Bobbie WeinerBloody Mary shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Bobbie, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What’s more important to you—intelligence, energy, or integrity?
Integrity is the most important word in my vocabulary. To me it means the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. When I started my own business 30 years ago in a garage I had no place to go but up. I believed in myself and even when faced with difficult situations I said to myself, “I Can Do This”. There were times when temptations were there, but I seeked answers to my questions and always went with my gut feelings about each situation I was confronted with. There was always a lesson to be learned. I always wanted to be treated by others like I treated them. With my beliefs and values and being trustworthy and reliable.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Bobbie Weiner aka Bloody Mary. I am a special effects Makeup Artist for Television and Film. I worked in the Film and TV Industry for 3 1/2 years. I am the makeup artist who did the dead frozen actors in the film, “Titanic.” That was the last film I worked on. From there I started my own makeup company. I was on so many morning shows when I was finished doing the dead bodies and one of the buyers from Camp Pendleton saw me on TV and heard me say my makeup stayed on the actors for up to 6-7 hours at a time in the water and it never came off. Little did I know that the Marines were looking for a new Camouflage Face Paint. This gentleman called the TV station and actually got thru and asked them to have me call him as soon as I was off the air. I did call him and the next morning I was invited to meet a few men at the Marine base and discuss me making a new Camo Face Paint for them. They asked me if I could and I said yes. They asked me how long it would take. I told the buyers to give me 3-4 months. They were happy with that number and I left there thinking WOW! What an opportunity. This was 10:30 in the morning. By 4 pm that afternoon my pager was going off every 20 minutes. The word was out that this makeup artist was going to make a new Camo Face Paint for the Government. I met with another base the next day. And 3 weeks later I was doing my first Military Show in Texas. I found out exactly what I needed to do business with the US Military and the rest is history. I was on my way. That was 29 years ago. A woman in business selling to the US Government was unheard of back then, From there I was invited to be a guest speaker at a Halloween Convention and to show the owners of the Haunted Houses how I did the makeup for the dead frozen floating actors. I happen to mention at the end of my appearance that my name was Bloody Mary in the film industry. They started asking me what I could make for their Haunted Houses. I told them Blood and Fangs. Well that was the beginning of my line of Halloween Face Paint. I called it “Bloody Mary, Makeup To Die For.” Today it is an International Company and we sell face paint all over the world. I also began making “Sports Fan Face Paint”. Leonardo DiCaprio’s stunt double was going to a Charger Game and wanted face paint in the team colors. So I gave him blue and gold face paint. They ended up being featured on the news with their faces painted. No one had ever made team specific colors for the fans until I came up with the idea to package the colors in the team’s colors. Boy did that take off big time! You might say I have a very unique business. I publish a Horror Comic Book, “Tales of Bloody Mary” for the last 22 years and license the Comic Books to Haunted Houses for them to make Bloody Mary Haunted Houses. My favorites was Six Flags. They did a Haunted House from my Comic Book, “Circus of Fear.” for 3 years. Universal did a Bloody Mary Haunted House for Halloween Horror Nights also. It was a Knock Out Haunt. I also today make and sell Bloody Mary Hot Sauce and Bloody Mary Mix using the covers of my Comic Books. One of my proudest inventions was when I wrote my autobiography, “I Can Do This, The Bloody Mary Story”. Mark Burnett even did a TV show about me, “How’d You Get So Rich” back in 2008. I also came up with the idea to do a Halloween Cruise. I hosted 10 cruises. I always had a theme and the Haunted houses came and brought friends and family and it was a huge success, I did the cruise in February so everyone could come since Haunt owners are busy working their haunted Houses in the Month of October. I always come up with a new idea or a new character every year for Halloween. I love what I created and love what I do. I have a fabulous team of people who work with me and I am truly blessed.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who taught you the most about work?
