We recently connected with Othashia Harris and have shared our conversation below.

Othashia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

Yes, within 6 months after I graduated from cosmetology school, I started working at Macy’s as a beauty advisor at the Galleria Mall. One of my regular customers would always compliment me on my makeup and she recommended me to one of her closest friends that was needing makeup services for her bridal party. As a new mua Amina was one of my first makeup clients that I officially serviced.
Being that this was my first bridal party, I literally only had 7 shades of foundation, limited supplies, a few eyeshadow palettes, and other beauty necessities in my makeup kit. After fulfilling my work at the bridal party I was super excited at the compliments that the ladies gave me. And was compensated $250 for a bridal party of 6. Even though that amount may seem small to some, i wanted to apply more knowledge, dedication, and hustle behind my brand for which I would elevate more experience and techniques. I re ensured how Makeup By Othashia is still growing until this day and in the future.

Othashia, 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?

My name is Othashia Harris. I’m a professional makeup artist based out of Dallas, Texas. I started my professional journey six years ago which has always been a passion for anything beauty related. Now initially when I first started out in the beauty industry, becoming a hairstylist was my main priority , but later on within a few months, Makeup was starting to become more interesting for me to learn. Growing up especially in middle and high school, I will always use my moms makeup especially her Mac C-Thru lipgloss which was my favorite. Even though I’ve always kept my appearance up to part doing applying makeup on myself and it would always turns out beautiful. I believe in servicing others with my makeup artistry skills perfection and artistic results will always turn out beautiful. Throughout my makeup career, I started off with mainly drugstore makeup like Maybelline and L’Oréal, But continue to upgrade my mua kit Nars, Charlotte Tilsbury, and other high end brands. I service my clients with soft glams makeup looks even though a soft glam or dramatic glam will make them feel their best. One of my main goals of 2022 was to work with a local hair company based in Dallas, Texas with two months a hair company by the name of Yummy Hair Extension reached out to me for a photoshoot to work as one of the MUA’s for their hair campaign. I was very excited because that has always been a goal of mine. Throughout out these amazing 6 years, Makeup By Othashia continues to grow and be more knowledgeable with product and services within the beauty industry. I’m always looking to better improve myself and learn more from other makeup artists and be able to teach other beauty professionals as well. With hard work and dedication willing to put in work, have faith, being consistent and persistent, will definitely work out in favor.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Being reliable and consistent. I also like to make sure I’m producing valuable work and being helpful. Being in a highly competitive environment a person reputation can really help build a business.

For example what helped me a lot. Attracting better opportunities, ensuring I keep my loyal customers, gaining new customers that respects my company values. Small actions also helped me throughout my career. Being welcoming and introducing myself to new individuals
has to very positive long term relationships. Engaging with others and being positive in a very creative and artistic way really help me outsource in a generous way.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Throughout my makeup career. I have been funding my business with my own income while working in retail and corporate America. Each paycheck I would spend roughly $50-100 to ensure that i had makeup necessities up to date. Even if I didn’t have the money upfront, there we’re many resources that i learned when starting a business. In my most honesty a solid business plan with a thought out budget will help you stay on the right track.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pocketsuite.io/book/makeupbyothashia
• Instagram: Makeup By Othashia
• Facebook: Makeup By Othashia