Many successful ventures, they usually originate from humble beginnings, whether starting off in your parent’s garage or uploading makeup tutorial videos to YouTube while in high school.

The latter of which, is exactly how it all began for local business Haley Jean Makeup Artist & Hair Stylist.

“After having a huge passion for makeup and creating YouTube videos about it during high school, it's been great to see my business grow and succeed to what it is today from that initial idea,” Haley said.

Officially opening the doors for business back in 2015, Haley Jean has evolved into one of the most successful and thriving makeup and hair businesses across Orange and the greater Central West community.

Servicing a myriad of makeup specialties and hair styling for weddings and special occasions as her business’s primary calling card.

“I love that I get to be a part of such an important stage in someone's life. It's very rewarding. I have so much fun getting my clients ready for a special occasion,” Haley says.

However, Haley’s services are quite versatile, with her sought after skills taking Haley into the world of commercial work from applying hair and makeup services on TV commercials to photoshoots.

But her versatility doesn’t stop there, for over five years now, Haley has been presenting both personal and group makeup classes for many satisfied, happy clients on top of everything else.

Haley’s success has been recognised and solidified with winning the Best Bridal Makeup Artist in the Central West via the Bride's Choice Awards for the last three years consecutively.

“I'm so grateful to have won three times and I was nominated again this year. It's lovely to be recognised for the hard work you put into your business.”

As with the highs of running a business there’s always a flipside to that coin in experiencing the lows. That low is currently this wretched virus shutting down everything that keeps Haley’s business busy and thriving.

“There have been so many postponements for weddings and special occasions – it's absolutely devastating. The uncertainty has been really difficult but I'm hanging in there. I have been coming up with out-of-the-box ideas, like online makeup workshops which have been a massive hit.”

Despite not being able to currently “work in the business” due to the ripple effect of the lockdown, Haley is staying productive by focusing on “doing a tonne of work on her business.”

Haley says, “My admin work is pristine, and I have also been offering online makeup classes and selling products to keep myself busy.”

For the future, Haley has a few plans in development that she’s keeping up her sleeve for upcoming reveals which she hopes the lockdown will end sooner rather than later.

Like a musician wanting to play live music, Haley can’t wait to get back out there and start applying her hair and makeup craft once again for her clients.

“I can't wait to get back to work and do what I love.”