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SubscribeWe recently connected with Stefanie Fritz and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Stefanie, thanks for joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and somehow knowing what you know now?
I left a 6 figure corporate salary to stay at home with my babies. I knew I didn’t want to go back to a “real” job, but I craved creativity and the ability to earn my own money. I decided to pursue being a makeup artist for weddings and photography gigs. I didn’t have one photo of my work, no social media and no leads on anyone getting married. I really started from ground zero. I had to dig deep to create new relationships with wedding planners, photographers and venues to try to generate leads. It was a very slow start, but within 5 years I beat my corporate salary, not only working LESS hours than I did before, but working for myself was so satisfying.
Stefanie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Stefanie Fritz and I am a native to Sonoma County, which is in Northern Ca. I have always loved makeup and all things beauty, but never really knew what I was doing. I’m 45 years old, and in my teens there was no YouTube tutorials, and no one knew what they were doing with makeup. During college, I got my dream job at the M.A.C counter and learned everything I had been dying to know. I started as a part time makeup artist and was so inspired by the company culture and the talented people around me. I knew I wanted to see where a career with the company could go. I finished college with a degree in Economics and decided to work on the management side of the makeup business. I managed several makeup counters and within a few short years became a regional sales manager for San Francisco. I stayed for 13 years and finally decided to call it quits and stay home with my second baby and toddler. I started doing makeup for weddings, and at first felt a little bashful that I was “just” a makeup artist in my late 30’s. I quickly realized that insecurity was a HUGE advantage. I was a hit with all the mothers of the bride/groom, because just like me, they were raised not knowing much about makeup. With them (and all my clients) the magic of the transformation was so incredible. They felt like their fairy godmother came and made them the most beautiful they ever felt. The thing was, I do pretty natural makeup, this wasn’t life changing stuff. I became inspired to start offering makeup lessons, so I could teach them how to accomplish this feeling on their own, everyday. I was booked solid with this service. In Sonoma County, I get a lot of destination brides, and found a lot of people hungry for the knowledge I had to offer, but didn’t live here. During the pandemic I started to do one tip video a week on social media and it really blew up. Now at 45, I am a great resource for HOW to accomplish the look you want. Like you, but enhanced. How to navigate the tricky parts of doing makeup as we age. Working around fine lines and wrinkles, all of it. My clients range from 14-90 years old and I love making every single one of them feel beautiful. I love making your makeup routine less complicated.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I am the perfect person to ask, because I started with zero followers. I started my business page on Instagram and of course followed every single friend and family member first, who followed me back for a grand total of about 200 followers. I made a habit of asking every single client if I could follow them on social media, and also started following local people I wanted to work with. This was a slow, but effective start of about 20-30 new followers a week. I tagged beauty brands, I used hash tags, I shared posts and tagged the clients, venue or anyone relevant I could and they would share to stories and slowly even more followers. Be consistent and will grow over time. 5 years later (this could be done MUCH faster) but it wasn’t a big focus, I had about 5K. It was once I started video content that everything started changing rapidly. By posting 1-2 reels a week I grew exponentially (this is how it could be done faster!). Almost 9 years in, I’m over 100K on IG and over 200K on TikTok. My advice would be to intentionally grow your account by a number you set each week AND consistently post content that resonates with your audience.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I truly love helping other people. I do my best to empower others to create a beauty routine that works for their lifestyle and leads them to feeling their best. This is through small tip videos, makeup series, answering questions in DMs, sharing with the group and interacting with my community. Even though we have never met, I’m like the sister you always wanted! I also love that my community is there for me too. I can ask them questions in stories and get great answers that I can also share with the group! Such as: Help me pick which Caribbean island is the best to go to for a family vacation? My 4th grader hates reading: What chapter books have your kiddos loved? What are you making for dinner this week? The community itself is incredible and I’m honored to be a part of it.
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Image Credits
Kimberly MacDonald Photography Christy Marie Photography The Morgan Kennedy
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