Daily Inspiration: Meet Kira Johnson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kira Johnson

Hi Kira, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I had been working in corporate fashion for some major brands on the production, operations, and sales side for 10 years. But I felt deeply unfulfilled. I was spending sometimes 60 hours a week bringing other’s creative visions to life, and being way too exhausted to explore my own. Around this time, my husband was offered his dream role as Creative Director for the biggest global sports organization in the world. This was a huge stroke of fortune for myself as it afforded me the opportunity to leave the career I had been building for a decade and go to beauty school. I had dreamed a being an editorial makeup artist since I was a young child but was always too afraid to put myself out there. The prospect of starting over from scratch at 30 years old was so daunting, but I took that big leap and it has turned out to be, professionally, the best choice I have ever made. I have done ESPN spots for professional athletes, Hulu up fronts for acclaimed producers, and my personal favorite, backstage at fashion week. I still get scared working on new clients, but now it’s a scared/excited instead of an existential spiral of dread.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The path to realizing your purpose is rarely ever smooth. Right after completing beauty school I was randomly offered a role running the operations for the sneaker division of a massively famous ecommerce marketplace. I felt the role was too major to pass up. So I was, once again working for a corporation, and simultaneously trying to grow my client base and hone my talent. Once again, my own creative pursuits were being sidelined. And then, two years ago my life completely changed when I became pregnant and my health took a sudden and massive nose dive.

I was 36 weeks in when I started having horrible headaches, nausea, and fatigue. I chalked it up to just being in the 3rd trimester. One night I felt a shocking, stabbing pain in the back of my head. It was sudden and lasted only a few seconds. The next day I woke up and everything was normal. But as the day went on, I felt my face start to become numb. When I sat down at noon to eat my lunch, I couldn’t form my mouth around my fork. I looked in the mirror and half my face was drooping. I immediately went to my OBGYN’s office. She told me we needed to start the process to induce and I needed to go to the emergency room. 48 hours under observation and about a million MRI’s later, it was determined I had a condition called Bell’s Palsy. BP is a neurological condition that causes damage to the facial nerve which is located in back part of the brain. When the nerve becomes damaged, it essentially kills all the muscles in your face. There is no way to predict who has this condition, and so there is no way to prevent an episode. There are treatments, but no known cure and it often takes months and sometimes years for your face to relearn how to function. In the worst case scenarios, the effects are permanent.

I couldn’t perform even the most basic functions with my face. I couldn’t eat or drink without drooling or spilling food, and I couldn’t taste the food I was eating since my tastebuds were dead. I couldn’t smile, I couldn’t blink. I had to wear an eyepatch to prevent irritation. And every loud noise caused a horrible painful echoing in my head. I had to take steroids and do electro acupuncture 3 days a week for months. I was so scared, not just for my own health, but because I felt this would have major implications for my career. I could barely form words and I couldn’t smile and laugh with clients without spitting and drooling all over them. I couldn’t even keep my eyes properly open without tearing up every few seconds. Also, as a makeup artist, especially in the social age, many times our canvas is our own face. And mine no longer worked, nor was it one I was comfortable presenting to the world. Over time, though, I slowly began to heal. It’s been two years, and although my face is still not 100%, I have most of my function back.

Ultimately, this incident was such a wake up call. I could have lost facial function forever. I am one of the lucky ones who suffer with this disease and I didn’t want to waste that fortune. I, once again, left my corporate job to focus on the career I love. My business started growing again, and this time I’m all in on myself.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My work as a makeup artist focuses on the editorial and creative side of makeup. I have always found the bold, fantastical side of makeup more interesting than the beauty side. Don’t get my wrong, there is nothing wrong with glam or wanting to feel beautiful. But I love the challenge to my mind that editorial makeup presents. The only limitations to editorial makeup are the ones that come from my own head. So constantly testing those boundaries is what excites me the most. I love when I push the medium and take objects from life that aren’t necessarily makeup related and incorporate them into a look. Once I glued over 200 studs meant for a leather jacket to my face. It was 4 painful hours, but ultimately made my favorite look ever.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
Listen, I hate to be so basic as to say my husband, but it’s true. My husband deserve so much credit in my story. He’s the one who encouraged me from the very beginning to quit my job and go back to school. He was willing and able to shoulder the burden of providing for our family while I pursued my passion. He has always been my biggest supporter and cheerleader. He’s believed in my talent when I didn’t. And he was the one by my hospital bedside, holding my hand, when my health fell apart. But even beyond that, he’s such a creative juggernaut and genius at what he does. He has been so great to collaborate with and a huge resource with photography and marketing. It’s been so invaluable to have a partner in life who can be a creative partner in business as well.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Kiraj_makeupart

Image Credits
Bobby Besabe