Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Yariel Carmenate. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Yariel, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

My company was named Airbrush A Million Smiles after I sat down and asked myself what are you doing and why are you doing it? A light came on in my head and instantly, I knew that reason was seeing the happiness it brings to the people who are receiving our products. Weather it is an airbrush tattoo, t shirt, or mural at the end of the process it leaves an undeniable smile on everyone’s face including myself.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I got into the airbrush industry after a trip to a surf style airbrush shop in Clearwater beach. I ended up paying $60 dollars for 2 airbrush t shirts on the spot and felt confident that I could airbrush my own shirts. So at the age of 15 I asked my parents for and airbrush kit for my birthday. I spend a countless hours practicing, reading airbrush magazine and watching youtube videos. I eventually started wearing my own custom shirts to school and my classmates noticed and asked where I got it done because they wanted one… So the entrepreneur in me went to work! I saw the opportunity to capitalize and make a few extra bucks. I started selling airbrush T-shirts, hats, remote controllers, and even backpacks.

I Wish I could end the interview hear and say it was all growth from here but, sadly I didn’t pursue a career airbrushing because everyone around me said you cannot succeed as an artist. So I listened and ended up selling all my equipment eventually getting a job at a supermarket while going to school to become an X-ray tech. This time in my life was extremely important because I got through school, got the dream job, and met women I would end up marrying and starting a family with. This was my first “I made it moment”. Our family Immigrated from Cuba I went through school and started a career in the medical field I thought this was living the American Dream. Over the course of 8 years and many promotions in different medical field jobs I discovered something and that something was that I could not see myself as an employee working to make someone else’s business a success. I realized that I have a family and was giving up too much of my time to employer(s) *** had 3 jobs at one time***

I had my enough is enough moment and decided that it was time to really start an airbrush business in attempt to be my own boss and live my life on my own terms. I received a lot of negativity, mockery, and criticism from my inner circle of family and friends when I said “I’m starting an airbrush tattoo business”. The comments affected me at first but, quickly realized airbrushing was successful in high school and I had no clue what I was doing then. Facebook marketplace to the rescue! I found a person who was selling an airbrush tattoo business for $500. I spent what was pretty much all the money our family had in our savings account. This meant taking a huge risk with a family of 4 and a soon to be pregnant wife. After countless hours of practice and jumping into the event world I tripled my initial investment off the first event I did while doing airbrush tattoo’s. The Instant success was a perfect foundation for the soon to become airbrush business and it gave me the confidence to pursue it further. I was hungry to succeed and cut ties with the cliché of a needed mon-fri job to be successful. I would work my 8am-4:30pm schedule but would also practice airbrushing from 3:30am-7am for what felt like everyday for months.

All I could think of was seeking and finding opportunities to airbrush at events. Eventually this led to meeting another successful airbrush artist who presented me with an opportunity to that accelerated my growth. Peter Marin Owner of Airbrush Events has mentored me on what it takes to be successful in the airbrush business. Since then I have met other successful artist along the way and have been learning and applying the lessons they learned with experience into my life. Essentially I learned what took the pioneers of the airbrush world 2-3 decades in 2-3 years. This fueled the desire to jump full time into the craft of airbrushing and not settling for anything that wasn’t inline with my desires.

Since leaving a steady job as an X-ray tech in a successful business I have learned a lot about myself. The past few years of self assessment and personal development have built a strong internal character that is required to be able to constantly get knocked down or step in crap and keep on going. No matter the circumstances their is a moral obligation to provide for my family and they are the reason why I work so hard, skip meals, sleep, and luxuries.

Many artist are so caught up in the competitive aspect of being more talented than their peers. I am totally against that notion and instead focus on being in competition against myself how can I improve yearly, monthly, daily, and hourly. The level of success in my life is determined from where I started to where I am. This level of self analysis allows me to attempt to be better everyday. Most people who don’t really know me always say I need to slow down and rest, meanwhile most of the professional relationships I have made they say how can I perform at such a high level with no anticipated end date.

