We recently connected with Marlena Robbins and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Marlena , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

For most of my life I knew I wanted to work in entertainment. Growing up as a dancer and doing theatre I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pursue being in front of the camera or behind it. All I knew was that I wanted to be apart of it all. It wasn’t until I started doing shows at the performing arts high school where I was a student at, that my friends would ask me to do their makeup for the shows we were in. It was then that I realized there was a whole career in makeup artistry that I could explore and pursue. I absolutely loved performing but mostly I just wanted to be on a set in any capacity that I could. There was and still is a sense of magic for me when it comes to the entertainment industry and by becoming a makeup artist, even though I wasn’t performing for an audience I was still very much using my artistic abilities and being in the environment I truly loved being in.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Once I graduated from high school my mind was made up about wanting to pursue makeup as a career. Specifically makeup for the entertainment industry. Coincidentally one of my best friends was coming to visit that summer and wanted to go to a taping of The Price Is Right. It was there that my career got its first big break so to speak because I ended up winning a car which I then sold to pay for makeup school. After I graduated from MUD Makeup Academy I was off and running. Over the years I’ve held many different jobs in the world of makeup including working on films, tv shows, photo shoots, music videos, red carpet appearances, press junkets and commercials. I even took time to go back to school to get my esthetician’s license so that I could have even more skill sets and knowledge that I then could offer to my clients. All of these different jobs and experiences have helped me grow and has led me not only to the artist that I am today but also to where I’m at in my career. I love what I do and working in entertainment has been my lifelong dream. What I’ve learned though over the years is that as much as I love working on sets with so many different kinds of artists, what I love most about what I do is the personal connections that I have made with my clients. Getting to be apart of their experience by helping them to feel their very best before they step foot in front of a camera is such a privilege. It’s in that sense of privilege that I approach every booking, making sure my clients always feel not only their best in the looks I create for them but well taken care of. I was never able to fully articulate how I feel about and how I approach my career, but one day I heard someone say, “what I do is such a privilege that not everyone gets the opportunity to do, so of course I want to honor that privilege by working as hard as I can” Not a day goes by where I’m not filled so much gratitude for what I get to do, where I get to do it, and the life that it provides me and my family. Working hard and giving each of my clients the best experiences is how I honor that gratitude and I can’t wait to see what the future will bring!

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

There have been many times where I’ve had to pivot in my career. When I first started out after graduating from MUD Makeup Academy I truly had no idea what path I should take to try and reach the goals I had set out for myself. So the only thing I knew to do, as cheesy as this may sound, was trusting my gut and following my heart. Some of those choices led me on paths that didn’t turn out well or were not easy. However in all my choices that were both good and bad, I know I was meant to experience them in order to get me to where I am today. Every choice led me to the next step and every choice taught me valuable lessons that I carry with me to this day. Change isn’t bad, it’s often scary and unplanned but always necessary for growth.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is simply the privilege I get connecting with others and being given a platform to express myself.      

Contact Info:

• Website: www.MarlenaRobbins.com
• Instagram: BeautybyMarlena