We recently connected with Shayla Carter and have shared our conversation below.

Shayla, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

There are many who treat other face painters as their competition. When I first got started, I was met with a brick wall among a few of my local colleagues. They were apprehensive to share ANYTHING about starting out in the industry. I made the decision in those first few experiences, that I would not shut out my fellow artists, but instead collaborate with them to make our industry stronger. The Collaboration over Competition strategy has worked amazingly. I now have a group of amazing artist friends who own their own face painting companies, and all have individual styles but are equally talented. This allows us to work together on projects where the client needs more than one artist, as well as having others who can cover your clients in a pinch.
This industry can feel pretty cutthroat so it’s nice to know that I have made an amazing group of friends. I want other artists to feel the same joy, so I also strive to share my knowledge to baby painters just getting their start. There is no reason for them to struggle through the same mistakes I had to. It also helps to know that new painters have the guidance so that they are properly insured, and using the safest products, and following the best hygiene practices. Which benefits everyone! I feel strongly that the business collaborations and friendships I have formed have helped make my business possible.

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?

My journey to find face painting was a bit of a long one considering I didn’t discover face painting till my late 30’s. I have always been artsy, but never really considered myself “an Artist”. most of my younger years I was a singer. I loved performing. I was good enough to turn heads at karaoke or when singing with a small-town cover band, but not really Hollywood bound. Although in my youth that was the ultimate goal… to see my name in lights! I have always loved to create whether it was music or crocheting or whatever new crafty thing I was trying out. ADHD makes for a pretty fickle hobby list. But crocheting always held my heart. I know it is because it holds sentimental memories of being 6 and sitting with my grandma learning to chain 100. followed by decades more memories of sitting with her while we both worked our stitches on our current projects. For 30 years, singing and crocheting were my main creative outlets and I didn’t think anything could change that.
fast forward to having kids. When I had my kids, my priority shifted to these beautiful babies. So, I didn’t really go out to sing anymore, but at least I still had my hook and bag of yarn. Until the pain and numbness started. I was diagnosed with ulnar neuropathy, and I lost feeling in my hands which made crocheting impossible without debilitating pain. I found myself lost without an artistic outlet. Then, In 2019 I discovered watercolor through an amazing art community called Let’s Make Art ran by an artist named Sarah Cray. she shared her knowledge with her art community for free, and I fell in love with the medium. I joined TikTok with the intention of just sharing my art and seeing other artists create. However, I found myself inspired again. a creator on TikTok named Squishydoodleshelbi was going viral doing face painting. I gave it a try and I was hooked! And as luck would have it the skills I had learned from watercolor helped me pick up face painting even faster.
Then life took an unexpected turn when my husband ended up with a career ending back injury. In a quick decision we decided I would to turn this hobby into a career.
I painted EVERY day. I took every opportunity to learn. I took summit classes with an international face painting school and absorbed every bit of knowledge I could find. I put that knowledge to good use and before I knew it, I had people wanting to hire me for parties. I dove headfirst into creating my company. I reached out to a couple industry oldies and was met with a pretty solid BACK OFF vibe. I refused to give up. I joined a bunch of groups for face painters and continued to grow my business. Then one day, about 2 years into my journey, I met a face painter who lived in my area who I now call one of my best friends. she helped keep me motivated. I was off and running gaining momentum with consistent bookings for birthdays, corporate events, and state fairs. That motivation turned out to be a big help when my life took another unexpected turn. In 2021 I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that mimics breast cancer. I battled pain and wounds for over a year before in 2022 I had to have a double mastectomy.
My family and friends made the greatest support system, but I struggled with a lot of both physical and mental pain during my recovery. Having a creative outlet like face painting helped heal my soul. Face painting and the people who I have grown to love in the face painting community really helped me get through and not give up. The daily pain I still deal with would make a full-time corporate job impossible. So, I count my blessings to have a job that allows me to take care of myself and my family even through the chaos life throws at us.
  It’s been a heck of a journey but I have to show appreciation to my family for supporting me turning this hobby into what is now a pretty successful business that keeps me busy, and a big thank you to my community of artists who collaborate and share in the joys of this industry.
I am honored that folks enjoy anything I create, but the best creation I ever made has to be my kids, and so I will say the best thing about face painting is not just that it allows me to travel, create, and spread joy, but that it allows me to be with my children for their big moments and that is way better than seeing my name in lights!

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

The face painting world has a plethora of entertainment options. you can twist balloons, do characters like princesses and clowns. Many people in the industry have multiple talents they offer. I have started offering henna as another party service, but I also offer art commissions like pet portraits. We also make gem clusters, known as bling, unicorn or rave hair, and many artists are branching into airbrush artistry as well. There are so many business adventures you can take with your facepainting career, the future of this industry just keeps getting better!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

One of the things that makes running my own company the best option for me is the ability to adapt. When I worked for other people, I was always so loyal that I had a really hard time not giving way too much of myself. we have been systematically trained to feel guilty if anything in your personal life disrupted the status quo of the company you worked for. I touched on the many life changes that have happened in the few short years since I started my company. Thank goodness it gave me the freedom to pivot and still do what I love.
My life has been one big pivot after another. But if I’m honest the hardest pivot was going from staying home with my kids to being a working mom again. I wouldn’t be able to do this amazing career if I didn’t have the support of my family. They have rolled with every twist and turn. We call them life’s little adventures. Because when you do what you love, everything is an adventure.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @wicked_whimsey_design
• Facebook: Wicked Whimsey Design and Face Painting
• Other: TikTok
  @[email protected]

Image Credits

all images were taken by me and I have permission to use.