Freelance Advantage

Freedom

Using structure to accomplish your goals is what gives you the freedom to be spontaneous

Discipline

Discipline: Today is a day of doing what I'm supposed to do whether I feel like it or not. Putting it off until tomorrow just makes my days longer. How about you?

Spread the Love - PYP Grads Score Big with former Crystal Agency Client

WORTH MENTIONING:

What's more exciting than watching the success of my PYP Grads? When I can help them recoup the investment they made in themselves by taking my 3-day portfolio building & marketing class by passing on paid assignments to those who are READY!

Since January 2012, I've been able to pass on 7 well paid celebrity editorial gigs to PYP grads, including but not limited to actresses Tamela Jones, Reagan Gomez, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Persia White, Megalyn Echikunwoke and more coming next week that we'll talk about and share later!


Congrats to PYP Grads Brenton Lee, Joan Pleasant, Suzie Moldavon, Bianca McMillan, and Nia Dennis who have worked and excelled on these celebrity shoots, I'm excited about the new work they'll be adding to their portfolios.

A special and warm shout out to photographer www.david-roth.com whom I represented for 5 years and reconnected with as well as www.jsquaredphotography.com whom I worked with in the last years of Crystal Agency. We are all working together to form a win-win scenario that will pay work, revenue and relationship dividends for years to come.  Thank you gentlemen for working with my PYP grads to create such beautiful images for TBW magazine.

It's worth mentioning that my PYP grads DO NOT pay me a commission, but that they give 10% of their earnings into a fund that we created to give back to the community. Grads get to weigh in on where the money will go by just speaking up when they see others in need. We hope to keep teachers from going into their pockets to buy supplies by helping out with gift cards and more.

We don't have a 501c3 status, but we're not going to let that keep us from helping others. We are looking for a 501c3 to help us facilitate the giving.

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For 24 years Crystal Wright represented some of the most talented freelance makeup, hair, fashion stylists and manicurists in entertainment and fashion. If the work of celebrity hair stylist Neeko, makeup artist Monifa Mortis, fashion stylist's Lisa Michelle and Melinda Tarbell ring a bell, then you know just a few of the people she has represented over the years.

Two and a half years ago God told her that, that season was over and she should focus on writing, speaking, teaching and coaching. Since then, she has written her second book; 30 Days at 100 Percent and launched a career coaching business for individuals and small groups.

She has been called many things, but most often she's called the "Empowerment Diva" and YOU are on her list of things to do.

Crystal believes in personal responsibility and is not afraid to share her own life lessons of the times she buried her own head in the sand and came up on the bottom of a bad decision. Her job now? to inspire and motivate others to take responsibility for their choices, leave their excuses at the door, get control of their lives and take their power back.

She has self-published 2 books, The Hair Makeup & Fashion Styling Career Guide and 30 Days at 100 Percent: Changing Your Life 30 Days at a Time. If you are a beaty pro who needs answers about what to do next to break into the world of print, video, film and TV the Career Guide is for YOU!

If your life is a mess, or you just simply feel stuck and without direction, energy or focus, then pick up the book and maybe even the audio version of 30 Days at 100 Percent and get ready for a change.

In all things Crystal challenges you to strive for excellence and get hold of your life by tackling one thing every 30 days. You can order both books online in the CrystalWrightLive Store.

 

Photographers: You can't live without them and you can't shoot them

by David Anthony for

www.MakeupHairandStyling.com

In the many years that I’ve been working on my photography career, I’ve encountered numerous pluses and minus’s while working with makeup, hair and fashion stylists. These experiences determine whether I would ever hire and/or recommend that person for another assignment, and/or assist in their career development in any way.  Crystal asked me to share them with you.

1. Makeup, Hair & Fashion stylists with a “legend in their own mind” attitude. These people show up with a portfolio and mediocre test photos, poorly printed, and “models” that should look for another line of work.

