SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome to Mothers of Creativity. My name is Sabrina Saal. This podcast is where I hand mothers the spotlight so they can talk honestly about what they've built and what motherhood has changed along the way. I've spent 15 years in the creative industries building careers and nurturing creativity. And becoming a mother changed how I see what it actually takes to keep showing up on set and creating. How do you weigh a name in your portfolio against a number in your bank account? My guest today grew up in an Italian family obsessed with Versace and dreaming of Milan before building a career in high fashion. But high fashion doesn't always pay the bills, so she swapped it for High Street Clients, financial freedom, and an agency that warned her she'd become untouchable to the editorial world for doing it. Today I'm speaking with Gina Blondell, a makeup artist and educator whose impressive client list includes ID magazine, ASAP Rocky, Estee Lauder, and films such as Wicked. She cites John Waters and Early Madonna as major influences, and in this conversation you'll find out which iconic designer's bathroom she was sick in, how an ectopic pregnancy changed the way she thought about her own future, and with three children now, what it really costs financially just to get out the door and onto set. So here's my conversation with Gina Blondell. Gina Blondell. Hello. It is so nice to be with you here in such an amazing room at the Christine Blondell Makeup Academy. That's right, yes. Oh my god, I'm gonna have to get photos and put these on the socials of all these amazing prosthetics around us. Yes. You have gotten a very impressive client list. ID Magazine, ASAP Rocky, FK Twiggs, Adidas, Estee Lauder, worked on films like Wicked and Back to Black. Um before any of those names and any of those sets, you were an art student studying illustration. I was, yes. And like, where did that girl think her creativity was gonna take her?

SPEAKER_01 2:36

Oh, I don't know. That girl was a very dangerous girl. She was not very studious. She spent a lot of her time partying during that era in art school, so that's quite a funny era to call back upon. But um I think I I always knew I wanted to do something creative. Um, and I didn't really know a hundred percent where that would be, but I did think it was gonna revolve around drawing. I loved illustration, I was very much into sequential art, comic books, all the kind of like nerdy alternative kid stuff where you think you're very different because you're into all these things, but actually it's kind of very typical of those kind of kids. But I I definitely thought it was gonna revolve around something uh around drawing or painting or something like that. Um, but when I went to art school, I um ended up not really enjoying the degree that I did. Um, I just felt like it was packaged in a way to make money in terms of graphics, you know, it's like advertising and um, you know, packaging and things like that. Things I wasn't really that interested in. I just wanted to make art for the pure irreverence and love for making art. So I kind of found that a little bit boring and I it really didn't capture my attention. So a friend of mine who was in the film pathway of um her degree there, she needed somebody to do makeup for one of her films, and it was to actually make someone look like a mannequin. And I found that so exciting. I was like, Yeah, I definitely want to try and do that. She knew I had an interest in makeup. I was already doing like crazy stuff at Halloween for like zombie parties and stuff. I just wasn't really nerdy like that and bought all the stuff and was experimenting with all these different textures and making um like wounds and things like that. So she thought, Oh, maybe you'd be interested in doing and I was like, Absolutely, I'm so into this idea. Um, and so I went to this local makeup shop that was um near where my parents lived in Surrey, and um it's no longer there, but it really was the beginnings of my excitement for the for the job of being a makeup artist because it was full of all the kind of things that you see now, the special effects stuff. That was really what was catching my attention. Um, and so I bought all the stuff and I did this film for her, and it it looked, I mean, I haven't seen it in recent years, it probably looked awful, but hasn't aged well, maybe not, but at the time I thought, wow, this is wicked. I love this, I I like this. I don't like what I'm doing in my degree, but I like this. So that really gave me my first taste of makeup artistry. Um, and I was always super interested in fashion. Like as a young child, I I was obsessed with Versace. I like I did all of my um like English reports on like Versace and Giorgio Armani. I come from Italian background, so hey, you gotta represent.

SPEAKER_02 5:31

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 5:32

So I was very interested in that. I mean, I don't know many 11-year-old girls that are like fantasizing about you know being from Calabria and you know, wearing all the stuff and going to Milan and buying like that was my thing every summer. Go to Italy every summer and just pretend I was living this kind of like Dolce and Gabbana like campaign in the mountains of Italy. So I I really wanted to work in something like fashion. And so when I started going to art school and I was doing all these things and doing makeup, that felt like wow, I'm actually gonna maybe start doing something that's related to this because I love photo shoots and things like that. So um, yeah, I I started doing makeup like as a hobby, essentially, aside aside from my career uh from my um degree, and uh yeah, that's where it all kind of started really.

SPEAKER_00 6:25

Okay, so you're doing makeup on the side, alongside your career, and then oh sorry, alongside studying. Yes, and like how did you come to then realize like, oh okay, I could actually do this as a career? What like what made that jump?

