As a self-employed business woman, I choose to surround myself with positive, motivated and inspiring people. So I started a networking group called 'Wonderful Women: Minding Our Own Business'.
I also interview inspirational and creative business women, and I have picked the brains of Lisa Freemont Street, Bernie Dexter, Angelique Houtkamp, Katie Halford (What Katie Did) , Tara Scott (Tara Starlet), Kat Williams (Rock N Roll Bride) and many more! They remind us that great things can happen!
There haven't been any new interviews recently on Inspirational Business Women (I have been too busy with Rockalily) so I am bringing them back with a bang! I have some amazing women lined up, and start us off, I interviewed one of the biggest names in the beauty world right now #excited.
Samantha Chapman is one half of sister-duo Pixiewoo, who now enjoy a blog following of nearly 14,000 on GFC and a youtube beauty channel with over 70 million views. Amazing.
ReeRee Rockette: Can you tell us a bit about your journey into make-up? Was it always your dream career?
Sam: Actually, I always wanted to be Madonna but when I grew old enough to realise that wasn't an option I decided to follow in my aunt Maggie's footsteps. Maggie was and is a Celebrity make-up artist, when we were kids she was doing Princess Diana's make-up as well as superstars like Bowie and Janet Jackson, so it all looked pretty glamourous to us. Of course it helped us massively to have someone to assist and offer advice when needed. After we finished our make-up courses we both worked the counters to build our kits, learn from others, make contacts and in our spare time we would assist Maggie. Then came the time to go it alone and get an agent and the rest I think you know.
ReeRee: Do you have an average day? How do you manage your time?
Sam: It has been a struggle for us to manage our time over the past few years but we have somewhat of a routine now. Nic works Mon, Tues, Wed and I work Tues, Wed, Thurs. Stacey (P.R and Course Manager) works Fridays and two other days of her choice. Stacey has been instrumental to us being more organised as she deals with a prolific amount of emails and phone calls that we couldn't cope with before. Spending less time on the computer has free'ed up a lot of time for us which has been essential because we create extra videos for The Mirror Newspaper weekly as well as Channel 4's beauty website.
ReeRee: Do you view yourself as a business woman? An entrepreneur?
Sam: I never used to consider myself a business woman but the last few years have been a massive learning curve for both Nic and I. On occasion in the past we had entered into things a little blindly but we are much more thorough and insightful now. We also have an agent to help us make the best decisions. I have no feelings of conflict between being creative versus being in business, as previous to the success of our YouTube channel I was working as a freelance make-up artist and therefore a business, I guess it hasn't really felt like much of a transition.
ReeRee: Do you have any top tips for anyone wanting to be self employed?
Sam: If we are talking about being a self employed MUA then I would suggest a part time job or some kind of supplementary income to begin with, a hectic work schedule may be some years off. When I got my first agent I spent 2 months just walking the streets of London going on magazine appointments in the hope of getting bookings. It took 6 months of really hard work to be working 3 - 4 days a week.
ReeRee: You currently have over 70 million youtube views, which is pretty astounding. What on earth has that journey felt like?
Sam: It hasn't really felt like a journey perhaps because we have had so many other things going on during the time that Pixiwoo began. i.e birth of my daughter, birth of Nic's Son, freelance work etc. Also, we tend to keep ourselves to ourselves and living in Norwich means that we don't often attend events and therefore rarely meet anyone that knows or understands what it is that we do. It's hard to comprehend 70 million views. We really have nothing to measure it against. We don't think about it too much.
ReeRee: Do you have any tips for anyone looking to create a following on youtube?
Sam: It is worth investing in a good camera and lighting but the most important tip I can give is to be 100% yourself and to be honest to your audience otherwise viewers may not come back to watch you a second time.
ReeRee: What has been your most proud moment so far?
Sam: Everyday is exciting for us at the moment. We feel really proud and lucky to be able to combine our work with being parents. Having such a flexible work schedule means that we can be there for our families and children when ever we are needed and as much as possible.
ReeRee: Do you have any mistakes you can share with us?
Sam: We don't tend to dwell on mistakes too much. We take stock and try to never make the same mistake twice.
ReeRee: What does being in a partnership bring to your business?
Sam: Two heads are better than one... or in this case, two sets of shoulders are broader than one. Having someone to share the difficulties with really lessens the pressure and lightens the mood but having someone to share the successes with is the best thing.
ReeRee: What are some of your goals for Pixiwoo in the future?
Sam: We don't really think about it too much, We both just concentrate on the here and now and work hard to make sure that everything we do is to the best of our ability. Who knows where Social Media is heading but we are very excited about going along for the ride.
What an inspiring story of mixing modern technology with a long-term passion.
Oh, and my favourite Pixiwoo video is the one showing how to do make-up in the style of Anna Nicole Smith.
Inspirational women 