2. Do your homework! Take some time and research the photographers you want to work with. I shoot fashion editorial. I have a certain viewpoint on fashion, and my influences are publications such as French and Italian Vogue, having lived and worked in Europe. I am not interested in seeing catalog shots and flatly lit, posed test photos. I’m not interested in seeing a portfolio full of tight face shots or stylist photos where the clothes are so perfect, that they’re void of feeling. Regarding portfolios; a few beauty shots are fine, but I want to see fashion shots as well, because I want to see if you understood the nature of the shoot. What did you do that enhanced the shoot!

3. In editorial work, things are “perfectly imperfect”. Don’t rush in every 30 seconds to straighten clothing simply because you feel like doing so. There isn’t a thing I miss in the viewfinder. If I don’t worry, don’t you worry. If we are on location and the wind is blowing, the last thing I want is someone trying to make the clothes perfect. I work with 80% planned, the other 20% I allow for those wonderful accidents which can turn a good photo into a great one.

4. To me, if you call yourself a fashion stylist…. STYLE! I love stylists who can come up with wonderful, off–the-wall combinations, finding different ways to show things. When I discuss with you the direction of the shoot I want you to come up with great ideas. I want you to know and understand my style, direction, and the designers and visual looks I gravitate to. I hate stylist who shows up with “off-the-rack” outfits. That takes only time not talent. If I wanted that, I could go to the stores myself, and use my credit card. I love Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Alexander McQueen, etc. So don’t show up with cotton T-shirts with “ Daddy’s Little Girl’ written on the front. I’ll immediately make a mental note never to hire you again.

5. You’re the Make-up artist! Great, then be an artist. Don’t give me a half-effort because it’s a model test. Don’t tell me that’s the way other photographers like it’. I’m not the other photographer. I’m very demanding and expect you to give nothing less than your very best. I expect you to study and practice the newest directions in make-up, know what’s happening in the major magazines, and to realize why people like Pat McGrath and Linda Cantello are at the top of their game!

6. If you advertise that you do hair, please know how to do good, editorial hair. Know the current direction in the fashion world, and above all be proficient! You can’t put one past me in this area, as I used to be an Art Director with Vidal Sassoon, doing editorial hair for magazines.

7. Realize what level in the business that you are in. Accept that there are a lot of things you can learn from photographers who have worked for top magazines, models, and talent. We are more demanding.

8. STUDY the major fashion magazines. READ magazines that are pertinent and crucial t the success of your business. READ & STUDY! PDN (Photo District News) is an invaluable resource that you will refer to over and over again. European and the U.S. fashion magazines will be a continued source of inspiration, and help you remain current in your style.

9. A few make-up artists that have made a strong impression on me during my career come to mind immediately. The first is Jasmin Manders. She was at the Celestine Agency when I first met her. We worked together on a few advertising jobs, and it really opened my eyes to someone who took their art seriously. I also worked with Lena Koros in Los Angeles, who told me that one-day she was going to be working for the best magazines. Today, she is represented by Nars, and is living in New York, working with some of the best photographers. I see her credits in top magazines often! The last Make-up artist is very special to me. I worked with her for four years. Her name is Kelly Meredith and the Plutino Group in Toronto, Canada represents her. Kelly’s drive and determination is enviable. She studied magazines, practiced, studied more, practiced, and in short taught herself the artistry that she is well known for. She worked with me in Europe and in Canada, and she does absolutely beautiful, creative, flawless make-up! Kelly put up with my demanding regime, always wanting to give me her best, because she wanted to be the best. Kelly’s work is now seen in many of Canada’s top magazines and advertising campaigns, and I really hope to have the opportunity to work with her again!

Biography: David Anthony began his career in in Los Angeles, California.  His first break came when he was selected to shoot the Z.Cavaricci campaign.  Since then, David has worked in Paris, Madrid, London, and Canada shooting for magazines such as Elle-Spain, GQ-Spain, Marie Claire, Biba, Flair, Chicago Woman, Chicago Social, Angeleno and numerous others. David's first love remains editorial work.  "I'm continually challenged, never having to shoot the same way. I get to make wonderful images which I still get joy, seeing the hard work in print".  I still do work with new models, new artists, and work out ideas and films". "Some models and artists consider it an insult when someone takes the attitude that "it's just a test", so they don't need to do something different, and simply want to give me what they give to other photographers. They forget that on both editorial assignments and advertising, I select and hire my own crews, as well as cast 95 percent of the models. What I see in a test is what I know they'll give me on a job".

