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Tania D. Russell...

Tania D. Russell is a career media makeup artist of 25 years and counting with a career that has run the gamut from early hip hop videos to print advertising. Her work has appeared in magazines such as Elle Sweden and Runners’ World, on TV shows for clients such as BET, MTV, and HGTV, and for more commercial fashion and beauty clients than she can remember.
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This is what community looks like. When I first s This is what community looks like. When I first started Five Small Things, one of the challenges I heard from newer artist was how difficult it was to connect with other artists. Newer makeup artists aren't doing themselves any favors by not getting to know - or worse being adversarial with – other makeup artists. To poorly paraphrase the old expression: You can get there alone, but you will get there faster together. So it was exciting to be a part of what Fab union make up artist @makeupbyshannonmarie is doing with the Hair Makeup Artist Study Hall. I had heard about it for a minute and it really it seemed great but it seemed like it was more union oriented, I saw a lot of classes on various forms of FX and the like which is awesome, but not my world. Turns out it's not it's open to Union and non Union and different study halls have different topics that would appeal to all artists. I was invited to speak to this one because this one was all about the business of the business and how to keep working how to expand your career different avenues you can take within your career, etc. I was totally mesmerized by @biancaappicemakeup and what she is doing in particular because that is so far away from anything that I do or have done and I learned so much from listening to her. (she and her husband own a special effects shop so how they bid for jobs and their whole process of contracting and the whole thing is different. Fear not I am definitely going to try to get her on Makeup to Go 👍🏾) If you are in the greater Los Angeles area I strongly encourage you to come out to one of the Study Halls. And if you are not in Los Angeles start something like this! There is nothing stopping you from creating and building in your artist community. 👍🏾 Are there community building/networking events for the makeup artist community where you are?
Even if a client is interested in you, there is al Even if a client is interested in you, there is always another makeup artist else available waiting in the wings. Fam, in a slow economy where everyone is hustling now is not the time to take your sweet time in responding to inquiries. Do yourself a favor and get in the habit of replying to your inquiries as close to immediately as humanly possible. NOW - replying to inquiries does not always mean answering the questions specifically right off the bat. It just means that you're acknowledging that this person contacted you and you are interested in keeping the conversation going. because not answering looks like a blow off and they'll just move on. For example often times when if get an inquiry while on set I'll email (or text or whatever appropriate) back – "Hey thanks so much for contacting me, I'm at XYZ right now, do you mind if I get back to you in about an hour or so?" The answer is invariably yes because people know that you're doing things, that's why they're contacting you is because you're doing things. However just leaving people hanging is like "OK I don't know what's going on let me see who else is available." You never know what someone else's urgency is at the time they contact you, we've all been contacted for jobs that take place the next day. Don't lose a job just because you didn't take three seconds to respond to someone. 👍🏾 What is your turnaround time for responding to job inquiries?
One of my good friends is a "talk to anybody" kind One of my good friends is a "talk to anybody" kind of person. They can enter any room and strike up conversation with anyone, they can work the phone and sound engaged in any situation... That's not me lol. Emailing, calling, going out and talking to people etc. is very much a learned behavior in my life. It's gotten easier as I've gotten older and I'm a bit more secure, but it's still not my default setting. Ironically it was realizing this about myself that made it easier to start doing it. I could not do it the way other people did it or that some folks suggested to me how to do it. I had to find a way that worked for me and my quirks in my temperament. So here are a few suggestions for the more shy folks like myself; 1. Be Genuine: Don't try to put on a façade and be someone else just be you so you can attract the right folks for you. 2. Listen More: Worried about striking up conversation? Don't, be the one who listens more. Folks love having someone actually listen to them and then the conversation becomes more genuine. 3. Stay in Service: rather than a hard sell. We aren't used cars sales persons, we are looking to align with fellow creatives. Frankly it would be nice if many used car salespeople would calm down. 🤨 4. Mitigate Overwhelm: by realizing you don't have to be everything to everybody nor do you really need to meet everybody. One on one connections often go deeper and last longer. 5. Do What You Can: and leave the rest. You don't have to be "on" all the time if that's not who you are. Faking that funk is the expressway to burn out. With pretty much anything we would wanna do in career-life we have to create connections and get to know other people and have them get to know us. It's not always the easiest but it is always highly rewarding when it works out. What are some of your techniques for reaching out and making new connections?
OK this is my first talk to camera video so be gen OK this is my first talk to camera video so be gentle 🥹 But seriously though I still see too many wild rate quotes happening from makeup artists. And not always from new or emerging artist either. 🤨 Listen we are all feeling it one way or another. Either working less frequently, werkin on a pivot, or just the craze cost of living nowadays or what-have-you. But a race to the bottom is never the right answer. It hurts you individually in terms of your reputation as an artist and it can also hurt all of us cumulatively by lowering rates overall in a given market or even in the industry as a whole. (Pepperidge Farm remembers when you could easily get $1500-1800 a day for a Lookbook) Research and mathematics will do a lot in terms of figuring out a dollar amount. But if you're too scared to ask for it nothing happens. Check out the blog post where I give practical exercises for overcoming objections and changing your own mindset towards asking for your rate. Comment RATE below and I'll send it to ya. 😊👍🏾
I'm not gonna lie – the last few years have been s I'm not gonna lie – the last few years have been some of the wildest years of my career in terms of being a Black artist in the creative industries. On the one hand – like many of us – I was afforded opportunities because of being a Black artist. However these kinds of things are both good and bad. It's good in terms of giving people an opportunity. And working in great spaces with great people on great projects is what anyone wants. What is bad is of course the flipside; if you are only given an opportunity because of a certain special circumstances, those opportunities can be taken away from you when the circumstance changes. The best case scenario is - of course - what any creative wants; we're good at what we do, so we should just be given an opportunity. I've been at this for over 25 - probably 30 if I'm telling the truth - years. The bulk of my career, the case has been the latter where I got jobs because I was good at what I did and that was that. In uncertain times what you can be certain of is yourself. Your talent, your drive, what makes you you as an artist, and what value you bring to the projects you work on. As makeup artists, each of us bring with us our unique perspectives and aesthetics as curated by our experiences, histories, and cultures. This richness is what brings diversity to life, not just satisfying a number for a moment of time. So as a Black creative I look forward to continuing being a part of teams where my unique thread weaves naturally into a project's creative tapestry. Happy 100th Anniversary Black History Month Y'all (now in terms of Makeup to Go content I promised Y'all I would make videos breaking down the "Understanding Black Skin Tones post I did a while back. That will start happening towards the end of this month, promise. Lol. I will need more models so if anyone is willing to Model for one of my videos please hit me in DM) Fab image @far_from_coy fab model @shizenwong #mediamakeup #makeupwerksbytaniadrussell #hireblackcreatives
All images copyright of respective photographers | Many thanks to Sonya Bowman Photography, Saryn Christina Photography, and Together in Wellness RN for BTS and Portrait Images
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