October 15, 2016

Meet Burbank Cosmetologist and Makeup Artist: Jennifer Muller

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Muller.

Jennifer, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I always loved fashion and beauty since I was a little girl. I was 14 years old when I first remember my aunt saying that I could put lipstick on in the car better than she ever could. I signed up for the regional occupation program (ROP) at my high school when I was 16. This program allowed me to go to cosmetology school for free and graduate within a year and a half. I went to high school from 8am-12pm, then beauty school from 1pm-5pm Tuesday-Friday and 8am-5pm every Saturday for the first year. I wanted to graduate faster so, for the last 6 months, I went to beauty school from 1pm-10pm Tuesday-Friday. Saturdays stayed the same. I graduated cosmetology school 2 months before I graduated high school, but I wasn’t ready to take the licensing exam until almost 3 years later.

I was very unsure of myself and didn’t know what I wanted to do. I moved out of my parents home when I was 18 and I spent the next couple years going to different colleges and working. Around 19, I decided to try fashion design at The Art Institute but continued community college at the same time. Two-quarters in, I was overwhelmed with working, two different schools, and doing hair on the side. I decided to go back to beauty, my first love and went to make-up school at MakeUp Designory (MUD). After all, makeup was the real reason I had gone to cosmetology school when I was 16, only to realize that they taught only a couple of classes in makeup. I did MUD’s Beauty MakeUp Program, which lasted 3 months and taught very minor special effects. I finally decided to take my cosmetology exam and passed on the first try. By then, I was 21 and ready to start my career. I did freelance makeup for a year and then decided to start trying to work at a salon. I got a job at a salon and worked there, assisting 17 different stylists, for 10 months. I worked about 12-14 hours a day, Tuesday-Saturday, at the salon. The owner of the salon wasn’t giving me much opportunity for growth or any of my own clients. She was very selfish and ended up firing me for printing one of the stylist’s client lists. In the salon business, stylists that rent their stations own their clients, that is their entire business. I knew I did nothing wrong, she was just very selfish. I had found out afterwards that he was leaving the salon and she didn’t want to give him his client information. When she fired me, I was almost happy. It finally allowed me to have time for my own clients and build my own business. I have been working from home and freelancing ever since. My client base has doubled, if not tripled, and I have had time to learn more special effects makeup.

Has it been a smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road. I’ve been overworked, stressed, and broke all along the way. The beginning of any makeup artist’s career, especially when trying to do print or television, is filled with TFP (trade for print) jobs. You don’t get paid and sometimes, you’re working crazy hours. Once, I had a job that was all night shots, so I ended up taking a shift for my paying job in the mornings before I had to work on the music video. I wouldn’t get home from the shoot until anywhere from 3am-6am after going into my paying job at 9am and going straight to the shoot afterwards. I did this for 4 days straight. It was exhausting but worth it.

Is there some part of you work that is particularly difficult?
I’d have to say the hardest part is being away from family on the weekends when I have to work. Obviously, a lot of weddings are on Saturdays and Sundays and when I work them I end up missing the weekend with my fiance and stepson.

What are you striving for, what criteria or markers have you set as indicators of success?
Success, to me, is constantly striving for and reaching higher skill levels. Accomplishing and mastering new techniques that once seemed difficult is what I constitute as success.

So, what should we be on the lookout for, what’s next in store for you?
I am very much looking forward to buying my own house, within the next year, and converting one of the bedrooms into a full-service salon area for me to bring my clients to.

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