Meet Tanielle Jai

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tanielle Jai.

Hi Tanielle, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started wearing makeup in high school because I was insecure. It gave me this sense of confidence I didn’t have otherwise, but it also meant I was constantly getting in trouble for wearing it at school.

Funny enough, something I wasn’t even supposed to be doing became the start of my whole career.

Once I left school, I landed a job with a retail makeup brand. I wanted it so badly I even used my school principal as a reference. From there, I spent the next ten years in retail, soaking up everything I could about makeup and about business along the way.

Then I got married and had a baby, and everything shifted.

Becoming a mum changed how I saw everything: my priorities, my perspective, what I actually wanted for my future. I knew I wanted to build something that was mine, but making that leap was terrifying. I’d spent years working for other people, and suddenly I was betting on myself instead.

I started small, doing makeup for weddings and photoshoots, building my own little business one client at a time. That experience gave me the confidence to take the next step and create my own makeup label.

What started as an insecure teenager messing around with makeup has turned into more than a decade in this industry: thousands of faces, endless lessons, and eventually, a brand of my own.

I never set out with the end point already figured out. I just kept learning, kept creating, and kept taking the next step.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
When I started out in makeup, none of this existed, there was no YouTube, no social media, no tutorials to learn from. I had to figure it out as I went, and honestly, the whole industry has changed almost beyond recognition since then.

There have been so many ups and downs trying to work out where I fit in this industry, testing every new way to put myself out there, and pushing through a lot of self-doubt along the way. And then stepping into running an online business was a whole new world on top of that, a completely different skill set to learn from scratch.

It’s been a lot of tears, but just as many laughs. And every bit of it has been worth it.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
First and foremost, I’m a makeup artist. I relate most to the creative side of this industry, I love dabbling in styling and finding inspiration in fashion and film. Creating my own brand felt like a natural extension of that, because I’ve always loved campaigns and those memorable, cinematic photography moments.

I’m probably most known for my Aussie girl glam and the latte look, I’ve gone viral for that look more times than I can count.

What I’m most proud of is achieving goals I didn’t even know I had as a young makeup artist. Looking back at where I started, I couldn’t have imagined I’d get here and be able to collaborate with so many incredible people along the way.

What matters most to you? Why?
Staying humble. Always learning. I’ll never think I know everything, staying teachable is something I really believe in, and it’s what keeps me evolving in this industry. I always want to be reaching for more, and I never want to feel complacent about the opportunities in front of me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://taniellejai.com
• Instagram: @taniellejaimua

Image Credits
Brooke Davies – photographer
Model names –