 For more information about testing with photographers, building a book, setting a day rate, and finding an agent to represent you, check out The Hair Makeup & Styling Career Guide and learn about Crystal Wright's 3-Day Portfolio Building and Marketing Workshops in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta & Chicago.

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As an aside, to #5, in the over-retouched world we live in, I would like to add another non-acceptable thought ..."whatever, the client will fix it in post."

 

Ladies & Gentlemen, lets not!

Delete: Are the wrong people, wrong friends and wrong activities taking you off your game?

If you're like me––human, you have moments when your distractions seem to get the best of you.  I wanted to share something I read a couple of years ago in CS Lewis' book The Screwtape Letters. In a conversation between an Uncle, a devil named Screwtape, and his nephew Wormwood they discuss the ease with which they plant a simple suggestion in our mind that totally takes us out of position for our blessing.

It's a fascinating read and will make you think twice the next time you are in the midst of working on or creating something great and right before a breakthrough, you decide to clean out a closet, go to the dry cleaners or repaper a shelf.

With so many new goals and aspirations for 2012, I am reminded of how the Screwtapes of our lives and their crafty little nephews (the wrong people, the wrong friends, the wrong activities) delight in taking us off our game.

If you are sitting there thinking about the important things that you intended to do yesterday, today or tomorrow, but you just can't seem to get motivated, or you seem to be distracted by every little thing that pops into your peripheral vision, then Screwtape, or his nephew may be lulling you into a false sense of security and lackluster living.

Here are a couple of excerpts from "The Screwtape Letters" by CS Lewis that may hit home. In this excerpt Screwtape is advising Wormwood on how to get the soul of this man.

Screwtape to Wormwood:

The great thing is to prevent his doing anything. As long as he does not convert it into action, it does not matter how much he thinks about it.

Let him do anything but act. No amount of piety in his imagination and affections will harm us if we can keep it out of his will. As one of the humans has said, "active habits are strengthened by repetition, but passive ones are weakened. The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel.

Right now is a defining moment in your life––take your power back now. Keep your wits about you, and don't let the Screwtapes and Wormwoods of the world "trick you".

––Crystal Wright

 

Looking for Bookeeper/Accountant for PYP Workshops 2012

Hello Freelance World!!!

For those of you freelance artists with bookkeepers and/or accountants who are fabulous with financial management, We Need That Person! If you are so inclined, please reply to this post, providing their name, email address and phone number as I am looking for a bookkeeper/accountant to speak at PYP workshops on all things financial and business related, as it relates to freelance work.

You may also feel free to give them my number and email address. Thank you in advance for you recommendations.

Crystal Wright

323.299.0500

Email Crystal

To learn more about Crystal Wright and her 3-Day Packaging Your Portfolio & Marketing Workshops visit our events page at http://crystalwrightliveevents.eventbrite.com/

 

Choosing The Right Photographers To Work With

Is it possible to work with the wrong photographers? Yes. People do it every day.

On the surface it seems like you should just be able to pick a photographer, gather a couple of your salon clients together and go for it––Not so.

If you want to work for magazines like Vogue, Elle, Allure, Essence and Glamour,  you will have to prepare like a pro, and part of that preparation is choosing good photographers with which to build your portfolio. Here are some great tips that you can use to improve what you are doing right now.

#1    Make good choices about who to work with.

You make good choices about which photographer to work with by training your eye to recognize good photography. How do you do that? Here’s a secret. There is no bad photography in Vogue, or Glamour, or  Allure, or Essence. If your dream is to work for top beauty and fashion magazines, or the faces of the celebrities who grace the covers of those magazines, then study them as if your life depended on it.

Looking at the photography in the best magazines provides you with a benchmark by which you measure all of the photographers that you are or will consider working with now or in the future. After doing that exercise for a few months, you will find that you have developed a more discerning pallet for photography.

