Beauty in Progress

Do you struggle with your everyday style? Today’s guest, Olga Ferrara, is a fashion influencer that will inspire you to find your look. Her passion turned into a job when she started using social media and people followed her for being organic and truthful. She gives advice to her Instagram community about trends, beauty and how to get real engagement. Olga supports sustainable brands because she believes today’s fashion industry is no longer working for the planet. 

Highlights:

• Olga explains how bored she was from social media but later discovered how helpful her daily outfits were for her followers. Her looks are an inspiration for them.
• Olga describes the importance of gracing what you have to empower your own beauty without listening to others. Work with what you have in order to get better; upgrade yourself. 
• Be honest with your followers. Promote what you like, work to be original, and find your own style. 
• Work with a good PR agency so they can promote you and find brands that work with your personality. You have to spend time and money to monetize what you do. 
• Olga admits that she’s working towards healthier habits: transitioning to a vegan lifestyle and starting using natural products.
• Sustainable fashion is the way to go. Olga emphasizes on how our productive system is not working for the planet. That’s why she is working with Ears of Buddha: a women's clothing designer brand that produces sustainable high-end blouses.

To learn more about Olga Ferrara, you can visit her website or follow her on Instagram. 

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There is a difference between being an open book and just putting everything on the table. What is the right thing to do? Yanina Oyarzo, content creator and producer, explains how it comes to finding the right time and the right way. Competitive, intrepid, and always true to herself, Yanina decided to take one day at a time for the past few months, because "you plan and God laughs." Also, as a marketing enthusiast, she will tell you the ABC's of being successful while branding yourself and others.

Highlights:

• Yanina's inspiring career told from the beginning. She talks about her very first job at just 14 years old and the story of how she explored the concept of "beauty in the mess" to become the professional she is today.
• The first thing you need to feel like a million dollars, and how always moving your body will keep your inner beauty in alignment with yourself.
• Understanding your own message as your personal asset. Yanina tells how being real through the media and not focusing on trends made her more trustworthy for her audience. 
• Why you should think outside the box to build your brand. Yanina shares her personal tips for understanding each market and its specific audience, in order to help your creativity grow as you create content.
• Life happens: It's good to be a planner, but you plan and God laughs. The importance of not being critical of ourselves and taking one day at a time. What are Yanina’s next projects? Let’s hear them out!

If you want to know more about Yanina, you can visit her website or follow her on Instagram :)

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Beauty does truly come in all shapes and sizes. Luckily, the fashion industry realized this a while ago and started catering clothes to plus-sized people, who often struggled when finding garments that fitted them correctly. However, it was not easy finding brands and businesses that offered this. This is why Marie Denee, today’s guest, started her own blog called “The Curvy Fashionista,” in order to show brands and designers that offered plus-sized clothes. Marie is a respected voice in the plus-size fashion arena and has made it her mission to continuously empower women to feel Curvy, Confident, and Chic.

Highlights:

• Marie Denee explains how “The Curvy Fashionista” started out as a simple blog and then evolved into a media platform for plus-sized women, plus-size fashion, and lifestyle. 
• The importance of understanding that the growth of social media correlates directly with the growth of the plus-sized fashion industry: it gives the community a strong voice and visibility which brands cannot ignore. 
• Marie Denee briefly describes what the “Health At Every Size” movement is and addresses one of the most common issues that is found in medicine and health practices.
• How the pandemic has influenced the beauty and fashion world by slowing its pace and aiming it to a more natural and soft look. 
• When creating “The Curvy Fashionista,” Marie Denee explains that she wanted to educate, empower, and help people when finding clothes in the retail world that could truly make them feel confident. 
• Marie Denee shares what’s coming up next for her: a new website, a new program to support the community, and much more!

To learn more about Marie Denee, you can visit The Curvy Fashionista website, and you can check her out on Instagram. 

