Meet Tanya Pongrac

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tanya Pongrac.

Tanya, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I left a small town in 2010 to start a course in special effects makeup in LA, 2000 miles from all that I had known. I always had an obsession with special effects in film and took classes on color theory, 3D design, and painting. Shortly after I started my course at Joe Blasco in Hollywood, I answered a Craigslist ad for spray tanning and thought “I love airbrushing and painting, how bad could this be?” It was unfortunately not what I expected!

After a week of being crammed in an office with models and trying to nail down how to apply the perfect spray tan, I attempted to incorporate the craft I was learning in school (at the time) with what a trainer was dictating to me. I completely ignored the instructions and created my own method, nailing down what was considered a great tan four models into the training.

After I graduated, I was booking a handful of spray tans throughout the month, practicing on the small amount of people I knew in such an overwhelming city. I had a moment of “giving up” and decided to pack my bags to head back home and attempt to create a career focusing on special effects in NYC.

The same week I pondered with this decision, I was contacted to do a spray tan for Jessica Simpson. It didn’t really hit me until I showed up at her house a few days later. It was a “friend of a friend” referral which increased the pressure even more. Every technique including all the mental notes I created for myself came down to the moment I met her and spray tanned her, hoping to give her nothing less than an impeccable tan.

Prior to Instagram, I would message my favorite makeup artists on Facebook, offering my spray tanning services to them, in hopes that they would take a chance on me with their already established celebrity cliental. Fortunately enough, most of them took that chance and have guided me on my path to building my cliental for the past 7 years.

Still today, I remember every detail of my interaction with Jessica and how it has snowballed my career into what it is now, allowing me to serve people I could never have dreamed of interacting with.

After years of experience under my belt, I was recently approached with a position to be a Senior Brand Ambassador for the sunless tanning solution company Fakebake. This has allowed me to share my knowledge and has given me a platform to introduce the product to the everyday person who is looking for the red carpet tanning experience.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I’ve learned to work in the beauty industry in Los Angeles, if you screw up, a lot of people are going to see it and hear about it! With that said, the pressure to have your work on the red carpet and be flawless at every angle is definitely something I found challenging.

I also think at the time I started out, spray tanning had a bad reputation and that was a theory I was trying to convince people to be false. Throughout the years, I’ve learned to calm myself down and not be so nervous.

Tanya Pongrac – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My mobile spray tanning business services most of the Los Angeles area. I always found spray tanning to be a very intimate service, which compels me to perform my full body treatment in the privacy of my client’s homes or hotel rooms. Appointments lasting between 30-45 minutes, I pay much attention to the details of the application and do a lot of blending by hand, something that usually isn’t offered in a salon setting. I would say my knowledge of color theory and 3D Design actually plays a huge role in spray tanning and sets me apart from other businesses.

You could apply a self-tan correctly, but if the color is off, the final product is wrong. I pay very close attention to how the tan sits on different textures of the skin, also keeping in mind the outcomes that could be less than perfect. I don’t view the spray tan as it looks in front of me at the moment, but how it will appear the day of my client’s event. Making sure new clients are 100% comfortable with me in their private homes is always something that is kept in mind as well.

The individuals I work with know me for many things, but I would say reliability being the most highlighted quality. I’ve had clients book me on holidays and have shown up at 2 am for emergency tans. I have been fortunate enough to work with my clients for years now, watching them get married, start families, and evolve in their careers, which makes my job seem less transactional.

I would say my proudest moments would include the spray tanning of a client for something they are so thrilled about personally, for example landing a magazine cover or specific role. I’ve definitely felt proud checking out at the food store and seeing my work on the cover of a magazine from time to time. To be called in to help create the final look is beyond flattering!

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success in my world is defined as the reoccurring times you are called back to perform your service. Some of my clients have access to anyone in the industry at their fingertips but have continued to stay loyal to me throughout the years. Pleasing your audience and leaving a rememberable impression simultaneously is the true success.

Contact Info:

• Phone: 845 913 6316
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @tanyap126

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