Being a full-time college student is no easy feat. Most students find it nearly impossible to maintain

going to school and keeping a job. Running a successful business and frequently traveling seems to be out of the question.

Diamond Champion rises to that challenge.

Champion, a junior Communications/PR major, is a professional makeup artist and the owner of Diamond Pearle Beauty. She primarily books clients that need makeup done for special events such as graduations, weddings and dinner parties.

She started this business in her senior year of high school.

“I started to get into makeup more during my senior year. I would do my own makeup, and I would wear it to school. All my friends were like, ‘You’re really good. Like you should do our makeup. We’ll pay you for it.’.” Champion said.

Champion took their advice and started doing her classmates’ makeup. The business started slowly, and she even started off doing a couple of clients for free for needed practice.

At this time, she applied for makeup artist position around her hometown of Atlanta, but the nearest store was over half an hour away from her home.

“I didn’t have a car, and my parents were like ‘We’re not driving you there every day. You can do your makeup here. You can start your own business’. So I got a $700 budget, made my business cards, got my own makeup I needed, all my brushes, and here I am.”

Champion stated that success did not happen overnight. It took her time to build up a clientele, and her website offering her services, diamondpearlebeauty.com, took her over a year to finish. Consistency and excellent customer service were what helped her business grow.

“It’s not just about the makeup; it’s about what feeling you give them when applying it. I want you to feel comfortable, especially with makeup, because I’m touching your face. I’m transforming you, I want you to be calm. It’ll always be a great outcome.”

In addition to doing makeup, Champion also sells products such as silk mink eyelashes and Brazilian hair weave bundles on her website, diamondpearle.com.

“I just started that part of my business over the summer. When I have my hair done, people are like ‘I like your hair, where did you get it from?’, and I was like ‘Why not sell hair too?’” She said. “It is very different from doing makeup because you do have to have a passion for selling hair, and I mostly just love makeup.”

With her business continually growing, Champion finds herself balancing running her business, being a server at Cheddars, and being a full-time student.

“I am very busy, so I’ll have to book appointments between classes, and sometimes that can run into my class time.” She said.

“I’m always working around my set schedule because you never know when someone needs makeup. I won’t let it get into the way of my work. If I have work or a project due, I have to turn that in.”

Champion also still travels back and forth to Atlanta to do events and be with family, which also contributes to her hectic schedule.

“Most of my clients are at VSU and some locals to Valdosta, but I also go back to Atlanta for events and stuff. When I come home, my family puts together ‘A Day for Diamond’ where they pay me to do their makeup. It’s like a girls’ night with all the women in my family and some friends. It’s so heart-touching, and I’m really excited about that.”

While she is here at VSU, she is pursuing her degree because she wants to develop skills that will help her take her business to new heights.

“Whether it’s doing PR for my business or doing PR for a makeup company, if I could find a way to mix those two together, I’d love it.”

She states her most significant accomplishment for 2019 was having her business recognized as an LLC by the Secretary State of Georgia. She is excited about the direction of her brand.

“This is still really the start. I really want to do more makeup events. I eventually also want to have a big celebration for my business and invite people.” she said.

To book Champion for any work or to purchase her products, be sure to visit her website or follow her on Instagram @diamondpearle.

Written by Malia Thomas, Berliner Editor. Photos Courtesy of  Diamond Champion.

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