We were lucky to catch up with Tanika Green recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tanika, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Falling into the beauty industry was truly organic for me. I have always been a Corporate America girl, but in 2011 I received my package from BASF The Chemical Company, and that was the end of the office work for me, or at least in corporate it was. Now I’m thinking I’m on my way to school to be a CSI Tech, telling myself, if I can get past the maggots I will be OK!

Well life did not take that course and instead, I found myself signing up at Robert Fiance Makeup Academy. It was definitely a challenge as I was going in not knowing anything about makeup and it did not help that I was the only brown girl in my class of 12. Even after becoming a certified makeup artist, I still felt like I did not know what I was doing. I had the education/theory but until you get the faces is when it starts to mentally process. It’s the hands-on work that allows you to continuously learn the art, theory and fundamentals of makeup and trust there was no way to speed up the learning process, it was sheer practice, dedication and hard work. I wanted to be a Makeup Artist.

Tanika, 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 Tanika Green, but I am now known as Tanikagreen.com….or the Goat, and I freaking love it! I always give praise to God and my Fiance Anyah, it’s because of her I am a pro makeup artist and to the clients that continue to book me.

Once I realized that going to school full time for the next three years was not an option financially, it was her who said “Bae, what else is it that you want to do?”. Now what made me say makeup? I don’t know, but I said it and she said “find a school” and I obliged. That was the start to what was at the time Mirrored Image Artistry and now is Tanika Green Artistry and I worked really hard branding my 2ndskin.

Now, being great and knowledgeable in my craft, that came with just truly wanting to have full and complete knowledge of what it is that Tanika Green Artistry is offering to her customers/client’s. It’s been 11 years now and the layers that I’ve seen throughout my career truly makes me chuckle because there were so many times I thought I had my paint and I really didn’t have ittttt! Not only did I not have the paint, I wasn’t fully knowledgeable in the theory of the paint despite the fact that I got certified, guess it was just a lot of information to retain.

I started working in the strip club and that taught me speed and execution, but I still wasn’t there. In the beginning we get so caught up with the looks and color and what we see on the world wide web, that we fail to see the true artistry. In order to get those flawless looks or what we consider gooood skin, you need to know the skin, the product and how they work together. Understanding color theory; placement based on face shape, eye bed, skin type; product knowledge whether it’s water based, cream based, silicone/upsalite based etc, having this understanding of how it all works will allow you to understand the best application for the client.

Once I learned how to sync the skin and product together, my 2nd skin was created. I’m always told that I paint heavy but it still reflects skin and now it was time to learn the business aspect of my career.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Depending on people to keep their word.

There will always be people that say they want to help or they’re going to show and guide you to how your industry works but most of time in reality, they are only benefiting from what little you can offer them…free or low budget services. Now I’m not saying that you wont learn anything, but most of the time if you are a legit professional you are going to learn what not to do. I have had so many people show me the way to offering a professional service but their lack there of. I have never seen so may people consider themselves a boss but don’t follow a SOP.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Finding your target audience on social media is tricky for me honestly, as my target clientele is not on social media 80% of the time. I try my best to target the professionals that makes 100k or better, or a very productive life that requires them to be very sociable which requires them to need my service. When I post a pic of my work, I don’t get tons of likes, shares and/or comments. Now when I post a pic of meself…ohhhhhweeeee the crowd goes wild! Listen, I’m not one to get caught up in the social media followers and numbers, my artistry is well known and I’m blessed to be a working artist especially while still living thru Covid-19.

Contact Info:

• Website: Tanika@tanikagreen.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/Tanikagreenartistry
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanika.green.71
• Linkedin: Tanika Green
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCquGv-hENzNwNwg0e0t6opQ/videos