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Tania D. Russell, makeup artist and educator, founder of Makeup to Go

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Makeup artist and educator Tania D. Russell working on set

Tania D. Russell...

Tania D. Russell is a career media makeup artist of over 25 years, and a makeup educator of over 15 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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Makeup artistry career education founded by Tania D Russell

So what the heck is a Half Birthday? An excuse to

Are you available on... WAIT! don't answer that!

Are you available on... WAIT! don't answer that!

I mean ultimately do answer that but don't answer that in such a way where you get yourself stuck before you truly know what's going on.

Why is this important? Because you want to answer in such a way where you can get yourself unstuck, and be able to gracefully exit stage left if necessary.

Understand the Project - if you want to do a project for the love of the game and your artistry and all that then absolutely that's what you should do. However if a project doesn't align with your artistry doesn't align with your career goals and trajectory and just isn't a part of what you're trying to do, there may not be a point of doing it. EXAMPLE - I personally am never trying to do film so therefore there is no point in me doing a film. I don't love it AND I'm trying to do beauty campaigns, so doing a film won't help me get there.

Understand the Scope of Work - particularly as budgets get tighter, the likelihood of folding additional tasks into your job increases. Sometimes it may require a re-negotiation and sometimes it may require stepping away. You need to know upfront so you can make an informed choice.

Understand the Logistics - and let me tell you this becomes really important when you're dealing with clients from out of town, for example. I've had clients who did not know Los Angeles, we go through the whole thing and everything's sounding good and then it's "oh by the way we're shooting in Palm Springs". OK cool. I love Palm Springs but that's a different location that's not Los Angeles. So again, lil re-negotiation has to happen 😉

Not everything will happen in the initial conversation but things should be discussed in advanced. The point being the more you know before you walk on set the more confident you can be when you do so. 👍🏾

We talk about this and more inside the Five Small Things Membership. Join us and get your makeup biz life all the way right. Link in bio or DM FIVE and I'll send the deets 👍🏾

I've literally seen websites without contact infor

I've literally seen websites without contact information. Not to mention without location information.

Fam, private clients might be willing to go through the form and then the Calendly and then the discovery call and this that. OR some private clients may prefer to just go straight to a booking form like acuity or something.

That's not how it's going to be with media clients.

Someone hiring for makeup (hair/nails/wardrobe/whatever) for a music video commercial editorial or the like just needs to know where you are and they need a yes or no answer on your availability. And they need to get those answers in the quickest way possible. So even having a form on your website is risky because a lot of decision makers aren't trying to do that.

Just make it easy on them – hence making it easier on yourself – and have an email address and phone number. If you don't want to put your real cell number out there on the Interwebs which I get I don't either, you can get a number like Google Voice that will forward to your phone number.

But don't get disqualified at the starting line before the race even begins. Make it easy for folks to book you. 👍🏾

Pt 2 building a portfolio that books is the actual portfolio website. If you need guidance, hit the link in bio.

Your booked gigs alone is not your portfolio strat

Your booked gigs alone is not your portfolio strategy.

I’ve observed in the social media era many artists wondering why their Instagram or before and afters won’t get them certain kinds of bookings. The short answer is that isn’t the type of work decision makers in the media/creative spaces want to see, but it’s even more granular than that. What do YOU want to see? Who are YOU as an artist? And how do you articulate that to other creatives?

Aye, there’s the rub!

Yes, over time much of your portfolio will naturally be work you've been hired to do, and that’s important information for decision makers. But depending on where you are and what you're going after, booked work alone may not tell your full artistic story.

A creative collaboration gives you the space to show range, execute a vision the way you want to execute it, and work with people who can potentially be in your corner long-term.

Three reasons I keep prioritizing it:
- Meet and build relationships with great teams
- Define and solidify your artistic style (without a client brief over your head)
- Diversify the work available to show, which can open up further opportunities

Hence, even though I am 2000 years old and have been at this makeup thing for 1657-lebbin years, I still LOVE creative shoots and I prioritize getting at least a few good ones done every year. (SIDE NOTE - This strategy has also kept me from becoming “Old Makeup Artist” and being put out to career pasture…)

I made a free guide breaking down how to build a Portfolio that translates not just to bookings, but the bookings you want to get. Comment PORTFOLIO26 and I'll send it to you, or grab it via the link in bio.

(And don't clown me on this filter please lol. My regular wasn't available, I wasn't wearing make up, and I couldn't see that this filter added shall we say certain details until after I'd already recorded lol)

Shopping is the least important thing you'll do at

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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