Inspirational Women: Sam Chapman from Pixiwoo

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.

Beauty Bloggers - Why We Fell In Love With Make-Up

I love how make-up can bond a group of women, and the power that putting your face on in the morning has. I wanted to explore our relationship with make-up a little more, and thought I should turn to the ladies who love make-up the most - Beauty Bloggers!

Beauty Blogger 11: The Glamourologist

Photo: Mat Keller

Can you tell us a bit about your relationship with make-up?

I love makeup but am slightly less interested in wearing it than I am collecting it.

Can you describe it? My makeup look is very simple. I use pan stick most of the time as I like a nice even base (during the summer I mix this in with some moisturiser to form a tint), I line my eyes with a brown liquid eyeliner, use a dark brown for my mascara and I always wear lipstick – mostly red, but other times a pinky colour. I always have my nails painted and like to match my nails to my lipstick colour.

Why do you love make-up? I love that makeup is such a controversial subject and, at various times, throughout the centuries has been subject to very heavy handed control. I love the fact that the Suffragettes embraced lipstick as an emblem cause and I love that practically every civilisation since time began has worn some form of body and/or face colouring. I do not love the fact that despite all of this make up is far too often considered to be a vacuous topic and not worth serious thought.

Why did you start blogging? I started blogging in around June 2011 after very subtle suggestions from a couple of other bloggers. It really started after a conversation with ReeRee and I realised that people were interested in the topic. From this I am now working with two other Norwich based bloggers – Missy Vintage and Retro Chick – and we are taking our love of makeup, fashion and style to vintage fairs as well as holding workshops and parties to show how achievable vintage glamour is – with a little practice. We set up The Historical Sauces in October and it has already been a great success.

 

Describe your blog: My blog focuses really on cosmetic collectables and will either be a theme – say The History of Eyebrows – or focusing on one specific product – my latest post was on false eyelashes for instance. I also plan to develop reviews on products that are have been around for a long time and are still available or new products that help achieve the vintage look.

Beauty Bloggers - Why We Fell In Love With Make-Up

I love how make-up can bond a group of women, and the power that putting your face on in the morning has. I wanted to explore our relationship with make-up a little more, and thought I should turn to the ladies who love make-up the most - Beauty Bloggers!

Beauty Blogger 10: Lorraine from John, It's Only Make-up!

Can you tell us a bit about your relationship with make-up?

It's all love! I started wearing make-up when I was about nine years old. When I say wearing, I mean smearing some of my mam's orange foundation over my cheeks. Just the cheeks. When I started secondary school, I was introduced to liquid eye-liner. My affinity for it lasted for most of my school years and manifested in black circles that surrounded my eyes, sometimes extended to my cheekbones. I hated school so found it really calming to do my make-up in the mornings, concentrating on it was a great distraction. I still find that putting my face on helps me de-stress.

Have you developed a staple look?

 Not really, I'm very fickle. If anything, it's vintage inspired. I like my brows and eye-liner to be quite thick, other than that it can vary.

Why do you love make-up?

As I said, it's a distraction from more stressful things. I really like to wind down my practising different looks or organising my collection. It's a form of escape, applying it and reading about it online. It's nice to be able to help a friend out too, by dolling them up for an occasion. I'm always so thrilled when they like it. Also, the obvious bonus of it making me look a touch less horrendous than I do bare-faced.

Why did you start blogging?

I just really enjoy writing and discussing cosmetics. I thought - what's the harm? I knew I'd the option to delete it if anything went wrong. That other people are willing to read what I write is such a confidence booster for me, so I've kept it up.

Describe your blog:

It mainly consists of in-depth product reviews, both positive and negative. I post a weekly summary that just lists and describes things that have been on my mind since the last post, in as funny a way as I can manage. I love music too, so I include playlists from time to time. I set out to have quite a serious style of blogging but people started saying that my blog was very light-hearted and put them in good form so I just go with the flow now.

You can read more interviews with Beauty Bloggers here.  

Beauty Bloggers - Why We Fell In Love With Make-Up

I love how make-up can bond a group of women, and the power that putting your face on in the morning has. I wanted to explore our relationship with make-up a little more, and thought I should turn to the ladies who love make-up the most - Beauty Bloggers!

Beauty Blogger 9: Nadia K from The Rockabilly Girl Next Door

Can you tell us a bit about your relationship with make-up?

I was never a girly girl and first started experimenting with make up when I was about 16 or 17 years old. By that time I was tired of being ignored and teased about not looking like everybody else, I decided to be the person I wanted to be. I had always loved the pin up/rockabilly look and I started wearing that type of make up at the age of 18. I've never felt better about myself and I now love being "different" and not looking like all the other girls. 