With that new eye, you will be looking for something else when a photographer shows you his or her portfolio. You will be searching for a feeling about the work that comes from the inside out, because photography is art and a love of art comes from inside you. You may not know exactly what it is that makes you say no to one photographer and YES to another, but your yes’ will produce better pictures, and your no’s will save you time and money.

When a photographer’s work astounds you and a little voice in your head says, “this photographer reminds me of (X) one of the photographers whose work you fell in love with in Vogue, or Essence, or Elle––that’s the photographer you want to work with.

#2    See the whole picture. When you look at the pages in  Vogue, or Essence start looking at more than just your specific discipline––hair or makeup. Its not just about the hair, or the makeup, it’s about six key elements that when put together make a great image. Those six elements are hair, makeup, fashion styling, photography, environment and the model.

It’s important to study the entire image and all of its subtleties, because if one of those elements is out of place, the photograph is ruined. The team creates that beautiful image. Kobe did not win the Lakers championship all by himself and neither will you create great pictures without 100% effort from the entire team.

Have you ever walked into a room and seen an ugly chair in a really great room. When one element is out of place in a photograph, it’s like the ugly chair. Once you leave the room, it’s all you can think about.

#3    Use real models! Your clients are beautiful, but most are not professional models, and paying clients can tell the difference when they see those pictures in your book.

Modeling agencies need great hair and makeup people to make their models look good. Do your research and start approaching them to work with their girls.

Lastly, none of this matters unless you have a goal for the kind of work you want to do, and the right answer is not, “I want to do everything”. No agent is looking for the artist who wants to do everything.

Need something to do? Go to a newsstand, a Barnes and Noble bookstore, or grab an electronic edition of  two beauty magazines and one fashion magazine. Take the time to study the photography and put post-it notes on the pages of the photographers whose work moves you.

 

For 24 years Crystal Wright represented some of the most talented freelance makeup, hair, fashion stylists and manicurists in entertainment and fashion. If the work of celebrity hair stylist Neeko, makeup artist Monifa Mortis, fashion stylist's Lisa Michelle and Melinda Tarbell ring a bell, then you know just a few of the people she has represented over the years.

Two and a half years ago God told her that, that season was over and she should focus on writing, speaking, teaching and coaching. Since then, she has written her second book; 30 Days at 100 Percent and launched a career coaching business for individuals and small groups.

She has been called many things, but most often she's called the "Empowerment Diva" and YOU are on her list of things to do.

Crystal believes in personal responsibility and is not afraid to share her own life lessons of the times she buried her own head in the sand and came up on the bottom of a bad decision. Her job now? to inspire and motivate others to take responsibility for their choices, leave their excuses at the door, get control of their lives and take their power back.

She has self-published 2 books, The Hair Makeup & Fashion Styling Career Guide and 30 Days at 100 Percent: Changing Your Life 30 Days at a Time. If you are a beaty pro who needs answers about what to do next to break into the world of print, video, film and TV the Career Guide is for YOU!

If your life is a mess, or you just simply feel stuck and without direction, energy or focus, then pick up the book and maybe even the audio version of 30 Days at 100 Percent and get ready for a change.

In all things Crystal challenges you to strive for excellence and get hold of your life by tackling one thing every 30 days. You can order both books online in the CrystalWrightLive Store.

 

Crystal Wright Live Announces 2012 Internship and Administrative Assistant Position

I'm pleased to announces the launch of the 2012 Crystal Wright Live Internship Program as well as an opening for an administrative assistant.

To learn more visit these links:

2012 Internship Launch

Administrative Assistant Search

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

 

Pictured above, Intern Chante Bishop Giving Back | My Sister's Closet

Crystal Wright
Team Leader
www.CrystalWrightLive.com
www.facebook.com/crystalwrightlive
www.freelanceadvantage.org
crystal@crystalwrightlive.com

OFC 323.299.0500

PYP Grad Brenton Lee Steps Up and Gives Back

Several months ago I learned that a dear friend of mine had breast cancer. Well she's through the worst of it now, Praise God.

