We recently connected with Nicole Palermo and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicole, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I have always loved the art of makeup and creating my own products. It wasn’t just makeup it was how it made people feel. I am self taught and have always been very creative. The challenge was figuring out how to bring together my creative talents into one career. It all started when I was 17 years old, I would do makeup for all of my friends for prom. They loved how their skin looked flawless. I knew this would be my artistic journey because I loved how makeup made women feel. Naturally beautiful and confident. I was always asking people if I could do their makeup. Practice was key. I wanted to learn as much as possible. I would watch my mom, who was very much into beauty and she loved makeup and skin care. Every morning she would do her makeup before work and I learned so much from her. She was so supportive and as a strong single mom she would always say … you can do anything you set your mind too! My first job was working for Estée Lauder and from that moment it was one door after another that opened for me. After many years as a makeup artist.. I was also doing other creative things. painting murals and art, jewelry design, and making clean beauty products. I was working at the MAC MAKEUP counter in Nordstrom’s for 7 years, freelancing and doing makeup for special events. During the time many of my clients would come to the counter and ask me if I did wedding makeup? I started to get booked for weddings and those clients would refer me to other brides. It was amazing and the start of my wedding business . One day while working at the counter I realized that I wanted to run my own business and venture out into new areas of art. Wedding makeup I loved doing! I also loved the consistency of wedddings and security it brought financially. So I started there. I decided a business plan and created a beautiful bridal studio in my home. My main goal was to create an experience for my brides. Listen to their needs and create breathtaking bridal looks! It was that simple… embrace people and do what I love to do! I always felt like one thing would set me apart from other artists .. and that was my heart.. I genuinely love people …. And connect instantly. My mom always said follow your dreams, be passionate and be kind everything else will fall into place. She was right♥️

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?

I have been a makeup artist for 32 years and as an artist I have always done many creative things in my business. I run a wedding business called Happily Ever After where I do makeup for all different types of events: weddings, photography, special events. Makeup artistry was always my first passion. The best way to describe my creative career is a beautiful combination of artistic tools. As an artist I also do boudoir photography, jewelry design, paintings and my most exciting moment was creating my very own vegan cruelty free beauty line LIV FREE BEAUTY. I wanted to be able to offer my clients not just beautiful makeup for events or photoshoots. I wanted to teach them about clean beauty and create products that were cruelty free, no animal testing, no animal derived ingredients and no harsh chemicals. I put my heart and soul into research and product development. The most amazing feeling is teaching my clients how to create beautiful looks and use healthy products that truly make a difference.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

The most exciting part about my business, creating my very own beauty line was learning so much through trial and error during one of the most difficult times for everyone which was Covid. At that time, every Makeup Artist basically like many other people who were very hands-on in their careers and worked closely with people … we basically stopped working. . I had a completely booked year and the entire year of bookings canceled within two weeks. Fireplace I also did photography and all of my photo shoots canceled as well. I know so many people in our industry and so many people in many other industries that were so devastated by Covid and for me it gave me the drive and focus to work on my line Liv Free🌸🌙 beauty. I took this time to really create products, research ingredients, and how to create custom made formulas, I tested so many different types of products on friends and family, and really pushed forward with creating my online business and opening up my Shopify website . Even though I had been working on creating products for years, it was more as a hobby at first and another creative outlet. So during this time, it really motivated me to get up and running with my website. When I published my website I announced it on Facebook and Instagram And I had such an amazing response! So many doors are opening for my business and I couldn’t be more excited!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

The key to creating a successful business is being proud of yourself but always humble! I’ve been through so many ups and downs. Accomplishments and let downs . I have learned that by being authentic and not looking for the acceptance from others but to love what you do and to appreciate where you are by loving yourself is everything. Social media has been one of my biggest marketing tools. Being myself. If you show your work by pictures, reels, stories or tutorials the key is to have fun. People love to feel a true connection and see your personality. I’m funny lol so I like to show that as well. Do not try to be perfect. Imperfection is beautiful! When your clients and audience see that you are talented that is wonderful but when they see transparency and a genuine heart I promise that is where the connection is made! So be Yourself, keep things simple, have fun, teach something and be honest!

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.nicolepalermomakeup.com
• Other: Www.Livfreebeautyshop.com

Image Credits
Alana Beall photography credit