Some would say it's all about being superficial, but for Bailee Blair-Graves it's about empowerment and being the best person you can be - from the inside out.
Blair-Graves is new to the business sector in Yorkton having recently opened Pretty Face Make-Up Studio in the city but while she may be new to Yorkton, she's no stranger to her industry. Blair-Graves is in the business of making people feel good about the skin they are in.
A small town Manitoba girl, she has "the look" and after high school she decided to head to the big city to see what the world had to offer. It was a start on a career path she had no idea would take her in this direction.
"When I was 18 I moved to Ottawa where my aunt took me to a modeling agency. I took a course, started modeling and everything just kind of started happening from there," she says adding, it wasn't actually the modeling that appealed to her but rather the "behind the scenes" aspect of it all.
"I loved wardrobe and make up, organizing the shows..." she says.
After gaining experience Blair-Graves says she went back to Manitoba where she met and married her husband and started a family. Eventually there was a move to Yorkton.
"I was a stay at home mom for six years and then as the kids were turning school age, I started thinking about what I'd like to do so I went back to what I knew."
That meant more schooling - she took a course out of Barcelona, Spain - and then began taking in clients into her own home initially.
"I wanted to update and keep on top of things after being at home for that long," she adds.
She also decided that simply doing make-up applications wasn't enough. When people would comment on how much they liked a product, she decided maybe there was an opportunity to explore another route.
"It kind of tweaked a little something in me. I wasn't really making money just doing make up so I decided to create my own line." And so the BBG (Bailee Blair-Graves) make up line was born.
The decision to open her own studio was also reached - a location where she could not only work with people, but also feature her own products.
"It was time consuming and a lot of work to get where I am... there was a lot of product testing before deciding what I actually wanted to put my name on." But eventually it all came together under one roof and that's now the home of Pretty Face MakeUp Studio.
Located at Suite 102-19 Broadway Street East, in Yorkton the studio is one of several new businesses opened by successful, younger entrepreneurs.
The shop opened in December and it offers everything a girl needs to feel beautiful from the inside out.
"We do make up applications. I sell cosmetics and skin care products. We offer spray tanning, teeth whitening, lash extensions, lash tints and perms, waxing..."
People can either visit the shop or have Bailee come to them.
"We do spray tan parties, girls nights out... stagettes, weddings..."
It makes for the perfect female fun day says Blair-Graves adding, Pretty Face is not only for women. Currently there are a large number of men who stop in for her men's line of skin care products as well as they take advantage of the tanning and teeth whitening. The atmosphere she says, is welcoming to all.
And it's an atmosphere she wants as many people to experience as possible. Her plan is to share her vision with more people. In the near future Blair-Graves will be opening two more studios - one in her home town of Thompson, Manitoba and the other in Flin Flon with the possibility of more opening after these are established.
Still a busy mom with two young children at home, Blair-Graves says it's important to her that her children see that women can be strong and successful with hard work and determination.
"I want my daughter (and son) to see that women can be in positions of power, that they don't have to be dependant."
She credits her strong family unit and supportive husband with the success she's now enjoying.
"And I just love what I do."
She loves helping other women feel good being who they are and believes women need to be supportive of each other.
The idea says Blair-Graves is not to send a message that without make up a woman can't be beautiful, but rather she wants to teach women how to feel good about themselves."Growing up I was never the pretty one and now I feel empowered by what I know and do. I was considered a 'bad' kid back then and I think there are so many young girls out there who are looked at as I was. I want to help them.
"We kind of live in a superficial world, I'm not superficial, even though some people would look at me and say that I am. What I do know is that - like it or not - people are judged by how they look... so I just want to help young girls and women in general to look and feel their best. When you look and feel your best, that's when change happens, when change happens the world becomes a better place and so on..."
Blair Graves says it's not about caking on make up and transforming people into something they're not, or forcing people into a look they can't maintain, but instead it's all about bringing out natural beauty and making people feel confident with who they are.
"Sometimes it's so minor, a little bit of concealer here, a little bit of powder there, some lip gloss and voila... It's not that they've changed, it's that they FEEL they have," she says.
Watching that transformation in people is rewarding she adds and it makes for a career she couldn't imagine being without.
A sense of satisfaction and loving what you do, she suggests, is among one of the keys to success.
"That, and a lot of hard work... I had people question whether I could make it doing this. Some said 'she's not even from here, what makes her think she can just open up a business,' but you just have to block out all of the negativity and do it for what you're doing it for.
"If you're doing it for the right reasons I think you'll succeed at anything. And I think that's why things have been going so well for me. It hasn't been easy." But with persistence and dedication things are achievable she believes.
"This is an esthetiticians town, there are a lot of people in the field that I'm in, but I knew this was what I wanted to do."
She has a vision and she wants to share it with others. "I think I just 'get' life and I want to share that with others too. There are a lot of successful people out there who 'get it' but they keep it to themselves. I want everybody to feel the way I do. I want people to feel amazing and to wake up enjoying their lives everyday.
"I think we all deserve that and it's really sad there are a lot people who don't. I feel truly blessed with everything I have."
Pretty Face is open Tuesday to Saturday: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with before and after hour appointments available. It's located at the corner of Broadway Street and 2nd Avenue.
Learn more by emailing pfstudio@sasktel.net, by calling 306.641.5655, or by checking out www.pfstudio.ca.
