Interview with

The Multi-Talented Kate Giddings

Vessel: Could you provide the readers with a brief biography? Tell us a little bit about who you are.

Kate: Well, that's a loaded question. Um, I'm just a normal human who does a lot of different things and I usually don't slow down. I am most known for doing makeup and hair – on production shoots, commercial shoots, beauty shoots. I don't do many weddings, but occasionally. I've been pretty active and busy as a working artist. This has been my full-time job for pretty much the last two decades.

Vessel: A woman with many talents. The empowerment is really what inspires a lot of people. What was your inspiration as you entered the beauty industry?

K: I just hate anything boring. I'm going to be completely honest with you. I love anything that is creative. Art has always been one of my love languages, all my life. And makeup was purely by accident. I wanted to travel, and that's still my number one goal. I basically got into this because I learned that I could get to fashion week by painting someone's face pretty well. I didn't realize that when I stumbled onto the MAC Cosmetics counter a couple of decades ago that this could be a career. I was actually a massage therapist, getting ready to work on a cruise ship and travel the world; it was just going to be like a two-month gig. So, it seemed fun. I had just moved back from San Francisco and had endured a lot of stress during that period and truly wanted to do something creative that made me feel alive inside. I had a very dead soul that just needed to be resuscitated. And so I walked into the MAC counter and somehow bullshitted my way through a job application that I got. The manager believed in me even though she knew that I hadn't had all the experience required to get that job. But I'm a really quick learner. And thankfully, I grew up painting and illustrating, so picking up another medium was not a difficult task for me at all.

Honestly, it's interesting because I never in a million years knew that being a makeup artist was a career path. When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be an astronaut. I wanted to be a paleontologist; I wanted to go dig in the dirt and run around in the desert. So, for me to land here, it makes the most sense, but it also makes the least amount of sense. But to me, what I am constantly chasing is inspiration, whatever that looks like. When I'm working too much or I'm just in my head too much, finding that creative outlet, even if I suck at it, allows me to express myself in a medium. That's what I live for. And not being comfortable and being able to push yourself outside of those boundaries.

Entrepreneur/MUA/Mentor: Kate Giddings

@kategiddings

Studio: Blood + Blush Studio

Photographer: Harrison Woodard

Videographer: Michael Heassler

Interviewer: Brady Hamilton

Designers: MCNZ™, Abigail Griswold