Meet Melanie Mills

I’ve always been an entrepreneur and a risk-taker. When I was 14 or 15 I was inspired by MTV music videos and I was obsessed with being a singer but couldn’t carry a tune so I thought, then I’ll be a director! I gathered up the neighbourhood, my brother, my friends and my dad’s video camera to make “MTV videos”. I remember doing makeup and styling and “directing”. I look back on this memory as the start of a dream that in so many ways became reality without even realizing it at the time. I was always trying to organize events, travel excursions, photoshoots and parties. I loved creating fun moments and memories always recruiting who I could to get on board. After many years traveling through Europe and attending school in Italy I stumbled upon the idea of going to a makeup school in Milan. I never thought of makeup as a career mainly I was in love with the idea to live and go to back school in Italy again. Other thoughts I had were it could be cool to do fashion shows or possibly my best friend’s dad who was a pretty big actor could get me a job in Hollywood. So I signed up without thinking of the rest of the plan., even put a deposit down, but for various reasons that didn’t work out. Upon coming back home I told my hairdresser how the makeup school in Milan almost happened she then introduced me to her makeup artist roommate who got me my first intern gig on a film as a makeup artist, this led to working the film for 6 months (for free) and taking a six weeknight makeup course at Sunset & Gower Makeup academy. That first film led to 3 years of doing “indie” horror films then landing my first big union gig. I got pregnant just after going to Union and for fun, I designed a baby bag and had my friend’s mom who made my wedding dress, make it. That bag ended up turning into also being a great makeup /hair set bag. People liked the bags and asked me to make them for them. I got a makeup artist friend onboard who I was working with at the time and we created a company called Something Saucy, one-of-a-kind baby bags, set bags, makeup belts and makeup brush rolls. I just jumped in head first. We learned about straps and fabric, hardware and labels etc in a short time. We moved on to someone who knew bags and who could make them more quickly. It was wild, with my daughter in tow, spending money I didn’t have to get the businesses up and running. We would go from set to set and makeup/hair trailer to trailer, baby stores, beauty stores and pro makeup stores trying to sell them. All while still working 50-70 hour work weeks on TV shows as a makeup artist. That was my first lesson in manufacturing and sales. That didn’t last, it was really hard to do one of a kind anything and the business was never set up properly, but it was a start. I had an idea, I made it happen, and I did it, and I was not a sewer or designer! Another risk, my ex-husband talked me into getting an old 44’ foot 1966 Chris Craft boat docked in Marina Del Rey, It was a fun idea at first and we did create many great memories there, it was almost like a 2nd home. but as most know having a boat is like throwing money into the water. I needed it to make money. We re-hauled the whole thing and started a business called Charter Solaris with the idea of chartering afternoon cruises for guests. It didn’t pan out as I would have liked as my x could never really drive the thing, lol, so I was hiring other captains, that was the beginning of the divorce too. But again it was that entrepreneurial risk-taking something that was at first fun to an idea and plan to where it started to be a cool business. The next entrepreneurial risk/dive I took was with my now cosmetic company Melanie Mills Hollywood which is about to celebrate its 13th year in business! I was working on the set of Dancing with the Stars as head Makeup Artist and needed gorgeous body makeup to even out the pro dancer’s bad spray tans. The spray tanning on that show was the bane of my existence. Nothing on the market at the time was working for me. I started mixing other products, lotions, pigments and shimmers testing it all right there on the celebrities and dancers on Live TV with 30 million people watching. After years of testing different concoctions, I came up with “Gleam”. Once I saw the love for it and how different it was I decided to first pitch it to other cosmetic brands to make it for me as a collaboration to then being advised to try to do it myself and was referred to a lab. I jumped in with no cosmetic manufacturing knowledge trusting my lab rep. Another wild experience where I had to quickly learn all the rules to creating a cosmetic, the testing, tubes, filling, merchandising, sales – IT all! What is now called Gleam Face and Body Radiance became a cult favourite product that is to this day still in almost all pro makeup artist kits. The brand evolved into the small boutique line it is today, still popular and loved. All while raising my daughter and still working heavy hours as a TV makeup artist. There are many many other risk stories within this journey to mention here but they led to my current and last big risk of where I’m at today. Melanie Mills Hollywood took a huge hit with Covid and the film business went dead too during this time my husband and I had to sell our home to get out of debt. We had been wanting to get out of LA for some time but my work in TV was holding us there. I loved my career as a makeup artist but I was burnt on the long hours and burning the candle at both ends while also running MMH. Within meditation I was told to come to Nashville, we decided to check it out and probably the biggest risk ever we moved here, not knowing anyone without any friends or family, with no backup plan other than we’d get MMH back on its feet and there were plenty of celebrities to do makeup on here. We took a year off to enjoy our new city and being together as a family. When it was time to get to other work besides MMH I decided to get my makeup kit back together and learned there wasn’t a professional makeup store here, the light went off and The Makeup Altar was born. A makeup and metaphysical shop catering to both inner and outer beauty. We sell makeup, professional makeup and supplies, crystals, tarot, sage wands candles and books. We offer tarot, sound baths, yoga, makeup services and makeup education. It’s a family business that my daughter, Nick and I work together along with Ebony who has been with MMH for over 8 years as our office manager. We celebrated one year in October! And life couldn’t be better! I learned at the the end of the day it’s all about family and community I wanted to bring something special to the community that could be interactive and supportive.