Zoe Hunter from went from a string of admin roles in her career before finally giving into her true passion of makeup and became a Makeup Artist.
Zoe tells us “I’d had a passion for makeup for many years but never envisaged one day I would be able to make a living from it, I gave up my career as a Civil Servant for HMPS in 2010 and have never looked back”
Zoe is a married to Roger and is both a mum & step mum. With little time for hobbies previously, now that all but one of her children have grown up and flown the nest they are looking forward to finding new interests together. Zoe says “When I do get some time to myself, I love exploring my ancestry having recently discovered I have heritage from as far away as India”.
Zoe became a Professional Makeup Artist at the age of 37 and said going back to school was one of the most challenging things she has done. Zoe said she was nervous as she had not been in a learning environment for 20 years prior. Zoe commented “I loved the course, but it was not without its challenges as I have a small disability in one of my hands but Principal Sam really helped to help me find my own way to do certain things that would still be ITEC acceptable. She picked me up if she saw me struggling and helped me to grow my artist wings and fly! They made me feel so welcome and comfortable – so welcome in fact that as well as completing 2 further training course with them in Express and Individual Eyelash Extensions, I also went on to teach for them for a couple of years!”
“Before becoming a Pro Artist, my career was very much admin based, from Banking and Insurance through to my last job working for The Prison Service. I have literally gone from potentially seeing somebody on the worst day of their life to spending the best day of peoples lives with them and that’s a beautiful part of my job. My admin background stretches from HR to accounts to training which has really helped me run my business with ease!”
Zoe has been running GirlyGlam Makeup Artistry as a self-employed freelance artist for almost 10 years now. Zoe is a Bridal Specialist but also covers event, fashion and editorial makeup work. She also offers Bridal & Event Hair to clients as well as private makeup tuition, lash extensions, facial waxing and will soon also be offering lash lifting and perming. Zoe says she gets much of her work through recommendations and often finds herself making up brides that were previous GirlyGlam bridesmaids and vice versa.
For anyone considering a course with The Norwich School of Hair & Beauty, Zoe says “Go for it – you never know where it might take you!”
She continued “Once you have qualified get as much experience as you can. I am all for good quality projects which bring creatives together with the common goal of beautiful portfolio images but I am also passionate about artist’s not working for free on commercial jobs. Even when you are starting out – charge your worth and regularly review what you charge until you are ready to set industry prices. Don’t be afraid to set a fee even if that just covers your travel and product use to begin with!”
Zoe’s website can be found at https://www.girlyglammake-upartistry.co.uk/
Did you find this article useful? Why not take a look at our makeup courses available to train to become a makeup artist or browse all our courses from The Norwich School of Hair & Beauty.
