Meet Jada Grey | Makeup & Brow Artist

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

Hi Jada, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I always knew I would be a BOSS. I was in dance school at the age of 2 and always had to wear minimal makeup for our dance shows. As I got older, dressing up and doing my makeup was one of my favorite things to do. Since I was the youngest child with no siblings my age, I always spent my time playing alone or with my grandmother. I would act like I was a lawyer, doctor, teacher, type up documents on my computer and act out these roles. In the 8th grade, my love grew fonder for makeup and I started to wear mascara, eyeliner, lipstick, and blush. In high school, I began to watch a lot of videos on YouTube. I would watch a lot of popular gurus today such as: Aaliyah Jay, PatrickkStarr, Carlibybel, LipSticknCurls, Shameless Maya, Sondradeluxe, Chrissy, ItsMyRayeRaye and more. My love for the beauty industry grew as I would practice makeup looks and hair routines. My last year in high school, I started to practice makeup on my friends and family.

Although, I was in love with makeup, I always had a dream of working in the criminal justice field too. I wanted to become a lawyer either in the entertainment business or defending the state as a prosecutor, my love for makeup was where my heart was. Makeup helped me during my childhood and helped me self-express myself. I started to dream of becoming a Makeup Artist, having my own makeup line with limited edition products to sell for profit for breast cancer, opening my own makeup school, having my own salon, and makeup class tours. When it was time for me to graduate, I was telling close family members about my dreams and they were not supportive. I had a family member tell me “there is not a lot of money in that business” that made me want to do it even more. I wanted to prove to them that I could and that I will be successful in this business by doing something that I love.

When I graduated high school, I still attended community college where I was getting my Criminal Justice degree, but still pursing my makeup career. I applied for one of my favorite brands MAC in 2014 and was offered an interview in 2015 and was not hired. Throughout my college days, I would take clients and work a 9-5 job. I was able to build my business through Instagram, Thumbtack, Facebook, Twitter and word of Mouth at the time. In 2015, I had my first bridal wedding party and immediately fell in love even more with being a Makeup Artist and helping women feel beautiful and confident in their own skin. In 2016, I landed my first cosmetic job at Kiko Milano. In 2017, I decided I wanted to become a full-time entrepreneur and quit my job and rented a space in a salon. Four months later, I became pregnant on my 21st birthday. As I was transitioning into Motherhood, I gained more confidence to follow my dreams and pursue my entrepreneurship.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am most proud and excited about my accomplishments and my growth through my journey. There are so many lessons to learn along the way when you are a business owner. I learned to always stay true to myself and to always look straight ahead. I learned that there is a lot of distractions that are going to try to hold you back from family, friends, unexpected events, and more. Every challenge I had to overcome, I stayed focused on my path. In the beginning, when I decided to pursue my dreams, my life was changing, and I could not see it for the better. As I began to go down my journey, I began to realize what was being taken away was being placed with better. I learned to stand firm in what you believe in and what you want. In this business, you must know what you want and believing in it is important because if you don’t, then who will? The most important lesson of it all is LOVE YOURSELF. I cannot say how many mistakes I have made, but I have learned from them and was able to still love myself through the process. I learned that no matter where you come from or what you are doing if you dream it, you can achieve it. What GOD has in store for you is for you and nothing can get in the way of that.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to thank every client that has supported my business. I want to thank my family and friends too!

I also want to thank the individuals who I have collaborated with throughout my journey that has helped me grow within my business. Here is a few individuals that I have collaborated with: Toni Wilmont, Jazmine Escobar, Leah Henry, Nicholas Acors (All_Angles Photography), Breed Photography, FrancisShad (Photography), Tobi (Photography) and Renee Wilhite (RM Photography).

I want to special shoutout Tamani Lyn, CEO and founder of Women of Lyn for becoming my business coach within the last year and for recommending me for this opportunity.

Website: www.jaecontour.acuityscheduling.com

Instagram: @jaecontourfaces_ / @jaecontour_

Facebook: Jaecontour MUA

Image Credits
Leah Henry on TheMIX (@leahhenry), Jazmine Escobar (@itzjazescobar),  @Francisshad.co makeup by Jada, Santasia (@santasiaig), Tobi (@heytobs) makeup by Jada styled by Toni (@primalaprincess), Zoe (@zoe.Orintha) shot by Tobi styled by Toni makeup by Jada, reg client Jada