Have you developed a staple look?

I am addicted to my winged eyeliner and I've worn it almost every day for 4 years now! I feel naked without it, it's like a part of me is missing. I also have a thick Bettie fringe which is also a part of the every day "me". In addition to the winged eyeliner I experiment with different eyeshadows, and I also spend time perfecting my eyebrows every morning, they are a big part of my every day make up. Putting on the eyeliner, mascara, eyeshadow and the eyebrows only takes me about 5-6 minutes in the morning, so it's not very time consuming either, which is good! 

  

Nadia is wearing Rockalily here!

Why do you love make-up?

I love make up because it gives you the possibility to look your best, at all times. A little dab of make up can make a bad day better, or make my self esteem higher when I'm feeling bad. Instead of feeling bad for myself and finding all kinds of imperfections with my face, I just put on some eyeliner and mascara and I feel better immediately! You can also play around with it and create different looks, or different versions of your staple look, something I enjoy doing when I'm in the right mood and have enough time on my hands. I enjoy these girly moments since I can develop my make up skills and I always feel great about myself when my make up is neat and nice. 

Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging because I wanted to turn my life around. I was tired of being the tomboy everyone called fat, and I wanted to be a girly girl with curves. My blog has helped me in so many ways and I've "met" some amazing people through my blog. I decided to create the life I wanted, and I have developed so much as a person these last few years thanks to my blog. 2 years ago I would have been very upset if people stared at me and whispered, but now I just think it's fun. My blog gave me the confidence I needed, and I have never felt better.

Describe your blog:

My blog is a great mix of rockabilly, beauty tips and random ramblings about my life. I keep my blog updated and I put in a lot of effort in my blog posts, I don't like posting small posts about nothing. I like to share my life with my readers and I also want them to feel like they "know" me. Interacting with my readers on both Twitter, YouTube and Facebook are also ways for me to stay in touch with my beloved readers. 

Read the other #bbloggers interviews here 

Beauty Bloggers - Why We Fell In Love With Make-Up

I love how make-up can bond a group of women, and the power that putting your face on in the morning has. I wanted to explore our relationship with make-up a little more, and thought I should turn to the ladies who love make-up the most - Beauty Bloggers!

Beauty Blogger 8: Sundari a.k.a Rose from Rose Beauty

Can you tell us a bit about your relationship with make-up?

Since I was little and my mum would take me shopping, I'd be obsessed with all the make up counters in pharmaciess etc! It's always something I've been playing around with, from trying it out on my toys to then trying it on myself! I think all my Barbie's faced the wrath of 4yr old Sundari when I smashed their faces into blush pots!

With my friends, I'm always the one to come to when they want their make up done just because they think I have the best knowledge about it all and all the stuff to go with it! I love doing everyones make up for a night out etc, it's great showing them what eyeshadow and make up can really achieve! For most of them the thought of shadows terrify them! I just like to show people the light ;-)

My collection is always growing and I love learning everyday about new products and brands to try out! *bless good old bloggers* I simply can't get enough of make up! I use it everyday and can't help myself when I walk into any Boots or Superdrug! If there's something I want, I'll buy it! 

Have you developed a staple look? Can you describe it?

My staple look is definitely wearing my black liquid liner with bronzer & a nude lip. I cannot go out anywhere without my eyes lined! Ever since watching Romeo and Juliet (*sigh* the Leo one) I loved the look that they did on Claire Danes in the end scene when *sob* she's "dead" Her eyes are lined in a gorgeous brown liner and I just loved it! Ever since then, I have loved liquid liner.

Why do you love make-up?

I love make up because it's something you can learn and experiment with! You can totally change your look with a simple change of eye-shadow colour! It's incredible! It's also something we can pride ourselves in, it's almost like an art we discover and master ourselves and we envy others who do it amazingly.

Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging properly over a year ago. I'd attempted many times but just couldn't get into it/couldn't keep up. After being a silent reader for a while, I decided to pull my socks up and show the world my own personal beauty style. I simply adore blogging because it's almost therapeutic! I'm quite the organised freak and I love organising and writing posts about the different products I encounter. I mainly become encouraged by reading others blogs and learning something about a product, whether it's a review or how it looks on someone. I feel that if there's someone out there who might want to know about something I have to write about, it's worth it.

Describe your blog:

My blog is like my own little sanctuary. I've got beauty product reviews, fashion posts, face of the day posts etc. It's a little place I can call my own and share this side of me. It's simple and I love it. I tend to do an odd update post on my lifestyle when things are going a bit higgildy piggildy to get some advice from the lovely bloggers out there, it's such a great way to keep a smile on your face!

Read the other #bbloggers interviews here.