- YEWANDE PEREGRINO, MD BEYOND FACES
- Speaks On 10 Years Of Her Business
Yewande Peregrino is a popular make-up artiste, who has paid her dues. She started about 10 years ago and has been able to contribute her quota to the growth of the business. Last week, she spoke about how she established Beyond Faces.
Beyond Faces was 10 years last year. How did you celebrate it?
Hmmmm… Celebrate? We had no celebration per say, but just knowledge of how far I have come and kept thanking God because 10years are not 10months or 10days in spite of all the things in life thrown at us. We still tried making Lemonade out of the Lemons. It has been a true description of Sweet and Sour, but to the glory of God and mankind, still we are standing.
What has been your experience? How challenging was it?
It’s been more challenging especially in later years. I have heard clients/people say Old Make-up Artists would have lost track of ideas and they want the new trendy Make-up Artists. Some will say Old vendors would have seen it all and rather be egoistic, but some still prefer the ones with wealth of experience, which would have seen things coming and guide against it. What also puts a smile on my face is when I see many thriving businesses now making mention of Beyond Faces and what an inspiration we have been to their “starting up” Most wouldn’t have their success stories complete without us. All these are to the glory of God
How did you cope? How did you sail through?
It’s not easy being consistent all-the -way through to a decade. Sometimes, we get bored, got lost in the act, doing the same thing over and over again, but we are thankful for competition and inspiration here and there. Competition is actually healthy and educative as it’s challenging
Sail through… Have I really sailed through? I’m still in the game. Let me add that Passion-Persistence-Prayer have plenty roles to play when it comes to this.
How did your romance with Make-up start?
I used to love Arts and this is a skill I took from my mum, I used to love drawing and crafts. I enrolled at House Of Tara Int’l in 2005 and I was there for close to 2months, which was unusual. But after I was through with my course I was still allowed to stay and I kept on going to fine-tune what I have learnt and building my knowledge, experience and know-how.
I was privileged to go with Tara to attend to more than 2 brides during that time and by 2006 I was competent enough to stand on my own. As one of her best students, Tara got me a job with then newly launched Blackup. IÂ was employed by Alali Hart at the 1st branch of BlackUp Store at the Palms Mall/Shoprite on Lekki, where much Discipline and Book Keeping knowledge were instilled in me. After a few months I left because it wasn’t easy juggling Clients/Brides with a demanding job and I had a target to meet.
Working at BlackUp really helped me build my confidence. I met many people. It opened my mind and eyes to many things and placed me on a good pedestal.
Was that what you studied in school?
I didn’t study it in school, but all I wanted and had in mind was to be my own boss and in control of my time.One of my friends then was asking me who I wanted to be making up for and why that line of business out of many others. But today, she is eating her words in lumps….as she never had a complete event without my service.
Were you not afraid it was a new area of business then?
Funny enough, I was never afraid because I so much believed in myself, very focused and stayed far from anything that could get me derailed. And with one or two mentors I had, I was sure the sky was my springboard.
Who were the big names you met on the job?
I met Bolanle Okusanya Feyita, Bimpe Onakoya, Lola Maja, Segun Gele, Banke Meshida, Enitan Balogun, Tara Durotoye, Bamitale, Bunmi Oyeniyi and the late Adenike Ogungbe. Many of them are still in business and some have moved to another passionate line of business
In the future, which I think is now, I would like our government to introduce skills, such as Make-up Beauty, Arts, Event Planning, Photography and such skills to Secondary Schools and Colleges curricular. I have been nominated for awards such as -Sideview Mag Award, Eloy Award, Prestigious Future Awards, City People Awards, Fashion & Style Awards, Christmas In January Awards etc. We won some and lost others.
Why should women take their Make-up seriously?
It should be taken seriously because everything else comes after”Self Confidence”and with that you can achieve much.
Makeup is a good “facelift and a Confidence booster” That is why people still make millions from it annually and the industry is getting bigger, day after day with new techniques, brands n products flooding the market.
Is it true you now have a new Makeup association?
Yes, we now have a body called Make-up Artist Guild of Nigeria (MAGN) I am one of them.
The body was set up and put together by a Beauty Artist, Omolola Faleye and the Creator & Host of the 1st and Bi-annual Lagos Make-up Fair and Make-up which holds in about 5states in Nigeria.
Many young entrepreneurs are always afraid to go into it. They think you need big money to take off. Is this true?
You don’t need Big Money to start anything in life. Your success is highly dependent on your Potential; Find the giver of this potential, God. Moreover, start now, start out small, start smart, start with what you have and from where you are. I remember my humble beginning. Hmmmm with little or no social media awareness. Many things have really happened in 10years.
A whole lot of change. I started out by meeting with my clients. Most of them were Brides-to-be at eateries especially Mr Biggs outlets, then There weren’t so many eateries, as now and we have a branch in most areas in Lagos. Adverts in papers and Magazines really put me fast in the”limelight”and after, they reach out to me, I remember meeting them up at weekends with “hard copy photographs of my past brides, which I would have collected from their photographers, just to prove my competence because there wasn’t
Social Media as it is now or we set-up a”trial session”to try out makeup on their faces, what and what they do not like or what they are sensitive about or just general interactive meeting and some so much have strong belief in the person that referred you so much that they need no more conviction. Just discover your gift and start deploying it and never ever have it in mind to be patronised and more appreciated by friends and family members.
There will never be a perfect time to get things started. If you don’t start, someone else will play your part. Nobody ever starts from the top. After I left “Blackup” I started working on my own for about 2years before i opened my studio on my 30th birthday.
Even if I pretended not to know I have gone thus far, some events and occasions keep reminding you. Some clients I’ve done their 30th and 40th birthdays and some I made up on their child’s christening and the child is now celebrating his/her 10year birthday and I also attended 2 of my brides’ 10th anniversary last year. One of them told me that she could still remember the way I was ooozing confidence on her wedding day and hardly could she believe she was my first bride… I laughed.
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