What motivated or inspired you to create your brand?

I actually didn’t want to have people do my hair so I learned to do everything on myself.

Is your personal brand separate or cohesive with your work as a makeup artist?

It’s definitely separate from who I am because if you hang around me then you’ll know I’m very calm and laid back. I am huge movie person and I love watching movies and chilling. I’m not a rowdy type of person and I don’t go out all the time so when I do it’s kind of a relief. I feel like I work too much so when I get the opportunity to go out I really love to have some fun. I’m also glad you asked this question because I have so many girls in my inbox who just write to me like I’m this big person and I just think to myself, if only they knew, I’m just normal. I love the energy they bring and the lovely things they say about me which gives me a lot of motivation to just keep going.

How do you manage your time?

First of all, I have a full-time job and I just switched to the overnight shift. Switching to overnight has been so much better for me because I have so much more time on my hands because when I was doing the day shift I was really stressed out. I felt like I couldn’t get anything done and I couldn’t take any clients because I was never available. Now that I am overnight, I go in at 11pm and get off of work at 9am so I have so much more time on my hands to create looks and  to take appointments. Changing my schedule has helped me to grow my appointments. I also have time to myself from Thursday to Sunday unless I take appointments.

What do you think was the catalyst to your immense growth? Or what made everything click?

Last year was the time when everything really started to grow. I started to not only be consistent but hashtags has helped me a lot in the business. I reached a larger audience and tagging brands and makeup pages has helped me as well because they repost my images which opens it to a larger audience. The past year is also the year that I really got good with makeup. I wasn’t doing shadows like the ones I am doing now. I used to study Youtube and I’d be on there everyday and hour just studying looks. I would look at little details like how they would move their head and just every technique they would use I would practice. Watching the videos really helped me grow. A lot of people pay to go learn makeup but you’re not going to learn as much as you can learn for free. Take your behind to Youtube because it is free and you can just practice. This is my biggest piece of advice because everyone always asks me what I recommend and it’s simply just to practice and you have to have patience as well. I would mostly practice on myself and then I also had a neighbor downstairs who I would practice on as well if she wanted to have her makeup done. I would also practice on my cousin. People don’t understand that if you don’t have patience then this isn’t the right industry for you to pursue. There is an artistry to makeup and you have to perfect your craft. I used to actually draw and now I’ve turned that skill into my face. The crazy thing is I don’t even really know how to draw anymore. I haven’t practiced drawing in so long now I feel like I don’t even have it anymore.

What did you learn over time that are huge no’s?

I honestly don’t know because  I don’t have any regrets. I feel like everything is a learning experience.

It’s just a whole learning process. There is nothing that is perfect and nothing happens overnight.

What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who may be interested in going in going into makeup?

I would say again to just practice and have patience. It is the only thing that I feel that you need to succeed. Once you have practice and patience down then you are good to grow in your craft.

How long did it take you to build up to where you are now and price your services effectively?

It took me a year to get to where I am now and just last year I started with 2,000 on Instagram and I gained 6,000 followers in a year which I feel is good a good start and everyone builds at their own pace.

I also have somebody on Instagram that I really go to as a little makeup mentor and she helps me out with a lot of questions. Her name is Keke Adams and she is a makeup artist located in Newark so I go to her about everything and she will tell me to price things higher or even fix certain things that she notices. For example, I had no idea about setting up wedding contracts. I had a client that wanted to book me for a wedding and she brought up a wedding contract and I’ve never used them before that time. I went to Keke and she explained to me that it would help me and the client. She already had her wedding contract made so she helped me put my wedding contract together.

I used to charge $40 for faces but as I got better I wanted to up my prices because I felt I was worth the money. My prices grew with how much I grew in my skills. I also have to buy double of any product that I want because I have to buy one for myself and then also some for my clients so that’s a lot of money and I was only charging $40 for a face.

How long did it take you to build your kit to service your customers?

What I would do is every other month I would go and buy a lot of foundations like 8 different shades and I would mix it to match the client’s skin tone. The next month I’d buy a bunch of different concealers and that helps me to build my kit as I refill different products every other month.  Makeup is expensive but it does take a bit of time to go through the product so I make the money back easily. There are some things I have to get more frequently like beauty blenders, brushes and makeup wipes

Do you have any favorite makeup brands or hair products?

I love Maybelline foundations for clients and I also like Makeup Revolution. There are a lot of drugstore products I use on myself and clients like L.A. Girl Pro concealer, Absolute New York and I also have a lot of MAC. I love NYX lipgloss and I also have a lot of the Crayon Case. My go-to foundation right now is Makeup Revolution and every time I get a new foundation I always end up going back. I also love Juvia’s Place and I have a lot of Anastasia lipglosses. AC cosmetics is also good because their translucent powders are great for melanin girls.

