Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Meghann Mason. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Meghann, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s go back in time a bit – can you share a story of a time when you learned an important lesson during your education?

I was in school at The Westmore Academy in Los Angeles in 2002. It was a prestigious trade school for Makeup for Film and Television that, unfortunately, is no longer around. I attended this school after undergrad and it was the first of many milestones in my career. We had amazing instructors that worked in the industry and Marvin Westmore was the founder. He was in his office most days and sometimes he would teach special classes as well. One day he was instructing us in a makeup technique and we all got to talking about working in film and television and asking him questions. My peers and I all had varying degrees of talent and technique and so we wondered about how good we needed to be to work with him on set. He was very honest and said that the days are long on set and that he would always hire someone who had potential or a modicum of talent that was easy to work with, pleasant, and professional over someone who was super talented and awful to be around. He said life is too short to spend all day and night with a hateful person. He’d rather teach someone what he needed them to do and get on with the shoot. That has always stuck with me and has turned out to be absolutely true as I’ve built different teams and crews over the years for various projects. It has been a nugget of gold that has guided me well.

Meghann, 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?

I started out as a performer and during undergrad in Houston I was introduced to working on a wig crew for Theatre Under the Stars, a big theatre house in town. After graduating I took off to Los Angeles to go to school for makeup at The Westmore Academy and act. I was there for about 5 years doing both of those things and then moved back to Houston to attend Graduate school at University of Houston and focus on Costume Design. The reasoning behind this was that if I ever wanted to teach I wanted to do so in Higher Education, and it rounded out the education I already had in the Arts. While in Houston in 2007 I met my future boss at a technical theatre convention called USITT. He was from Cirque du Soleil and that was very exciting! I was in school and working around Houston at The Houston Ballet, The Alley, UH, Rice University, Channel 13 news and other places and was not planning on moving again.

However, I applied anyway thinking maybe in a couple of years they may have an opening. He called a month later to interview me for a position in LAS VEGAS. I was in shock. I initially was hesitant about going but decided to do it! It was the best adventure for almost 12 years. In that time I started a school (Academy of Makeup and Wig Design) with my best friend and still own it to this day. We teach wig and makeup classes.

I have had the school on hiatus for the last 2 years, recovering from Covid shutting it down in Houston. I work as the Head of Wigs and Makeup at The Houston Ballet and also now make wigs for Cirque du Soleil’s “KÁ”. It all feels very meant to be at the moment. I have an amazing crew at the ballet and I have several contractor’s around the country that I employ for the Cirque wigs. I am lucky to be surrounded by so much talent!

I work very hard and am trying to keep a work-life balance. I am a workaholic by nature so this is an ongoing task for me! Hopefully I’ll have the school back up and running in the future, but for now, my plate is full and I am enjoying the present.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

The co-founder of my business happens to be my best friend, Kelsey Contois-Husch. We worked together at KA in Vegas and needed to train more artists to do WIGS and makeup, not only hair and makeup, as well as train artists to be cooperative and collaborative. So we started a school and I continue to run it as a business and do trainings from time to time. Most people say do not start a business with friends but in our case we get on so well and always have. I now own the business fully but she is still the cofounder and is an active Creative Consultant for the school and business.

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

I think the biggest pivot has to be coming out of the brick and mortar location after Covid. I opened the Houston location literally the same week the world shut down and it was such a financial loss. Even after we were able to have students again it wasn’t the same. Most of my students are from out of state so there was a compacted issue to coming to class. Flights, hotels, close proximity in class for teaching wig making, ayayayayay. I had a few students in late 2020 and throughout 2021 but it was just bleeding money. So I chose to close the studio and pivoted to making wigs for Cirque and working almost full time at the Houston Ballet. I cried a lot because it was soooo much work getting the studio renovated and ready for students and I loved the space my dad and I created. There was a grieving process that happened for sure. I still have everything and will one day , hopefully, have it up and running again, maybe even with my bestie! That would be an awesome pivot! Things are great thought and I am staying open to whatever needs to happen or opportunities to grow.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @meghannm_makeupandwigs
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghannmason/
• Youtube: @academy2346
• Other: www.academymwd.com www.meghannmason.com

Image Credits
Red wig photo: Photographer- Ashkan Roayaee, WIg- Meghann Mason, Makeup- Darcie Teasley Black and Whitie Photo- Wig- Kelsey Contois-Husch, Makeup- Meghann Mason, Photographer- Lei Rivera White Rococo Wig- Photographer- Ashkan Roayaee, Wig- Meghann Mason, Makeup- Darcie Teasley Blue wig- Meghann Mason and Kelsey Contois-Husch having fun at Cirque du Soleil’s “KA”, photo by Meghann Mason