April 24, 2017

Meet Krystal Salisbury of Krystal Rose Studio in San Marino

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Krystal Salisbury.

Krystal, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My dream was born ever since I was a young girl, I dreamt of fashion, makeup, and hair, working in Hollywood with movie stars and runways. My appetite for the glamorous life all started behind the scenes in fashion school in San Diego CA at the fashion shows with my passion for the hustle and bustle of prepping the models with clothes, accessories, makeup and hair styling, and then catching a glimpse of them strutting down the runway! I loved every minute of the hectic life behind the scenes! I then started to build a portfolio to show off my makeup work. Each photo shoot began with a vision to create a story, and I enjoyed the collaboration between the artist, model, and photographer to create a work of art.

After Fashion College, I continued to freelance as a makeup artist, and hairstylist working in the industry for over 10 years. I have worked with prestigious brands as a pro makeup artist for Channel, Lancôme, and Laura Mercier. I worked on several fashion shows and photo shoots from LA, Vegas, to NYC, and presently run and manage artists for bridal work.

Some of my clients include, KUSI, CNN, Washington Post, Cover Girl, Garnier. Fashion: Vogue Bambini NYC Kids Fashion Week -among many others!

In addition to building my portfolio, I was also building a family! I had always dreamt of having a little girl one day, and even to what she would look like, my dream came true when I was blessed with the love of my life, my daughter Bianca at age 25. At the time, my finances were slim to none as I was not working, then unexpectedly my daughter’s father died of an enlarged heart, while she was just a little baby. With this sudden devastation of loss, I had to pull myself together and be strong for my little one; I wanted her to be proud of her mom and to show her that dreams can still come true even faced with tragedy. I believe that life is short, and to always say I love you to those you love, and to never hold grudges because it’s not worth it. I do my best to live my life by the Golden Rule- do unto others as you would want them to do unto you. My mission is to inspire and encourage women to make their dreams come true.

With the support of my family, and friends God put into my life, I was able to start a business after saving money, while freelancing for two years, and living below my means. I decided to take my love for working on photo shoot sets, and bring a salon and photography studio collaboration together, thus I have been the proud owner of Krystal Rose Studio for six years. I started Krystal Rose Studio in Albany NY area as a beauty team for events, weddings, photo shoots, and spa parties, catering to each and every customer. I have now recently branched out to San Marino, CA within in the last year.

We recently launched our “Pretty and Posh Parties” by Krystal Rose Studio in San Marino, CA. The location for our event was at Cheveux Hair and Makeup Salon where we put on a lavish party for girls ages 6-9! The event was a hit! We offered hair, makeup, fresh roses for their hair, red carpet, photography, personal chef, DJ, and yummy Bundt Cakes! The best part was watching the girls walk the runway, while striking a pose for Krystal Rose! Our Girls Posh parties are from ages 6-9, Fabulous diva Parties ages 10-15.

I recently had the honor to be a part of what you would call the Cinderella Dream- A girl chosen from less than fortunate circumstances given the opportunity to go to prom wearing a dress she never dreamed show could own, jewelry to splurge on, and makeup to complete her look. I was so excited to be backstage with Dinair Airbrush Makeup Artistry team to beautify these young ladies for their fashion show! Monte and Co-host Laura Marano were a delight to work with, and put on a wonderful show for Say Yes to The Prom.

I have volunteered my beauty services to organizations who help women in domestic violence situations and women in transition. I look forward to giving back to the community by building beauty from the inside out, offering beauty building self-confidence courses, healthy living, wellness, and the ultimate beauty experience. My Beauty Philosophy- “A woman who knows her worth glows from the inside, she exudes confidence, and strength and there is nothing more beautiful.” This is my goal to help women realize their true worth exceeds outside beauty and transcends time.

I work for looks that are timeless & classic. I am known for “Krystal Glow” — fresh, and glamorous!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Owning your own business is an emotional roller coaster. You have your up’s and down’s. I am constantly learning, growing, and changing things to improve my business.

Be prepared for long work hours, endless commitment, startup money, and not cutting yourself a pay check for a while. When starting a business there’s no such thing as regular hours, weekends, or the end of the day. I work really hard to create a work-life balance, but it can be challenging. I would say prioritize as much as you can, and manage your time as much as possible.

There are rewards with hard work though. You are in charge of your destiny, and your money. I am fortunate that I can drop off and pick up my daughter from school. I make it a priority to go with her to her field trips, and be there for her as much as I can.

I would say the most challenging thing for me in the start of my business was realizing that you can’t expect employees to just take initiative to do things without telling them. Your team members need to know what you expect from them, and what they can expect from their employer. I started my business without having clear written down policies, and once I learned the hard way I quickly fixed that. When I put a stylist handbook together outlining my vision, mission, and values of the company my business transformed. I attracted the team members I wanted to be a part of my business, and they respected my policies. I love working together as a team, and that is what I believe I have created.

Please tell us about Krystal Rose Studio.
Our Vision:

Krystal Rose Studio’s vision is to be an international recognized brand name in the beauty services industry as a hairstyling & makeup beauty team for events, weddings, photo shoots, & spa parties, catering to each and every customer.

Our Mission:

We will do this in tangible ways, by offering quality products & services to consumers, customizing the experience to each & every client, providing ultimate service with our top-notch artists skilled in their craft, creating our beauty network partnerships with those who service the same customer, maintaining a team work culture & cohesive unit as “The Dream Team”, training opportunities to our makeup artists & hairstylist through Krystal Rose Academy & encouraging ongoing education in the beauty industry. We will carry out our mission in a spirit of caring, living the positive values on which our company was built.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
When I was 17, I watched the story of Mary Kay Ash on TV, and I was blown away by this extraordinary woman who had a vision and a dream and risked her savings of $5,000 to start a company by women and for women. Her life was full of struggles yet she never gave up she has truly been an inspiration for me. If she can do it I can do it! She created a multi-billion-dollar empire and Mary Kay Cosmetics is still a family owned business. Of course, I couldn’t wait to turn 18 so I could be a Mary Kay Consultant! I contacted a local representative and signed the day I turned 18 years old! Being a Mary Kay Consultant allowed me to work with various skin types and meet numerous amounts of women I would have never met. I enjoyed teaching proper skin care and proper makeup application. I enjoyed the recognition and prizes at the sales meetings! These women I worked with were like a family all supporting each other and helping in any way they could. Why I enjoyed being a Mary Kay Consultant very much my dream was to one day have my own brand of skin care and makeup –this dream would one day come true with Krystal Rose Cosmetics.

A mentor to me in my wedding business was Amy Elizabeth. We worked together on the Lancôme Makeup Artistry Team. I then started working for her on her bridal team, and loved working alongside of such a talented makeup artist. Working alongside talented artists is the best learning experiences you can ever receive in the beauty industry, so I am truly grateful to Amy for the opportunity to work so closely with her on brides! I am always eager to learn any new secrets of the trade I feel you can always learn from anyone no matter how much experience you have.

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