Work ethic is a major factor that companies consider when hiring an employee, consultant, coach, or agency. Airbrush A Million Smiles realizes this and will perform at a level higher than what is expected. Meaning we go above and beyond for the client weather it is a 1 minute or 1 week product. We have determined that businesses need exposure and market presence so what better way to advertise than to add a temporary tattoo with their business logo at a brand activation. On the same note a private event host wants to make a memorable impression with their guess so we provide them with a one of a kind airbrush tattoo that will leave their guest raving about the attention to detail when it comes to planning events. The goal is to create smiles with the use of paint, air, and some creativity I will not stop until we reach a million smiles.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

There are so many great books on the topic of self development, spirituality, and leadership. I have countless hours invested into my personal growth. Reading books is a great way to learn and grow but, I have taken advantage of habit stacking and listen to audiobooks, podcast, and youtube videos all while making long drives, flights, or working out.

The top 3 influencers of my philosophy

1) Eric Thomas- I can remember it like it was yesterday 2008 waking up early at 3:30am because I watched a viral youtube video that ET said, “when you want to succeed as bad as you want to breath then you will be success”- The Guru story! That changed my life for the better. I stuck to a consistent routine of waking up early before everyone else. I told myself although I might not be the most talented. If I get there before everyone else and work harder than them it is impossible that their talent beats a guy willing to loss sleep to accomplish their goals and dreams.

2) Jim Rohn The Ultimate Jim Rohn Library- There as so many valuable Jim Rohn seminars that are scattered through the internet but I stumbled upon a collection of his most impactful speeches and instantly purchased on Audible it was an investment that added so much value in my life. The single most important lesson that I learned from Jim Rohn is that I am the only one responsible for my outcomes. At one point I blamed others and circumstances for why I was not succeeding. Once I acknowledged I was the problem and stopped trying to change everything around and decided to change myself, then my life changed completely.

3) Napoleon Hill Think And Grow Rich – This book changed my entire philosophy on success. It demonstrated numerous cases of people who had the odds stacked against them but still overcame them by using the principles laid out through the chapters. It taught me how to think for success and how to attract the things I do want and not that which I do not want.

Along, with these impactful people there are many others that I have studied and admire:
Ed Mylett, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Steve Harvey, Steven Furtick, Inky Johnson, Jocko Wilkin, Jeff Bazos, Mel Robins, Tony Robins, Walter Bond, Gray V, Patrick Bet David, Dwyane “THE ROCK” Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jordan Peterson, Earl Nightingale, Zig Ziglar, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, Lionel Messi, and Ray Lewis.

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

October 8th, 2021 was the day it all came crashing down. I risked it all on chasing a dream of building my business and growing as an entrepreneur. At this time in our lives my wife’s income was reduced by 75% and I went 6 weeks with zero dollars of earned income. Our emergency savings fund was hemorrhaging and I was questioning how I was going to provide for my family and what I should be doing with my life because it was all falling apart. After screaming out loud, “god what should I do”? Within a second I received a text from an agent asking If I was available the following week in Miami, Fl for an airbrush tattoo event which is the product that my business was founded on. At that moment I let that pain of temporary failure push my drive and discipline to a new level. October 8th was the closest I ever came to giving up on my dreams but, now I know that quitting is not an option. In life we are constantly going to be getting challenged and tested. As Entrepreneurs it is important to be resilient and let those temporary failures setbacks, speed bumps, or disasters come and go. They serve their purpose by teaching us lessons and if we want to grow we must use them to accelerate us forward. Now I am enjoying traveling the country doing events and even bring my family on my work trips which allows us to travel together. Along with rapid business growth to where I have had to hire on a few other artist to help staff events whenever I am already scheduled. I am thankful to have learned these lessons early in life.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: Airbrushamillionsmiles
• Facebook: Airbrushamillionsmiles
• Youtube: Airbrushamillionsmiles