Today we’d like to introduce you to Diana Castaldi.
Hi Diana, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My goodness where do I begin? I have always loved makeup and hair. I would watch my mom get ready in the morning and as soon as she put her makeup brush down I would pick it up and mimic her every move on my own face. She regularly got her hair done and my sister and I would go with her to the salon and watch her stylist, Stephanie, mix and apply color, then wash & blow dry her hair and I thought she was so magical (I still do). I grew up before the YouTube era and read “Making Faces” by Kevin Aucoin and tried to soak up as many makeup skills as I could from his expertise. In college I would do makeup and hair for my friends and fell in love with getting people ready and the look of happiness when they looked in the mirror for the first time.
Eventually, when I graduated college, I worked for Benefit Cosmetics, but I wanted to work with the best artists around and at that time (it was the early 2000’s) and there was nothing better than being a MAC artist and show off your skills. I was fortunate enough to be able to interview and get hired to work for MAC. While working there I ended up getting my teaching credentials to become becoming a classroom teacher, but never fully hung up my brush belt. I was still pulled into the beauty industry and dreamed of one day having my own business where I would get to do makeup all day long. Somewhere along the way I fell in love with weddings and would regularly teach all week and then work helping my friend do wedding makeup for her business on Saturday and Sunday.
After the pandemic, I decided the time was right and life was too short to always be wondering what could have been and decided I didn’t want to return to the classroom. I wasted no time setting up a website and getting my portfolio of work online and the rest you could say is history.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
When I started out so many years ago I had no idea the role that technology and business acumen would play in being a working makeup artist. If you wanted to get a shot of your work back in the day you had to take a digital camera with you, shoot what you could with the lighting you had and share on this website called Model Mayhem. That’s where photographers would find makeup artists for a shoot, kind of like Instagram for the stone ages. I didn’t realize how smart it would be to market myself on Instagram when it first came out and have had to learn how to take quality photos, but now more videos of my work (I’m still learning) and how to market myself (I’m still learning that too). I realize that this wasn’t that long ago chronologically, but keeping up with crafting the best client experience, while staying on top of the latest makeup trends and learning how to run a business while maintaining a social life and staying healthy has been a challenge.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a bridal makeup artist and hairstylist. I specialize in soft glam makeup looks and more romantic hairstyles. I am the most proud of my resilience and willingness to never give up on my dream of having this be my job. I am blessed to be able to wake up in the morning and do this every single day.
What sets me apart from other artists is not my experience or my technical skill because there are many skilled and talented artists, but the experience I provide my clients and the emotional value I provide. I offer not just a service, but a genuine partnership with my clients so she can be part of the creative process. I actively listen to my clients and incorporate their preferences into my work. I also understand that my clients lead busy lives, so I take as much off of her plate as possible during the planning process to create a stress-free experience so all she has to do is sit back and relax. Part of the experience being stress free is being reliable, trustworthy and communicative. Some of this comes with age and experience and some of this is wanting my clients to feel like a friend and not just a vendor they’ve hired for their wedding.
How do you define success?
I define success by how good I made your clients feel and how happy I am with what I am doing. If my clients are happy and I am happy, then that is a successful day. When you have enough successful days than not, then I think you’re successful. There’s always another level though and I’m always striving to be better than the day before/week before/month before/year before.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dianamariemakeupartistry.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/dianamariemakeupartistry
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dianamariemakeupartistry
Image Credits
Word Photo & Film
Roaming Wild Photography
Bailey Rae Co