On wigs I recommend Mane and Tail and Aussie for curly textures. On natural hair, I use As I am and Cantu. A huge tip too is using hair masks. I will mix egg, avocado and honey for protein and I’ll add castor oil for my hair masks.

Comment down below if you relate with DaiJah’s journey!

Boss Watch will feature creatives, entrepreneurs, influencers, digital professionals and anyone who is moving their passions from an idea into a reality. Boss Watch is for anyone who aspires to live a fulfilled life and just needs a little bit of inspiration to know that they are not alone on their journey towards self-realization. Boss Watch is for anyone who has made it through the growing pains of realizing their dreams and is now looking to share wisdom or just find new people to increase their network.  Is this you? If so, then feel free to leave a comment or email cnkstylebook@gmail.com for a chance to be featured on the next Boss Watch.

Fashion week this year has been a blast and the best part was doing it with my friend Sharra at Sharra Greene Styling

Day 1:

The first event I went to was thrown by my Style Collective sisters. The event was held at Anne Taylor and it was a fun filled event where we were able to mingle, meet fellow bloggers going to the shows, and capture great looks.

I was able to meet some fabulous girls and you can see a few of my favorite looks on my NYFW Highlight on Instagram.

Day 2:

To prepare for fashion week I created a schedule and kept track of my appointments, times and locations of everywhere I needed to be through my Google Calendar app. The first order of the day was my hair appointment at 9am.

Next, I carefully dressed and applied my makeup, hopped on a train, and then met my photographer before the show at 2pm where we shot at my new favorite place called The Park.

Finally, it was show time at 4pm. I was able to attend the Oxford Fashion Studio Group Show and it was great to see several amazing shows. My favorite designers were Ron Ramos New York and Pheren Couture.

Day 3:

The last day was a lot less hectic because the show didn’t even start until 6pm. I had the whole day to rest, put on a mask, and primp for the last show. Around 12pm, I started getting ready to meet my photographer Monica at 4pm before the show at 6pm.

At 6pm, I attended the Landeros NY Nocturne Fashion Show. The show was really amazing and featured edgy suits including a galore of patterns and textures that played with plaid, vinyl trench coats, and artfully disheveled blouses reminiscent of the 80s/90s. It was truly a well done show and the models gave off a fierce face to match the aesthetic. Highlights from this show can also be found on my Instagram.

Outfit Details:

Two Piece Set: Nasty Gal

White Boots: Nasty Gal

Black Blazer: Thrifted DKNY

Shot by: Monica Krystel Rose

What motivated or inspired you to create your brand?

Honestly, I think it just came out of me being a blogger and really wanting to be very vulnerable and transparent on my platform. I felt that growing up I didn’t have a role model who was super transparent and just super raw and unfiltered about the situations that they would go through in life. So, I wanted to be the one to kind of start that cycle. I started being very open about my story and the things that I have gone through on my platform and I’ve just gotten amazing feedback from everyone. The good feedback has motivated me to keep going because I’ve seen that there are a lot of girls that need to see this kind of content. So yeah, that’s where I went with it and it kind of just formulated into it’s own little brand.

How do you conceptualise your brand? Is your personal brand separate or cohesive with Amani Rakeia?

I feel like my brand is super cohesive. Anything that I’m going through or inspired by in my real life I share online. I post a lot of lifestyle content and inspirational quotes so really there is no room for me to try to create anything that is separate from what I do. Even in my color scheme I have the aesthetic of being very colorful and organized and I like to take that back to my life and how I have a very vibrant personality and energy. Now with doing freelance, it’s important to be very organized and just seamless with your work and that’s really what I like to portray on my Instagram or on my blog with any kind of work that I do. I just really think that my entire brand is super cohesive and whatever you see online is just live and in color.

How do you manage your time and still have time for wellness and self-care?

Honestly, I would say it’s a little difficult at times and as a mental health advocate I feel like I am very big on going through the motions even in your sadness or in your pain.There are some days where I just won’t do the work at all and I just try to do the work on myself when I feel sad and tackle one project of the day instead of trying to do everything at once. When trying to keep a schedule, I really try to just mark everything in my calendar and if I can’t get it done today then I’ll just be sure to relay the message to my clients and just have really good communication skills and work on it the next day or at some point throughout the week.

It really isn’t that simple especially now with Freelancing your client can call you or contact you at any point of the day and tell you “Hey I really want to change this or change that” and and in that moment I could be in the middle of taking a bath or even be out doing something so timing is definitely hard when juggling freelance and my blog. Certain things happen things could happen in media and there’s pressure to just cover the hot topic right there and in the moment but it’s like you have to rearrange your schedule to make sure that you are getting that content out in a timely fashion. However, I think the ground work starts when you create a schedule for yourself in the week and you say to yourself “this week or this month I want to make sure to tackle this objective.” Also, it is important to make sure you align the project, work or activity with your goal. You have to have a content calendar and you have to know when to shut it down. Especially with freelance, it’s really hard to be up all night working on projects because you know you don’t have the typical 9 to 5 schedule but it’s really important to put yourself on a 9 to 5 schedule because if not your going to be burnt out the next day but everyone is different.

