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

Alright, MaryLee thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I was never allowed to wear makeup growing up….it wasn’t until I got to college that I was able to really indulge in the craft. With that, I was pretty confident and only ever used it for enhancing my natural beauty or adding color to my eyes for some extra attraction. This led me to have Natural Glam as my signature look and style. I truly believe less is more and so many steer away from makeup either because they don’t know how to use it or because of the stigma behind needing makeup to feel beautiful. My brand is all about finding your own style and using the proper tools and techniques to create the perfect look. A timeless, soft makeup look is classic and can be worn in any setting so I drive my clients to be confident in their makeup style whether that’s little to no makeup or a bold glam look. It’s all about confidence, personal preference and knowledge!

MaryLee, 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?

Homegrown and raised under the hot sun of Arizona. Mary has been stroking her brushed since 2015. In 2018, she was professionally licensed as a Makeup Artist from the Maxima School of Makeup Artistry in Scottsdale, AZ. Slaydown Makeup Studio specializes in Natural/Classic glam. This can be makeup for Headshots, Weddings, Special Occasions and more. With that, makeup education is also a top priority of ours. We hold lessons and classes that assist our clients in applying the prefect everyday makeup look.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I established Makeup By Mary in 2018 but had never been full-time. My primary job was working in healthcare in the Psychiatric Ward as a Psychometrist. In the start of the Pandemic, schools closed for safety and having a daughter in Kindergarten meant I had to leave work to be home with her.

At this time was when I decided to take my weekend hustle(Makeup By Mary) and hit the pavement and I now had no consistent income. Trying to expand and pick up business for a makeup artist in the middle of a shutdown was nearly impossible. I was blessed to link with many businesses owners and entrepreneurs who were also getting started and was able to offer my makeup services for branding purposes.

I had many days where I was ready to give up and go back to work or times where I felt I was insane to try this at the most dangerous time but with endurance, it worked out! I have learned that when you stay the course and stick to your plan, things will manifest.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I didn’t start getting into makeup until my Freshman year of college! I started out doing makeup on my friends which soon had other girls asking for services. I would do makeup on nights and weekends to earn extra money which mostly when to tuition and things for my daughter at the time. I maintained my regular job to pay for my main bills(house, car, phone….). Over the years and after getting professionally licensed, my clientele had grew quite a bit! Although makeup started as a therapeutic hobby for me, I stayed consistent. I never stopped practicing, learning and growing myself in the makeup industry. I also never planned to do makeup full time but seeing how much I loved it and how good it made me feel, it led me to create an LLC and make it more!

Contact Info:

• Website: slaydownmua.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/slaydownmua
• Facebook: Makeup By Mary

Image Credits
Dorrell Edwards – @alwaystimelessprd Anneke Mitchell – @anneke_marie_photography Alexys Brandon- @alexysbrandonphotography