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When thinking about America’s most successful and worldwide-known sitcoms, “Friends” is probably one of the first ones that come up  to our minds. Because of each character's uniqueness and their iconic friendship, we’re probably going to remember this show forever. What you probably did not know is all of the hard work that dressing each one of them meant! Today’s guest, Debra McGuire, was the Costume Designer on the show for its ten-year run and is here to tell you all about it! Debra is also a fine artist and fashion designer who has even been nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Costume Design because of her work in the movie “Phil Spector”

Highlights:

• Because of Debra’s fine art background, when designing the look for the “Friends” characters, she thought of them as a tableau: their look together was way more important than what they looked like individually. 
• Debra explains how this special time of COVID-19 has helped her connect with her artistic side: she has delved into painting and sculpting.
• The importance of being careful when dressing the actors, because the clothes have to support the script, not the visual: you don’t want to ever detract from the joke or the point of each scene. 
• Debra’s freshness and uniqueness led her to design the most iconic looks on the show, which made her different from other designers.
• The difference between working as a costume designer for TV shows and for movies: they are two industries that move at different paces.
• Debra gives her own definition of beauty which consists of getting at the deep essence of self, and finding a way to project that externally. 
• There’s a difference between what a stylist and a costume designer does: one consists of dressing the external aspects of self, and the other is more about finding the essence of self
• Debra tells an inspirational story about the importance of allowing our essence to come out and how life changing this could be. 

To learn more about Debra, you can visit her webpage or follow her on Instagram

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Thinking that a pretty face cannot also mean being an intelligent and inspiring person is an archaic thought. Galina Antonova, today’s guest, is living proof of that. Galina is an angel investor, model, fashion editor and the creator of the “Brains and Beauty” podcast which defines herself: her breathtaking beauty is perfectly combined with her keen investing abilities. Also, Galina is originally from Russia but at 19 years old she decided to pursue her dreams and move to the US in order to start her own path...now that’s inspiring! 

Highlights:

• Galina describes how her relationship with beauty changed over the years: as a young girl, she felt really insecure about her body, but as she grew older she realized the importance of loving yourself and nowadays she feels more confident than ever before. 
• How beauty standards that are portrayed in magazines, TV and social media can have a huge negative impact in young girls. 
• Galina explains how beauty standards in Russia are different from the American ones, and how that helped her gain confidence when she arrived in the US. 
• After working in accounting for some time, Galina realized that she was really interested in investing and entrepreneurship which led her to become an angel investor. 
• In the future, Galina wants to keep angel investing and hopes to launch her own merchandise soon.

To learn more about Galina, you can visit her website or follow her on Instagram  

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 Being a celebrity makeup artist takes a lot of commitment and expertise, especially when you are traveling all around the world. This is the reality of today’s guest, Mylah Morales, a well-recognized makeup artist who has been known by the beauty press as a celebrity “Glaminator” because of her quick and detailed work. Mylah’s impressive client list includes Rihanna, Jordin Sparks, Leona Lewis, Willow Smith, and many more women who feel empowered and beautiful thanks to her skills. 

Highlights:

• Mylah describes how she became known as the celebrity “Glaminator” and what her secret approach is when doing makeup. 
• The importance of understanding your client’s personality and own personal timing is key to build a strong and lasting relationship with them.
• Mylah explains that most of her clients started working with her when really young, so she has managed to accompany them in their journey of success and growth which has developed a motherly instinct towards them. 
• Throughout the years, Mylah has developed a certain makeup “style” that almost resembles a “brand” which is instantly recognizable. 
• Some of the most challenging aspects of being a celebrity makeup artist is the pressure that you feel when working for live events and how chaotic it can sometimes be. 
• Mylah’s speciality is achieving a clean and classy look, where beautiful skin is her first and foremost feature. 
• Being a makeup artist is a lot of fun because Mylah gets the chance to be really creative and create looks for any type of occasion, whether it’s for a red carpet event or a musical video, for example.
• In the near future, Mylah hopes to delve into her own master class and teach how to do makeup professionally. 

To learn more about Mylah and check out her makeup looks, you can follow her on Instagram and follow the #glaminator hashtag!

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When being a director in the movie industry, beauty plays a huge role in delivering the most stunning and breathtaking scenes on the big screen. Today on Beauty in Progress, Gabriela Tagliavini tells us everything about her view on beauty as an award winning filmmaker. Moreover, Gabriela has directed seven feature films and the three most viewed movies in Mexico and Spain: she is one of the most well recognized Latino filmmakers in the Hollywood industry!

Highlights:

• Gabriela describes what she looks for when selecting talents for her movies, and how important it is to have the “IT” factor in order to be chosen for the role.
• How the standards of beauty in the Hollywood industry evolved and the importance of understanding that each one of us has a different perspective of what’s beautiful 
• Gabriela describes a reality that can be found in Hollywood: your appearance does determine the kind of roles you are most likely to get, so it’s really important to keep in mind that a more natural look is what is often searched for so that it can mold into diverse roles. 
• There also is another reality that Gabriela recognizes: the perfect picture of an actress or actor in a movie is achieved with a lot of hard work and a big team behind the scenes. Nobody is THAT perfect all of the time!
• Gabriela believes that her movies are so successful because they empower women and help them realize that each one of them is different and beautiful in their own way. 
• In this particular context that we are living in, Gabriela has allowed herself to spend some more time in reading and preparing new projects for the future. 

