Today we’d like to introduce you to Mela Ghaoui.
Mela, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started doing makeup for bridal parties and am completely self-taught. In no time I developed my own style of glam but also enjoyed the freedom of creativity and wanted to pursue work in high fashion. I started working with local photographers to build my portfolio and then started getting work doing professional models for fashion sites and runway. Video producers started getting a hold of my work and I started doing makeup for album and video shoots, working with rising stars such as Alyxx Dione, and MTV’s The City star, Allie Crandell. I stopped doing makeup to pursue a career as an event planner and started my own company where I specialized in South Asian and Middle Eastern weddings. As an artist, I learned creativity, how to deal with clients to give them what they want within the framework of what they’re giving me to work with, participated as a professional vendor, and built a clientele that allowed me to taste success as an event planner. While I loved the excitement of having a creative outlet and running my own business, I knew that I was meant to serve others in a different way. As a member of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church I served as a Sunday school teacher, a position that made it clear that I had a calling as an educator, and then got a position at the school, where I currently work. I will eventually finish my doctorate and teach at the university level as well, but until then I love serving God and my community!
Has it been a smooth road?
I was really fortunate that my passion and ambition was coupled with a lot of great opportunities to showcase my talents. As someone who is completely multifaceted, it’s important for me to have different outlets to do what I love, and most importantly not be limited in my ventures; and I continue to have these outlets!
How would you describe the type of kid you were growing up?
Growing up I was always very active and social. I come from a very large and loving Mediterranean family, and I was fortunate enough to grow up surrounded by my cousins and siblings. We had an amazing childhood, always outside and getting into trouble, I was the ring leader, and have always had that kind of influential personality. As a kid, I took a keen interest in animals. I would catch anything and everything from spiders, and other insects, to amphibians and reptiles. I played basketball, and was a huge tomboy, If you told me I would end up doing makeup I would have laughed at you! By the time I was 15 I traveled a lot of the world. Travel, language, and adapting to various cultures is something that I got from my father and turned out to be advantageous for my career. I grew up loving to cook, and having multiple interests. In turn, it made me multi-faceted and versatile, something that proved to stick as I became a young woman.
Is there a specific memory from when you were younger that you really miss?
Palm Sundays at church. Greek Orthodox Palm Sunday is one of the most amazing things I could have experienced as a child.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I want to put a piece of myself out there for the world, and I want to do it through writing. I want to write cookbooks, books on glam, how to event plan, philosophy, religion, education…everything that I am skilled in needs to shared with the world because I think I was gifted with a very unique world view that I desire to share.
Pricing:
- makeup (all variant but start at $150 per hour)
- event consulting (flat consulting fee of $2000 for any event)
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: miss_melaa
