Meet Coleen Nungaray of Make Believe Face Painting in West and East Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Coleen Nungaray.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Coleen. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’m one of the owners and managing artist of Make Believe Face Painting. I have always had a passion for art and in the beginning, I needed to make a little extra money, while pursuing a career as a tattoo artist. Then by pure happenstance and good timing, I began working for Disneyland as a face painter. Once hired, I realized how fun it was and that I was actually pretty good at it.

From that point on I never looked back, making face painting my primary focus in my working life. As the years passed, I developed my skills and eventually became a Manager/Trainer for Disney’s In-Park Artistic Services Department. It was a wonderful experience, being able to interact with the international public, forming friendships with co-workers and making each client smile, one face paint at a time.

After over 10 years of dedicated service, I decided to start my own business. At that moment, “Make Believe” was born. My goal being to train my staff (the future of this industry) to the standards that I was taught and to the level of technique, creativity and collaboration with the client that I had developed over the years. Still to this day, I strive to improve my skills and pass on what I know to the next generation of artists.

With this in mind, my ultimate hope is to bring something new and exciting to the industry that has been so good to me over all these years and maybe bring a smile or two to all of Make Believe’s clients in the process.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
When we first got going, it was a bit of a challenge for Make Believe, learning the industry’s ins and outs. Fortunately, I have a great staff, and with their support I was able to navigate between all the tedious task that one forgets about when starting a business. We hit the ground running though, and picked things up quick and I’m proud to say we are all the much better for the experiences we had along the way. Make Believe is only as strong as it is today, because of the commitment and strength of its artists.

Please tell us about Make Believe Face Painting.
Make Believe specializes Face Painting, Balloon Artistry/Twisting, Hand-Print Keepsakes, Name Painting, Caricatures, Henna and Glitter Tattoos. We are most known for our Face Painting, our staff is comprised of many of the industry’s top artist in the field, who have won many international competitions with their innovative designs and technical precision. In my opinion, what sets us apart from others in this industry is our commitment to the customer’s satisfaction and overall experience with our service. That’s why we vigorously train our staff on customer interaction and rapport as well as spending hundreds of hours on artistic training showing new hires the fundamentals and technique associated with this kind of art. We dedicate so much time and effort to this because the client deserves nothing less. If Make Believe can make the client’s event just a little more successful, memorable and fun, then we’ve done our job.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Not a thing. Make Believe Face Painting is what it is today, only because of the trials and choices that were made along the way. Through the hard and through the easy times we have learned and we have grown. It has strengthened our resolve to be an industry leader and innovator.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://mbfacepainting.com
• Phone: (626) 475-6553
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/make_believe_face_painting/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/makebelievepainting
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/make-believe-face-painting-los-angeles
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/believe1652/

Image Credit:
Photographs by: Michael Nieto, Eric Nieto, Mel Navarro