October 17, 2016

Meet Midtown Makeup Artist: Courtney Gower

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Gower.

Courtney, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started doing makeup straight out of high school. I decided not to go to college because it didn’t feel right and it’s still the best decision I ever made. People told me I was good at makeup and I was always pretty artistic so I figured I would just go with that. From there I got a booth at a salon in Stonecrest Mall, that was 2013. Got with an agency that represents artists a year later and started working at 11 Alive news station. Horrible hours, too corporate I hated it and it was making me hate doing makeup. I barely made any money and at that point, I was 18 so my parents said that if this was what I wanted to do (jump into the adult world) that I had to move out by certain the next year.

I moved out the next month. Working the news taught me a lot about people working with celebrities, egos, and the beauty industry in general. Another decision that sucked at the time but I’ll never regret. I broke away from the agency in 2015 and start freelancing full time. Testing with models, built a strong portfolio, submitting stories to magazines, etc. One of the shoots I put together for submission to a magazine happened to be with Amanda Harvey(my current employer’s daughter in law, which I was not aware of at the time). The story came out great and it was published. Fast forward another year, in 2016. My father was working in the Harvey’s home. He’s also an entrepreneur, he cleans high-end furniture and rugs and worked for them a couple prior. Mrs. Harvey happened to be home(they’re not here for most of the year) and he got a chance to tell her that I did her daughter-in-law’s makeup for a magazine last year. She knew what he was referring to and just happened to be looking for a new makeup artist because her makeup artist of 9 years wanted to settle down. She looked at my portfolio and Instagram and had her assistant call me and set up a test with me the next day. I came and did it and she seemed to like it a lot and offered me the job as her personal makeup artist on the spot. That was April 13th of this year. Two days later we were shooting for people magazine, I had to get my passport and I’m flying on private jets to New York, Chicago, Vegas. We went to Paris, Rome, Naples, Capri. I had never been out of the country before and could never see myself in an office setting so for all my hopes for my career to be happening so suddenly felt great it, it still does. I’m literally living my own personal dream.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and career?
My whole career has been a series of good luck. When I was waitressing at a nightclub to allow myself to keep my schedule open to freelance, one of the owners said to me “good luck is just being prepared for an opportunity”. So all I did was make sure I was prepared for the opportunities that would come. I spent all my money on quality brands, practiced, tested a lot with photographers and models, and really prepared myself. So I shouldn’t say good luck just logic!

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
My ability to relate to literally every person. My personality is like a chameleon and can change to adapt to my many different clients. There’s a special connection you have to share when you’re trusting someone with your face.

What do you love about our city and what do you dislike?
I love how diverse it is and I love that it’s so small that you literally know everyone if you’re in the “Atlanta Circle”. The size is also a con because every time you hand a person a business card, they hand you one back! Everyone is an entrepreneur here, the market is over saturated for sure.

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