My Dad taught me about life and work. When I was turning 16, I told him that I was going to need a car. He did not skip a beat. He said to me,” You are going to need a job.” I looked at him and said what do you mean? He said you bring me $200.00 and I will match it and get you a car for $400.00. You bring me $300.00 and I will find you a car for $600.00. I cried for 10 minutes and locked myself in my bedroom. My Mother got on the phone and called her best friend who was involved with a Second Hand Store and asked if they needed help? The store was right near my highschool and I could walk there after school. The store closed at 3 PM every day and the President of the Charity Thrift Shop was notified that I wanted to work there after school 5 days a week. The store was closed on Saturdays and the President’s housekeeper came in to the store and worked with me on Saturdays and also picked me up every day after school let out and we ran the store from 3-6 pm during the week. I even worked in the summer months and ran the store with the Presidents housekeeper. Then it was time for me to go to college. I really enjoyed working there and making money. I got accepted to Temple University and started college. I was never a great student but got by the skin of my teeth. The charity closed the store when I left to go to college and I was out of a job. So I opened my own Thrift Shop. I promised my parents I would graduate college and switched to an Associate program for Temple’s 2 year program. I got my Associate Degree and my parents saw me march down the isle in a cap and gown and get a degree. My Dad had not gone past 5 th grade growing up and was raised in a very poor household. By the way, I did get a car. Wish I had it today. It was a white Corvair Convertible with red upholstery and white wall tires. I gave my Dad $200.00. I have no idea what the car cost. He would not tell me. I had my own Thrift Shop consignment store for 16 years. That store taught me everything I neededto know about dealing with all types of people. It was an education in itself.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
I had been married for 10 years living in Los Angeles. My husband and I had gone away skiing for a week and he was getting the luggage and skis out of the limousine that had picked us up at the airport. It was late on a Saturday night and we were exhausted. I went into the house first and was caught off guard. I walked down the hallway to the front of the house and realized the walls were empty,. There was no rug in the hallway. When I got to the living room and realized there was only a baby grand piano and one coulch in the rooms and the walls were empty and I ran outside and told my husband we were robbed. He ran into the house with the limo driver and saw that the closets were empty. All of our clothes were gone. My stepson was supposed to be at his Mother’s house while we were gone for that week. There were no phones even to call the police. I went out to the garage and the phones were gone from our cars. I ran down the street and rang on my neighbors door bell and he opened the door and saw me. I told him that we were robbed. He progressed to inform me that my stepson had a birthday party for himself the night before we came home,. My neighbor called the Belair police and they came to the house. My stepson told them it was his birthday and his parents said he could have a party. So they left. My neighbor told me that the street looked like Hollywood and Vine on a friday night. It was so backed up with cars. He called the police for me and the Belair Patrol and they all showed up within 10 minutes. One of the policemen took me aside and asked if I had a child living at the house. I said yes. He said I’d like to get into his room. Turns out his door was locked. The cop got into his room and everything was there. We went into his walk in closet and that is where we found a stack of invitations. It said “The Belair Bash”. $15.00 to get in etc…..I looked outside at the pool and it was filled with empty beer cans, a few pizza boxes had sunk to the bottom of the pool and plastic cups. The policeman said to me,”This is an inside job.” Turns out my stepson had sold all of our “Stuff”, plus clothes and anything his guests could walk out with. BTW, his birthday is in September. The next morning my husband told me that he loved me and I was his best friend, but he could not deal with this whole thing going on and he had to get to the hospital he worked at and he wanted a divorce. It is like someone hit me with an 18 wheeler truck. He left. He was gone and I was on my own. Make a long story short, my life changed and I was on my own. It was the end of a chapter in my life. This was the man I loved and the son who had grown up with us in my forever home. I was about to start a new life and swore to myself no one was ever going to dump me again. I had a lot of healing to do and with the help of my Dad I started a new life for Bobbie!
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Whose ideas do you rely on most that aren’t your own?
My Dad always said If you are a nice person and you become successful you become an even nicer person. However, if you are a no good S.O.B. and you become successful you most likely will become a bigger SOB. So right off the bat this was great advice my dad gave me when I started my business. This is advice he gave me that I also use in my everyday life.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. When have you had to bet the company?
I never looked to the left or right. I just looked forward and said “I Can Do This”. I just saw the end result and it was going to be OK! If someone asked me if I could make this or that, I said YES! I figured it out after and made a sample and got the job done. Everytime! No is not in my vocabulary! I am the company and I always bet on myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: Camofacepaint.com dearbloodymary.com sportsfanfacepaint.com bobbieweiner.com
- Instagram: @bloodymarymakeup
- Twitter: @bloodymarymakeup
- Facebook: @bloodymarymakeup
- Youtube: @bloodymary1
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