For some, earning a professional makeup artist certification is life-changing. Such is the case for QC Makeup Academy Student Ambassador, Jessica Lee. Today, Jessica is here to discuss her difficult past. Plus, she also reveals why pursuing her dream career has turned her life around for the better!
A Little About Makeup Artist Student, Jessica Lee
Hi! My name is Jessica Lee and I’m honored to be a Student Ambassador for QC Makeup Academy. I’m currently enrolled in the Master Makeup Artistry Course, Pro Makeup Workshop, and Skincare Course. However, I hope to enroll in even more QC programs in the future!
Today, I want to get a little raw and personal with you. I’ll be discussing what I went through in my life and how I’ve gotten to where I am now. Furthermore, I’ll highlight why obtaining my makeup artist certification has been so important to me.
Ultimately, my goal is to show you that if I can do it, you most certainly can, too! 💕
Life Before My Training
In order for you to understand why pursuing a makeup artist certification has been so fundamental for me, I need to start at the beginning…
Growing up, I had a close-knit family. My family consisted of my father, mother, older brother, older sister, and me. We lived in one of the poorest areas of Toronto, but my parents never let that stop them.
Eventually, we moved out of that neighborhood. It was at this time that my love of makeup artistry started. I’d often watch my big sister get ready to go out for the night with her friends. All her shimmery pastel eyeshadows grabbed my attention and never let go!
However, there was one problem: I never liked the skin I was in when I was younger. This was perpetuated by the fact that I always had people telling me how different or wrong my skin was.
Racism is a hard thing for anyone to handle – especially someone so young. You see, I’m a product of a biracial relationship. My father is Jamaican and Chinese, while my mother is Caucasian. As such, I dealt with more than my fair share of bigotry growing up. Over the years, I learned to push through all the ignorance, though.
That said, as I got older, life didn’t go exactly how I expected it to.
Overcoming Addiction
At 13, I was diagnosed with Endometriosis. By 17 years old, my doctor decided to put me on pain medication to help me cope with it. Unfortunately, that’s how I developed an opiate addiction.
This addiction would last the next 10 years. As a result, in those 10 years, I dropped out of high school. Additionally, I almost overdosed more than 5 times. My addiction almost bankrupted my parents, and caused me to gain weight and live an extremely unhealthy lifestyle.
October 13th, 2014, was the day everything finally changed. I decided I was sick and tired of being sick and tired! With the help of my family, I checked myself into detox.
I can happily say that I’m now almost 7 years clean and sober! Fighting for my life showed me a strength I never knew I had. It opened my eyes to the fact that life was short. Thus, we don’t always have the time to achieve our dreams and goals… and I wanted to make that time for myself!
Pursuing My Makeup Artist Certification
After I got my mind back on track, my love of makeup also came roaring back with a vengeance. At first, I’ll admit it: I thought I knew it ALL.
Boy, how wrong I was!
Just over a year ago, I signed up with QC Makeup Academy. It wasn’t long into my makeup artist certification course that Nathan Johnson showed me the error of my ways. Basically, I’ve never looked back since!
My love of makeup started when I was around 12 years old. Now, I’m 33 and living my dream! All I needed was to realize that even though I can claim to be a makeup artist, having the proper credentials to back it up holds a weight of its own in the professional beauty industry.
In a nutshell: if you truly want to succeed as an MUA, you absolutely must get a reputable makeup artist certification!
Finding QC Makeup Academy’s Online Certification Training
I discovered QC Makeup Academy after seeing an ad for the school on Facebook. To me, it felt like fate! As a busy mom of 4 children, brick-and-mortar schooling was out of the question.
Online training, however, would fit with my lifestyle perfectly. After doing my research on the school, I also found out that I could complete my studies at my own pace. Although I’d be given 2 full years to finish, this meant I could actually earn my makeup artist certification in as little or as much time as I needed.
As soon as I saw this, I was sold. Subsequently, I signed up that same day!
My Journey Since Then
Every moment since the day I signed up with QC Makeup Academy has been a blessing. Don’t get me wrong – it hasn’t always been easy. During my schooling, I actually suffered the biggest loss of my life when I had a miscarriage.
My classmates, tutor, and the school itself were ALL there for me in my greatest time of need. But even the hard times taught me invaluable lessons. For example, understanding that “less is more” was hard for me at first. However, it ultimately made my makeup application improve by leaps and bounds!
When I started my makeup artist certification training, I was at maybe a 3 (on a scale from 1 to 10). Now, I can humbly say I’m at an 8. I fully intend to continue working hard each and every day, so I can eventually be at a 10.
I know exactly how I plan to do this, too. When I’m done earning my Master Makeup Artistry certification, I then plan to add Skincare services to my repertoire (and resume) as well. After all, mastering skin is the single greatest way to truly master makeup!
3 Reasons to Enroll with QC Makeup Academy
Thinking of getting your makeup artist certification with QC Makeup Academy? Here are the 3 things that sold me on this school:
- All of QC’s certification courses are self-paced. For instance, by devoting just 1-2 hours per week on your training, you can graduate in as little as 2-6 months!
- Their makeup artist courses have the widest variety I’ve ever seen!
- QC’s tutors are all legitimate, real-world MUAs. As such, the knowledge and experience they bring to the table is unparalleled!
Why Earning My Makeup Artist Certification Has Changed My Life
Being able to finally achieve my dreams has meant more to me than words could ever say. Pursuing a makeup artist certification has made me a happier person.
It’s also helped me show my kids that achieving your dreams doesn’t have a deadline. In fact, I’d even say that it’s been a bonding experience for me and my two daughters. They absolutely love to help me with my schooling. So much so, that they now refer to my tutor, Nathan, as “Uncle Nathan”!
Thanks to my current training – and all the future training I plan to get with QC – my career in the beauty industry will be limitless!
Thank you so much for reading this article about my past, present, and future. Please leave a comment below and tell me about YOUR journey into professional makeup. And as always, feel free to connect with me directly in QC Makeup Academy’s Virtual Classroom on Facebook!
You rock jess this was an amazing read iam so so so proud of you keep going hun you got this ill be here if ya need me .
We couldn’t agree more, Ken! Jessica’s story is definitely an inspiring one. And while it saddens us to know that she had to once endure such hardship, we’re so proud of her for overcoming all the obstacles thrown her way – and we couldn’t be more grateful that she chose to pursue her makeup artist certification with our school! <3 Thanks so much for reading and for the kind words; we're sure Jessica will really appreciate them. xx
All the best,
The QC Team
You’ve come so far!! How amazing 🙂 Keep going, Lovely!!