Rising Stars: Meet Arminta Hunter

Today we’d like to introduce you to Arminta Hunter.

Hi Arminta, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
At a very young age, I was really creative and artistic, so as a child I knew early on I wanted to work for myself and that I’d use my creative abilities to get me there. When I was 13 my middle school graduation was approaching so I asked my mother if I could get my makeup professionally done, she knew how much I was intrigued with makeup, so she said yes. We went to the M.A.C cosmetics store inside the Macys at Westfield Fashion Square. I remember being so intrigued by the artist’s style and her naturalness with doing makeup. She had the most stylish all-black attire on and the most colorful makeup and hair. I wanted to be her. I asked her multiple questions while she did my face to educate myself so that I could go home and practice. My mom watching and listening to me so fascinated by this artistry bought me a full M.AC cosmetics kit before we left that store. & with that very kit, I practiced every chance I could on any person open to letting me use their canvas. At the age of 16, I started taking clients both at home and at my hairdresser at that time’s salon.

By the age of 19, I was booking weddings, set work, and beauty makeup clients. With makeup, I realized I not only loved the art behind it but I learned to have an appreciation for beauty in general, which then lead me to love skincare because healthy skin plays such a major part in how makeup is displayed. I have been blessed with many opportunities doing makeup and working beauty events. But as I’ve started to get older, my passion to create beautiful makeup canvases grew into a passion to explore all my other creative abilities. I’ve always been a visual learner. It’s actually how I caught onto doing makeup so easily and how I learned to mimic all my grandmother’s and my father’s skills in the kitchen. In 2017, my love for cooking turned into a love to create in the kitchen, that love turned into me becoming a restaurant owner of Tacos Altiro. Fast forward to now, I’m a published professional makeup artist (@beatbymints), an aspiring restaurant owner (@tacosaltiro) and Chef (@cookedbymints). All my business ventures mean the world to me. They are like my babies. And God willing, you’ll hear more about them in the near future.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t been easy. Especially when Covid-19 hit. That slowed down business tremendously for me. & I also had major life occurrences happen at the most inconvenient times. But I used those things to channel my strength from within. & I used those things to keep pushing and to be the motivation I needed to continue to execute in my businesses. Life will continue to throw curve balls at you, but you have to handle it the best way you can and move forward.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’ve been a published professional makeup artist for about 16+ years. Anyone that knows me, they know me as Mints the makeup artist. Makeup is something I’ll always have my hands in, but I’ve been enjoying blogging and playing with the content creator side of things recently. With cooking, I started experimenting in the kitchen when I started living on my own in my 20s. But in recent years my cooking has become quite a buzz because I post all the dishes I make at home and for family on social media. Not only do I love cooking but I love playing around with the presentation of my dishes. I believe that presentation is just as important as taste when it comes to food. I feel it makes my customers more pleased to enjoy my food. Which is why when it comes to my business I make sure every taco is dressed up uniform to what a Tacos Altiro taco is meant to look like. Our signature Cajun Style Baja taco is the heart and soul of my restaurant, Tacos Altiro, so a lot of the dishes are based around our signature beer batter. The restaurant is Mexican cajun fusion so I created a menu with dishes that are Mexican and Cajun inspired with a twist.

What I am most proud of is myself. I’ve been through a lot and I’ve never allowed it to get in the way of what I want out of life. I’ve never limited myself to work in one industry even when others told me “ It may be too much to juggle.” I believe if want it bad enough, you can do it all. I’ve always stayed true to who I am and to what fulfills me in life. I’ve never been one to follow the crowd. I’m much more of the one that enjoys being the oddball, I like to go against what everyone else is doing. I enjoy being a person that stands out in a crowd. & I’d say being that person has blessed me with a ton of great genuine people in my life and 3 business ventures I can see being on the rise.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love that our city is very blended, full of diversity. Coming to the valley, you’ll come across all different ethnicities. The one thing I dislike about our city is that we have to travel to Hollywood/LA for entertainment. We don’t have much to do outside of our restaurant gems here.

Pricing:

• Beat by mints base rate for makeup services starts at $125+ and varies based on the work.
• Tacos Altiro host pop-ups and the tacos are $12 for 2 fish and $14 for 2 shrimp, Al La carte $6 for fish and $7 for shrimp. We also offer catering services rate varies, DM for a Quote

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/bymints