Hello Ms Hala Owais, How are you?
I’m great! Hope you are well
We would like to know about your backstory. How do you start your journey as a makeup artist?
My journey as a makeup artist started before I started off my Instagram, this is back 2014-2015 I would do makeup looks on my sister and friends.
Eventually, my fiancé (now husband ) told me to start off my Instagram page and start taking up work, and it went really well from then on.
I did blogging simultaneously and renowned brands started approaching me as my page grew.
Today, you are a successful entrepreneur running your own beauty and lash brand. What and who was your biggest inspiration throughout that helped you reach this point?
Over the years I’ve taken inspiration from several people, however, the biggest inspiration was my father. He taught me a lot about the correct ideologies/ethics and how businesses operate from a very young age and always encouraged me to work and learn.
Something that he said always stuck with me, do your absolute best in everything, the outcome of it isn’t dependent on the success or failure. Do your best, and be content in it since we’re only answerable to ourselves.
Ms Hala Owais, You received the title of The Best Influencer Beauty Brand, last year. According to you, what was so unique about your lash brand and what made you focus specifically on lashes?
I believe simplicity, quality and clean aesthetic always remain timeless. When I created the brand I wanted everything to be timeless, from the campaign down to the packaging.
I think that really made the brand stand out!
And the fact that our lashes suited every eye shape! There’s a market gap for that.
I made sure that our lashes were created in such a way to fit every eyelash bed.
How successful has your brand, Shop Hala, been so far?
It’s been very successful locally In UAE. 70 percent of our orders are always recurring customers! We’re aiming towards more influencer marketing, and events for this year and 2022! So we can push the brand towards various audience groups.
You got married recently. How are you managing your personal and professional life together?
Since my husband and I were in a relationship for 4 years and he’s never been an added stress but more of a support system! Only at the time of my marriage, I wasn’t able to be involved in work directly! I just handed everything over to the team for the brand and all my paid collaborations were on hold! However, it’s all resumed and doing great
So Ms Hala, can you share your experience from being a makeup artist to the owner of a renowned eyelash brand. The problems you faced throughout your journey and how did you overcome those problems?
I always took every problem as a challenge and accepted it as part of the journey. However, the hardest situation is to divide time between being a beauty educator and brand owner.
And overall the transition has been quite difficult. I worked as a makeup artist for about 2 years and moved into beauty education/blogging on Instagram full time.
I personally felt, being an Mua was a saturated field so I never put all my time and energy into it for a long time! However, that is how I started and it holds a very special place in my heart.
Being a beauty educator and sharing my knowledge was something that was unique in the UAE beauty industry and people seemed more interested. My audience grew quite quickly and I decided to start my lash brand to redirect the audience to something that I knew everyone NEEDS for a makeup look….lashes!
Did you see anyone as competition in the beauty industry? Also, what would you advise your fellow beauty influencers and entrepreneurs for being a successful artist like you?
Sometimes….Something that I wish I had in my personality is being competitive because a competitive nature can be beneficial at times.
My mindset has always been ‘Community over competition’ and That’s one of the reasons my growth has been slow and steady. I’ve been doing this for 4 years now!
So the answer would be no, I never really think of any competition/competitors.
In terms of advice, I’ve not reached to a point of ultimate success. But if I do believe that I’ve had any growth then I would dedicate it to my mentality and attitude.
Being patient is the key factor.
I never believed in the idea of fast success, because slow but steady wins the race!
You turned your passion into a profession. It would be a pleasure if you share with us the most important tips that helped you stay motivated and inspired from the beginning till today.
Unlike the other answers ….this one is going to be short!
I always think of Tom Brady’s quote “I didn’t come this far ….to only come this far.”
Ms Hala Owais, can you share a platform from where the audience can reach you out if they want to?
Instagram @hala.owais! It’s where I’m active the most, I’ve kept my DMs open to everyone and you can always reach out 
