Valley_10.3.16

Courtney Housner

So I started meddling in the hair world when I was super young. I so appreciate all the people that let me play with their hair growing up because that ultimately led to the career that I have now. My best friend Rachel, I swear will never let me forget the number of times that I made her let me do her hair. What are best friends for, right? Read more >>

Brittnie Busik

I’m from a small town in Michigan and always knew I wanted to move out and explore a big city. I never really knew what I wanted to do though and that left me feeling incomplete and lost. As heading into college I changed my major several times, from journalist to fashion designer, to culinary arts to marine biology. Read more >>

Romy Baral

Since I was little I was always drawing. I found it hard to focus in school so I would draw on all my papers. It was an outlet for me and helped me a lot. Even in restaurants I drew and still draw on napkins, coasters, receipts etc… Read more >>

David Proffer

When I was in my early twenties I decided to hire a personal trainer. I listened to everything he told me and took everything at face value. After all, the guy was in amazing shape and I wanted to look like him. Read more >>

Rain Sky

My story started before I attended Cosmetology school. My parents owned a beauty salon here in the San Fernando Valley when I was just in diapers. I grew up exposed to a colorful world of-of beauty and creativity. Read more >>

Sean Paul Franget

I started doing photography in Santa Monica college in 2003 with my Nikon F3 film camera, that’s when I fell in love with it. It’s been quite an amazing journey through the years. I started off shooting fashion and working with fashion photographers at different events then I got into headshots for actors and doing some fine art photography. Read more >>

Steven E. Gordon

Back when I was still in high school (Kennedy High School in Granada Hills) my art teacher saw an ad asking for portfolio submissions and she thought this would be a good way for me to get a professional review. We were both surprised when, instead of a review, I got the job. It was to help out on Ralph Bakshi’s animated Lord of the Rings. Read more >>

Amanda Witkowski

Ironically I was never one of those girls in school who knew how to do their makeup. For my 18th birthday, a friend bought me a makeup kit with “how to” instructions. I just started practicing all the time on myself and any family or friends who would let me. Read more >>

Bradford J. Salamon

My parents got divorced when I was two, When I went to my father’s home I saw his paintings that he collected. He also did some painting himself, and several times painted my brothers and me when we came over to visit. My older brother, Joe, and I did drawings at the dinner table before we were teenagers. Read more >>

Triana Pardon

I started taking pictures when I was very young. It all started with family vacations. My mother wanted us to be well-traveled and experience other cultures and I would always want to be the one to document our trips. I fell in love with photography and the rest is history. Read more >>

Keshia Mercado

Just like everyone fresh out of high school, I went straight to a community college. I thought I would be able to get my liberal arts degree to work with children. Halfway through the process, I felt that it wasn’t for me and decided to pursue my passion for Special Effects makeup. Read more >>

Peter Ney

I’m originally from Buffalo NY, and after college, I decided I wanted to be a part of the entertainment industry so I packed a bag, and drove across the country without looking back. I landed in Los Angeles 3 days later, and as fate would have it, I arranged to stay with some friends who lived right down the street from Mann’s Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. Read more >>

Jacob Adam Aguirre

I had always had an interest in makeup and beauty. I would do my grandmother, mom and sisters makeup when I was young. In the late 90s, I became obsessed with the Kevyn Aucoin making faces and loved the transformative power of makeup. Read more >>

Christa Marie Philippeaux

Since grade 7, I’ve always known I had a natural attraction for both the camera and the computer. At that age, I kept to myself for the most part. I would spend time taking photos of myself and eventually gain the reputation of being photogenic people would say I should be a model, but it wasn’t myself that I was interested in. Read more >>

Mela Ghaoui

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. Read more >>

Jeff Alan

I moved to LA in 2003 for acting aspirations. After several years of pursuit, I decided to put my artistic side to better use behind the camera. I’ve always been involved in the art field whether it be drawing, painting, writing but photography struck me directly into my heart and I never looked back. Read more >>

Moses Sparks

I began studying photography as a kid, the mad scientist who converted the basement into a darkroom, etc. One of my first jobs was assisting a professional studio photographer, where I learned the basics of lighting, directing models, and commercial production. Read more >>

Lillian Vince

I studied Theatre in college and eventually noticed that one of my favorite parts of rehearsal and production was creating the makeup for my character. I loved the fully realized image that came together when makeup, hair, and costume were realized. Read more >>

Curt Sletten

I fell in love with photography while serving in the Army. I was stationed in Germany, and for a wedding present, my parents bought my new wife and me a nice camera. I did a lot of traveling there, and the camera was with us all the time. Read more >>

Jaclyn Jablon

I’ve always been infatuated with makeup, but it all started about 7 years ago when I really started learning more about the special effects aspect of it. I enrolled in Makeup Designory shortly after and have been in the industry ever since. I started off doing makeup for friends and family, then on music videos, student films, and finally landed a tv show after building my portfolio. Read more >>

George Grigorian

I love my wife and I love soccer, I knew those two for certain back in early 2002 before my first son was born. When we were getting ready to welcome my first son, Adrian to this world we did the regular first-time parent things… getting a digital camera to take pictures and a camcorder to make ever-lasting videos. Read more >>

Jackie Romero

I enrolled in makeup school when I was 18 years old expecting it to be a fun hobby I could do on the side. I never expected to love it as much as I did, and after my program was completed I immediately began working on photo shoots for trade and getting myself out there as much as I could. Read more >>