Today we’d like to introduce you to DeAnne Roland-Walker.
Hi DeAnne, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I have always been very into anything creative or artistic. Whether it was dance, singing or painting, I loved it. When I was little, I would spend weekends with my grandmother who was an excellent painter, and we would paint. She always nurtured that creative side in me. I learned with her to draw, paint, sculpt and any other form of art I could get my hands on as a child. As I got older, I wanted to wear makeup. I remember being in middle school and wanting to wear black eyeliner, and my mom said I was not old enough yet. So the next time I went to my grandmother’s house, she took me out and got me my first eyeliner pencil by Wet n Wild. I would go to school and line my eyes with that pencil and then wash it off before I got home. Then one morning, after arriving at school and finishing my morning eyeliner routine, my mom walked into the school to give me my lunch box I had forgotten in the car. She looked at me, and I was waiting to be in big trouble. But all she said was, “Your eye liner is just a little too thick honey..” and that was it. The next weekend she took me to the Clinique counter and had a lady there show me how to do my makeup. That’s where my love for makeup started. It became another form of art for me.
As I got older, friends always asked me to do their makeup for homecoming and proms. Then after graduating high school, I did a couple of my friend’s weddings and continued doing makeup for proms and other high school functions. My younger sister then got into the pageant world and I tagged along doing her makeup for that as well. Slowly, I started getting requests from people I didn’t know to do their makeup and hair for their weddings. I would do the makeup, and I brought my sister, Victoria Green, on to handle the hair. Since I graduated high school in 2009, it has been a slow but steady snowball effect. What was once just a fun hobby became a very successful side business. I had also been working a bank job Monday-Friday for the previous eight years, and every single weekend working weddings and events. Finally, on December 31st, 2021, I was able to resign from that bank job and start 2022 off doing hair and makeup full time. I am so excited to get to do something that I absolutely adore. 2022 is bringing great new things and I am so thrilled to be surrounded by people who love and are so supportive of me.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s not always been easy. Juggling two careers on two totally different paths was definitely challenging and there were times that it would have been easier to just quit doing makeup and hair and throw all of my energy into growing a career in the financial world. That would have been a very rewarding path. But it wasn’t what I loved. There was no passion in that for me. So I kept on hustling. Late nights on weekdays making contracts and talking to brides, advertising myself and my business, being my own accountant and my own assistant; and weekends packed full of makeup and hair. There were no days off. That’s something that I STILL struggle with. Setting boundaries between your work and your personal life is hard, especially when you are selling your own hard work and talent. But I know it’s worth it. I have seen the success that’s allowed me to now do something I love, and I won’t stop!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I work in the North Georgia/Atlanta area as a hair and makeup artist along with my sister, Victoria, who also does hair as a part of my team. I specialize in any kind of bridal makeup and hair, but full glam is where my heart is. I’m talking all the glitter, the lashes, contouring-everything. I’m most known in my area as a makeup artist who can achieve that gorgeous glowy skin, bronzed goddess look. I’m most proud of the business and connections I have built over the last 12 years and the hundreds of brides, clients and other artists I’ve gotten to know during that time. It’s easy to just glam a client and leave your set, never see them again and move on to the next one, but I have truly built some great friendships over the years and gained tons of loyal, beautiful clients. It’s a priority for me to make every experience in my chair one where the client feels heard, has fun, and at the end feels like the most gorgeous version of themself.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I love to work with new artists/models and meet new people! It is super important in this industry to support each other and build each other up. The world of beauty can be competitive, but I want to be everyone’s cheerleader when it comes to being the best version of themselves and doing the best in their area of expertise. I encourage anyone to reach out to me for advice, help, collaborative work or just to meet a new friend!
Contact Info:
- Email: Beautybydeanne@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.Instagram.com/pemberleyblush
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PemberleyBlush/
Image Credits:
1. Photo taken by Garter and Whiskey All other photos taken by DeAnne Roland Walker
