We were lucky to catch up with Mara B recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mara, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I know at the young age of 10, I wanted to learn how to braid so after getting my mom to show me, I started practicing how to cornrow on my barbie dolls and then moved to learning how to on myself. I would braid my own hair and then moved to adding extensions and learning how to sew in hair. I would stay up for hours and even wake up early in the morning to make sure my hair was perfect. I was overjoyed in later years when i found out my high school offered cosmetology courses. i had to pay for the kit so I begged my mother which she agreed under the conditioned that I could never decide to quit. I fell in love with the industry even more after entering and realized that this was the career path I wanted to pursue.

Mara, 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 was born in Sumter, South Carolina, now located in Grovetown, Georgia which is right outside of Augusta. Back in the day my mother noticed that I had a talent for doing hair, at that time she owned a daycare business and would promote my braiding to her daycare kids’ parents who would pay me to do their children’s hair. I was making $20 to braid hair at a young age, which would seem crazy now lol. She challenged me out of my comfort zone because I was a very shy kid who didn’t have much confidence, and the more she encourage me the more I realized I was good at what I did.

Currently I offer makeup service for fashion shows, bridal, and day to day. My hair services have changed from braiding to locs, silk press and cuts. I am transitioning myself from services that cause a lot of tension to the scalp to promote better hair care. We all want to look good of course but we also should care about our natural hair. I have to make sure my clients are happy but not at the expense of damaging the skin or their hair, in the end the way we look underneath the makeup and hair extensions also builds or breaks down our confidence. It’s our jobs as hairstylist/makeup artist to make sure everyone that leaves our chair is educated and confident in their own appearance.

I had spent many years away from the industry and in the short amount of time that I have been back, I have been able to gain jobs that I am very proud of. If you had asked me 3 or 4 years ago whether I would come back, I would have just laughed and doubtfully say I’m not interested in the industry anymore. It was during those time that I lost my confidence, inspiration and in a seed of denial. I am very proud that I have brought myself out of that dark place in my life and I look forward to how I will further develop in my skills in the years to come.

For any potential clients, I would want them to know that I am going to always do and advice in the best interest of them, my goal is not only to gain an income. I love what I do, I believe that these new aged hairstylists and even some makeup artists are more about going viral on social media then taking care of the client. The clients are supposed specially cared for; we shouldn’t have them detangling their own hair or bringing their own foundations. There are things you’re not supposed to do unless licensed in certain states to which I understand but what we can do, we should do.

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

There is a makeup artist name Nina Ubhi, she was my inspiration in coming back to the industry. I would watch her educational videos and try to recreate what I learned, I also recently started reading Booked Solid by Paul DiGrigoli who I had the pleasure of meeting at a Beauty Show recently. Learning his journey and different experiences in the industry gives me hope for the future.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

There was a time that I didn’t think I would ever be doing this career again. My life had completely changed, I became a single mom at a young age, and I had to think about making money instantly verses building a career, I didn’t want to struggle with my three daughters, so I took on jobs that I honestly hated but they provided the financial support we needed. Even after getting married and having a financial backer my mindset wasn’t on building my career because I had suppressed it for so many years. My husband would encourage me to go back and pursue but I had been in denial for too long that I actually started believing I wasn’t interested. I experienced the worse break down of my life at my very last job which made me realized that this was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/beautifulmabelartistry
• Facebook: Beautiful Mabel Artistry
• Linkedin: Mara Mabel