Some people will wake up at like 3pm and stay up until 5am in the morning and do what they need to do in that time. For me, I still do like to have that structure and make sure I shut it down after a certain time, have a content calendar, and make sure to have friends that hold you accountable. For example, if you have plans with somebody or someone said that they would call you. Make sure they are reaching out to you and saying “Hey, you were supposed to call me.” because it’s so easy to just get wrapped up in the work.

What do you think was the catalyst to your immense growth? Or what made everything click?

I would definitely say high quality imagery. I think that what has taken my instagram and my brand to the next level is being able to have a photographer that knows my angles and gets the portraiture, the lighting and all the important aspects. I also think another thing is being super honest by saying the things you normally wouldn’t say out loud. People are looking for content they can relate to and they are not looking for the cookie cutter photoshop image on Instagram anymore, They just don’t care and I realize that Instagram is now just an extension of our everyday life. In our everyday life we don’t see someone that is glammed up and dolled up. I think these are definitely key things as far as having great quality images and just being authentic in your captions and in your Instagram Stories. Overall, it’s important to be consistent with your Instagram. Unfortunately, Instagram is one of those instant gratification apps so if you are not posting then people don’t care but if you post more frequently they are going to see your content more and you know Instagram’s algorithm plays its part.I still think that it is important to be super consistent.

Did you ever feel like you needed a huge following to start something or did you find a way around it?

I will say when your not consistent is when it will push you back. I remember when I was going through a tough time the downside of being a mental health advocate is there comes a time in your life when you are not always happy and you don’t feel like posting all the time so I am an advocate for being able to go through the motions. For example, when I am going through the motions and I don’t post for like 2 or 3 weeks or even a month I quickly notice that I lose followers and it’s like well damn “ya’ll love me when I’m up but then don’t want to check on me when I’m down.”

What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who may be interested in going into blogging?

Go out to events and to any event that sparks your interest. Go introduce yourself to people. You never know if people are interested in the same thing that you are interested in creating and depending on the kind of writer you are and the kind of platform that you want you can be able to reach out to people and interview them for content. Networking is so great and it is the one thing that has helped me kind of elevate my brand because by having internships in New York City I was able to go to a bunch of different events and i’ve met a bunch of people who have worked at major publications and who have many connects which helped me land my job at Buzz Feed. So, I really think going out and just writing and not thinking that every story you have will hit all these views is important when starting. I think that as a writer it take a while to find your writing style and find your voice. It’s when you find your voice that people start to realize why they would like to come to your page. It’s one thing people need to not think about and just forget about the followers and forget about the views and just write because they enjoy writing. Then, when the followers come they will scroll back to posts from 14 weeks ago and they will be liking those pictures.

How did you get involved with @sadgirlsclub?

I got involved with Sad Girls Club officially starting in March 2018. I started following Sad Girls Club in 2017 about 3-4 months after Elyse put out her documentary and then she started her Instagram page. Elyse was speaking at an event at Yale University so I was like “omg I get to finally see her in person.” So, I go to her and we’re chatting and I’m like “Hey, I’m really into writing and I have my own blog and I think the Sad Girls Club has a blog so how can I be of help. In response she says “Yeah, the girl that we had do the writing got a full-time job so she can’t commit anymore. So, you can takeover and rebrand this whole thing if you are interested. It was literally a dream for me but we had some bumps along the road. On the site, we were working with wordpress and someone from Instagram actually designed the page and it was just really difficult to build because it was very limiting in how we wanted it to look. A couple months went by and we finally got enough money to start fundraising and doing brands to really start elevating the organization. We were able to work with Square Space and when I started getting into web design she asked if I wanted to design the whole website and I quickly agreed. I literally designed the website from scratch and then I started sourcing for contributing writers and now I am the Editor In-Chief. I am kind of just spearheading the whole thing.

Do you have any collabs,  projects or events coming up you would like to speak about or highlight?

For freelancing I do have some collabs coming up and I will be doing some collaborative work with the Brooklyn Fashion Mavens and also with Evian Whitney who goes by the Sexually Liberated Woman and I do have some other collabs coming up with the Sad Girls club and also some collabs with Nike.

Comment down below if you relate with Amani’s journey!

Boss Watch will feature creatives, entrepreneurs, influencers, digital professionals and anyone who is moving their passions from an idea into a reality. Boss Watch is for anyone who aspires to live a fulfilled life and just needs a little bit of inspiration to know that they are not alone on their journey towards self-realization. Boss Watch is for anyone who has made it through the growing pains of realizing their dreams and is now looking to share wisdom or just find new people to increase their network.  Is this you? If so, then feel free to leave a comment or email cnkstylebook@gmail.com for a chance to be featured on the next Boss Watch.