gun Kelly, Chris Appleton, Tina Fey, Kesha, and Carole Radziwill.
I have had some amazing opportunities in my career to see things, meet people and go places most people don’t get to see, meet or go to. My career has taken me to Iceland, Ireland, France, LA, New York, and plenty of other beautiful places, sparking my love for travel.
Working in an intimate setting closely to my clients is really special and one of my favorite parts of my job. Making them not only look but feel their absolute best never gets old! I’m very serious about my work, but love having a good laugh and chatting with my clients while getting to know them. I value personal connection with my clients and really enjoy spending time with them.
Continuing my education in my field has always been extremely important to me. I try to take two master classes a year from Artists I admire so I can constantly grow and develop my craft and business. Learning new trends and incorporating them into my makeup applications is one of my favorite things about what I do. There is never a point where I will know everything about my field since it is ever changing, and I love that about it!
Understanding lighting and how it affects makeup as well as knowing color theory from a painters perspective sets me apart from others in my industry. Paying constant attention to how light dances and moves and affects the look of my work and studying colors in nature and art help me create timeless and stunning makeup looks for my clients. I really take most of my inspiration from nature and art! Being able to work on a global range of skin tones is also a strong point for me.
I am extremely proud that I never gave up on my goal to become a successful makeup artist. It is very easy to get burnt out quickly in this industry, and I have been doing it and still loving it for almost 16 years now. Leaning on other makeup artist friends as well as my mentor for advice and guidance has always been something I am so thankful for. Having a great network of people around you that are in your corner is essential to success in any business, but especially this one!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think society can support Artists by buying their goods and services, as well as taking the time to give them a follow, like and comment on their social posts and genuinely interact with us! Attending events and classes that we host, and just taking interest in our art.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My biggest goals driving my creative journey are growing and developing my Bridal team of Artists to the point of adding hair stylists to my team, creating the perfect wedding day glam squad for our Brides! I have a personal career goal to tour with a musician as their personal makeup artist.. what a dream!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mkleinmanartistry.com
• Instagram: @Mkleinmanartistry

Image Credits
Mock tuna, Hannah Dexter Photography, Kelly Bondra, Blaine Westropp