Any Makeup Artists on here? Could do with some careers advice please

[tigerbear]

I'm hoping that there are a few professional makeup artists on here, as I could really do with some advice on getting into the industry.

However, at age 38, a single parent to a 5 year old (50% of the time: my ex and I have shared custody), and a well paid but unfulfilling job at the moment, is it ridiculous to even entertain the thought of giving up my job, retraining, and then trying to work freelance?

I'm based within 20 min of central London, so finding a good school would be no problem (I'm researching a few), and even finding work experience may not be problematic (I currently work in the fashion industry and know quite a few high profile people who could help find assisting work).

My questions and concerns are mainly focused on: how long did you do unpaid work/assisting before making any decent money?
Is it impossible to fit in freelance work if you have a child (and no support network such as family nearby)?
Has anyone else gone into the industry later in life?

It would be so interesting to hear any advice or comments. Thanks in advance.

[LadyAntonella]

warning - boring advice to follow!

I'm not a make up artist but, in the nicest possible way, I think giving up a well paid job when you are a single parent is a bit erratic if not foolhardy. Do you have any experience of working in the beauty industry? What if you hate it or can't find clients? It isn't terribly well paid at entry level - could you cope will bills?

I also wonder what is making you unhappy in your current job? I sometimes used to decide I wanted a completely new career (usually chef / baker in my case) when I was under too much stress at work. If that's the case do you need some help to alleviate stress at work. Do you have an HR department who could help? If you aren't happy purely because it's boring, how about doing some additional training at work or looking for a promotion? Though if you really, really want to become a make up artist / beautician then could you train part time so you don't have to give up your job? You could also work part time when trained to build up client base and experience.

[Tigerbear]

LadyAntonella - thank you for your advice, I appreciate it.
In answer to your question about whether I'm bored at work/promotion etc, it's not that it's boring as such, but after 15 years in this - very niche - sector of fashion (ironically, I'm a headhunter and careers consultant!), I'm dreading another 20 plus years of it.
The company I work for is tiny, and I've been promoted as far as I can be for now, and my boss has given me a £20k pay rise recently.
She's also very understanding of allowing me to work flexibly, 2 days from home so that I can do drop off and collect my DD from school on the days she's with me.

Just reading that back, the great money and flexibility, yes I probably am foolhardy to consider leaving for something so insecure!

However, sorry to drip feed, but my aim is to pay off my mortgage within 3-4 years, and do as much saving as possible during that time, in order to reduce outgoings, before planning to leave and retrain - I'm not about to imminently walk out.

[LadyAntonella]

I can definitely sympathise OP, having done a job which looked great on paper but actually felt a lot like a dead end to me! It sucks. Could you reduce your hours at all to retrain? Even with no mortgage I think I would feel as if I needed a back up plan in case things didn't work out. If your job is very niche, I imagine that could make things more difficult if you leave and then wanted to go back to it?

[MrsT2007]

My sister has done it: she's in tv/film but even three years in and some decent productions under her belt she's still quite junior and doesn't earn much at all. She intersperses slack periods with temp work etc.