Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cat Bohannon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Cat, thank you so much for joining us today. Let’s jump right into something we’re really interested in hearing about from you – being the only one in the room. So many of us find ourselves as the only woman in the room, the only immigrant or the only artist in the room, etc. Can you talk to us about how you have learned to be effective and successful in situations where you are the only one in the room like you?
When you’re the only one in the room, you can only use yourself as a measure of success. How did I do on this particular look yesterday? Did it feel good leaving the client? Is there anything I think I can improve on? When decompressing from a client or job, I always run through a little checklist like this to keep myself accountable on aspects I liked from the look or recognizing what felt easy or hard to do. When I first started my career, it felt like I was consumed with things to work on even if the client was happy. I would see a client for hair or makeup, then go home and immediately practice anything that I felt I could improve on.
While I think every artist I work with also has this self-evaluation mindset, it’s so easy to compare yourself to the artist beside you or online. I love this question because it is such a reminder to focus on yourself and your skillset, rather than always feeling you need to do better because someone else did. I was really hard on myself early in my career to feel like the look needed to be better than the one beside me, but I have found the most joy and attention to detail when I’m comparing myself today to myself yesterday.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My favorite styles as a hair and makeup artist are romantic/tousled hair and soft glam/from-within makeup. I work predominantly in the Greater Austin area with brides, gala/banquet attendees, and everyday girls looking for glam!
I feel like this is the first career that has taught me the most in such a short amount of time. Not only about the hard skills of being a small business owner and the skill of being an artist but also the soft skills of character development and genuinely believing in myself. However, the most special part of this career is truly the clients. It is cheesy to say, but meeting each of my clients and their best friends (typically on their wedding day) is such an extraordinary experience that I will never take for granted. The level of trust between my clients and myself is something so special that I feel like I remember every single one of them (even 200 weddings later!).
Something I’m so SO excited to be introducing to my clients and fellow artists is within the teaching space. When you sit in my chair or follow me on Instagram, you’ll be walking away with a few tips for hair or makeup, and I just love it. I’m thrilled to be stepping into the teaching space not only for my everyday girls but also for other artists. Since becoming an artist, I have found my knack for soft glam makeup and romantic/tousled hair. I currently am guest speaking at a few cosmetology schools in town as well as working with artists and clients in a 1:1 setting. Whether it be 1:1 or group lessons, I genuinely light up when sharing knowledge and connecting on how to achieve the look your dreams!
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?
When looking back on my journey, the three most impactful qualities are grit, education, and self-confidence. As a first-time small business owner, I completely underestimated the strength, determination, and fortitude that is required to run a successful business. Of course, there are the front-end things like branding and marketing, but also the back-end such as accounting, taxes, invoicing, product management, and even learning to be a leader. I felt the most underwater in my first year as a business owner as I was figuring all of this out. Your girl did not go to business school and it was like freshman 101 with help from Google, XYZ for Dummies, YouTube, and Artist Facebook forums.
The next quality that leveled up my success was my hunger for education and expanding my knowledge. This is somewhat mentioned above but not only was I hungry for learning more streamlined business practices, but also to expand my portfolio as an artist. Whether it was online education or in-person classes, I spent 100% of my free time combing through different techniques and tutorials as well as practicing on anyone and everyone. I also put out ads on social media forums looking for models so I could also practice on strangers – my friends/family were amazing, but this helped me take learning more seriously.
Lastly, the quality that leveled up my success, but was the most difficult to harness was confidence in myself as an artist and business owner. It felt imposter syndrome-y going to these weddings and teaching these courses, but I would never let it cripple me. When I first started, the energy was very much like a duck – calm on the surface, swiftly paddling to stay afloat on the bottom. As I became more comfortable with various looks on different clients, really investing in my professional hair and makeup kit, as well as focusing on my education and grit, I began to feel so comfortable with myself and confident in my abilities as an artist. It took lots of losses in the beginning to warrant that I stay humble when succeeding, but also lots of wins knowing I picked myself up each time to stay learning more to succeed even harder.
If I could give only one piece of advice to artists early in their career, it would be this: Destroy your ego and build it back up properly. You must be comfortable and accepting of feedback from your employer(s), critiques from clients, and recognize where you can improve. Your ego is meant to protect you, but it can also prevent you from succeeding if you are never able to take this information in. As you develop your skills with practice, products, and time, you’ll feel more confident in your work as well as happy to receive feedback from clients on how they would like to finetune the style. My only other advice would be to always recommend a trial/preview look where possible!
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
The most growth I have seen in myself within the past 12 months is my confidence in my specialty/signature styles. I find myself feeling so creatively fulfilled when perfecting the soft glam makeup and romantic, tousled hairstyles. I love the effortless/from-within beauty both these makeup and hairstyles bring out in my clients – truly timeless! This past year, I have honed in on promoting these in my marketing as well as practicing them the most in my free time. It felt kind of intimidating to niche down on a particular style, but it has also helped connect me to more ideal clients.
And with that, if you’re looking for a timeless style that brings out your inner beauty and highlights your favorite features, then Cat Boh Beauty Co. is definitely for you!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.catbohbeautyco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catbohbeautyco/
