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

Hi Katie, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born and raised into a very theatrical family. My dad was a set designer and my mom was a costumer designer. I knew from a pretty young age that I wanted to be a makeup artist. Not only did I love the production aspect of makeup artistry, but i loved dolling up my friends and making them feel pretty. After graduation from college, I moved out to Los Angeles to work in the film industry. From there, things changed for me in ways I had not planned on. I met a wonderful man, had a baby and we got married. Yes, in that order. We decided that the lifestyle of working in Los Angeles wasn’t what we wanted for our family so we moved to South Carolina, a state neither of us was from nor did we have any family (though we did have a close friend thru my husband). I learned thru working in LA while I love production, I truly LOVE making women feel good. So I started my business in South Carolina just in makeup artistry. I felt a lot of gratitude from my clients, but I wasn’t being as creative as I once was so I started to learn photography to scratch that itch. I never realize that both my makeup artistry company where I was bringing on additional artists and the photography business would go so much but grow they did and I’m extremely thankful. Now every day of my life I get to make women feel amazing whether it’s by doing their makeup or taking their photo and I get to help 30 other people do what they love as a full time job and it’s amazing!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My focus truly is on empowering the woman I am shooting. If I didnt need money to live, I would do my job for free, I really would! And sometimes this makes me a little too giving when shooting, but I truly love every single thing about what I do.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Downtown Greenville truly is an adorable and fun little city! I would take her around downtown and eat at some of our awesome local restaurants but outside of the city there are mountains and waterfalls and just so so much to do! And if we were lucky enough to have enough time for a day trip, the ocean is only 3.5 hours away!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My parents have always been behind me 100% of the way. They have given be courage to just go for it, financials to be able to focus in on my craft and support when I suddenly change the direction of where my business is heading.

Website: www.cottonrougephoto.com

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/cottonrougeboudoir www.instagram.com/katiecotton_mua AND www.instagram.com/cottonrougephoto

Image Credits
All photos Cotton Rouge Photo except first photo (me in the red dress) which was taken by Lance Andrews.

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