We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brooke A. Mulholland. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brooke A. below.
Hi Brooke A., we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
To even be able to say I have confidence and self esteem today… It did not come naturally. It took 18 years for me to be able to order my own food at McDonald’s. Not kidding. I was the shy kid who ate lunch in the bathroom with high levels of anxiety. Pursuing my dream in the beauty industry and attending Esthetics school is truly what helped me blossom. I was only 17 when I first began, making me the youngest in my class. My classmates took me under their wing and helped me find confidence in myself. Esthetics school allowed me to service countless clients which helped me find my voice. I would not be here today if it weren’t for those 6 months pivoting my entire life.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Brooke A. Mulholland Makeup Artistry LLC simply started with a dream. When I discovered people were filling in their eyebrows, that’s when I knew I had to hop on the bandwagon. I was never blessed with them, so like any other gal in 2016, I used way too much Anastasia Beverly Hills dipbrow pomade and called it a day. This lead me to want to play in all kinds of makeup. Was I good at it? No, but that didn’t matter at the time. All I knew was it made me genuinely happy and I needed to learn more.
Fast forward to actually starting my Bridal Makeup business, I truly was blessed beyond belief. I feel like it kind of fell into my lap, because I knew I wanted to do makeup, but having friends of family members ask me to do their bridal makeup was brand new and something I had never done before. You would think it would be nerve racking being someone’s bridal makeup artist just starting out, but back then there wasn’t nearly as much pressure and social media was only getting started with the bridal makeup industry. I can’t imagine starting nowadays without someone to mentor me, because I had to learn how to do makeup and starting a business all on my own.
When I started leaning into Bridal Makeup, I had countless brides reaching out for their entire bridal parties. Some parties had up to 10 ladies, and that wasn’t something I could do on my own. This is when I hired someone to shadow me, learning everything I knew, (mostly from practice & YouTube videos) and in turn helping me with the other bridal party members.
In 2023 I decided to pursue this dream of mine full time. You might be wondering what took so long?! I was a nanny just as long as I was a makeup artist, and I loved it more than anything. I never thought that would be something I would give up, but my brides had booked me solid and I had no choice but to quit my day job to pursue my Bridal Makeup business full time.
In the beginning of 2023 I felt like I hadn’t been challenged enough, like I had done everything I could with makeup. This is when I first began dry hairstyling! To be quite honest, I never had any desire to do hair. I didn’t go to cosmetology school for it because it was not a passion of mine. However, when I first began last year, I was hooked. It was a huge challenge for me, and I had to know more. It was truly humbling in the best way!
I am nearing 10 years as a Bridal Makeup Artist and 1 and a half years as a Bridal Hairstylist. Although I can’t imagine doing anything else, I have recently gotten into the photoshoot scene. This has been something I never thought I would pursue, however the shoots I have been a part of have been some of the best times of my life. I get to truly be creative and show bits of myself I don’t usually get to. There’s something about doing something “camp” that gets my creative juices flowing, and you will be seeing more of this side of me!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
There are countless lessons I have learned starting my own business. But I’ll leave you with 3 of the most important. Firstly, don’t be afraid to ask for help. We are all guilty of this from to time, but if we never ask, the answer will always be no. That was one of the most important lessons I had to learn in this journey. I don’t have the means to know it all, and I never will. There was a time last year when I felt stuck in my artistry. I felt like I needed a refresh in my skills as a makeup artist and had done nearly the same thing for almost 10 years. Times are constantly evolving and others skills around me were flourishing, but I didn’t know what they were doing to make this happen. I reached out to 2 local makeup artists whose artistry I admired. I had to let my guard down and accept help in areas I knew needed attention, but was always too big headed to accept. This was one of the best decisions I had made in my career!
Something that goes along those same lines, is for nearly 9 years in my career I found myself jealous instead of admirable. I was envious of these artists before truly understanding the importance of community over competition. Like I had said previously, there wasn’t really a beauty industry on social media when I first started. I had to learn that just because others’ gifts were good, that didn’t mean mine weren’t. We all have places where we need to grow. No one has all of the answers, so be open to understanding the people around you. Be inviting!
Finding that less is more has been eye opening. As an artist, it is incredibly easy to focus on the tiny details. To spend most of my time “perfecting”, when beauty and art is found in the imperfections. This was a hard one for me, and sometimes it still is and I will always work towards that. I could easily spend 3 hours on someone’s makeup trying to make it my idea of “perfect”, however that’s simply unrealistic. Knowing when to stop is hard, but it has helped me in so many ways, not just in this business. Simplicity is key!
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
Finding my “ideal client” didn’t make sense to me for years. Let’s be real, not until last year! I am a certified people pleaser and in the beauty business, that was certainly no exception. Understanding I don’t have to accommodate for everyone was confusing, because all I wanted to do was bend over backwards for every single person I could. When I finally realized what an ideal client meant, it just clicked. In the realm of personality traits, my ideal client is god fearing and kind. I need to be able to connect with people about God. After all, he is why I am where I am and who I am today.
When it comes to an artistry standpoint, my ideal client will trust in my work as an artist. I have gone from natural makeup artistry to glam, but I am happiest somewhere in-between. Allowing me to do my work in a way that suits me, genuinely makes a difference in my artistry. If you’re looking for someone to do heavy glam, sure I might be able to accomplish that, but it isn’t what I would consider my signature glam. I truly want to enhance what God gave you, and that’s where I will always stand in my artistry as a professional makeup artist.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bam-mua-LLC.com
- Instagram: @bam.mua.llc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063527321438
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brooke-a-mulholland-13954a95
Image Credits
Joan Fisher
Nicky Wilmas Photographer
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