“It was a little out of our creative element, which I like, because I think it pushed both you and my team, and it pushed the models, it’s not something we normally do every day… The off-the-wall and creative stuff; can I challenge my team? Can we try magazine stuff? It was instrumental for me as a challenging factor.” – from my podcast interview with Kerri Miller
I met Kerri Miller, owner of Finishing Touches Mobile Hair & Makeup, in January 2014 at a wedding show in Barrie, Ontario. We shared a similar brand of energy and after exchanging a few friendly emails decided to collaborate on a creative photoshoot. Kerri wanted to try out some risqué makeup and hair styles, meanwhile, I was excited to step out of my own comfort zone and take some fashion photos.
Kerri and her creative team used a very loose “Mad Hatter” theme as inspiration to create a unique variety of costumes and hair/makeup styles. It was a treat for me as there was no script aside from trying to get the best out of the models – most of whom were not professionally trained. It was a great atmosphere for experimentation and creative fun.
“We get clients regularly who request a specific look but we have to carefully modify their expectations. We strive to make our clients understand that their hair/makeup style needs to last all day long. So when you have a loose curl it’s great for as soon as it’s done, but it’s not going to stay… I try to get all of our team educating the client… We’ll do, at the end of the day, what they want, but it’s also our job to tell them what’s going to look best for them.”
I met Kerri over Skype to chat about a wide range of topics such as: our previous creative collaboration, what it’s like managing a large team of employees, and the importance of being mobile as a makeup/hair artist in the wedding industry. You can listen to my interview with Kerri using the Soundcloud app below:
If you’d like to skip ahead to a specific point in our conversation, here’s a quick guide:
00:23 – So your company name is?
00:30 – Where are you located?
01:20 – How did you most recent wedding show go?
01:45 – Is it true that you did 70 weddings this past season?
02:02 – Do you do more than one wedding in a day?
02:30 – Discussing our collaborative creative project…
03:45 – What was your objective with the creative shoot?
05:15 – Discussing the value of creative side projects.
05:30 – How often do you do makeup for males?
09:00 – Was there one model that you were pleased with the most?
11:00 – What’s it like being a manager of such a large team?
13:45 – Tell me a bit about your apprentices!
14:45 – What is your background/training?
15:20 – What’s the most important thing you look for in your new recruits?
17:30 – Were you nervous when you transitioned from having a corporate job to being self employed?
19:45 – Discussing the advantage of “being mobile.”
22:35 – What’s trendy in makeup right now?
25:35 – Do you ever get clients who request a look that doesn’t suit them?
27:30 – What’s your strategy for seeking clients?
30:00 – What do you find works at wedding shows?
31:50 – Anything else that you wanted to mention?
33:55 – Does the pace of your business slow down in the winter months?
35:15 – Where can we go to check you out online and on social media?
If you’re a bride-to-be in Simcoe/Muskoka/the GTA and want to get ready on your wedding day stress free definitely consider Finishing Touches Mobile Hair & Makeup! You can also follow Finishing Touches on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
You can click here to check out the previous Bongopix podcast episode. To see the original FULL blog post compilation of the Bongopix + Finishing Touches collaboration you can check that out here.
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