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

Hi Neca , thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

My first introduction into the wedding industry was such a fun experience and is what led me into being the owner of a bridal hair and makeup team. I had never done makeup professionally before, but a friend asked me to be the makeup artist for a family member’s wedding. I made sure I was prepared ahead of time and did the whole bridal party plus the bride all by myself. It was so cool to see them so happy celebrating and here I was getting to be apart of their special day. I knew afterwards that I definitely wanted to do makeup especially for weddings.

I was working at a spa at that time and lost my job right after the wedding. I used that time as an opportunity to jump right into starting my own business. I started searching everywhere from Google to YouTube to figure how what steps I needed to take to make to happen. I literally set up everything on my own from registering my business, the website, to how I was going to accept payments.

Even though I knew I wanted to work for myself, I was so new to the industry that I took any opportunities I could to network like working with photographers, bridal shops, and even under another bridal team. The owner knew I eventually wanted to be in her position so I worked for myself and her at the same time. This helped me work with a lot more brides, gain experience, and grow my own business at the same time.

5 years later, I am now a published makeup artist with my own bridal hair and makeup team!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Neca Gonzalez, and I created Beauty Vibes Artistry, a beauty team that creates the hair and makeup of your dreams for the biggest moments of your dreams. I work with extremely talented hairstylists and makeup artists that are dedicated to making our brides and clients feel like the most beautiful version of themselves! We love helping every person embrace what makes them unique and boosting their confidence. As special as weddings are, all of the planning involved can be overwhelming, and it’s really important to us to give our brides an experience that will make them forget about the stress and enjoy every moment! The average person doesn’t have the luxury of having a hairstylist and makeup artist get them ready often (if ever) so by treating themselves, it often leads to them wanting us to be there again for the next special moments of their lives like their baby shower or family photos.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I don’t have a huge social media following but what I can say is that the followers I do have, are amazing! I’ve played with so many different “strategies” and what I’ve found that has worked for me and has us booking a lot of our clientele from Instagram, is to focus on your people and speak directly to them! I started off with a business account on Instagram and tried so hard to have that polished professional look, but what I realized is people care more about the connection than how perfect your feed looks. Every day I start off with sharing to my IG story which is usually some type of confident booster type of post, then I share tips throughout the day. I’m the bridal beauty expert and I make sure all of my followers know it. Do the same thing for your ideal customers and they will start to find you.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’m married and my husband is actually in the military which has led us to moving around every few years. I officially started my business in 2017 in Maryland, and moved my business with me to Colorado, and then Tampa in 2021. We offer hair and makeup which means I’ve had to start my scratch and rebuild clientele each time!

As soon as I found out I would be moving to Tampa, I started reaching out to other small business owners in the community. When I was in Colorado I noticed that a lot of my referrals came from other wedding vendors like photographers and bridal shops so I spent a lot of time going to different networking events and pop up shops so I can constantly get in front of more people. Even though I had to shift locations, Beauty Vibes Artistry holds all the same values, passion, dedication, and quality, so we still attract our dream client and network.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.beautyvibesartistry.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/beautyvibesartistry
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/beautyvibesartistry

Image Credits
Hair and Makeup by Beauty Vibes Artistry Photos by Titus Moye Photpgraphy, Sara Plett Photo, and Moon Momentos by Steph