Meet Akia McKinney: Makeup Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Akia McKinney and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Akia, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I chose to be an Makeup Artist because I had flaws of my own , I’m not saying everyone have flaws but nobody’s perfect . When I picked up my first brush and gave myself that control over my beauty it made me feel top tier . It’s like bringing out your alter ego , it’s so many people who have never seen their self look as good as they feel . It’s life changing for some , because they don’t actually think they could look like that or fit in with the popular girls because of looks . The career I chose not only changed my life but it change others to and appearance is really big these days so I’m glad I have the gift to bring out the insecurities in others and make them feel as if they fit in or finally “ beautiful “ . It’s all just hidden beauty that I help bring out !

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
To me being a makeup artist isn’t something you could just really jump into . It’s like you really have to have a passion for it , putting in long hours .. traveling everywhere .. having to put up knowing some days you’ll get paid and some days you won’t . It’s a big risk with being your own boss everyday is not guaranteed to be a good day . You have to be tough in this field and dedicated , nobody is going to support you unless you’re supporting you . When I first started I was constantly promoting my brand and running specials knowing I wouldn’t get the people I wanted in my chair , in my chair . I was always reaching out to people higher than me trying to see if they could give me some advice on how they came up or what helped them with their skills . I was ignored though , and it really upset me because they were acting as if they didn’t start from the bottom like where I was at the time . So imagine being in a city full of others with the same career as you .. with great clientele and recognition and you’re the underdog . My work was good but I didn’t hang around the “ rich people “ in my city it’s always been quantity over quality .. their gonna go to whoever chair they see a celebrity in . So I started pursuing celebrity clients which didn’t work , they didn’t want to pay me they wanted me to work for free and move whenever they said move. So to think I wouldn’t be getting paid for my hard work and on top of that having someone in my chair who really doesn’t admire my skills but the fact that I would work for free through everything out the window . I realized that the people I thought was at the top was really at the bottom all because they didn’t care who was in their chair or why it , was for an image . But , I always wanted to be different I want people to know my work from anywhere I prefer natural red carpet looks .. the less the best . I took the natural route with my makeup skills and now I have clients in every state . I always look back and thanks god for putting me where I prayed and worked hard to be .

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Okay so in Atlanta you have a various amount of options to go party / have fun at ! I love seafood so I’ll convince my best friend to go eat at Wild Crab it’s a seafood place in Decatur , it’s really good they give you big bags of any seafood you like . If I wanna chill I prefer Eleven 45 or Area 4 the atmosphere is great & food is good . I also like to hang at the car meets it’s filled with so many people and their from everywhere.. they come to show off cars or race / spin out . Other than being around the city people I like to go to the mall to see what’s new or just chill at another friend house . Diamonds gentleman club is also nice , with good food . The botanical garden is pretty big and have a lot of pretty flower statues that’ll be great for scenery pictures .
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I wanna give thanks to my mom for the criticism throughout my journey , she pushed me to keep going and didn’t hold back on anything . Every time I had a client or group to do she would definitely let me know if I did a good job or if anything needed perfected . But , I never thought there was anything wrong with my skills I’ll always take her criticism the wrong way and try to go against it . I was so tired of hearing her tell me what was wrong, it made me work extra hard to perfect it . Now that I’ve advanced in my skills I see that she was right about everything that she was saying .

Website: https://iceworldkia.as.me/
Instagram: Iceworldkia

Image Credits
Instagram : Theiceylook