We were lucky to catch up with Tamara Delbridge recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tamara, thanks for joining us today. Looking back on your career, have you ever worked with a great leader or boss? We’d love to hear about the experience and what you think made them such a great leader.

I have had quite a few jobs since I began working. My 1st job was at a five and dime store called McCrory, let’s just say it wasn’t my favorite job but it was a great learning experience. Years later and shortly after I completed a makeup certification course, I found a job in beautiful salon in the Harlem section of New York City, and that is where I met the person who was integral in leading me down the right career path. She loved me so much they she let me go. Her name is Shannon Ayers. The salon, Turing Heads Beauty Salon. Shannon holds a special place in my heart for many reasons. She placed value on my enthusiasm and passion. She fed off of it. There were times when I was so nervous, I was a new makeup artist, accustomed to working on my family and friends, not paying customers. She sensed that and allowed me to do her makeup in front of her customers allowing for two things. It allowed me to build confidence in myself and it gave the salon customers the opportunity to see me work and what the finished result would look like. Soon after being hired, I had gained the trust of her and her clients and began to build my own clientele. I learned how to run a beauty business by watching her run her salon and I began to fall in love with being in that space. But Shannon did not let me become complacent and encouraged me to seek out work in the the print world, which is what I had expressed to her early on. One one day she sat me down and told me that she had no choice but to let me go and that she had found the perfect person for me to work for if I was serious about building a career as a professional makeup artist. I protested and was saddened to the point of tears but I took her up in the offer and that is when I began my career and a professional makeup artist. She hooked me up with a prominent makeup artist/photographer named Daniel Green. It was the best thing that happened to me and for me. He was a great mentor who helped become a talented artist and entrepreneur.

Tamara, 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 Tamara Delbridge, I am a professional makeup artist and member of the hair and makeup union, IATSE Local 798. I’ve worked on major motion pictures, television series, awards shows and Broadway productions. During the twenty years in makeup, I have worked with some of the most celebrated producers in the industry Denzel Washington, Spike Lee and Chiwetel Ejidor and with prominent actors including Sanaa Lathan and Michael B. Jordan. My area of expertise is beauty makeup, a skill that i continually master whilst working with on air talents like ET Canada’s Keshia Chante, And MTV’s Jamila Mustafa. One of my proudest professional moments is my work on a series on Starz titled Run The World. In season on I worked with two of the four leading ladies Corbin Reid and Bresha Web. The second season I worked mainly with Corbin Reid. I loved working on this production because It allowed me work with a cast of beautiful black women and to create looks on them that amplified their beauty. In 2019 we all experienced a global pandemic which changed the trajectory of my life as well as my career and it’s goals. I was one for the fortunate souls who didn’t lose a close family member to the virus, something that I’m truly grateful for and I’m extremely empathetic to anyone who has had to endure that kind of loss. I did lose a sense of job security when the tv/film industry shut down, I decided that I should look at is as an opportunity to go deeper in the beauty field and so I enrolled into Atelier Esthetique.to obtain a license in esthetics. I’m often asked how getting licensed during lockdown was possible, so I’ll explain. The institution was one of the only of its kind to offer remote learning for the theory portion of the course, We began our practical courses when the lockdown restrictions were lifted. I now hold two licenses one for New York and one for NJ, during that licensing phase I procured a space and opened a facial spa in NJ called Skinntone Beauty And Esthetics offering both makeup and facial services. I believe that my willingness to takes risks helps me to expand and grow. It is not easy to reach higher heights when you are self employed and have no outside forces offering growth opportunities. I have to be the person to both create and accept the types of challenges that will ultimately become milestones for myself.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I’m what many people think of as a nice and agreeable person. It is my true nature. This is not a very good characteristic to have in the entertainment industry. It will deem you as weak and easily manipulated. I learns along to way to be discerning, to create boundaries. I’ve turned down jobs with people who have toxic traits. My mental health is too important to be in close proximity to energy that does not align with my own. It’s one of the reasons why I opened a space that focuses on beauty and wellness.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start?

I acquired a small business loan from the US government to create Skinntone Beauty and Esthetics. I also use and still find my business with money I make in my career as makeup artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.Skinntone.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.Skinntone_beauty_and_esthetics & http://Instagram.tamaradelbridge_mua
• Linkedin: https://LinkedIn.tamaradelbridge

Image Credits
Tamara Delbridge