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I’ve been a professional celebrity makeup Artist for over 25 years. I’ve had the opportunity to work on so many exciting films and TV shows. I started with low-budget indie non-union films like “The Dentist 2”, “Wishmaster 2” and “The Creature from The Sunnyside Trailer Park” which eventually led to my first big film “Lockdown” which turned Union.. Once Union my first gig was “When Billy Beat Bobby” from there I had an awesome career with films like “Charlie’s Angels”, “The Anchorman” and “The Big Empty” to episodic TV with “Six Feet Under” and “She Spies” and “Dr Vegas” and sitcoms like “Less Than Perfect”. Then in 2005, I became the head makeup artist for “Dancing With The Stars” This was a big deal at the time. I was female and young at 34 leading one of America’s top reality shows where the makeup was a huge key focus. I became a brand ambassador for St Tropez and Anastasia of Beverly Hills as well as an on-camera beauty advisor for shows like Hallmark’s “Home and Family” and many news outlets. I won an Emmy for DWTS in 2008 and I began a cosmetic company called Melanie Mills Hollywood that all started from a professional need I had on the show- a glowing transfer-resistant body makeup to hydrate and even out bad spray tans that weren’t available on the market. I created a product called Gleam Face & Body Radiance that 13 years later is an iconic cult favorite product that is in most pro makeup kits. It is a stunning tinted moisturizer for both face and body in 6 stunning shades to choose from. The shades range from giving skin a simple glow, perfecting one’s natural skin tone, or a kiss of colour to an instant tan. I then landed with TV makeup at Nickelodeon for most of the rest of my TV/Film career (almost 11 years) and started travelling the country with Melanie Mills Hollywood to makeup and skincare trade shows selling, introducing and educating on my products. Education also became a prominent part of my career with MAC, Make Up For Ever, The Makeup Show and my educational tours. After Covid happened my family and I decided to make a huge change and move to Nashville where we now own The Makeup Altar, a brick-and-mortar makeup and metaphysical shop. We stock professional makeup supplies as well as indie unique brands that I have relied upon my whole career offering something different from Ulta or Sephora. We offer professional advice and do makeup services and makeup education. Because I also love the metaphysical world I decided to mesh that world with the makeup world catering to both inner and outer beauty. We also sell crystals, candles, books, tarot and oracle decks, jewellery, gifts and more! We also offer tarot and birth chart readings, sound baths, yoga and many workshops. It’s all about community and as a family-owned and operated business are so happy in this new setting. You can still find us around the country with the makeup, skincare and hair trade shows, now instead of just bringing my brand Melanie Mills Hollywood I bring as well many of the brands we sell at the shop. Hope to meet you one day!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience.

Social media has been key to my business and is how I initially got the word out. I mostly work with Instagram now but of course have FB, TicTok, and Pinterest too. 3 years after COVID-19 having moved on to a second career from makeup for film and TV to a physical retail shop. I now do it all myself until I can afford a team again. In the past with Melanie Mills Hollywood I had teams work with me but it was challenging finding the right ones and also managing them was almost just as much work as doing on my own. But there is only so much time in the day! My biggest advice is to post creative videos that tell your story quickly and more than anything consistency is the biggest key. It’s important to post every day and in stories with links to shop. Make it personal with a good story so people can feel connected to you.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In 2018 I was offered to have my line Melanie Mills Hollywood on QVC UK. I did have a brand presence in the UK from influencers I had been working with who loved my products and had been trying to get on QVC US for many years. I jumped at the opportunity and worked all of 2019 with my QVC team curating packages to offer all through 2020. There was a lot of excitement for me to become their next American darling replacing Westmore beauty that had just left. I repackaged the whole line and added new ones. Got a warehouse and shipping centre together in the UK as well as a management and PR team. We were set to air on March 15th 2020 and then for every quarter moving forward. We were even starting to think about 2021. This was a huge financial commitment and as you can imagine launching a new American cosmetic line in the UK during Covid was a disaster. I was forced to do the show via Skype and though I was able to get through what they first purchased they could not commit to other shows and then my buying team dispersed! This was a huge financial nightmare that left us in some serious debt. We sold our home and moved to Nashville, leaving my other career of being a makeup artist for film and TV. This was all very intense but I have to say the move was everything my family and I needed. We found each other and community is what we needed. I was also extremely burnt out from being a film and TV makeup artist. After taking a year to focus on family and getting Melanie Mills Hollywood back on its feet I decided it was time to freshen up my makeup kit and get back into doing celebrity makeup. I then learned there was no professional makeup shop in Nashville and the light went on for our “2nd act” The Makeup Altar. We have been in business for over a year and doing really well. I still do business with Melanie Mills Hollywood just on a smaller scale. We love the community we have formed and our little shop doing big things! The sun will always rise tomorrow. No matter how bad of a situation you find yourself in you can pick up and rebuild and will often find yourself in a better situation. Big change and big moves are scary but listen to your gut, the bigger and scarier the change the bigger reward you will have!