One of my friends, Joleen (also known as the glue that holds us all together) gathered a core group of us together and we created a fund to help her purchase a great wig and we presented it to her one night over Lemon Drops.

Well, today––Yes a Friday (April 13th) when hair stylists are uber busy in their salons, PYP Grad Brenton Lee took time out of his crazy day to donate his time to helping my friend look and feel great.

Not only did he take time out, he met the ladies across town at a wig shop, where they picked out not one but two great wigs for her. It's worth mentioning that later on that afternoon, when it was discovered that the store had put the wrong wig into one of the boxes, Brenton sent a staffer back to the retailer to replace it, waited paitently and cut and styled that wig too!

And if that wasn't enough, he had someone at his shop do our friend's makeup just to put the icing on the cake.

All of this he did at the FABULOUS new BRENTON LEE SALON in South Pasadena.

Thank you Brenton for going above and beyond! I love you and I appreciate your dedication to giving back and helping me to make my friend feel better.

What we cannot do alone we can do with the help of friends and colleagues!

Thank you Brenton!

Sincerely, Crystal Wright

Brenton Lee is a salon owner and freelance celebrity hair stylist in Los Angeles, California.
His new salon Brenton Lee Salon is located at:
1011 Fair Oaks Ave. South Pasadena, CA 91030
Phone: 626.441.3400 | Email: Info@Brentonleesalon.com
His client list includes but is not limited to: Lindsay Lohan and Nia Long...oh yeah, and Me, Crystal Wright :)

WORD FOR THE DAY: The way you do ANYTHING, is the way you do EVERYTHING.

I was on a MasterMind call this morning at 5AM and the woman who was speaking said the way you do ANYTHING is the way you do EVERYTHING.

The timing was perfect for me to hear this message, because just last week I made a decision to be on time for EVERYTHING. I'm of course always on time for my workshops and most business meetings, but right next to allmost in the dictionary is the word mediocrity.

I don't want to be mediocre. My Grandmother doesn't want me to be mediocre and the next level of people I'm trying to do business with won't let me in the door if I'm mediocre.

We have to be the excellent people that we are calling others to be. People won't tell you when they see right through you. They just won't let you in their club and you will never know why.

Find your flaw. Commit to Change. Make a Decision and write your own 100% Statement down on paper. My name is Crystal Wright and I am 100% when I am on time to every personal and professional event that I have committed to.

••••••••••

For 24 years Crystal Wright represented some of the most talented freelance makeup, hair, fashion stylists and manicurists in entertainment and fashion. If the work of celebrity hair stylist Neeko, makeup artist Monifa Mortis, fashion stylist's Lisa Michelle and Melinda Tarbell ring a bell, then you know just a few of the people whose careers she had a hand in developing.

In 2009 God told her that, the season for representing artists was over and she should focus on writing, speaking, teaching and coaching. Since then, she has written her second book; 30 Days at 100 Percent and launched a career coaching business for individuals and small groups.

She has been called many things, but most often she's called the "Empowerment Diva," she gets people unstuck and YOU are on her list of things to do.

Crystal believes in personal responsibility and is not afraid to share her own life lessons of the times she buried her own head in the sand and came up on the bottom of a bad decision. Her job now? to inspire and motivate others to take responsibility for their choices, leave their excuses at the door, get control of their lives and take their power back.

She has self-published 2 books, The Hair Makeup & Fashion Styling Career Guide and 30 Days at 100 Percent: Changing Your Life 30 Days at a Time. If you are a beaty pro who needs answers about what to do next to break into the world of print, video, film and TV the Career Guide is for YOU!

If your life is a mess, or you just simply feel stuck and without direction, energy or focus, then pick up the book and maybe even the audio version of 30 Days at 100 Percent and get ready for a change.

In all things Crystal challenges you to strive for excellence and get hold of your life by tackling one thing every 30 days. You can order both books online in the CrystalWrightLive Store.

If you would like to experience growth in your freelance styling career, or you would just like to know more about Crystal's Packaging Your Portfolio Workshop, visit this LINK.