We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sparkle Hill a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sparkle, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Initially, my mission was to become a Celebrity Makeup Artist. I wanted to be behind the scenes and on set for movies and TV shows. Over time, the mission has evolved into becoming an innovator, educator and to be for a lack of a better word “The Boss”

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?

For over 20 years, I, Sparkle Hill has graced the faces of Philadelphia’s finest. I am no stranger to the world of beauty and all of it’s elements. From bridal parties and proms all the way up to New York City high-fashion runways.

As a child, I loved to model and play dress up in my grandmother’s clothes. In my teenage years, I decided to become a model and entered a beauty pageant and won the Ms. Pennsylvania title. Even though I didn’t win the pageant, I continued to model throughout my remaining teenage years.

I have always loved “Art” as a whole and have finally decided to combine my artistry skills along with beauty and my own personal style. Since then, I have become one of the most sought after regional artists in Philadelphia, New York City, New Jersey and Delaware areas for several prestige cosmetic lines.

In addition, I have 6 seasons as a lead artist with New York City and Philadelphia’s Fashion Week. I also have several personal relationships with Top Photographers and Designers including Serena Williams and Renee Hill just to name a few. I now have published work with HSN, Comcast, Dell, Marie Claire Magazine, Ebony Magazine, Essence Magazine, Bust Magazine, Numodemag, Philadelphia Magazine, Black Enterprise Magazine and many many more.

In September 2019, I opened a Beauty Studio that services the tri-state area. I have one of the first private makeup salons on the Main Line in beautiful Newtown Square Pennsylvania where I continue to shine. During the pandemic, I was able to start my very own cosmetic brush company specializing in Vegan Brushes and handmade Brush Cleaner.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As of 2020, pivoting has become one of the only options for artists like myself. When Covid-19 took over, my business like so many other small businesses came to screeching halt. During that time pivoting was the only option but coming up with a concept was hard. My question was how can I do makeup without doing makeup? First, I started offering private Zoom classes and over time I noticed that they weren’t washing their brushes properly. Within days of planning FLY Brushes was born. My mother had empty blue bottles (blue happens to be my favorite color) and I was able to come up with a handmade formula to start sending samples to my current clients. They loved the brush bath and asked for more. In the meantime, I had already started designing matching brushes to help with their at home makeup applications.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Along with pivoting, being resilient was definitely one of the hardest nut comforting things I ever had to do. Providing for my family is always key and figuring how to continue providing has kept me resilient. There has been numerous times over the past twenty years that I wanted to give up and just do something else but there is always that one client… That one who was going through something personal, whether Chemotherapy or divorce, who cried in my arms because I made them feel beautiful even if it was one last time. They are the ones who keep me going and another reason I have to stay resilient.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.flybrushes.com
• Instagram: @sparklehill
• Facebook: @sparkhill
• Linkedin: @sparklehill
• Youtube: @sparklehill

Image Credits
Photographer Kareem Crump of Crump Vision