To learn more about Gabriela, you can follow her on Instagram or check out her LinkedIn!

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Hair is a personal trait that people take very seriously, as it’s part of their essence, beauty and personality. Today’s guest, Sarah Potempa, is a celebrity hair stylist who knows everything about maintaining that essence and making her clients glow from the inside to the outside by doing a simple haircut or a radical transformation on them. Also, Sarah is the inventor of the patented Beachwaver® curling iron, which helps people do their curls at home professionally! Moreover, Sarah is the CEO of the 45x award-winning Beachwaver Co.®, located in the greater Chicago area, which provides innovative hair tools and products to customers worldwide. 

Highlights:

• Sarah explains how she combined her passion for styling hair with her business studies and then created her own company called the Beachwaver.
• The importance of understanding that beauty is about expressing who you are and how you choose to style your hair can also empower you and give you more confidence.
• Everything that Sarah does is rooted in a very strong foundation of balance and proportion, so she knows exactly how to advise and help her clients when they need a change in their hairstyle. 
• Sarah describes how she and her sister came up with the idea of inventing the Beachwaver® curling iron to help women who wanted to do their curls at home professionally. 
• Most recently, Sarah has launched a hair care line which helps people take care of their aging hair and make it stronger by using her products. 
• Sarah has her own community called The Wave, where more than 400 people help each other in finding the best solutions for their damaged hair and virtual consultations are being held everyday.

If you want to know more about Sarah, you can visit her Beachwaver website or follow her on Instagram

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When being an actor, finding something that stands out about yourself in order to differentiate from others is key in the entertainment industry. This is what Hayley Littman, today’s guest, helps her  clients with everyday. Hayley is President of the Littman Talent Group, a  talent agency with headquarters in Los Angeles and a branch office in Atlanta which represents both adults and young actors. Her special love is helping the client build their casting image so that there is no doubt when they walk into a CDs office that that  is the guy or girl they are looking for.

Highlights:

• The importance of reaching success by being yourself and bringing out that “certain something” that is unique about you, and how Hayley helps her clients find that. 
• Hayley explains that having a role model to look up to or a mentor is great in the acting business, but not losing yourself to become that person is crucial. 
• How influencers are seen as raw talent and are  slowly getting into the TV and movie industry by just being themselves and being followed by a huge audience.
• Hayley sees the process of an actor connecting with its character, as a full circle: finding common characteristics between the actor and the  character is key.
• Hayley believes she is different from her competitors because she takes the time to talk and connect with her clients on a deeper level, instead of rushing the meetings and acting like a talent factory. 
• Due to the digital transformation that we are living and the growth of streaming platforms, Hayley thinks it's important for actors to be open minded and accept this possible change in the acting industry.

To lean more about Hayley and her work, follow the Littman Talent Group’s Instagram

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Art is definitely a form of expression which tends to express beauty in many different ways. Today’s guest, Farnaz Harouni, is a multi-discipline artist who expresses her creative energy and passion through many channels such as sculpting, fashion designing, and interior designing. Her love of life, artistic vision, and meticulous discipline breed an authentic creativity that defies labels and boundaries.

Highlights: 

• How Farnaz chose to follow her passion of being an artist from a very young age, although her parents wanted a different future for her
• Farnaz describes how she started designing custom couture gowns and how much joy it brings to her because of her belief that it requires the most level of creative freedom 
• The importance of knowing human anatomy inside out when teaching about fashion design and illustration
• How Farnaz’s interest in sculpting developed and her fascination with seeing human anatomy three-dimensionally 
• Farnaz explains the difference between fashion design and sculpting and how both artistic expressions make her feel
• It’s crucial to Farnaz to stay true to who you are and only make changes to yourself if that’s what you genuinely want
• How each of the six bronze sculptures Farnaz has created has a different meaning and a hidden and deep message behind them 
• Farnaz’s concern about young kids being exposed to social media and the importance of not comparing ourselves to others: living our lives just like we want to should be our main goal

Get to know more about Farnaz’s work and art by visiting her website and follow her on Instagram! 

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