Beauty expert bounces back from pandemic by being her own boss

Millions of women lost their job during the pandemic, and bouncing back hasn’t been easy. However, one local woman did bounce back after deciding to be her own boss.

Make-up artist and stylist Genn Shaughnessy was living the good life. Her plate was full of freelance assignments. Then the pandemic hit and like millions of women across the country, she lost those jobs.

"I didn’t really know what to do. I was kind of lost for a little while, and ended up being home," said Shaughnessy.

She’d purchased a consignment shop for a rainy day, but that also had to close down.

Since high school, she had fallen in love with the idea of making women feel pretty. She had gotten training in make-up artistry, worked for well-known make-up lines and was a trained stylist. Now all that seemed to be gone.

Shaughnessy says she was ready to give up at one point.

However, all that time at home gave her lots of time to think, and she decided the best business was once again to own her own business. She went big, with a business called The Backstage Stylist.

The business includes a line of make-up styling, waxing, tattooing, brows and a boutique.

She also took things a step further by offering online make-up classes.

Learn about the major lesson she says the pandemic taught her by watching the video of Elaine Houston’s story.

MORE INFORMATION: The Backstage Stylist