SPEAKER_01 6:42

I think I what for what worked for me was I realised I could do this in a film capacity because that's where my contacts were from helping all these people on their short films, um and I was very interested in prosthetics, and I knew the route that I had to take was I needed to go to school basically to study this. It's a specific, you know, subject that needed specialist knowledge and tuition, so that would be the next step. However, I didn't have the funds to do that, and um I needed to get a job, so I actually went and worked at Mac. Back then, when you worked at Mac, it wasn't just like you could walk in off the street and be a makeup artist at Mac, it actually had a lot of makeup authority back then, which was quite um unusual, I guess, for a retail position, because you know you wouldn't necessarily think that these people who worked on the shop floor had all of this kind of rich experience in professional makeup, but actually that's what they were looking for. You couldn't work for Mac unless you had that. But when I showed them a portfolio of stuff that I had done, they made an exception and let me go through to the next round, which was to um do a physical practical test. Um, did okay with that, got the job, and I felt so elated because uh the people there were very much like me, you know. I I'd finally met um other people that were interested in doing makeup and we were able to share tips and tricks and talk about all the things that excited us about makeup, and it wasn't in this kind of beauty way, it was more in a much more like kind of editorial, yeah, very well-referenced way. You know, it's it's hard to explain now because it I think the beauty industry now is very much trend-based and of the minute, but back then there was such a rich history, very much an art history with makeup.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

I and I remember actually how iconic Mac was. Yeah, like oh my goodness me, to get a piece of Mac makeup, right? Leaders, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

That was yeah, the the godmothers of of the makeup industry, yeah, and I still hold a very special place for them because once I got in the door, the the actual training was phenomenal, it was amazing. I wouldn't be anywhere without Mac. So I owe a lot to Mac. Like I feel like the training there was so rich and culture rich as well. Um, the mantra was all ages, all races, all sexes. That's it. Yeah, yeah. And so that in itself was just like a mic drop. Do you know what I mean? It doesn't matter what you are, who you are, how you roll, like you are accepted here, and you know, we're gonna create. And I just I just loved it. Yeah, and uh because of that amazing training, which was very much heavily rooted in catwalk, runway, high fashion, that set the ball rolling for me. And then I was like, prosthetics, what I was like, I don't want to be covered in dirt all day all day long in a studio where I'm having to like sculpt stuff and be covered in blood. I want to be part of this exciting it kind of made a full circle moment because I, you know, my Versace kind of obsession and the runway and the couture and the the you know the amazingness of it all was kind of presented back to me on plate.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

It probably made you feel like things were possible.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

Oh, 100%. I mean I'm an I'm totally unrealistic with most things and how it's like my husband tells me all the time, I call him the dream crusher. Because everything I say, he'll put this realistic spin on, and I'm like, no, it doesn't have to be like that. Like, why can't I do XYZ? You know? So um yeah, it just it yeah, it kind of excited me so much. I just remember the appetite I had at that point for for doing this. I just I couldn't get enough of it. It was an obsession, so yeah, I I just felt so excited, it just was endless possibilities.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

And I guess probably a confidence as well, having worked at Mac, and then to be like, yeah, I can make this career in fashion possible. Like I can absolutely go ahead and do it. And so you started assisting.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

I did, yeah. So from that, obviously, it gave me the foundational skills that I needed, and obviously combined with my own special interests, started to create a bit of a d a style. You know, I'm very into like I would say quite trashy things, like John Waters for me is like a big influence, um, and and just things like you know, Madonna, of course, early Madonna, um, right up until like her ray of light era, a little bit beyond that, but um loads of like very like queer culture, like I'm I'm queer myself, so once I dis distinguished my style and and like I felt confident and comfortable, I then felt okay, I'm I'm ready to start approaching agencies to assist. Yeah, I think it when I first uh went about approaching agencies, I I naively thought, I'm gonna get signed. I'm so good. Yep, I'm ready. I know all the things, and I have really great references, I'm I'm ready for it. But actually, like it was really good to meet someone's like, right, no, we need to slow things down a little bit, and you need to work on you know being on set and helping people and all this kind of stuff, and and that for me was instrumental. Like, I don't know how people go on to a set now and head anything if they've never had this kind of training before with with uh artists that are you know huge because it's just so overwhelming. I mean, props too if you can do it, but for me, I needed that, I needed all of that real slow, steady wins the race approach training.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

I I think assisting is so key, and um I mentor quite a bit, and anyone that is up and coming in the industry, whether it's photography, makeup, styling, whatever, I'm always like assist, assist, assist, because that really is where you learn your craft, yeah, how you learn to be on set.

SPEAKER_01 12:57

Yeah, a hundred percent, and some of the jobs that you get to do when you're assisting are obviously far bigger than the ones you would ever get on your own. So the kind of things that you're able to see and be a part of are can be phenomenal, you know, like life-changing moments and very exciting.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

Um, yeah, I I I remember getting to meet people that I wouldn't have got to meet had I not assisted.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

Who were the people that you were meeting? Um well one story that sticks out in my mind.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Because obviously, like I referenced the Italian fashion houses, I was very into Gucci also. And so when I finally got to assist K Montano on a Tom Ford shoot, I was just like, Oh, Tom Ford, oh my god, I love Tom Ford. And I actually got really sick on that shoot, but no one really knew, so I excused myself to go to the bathroom, and I remember just being greeted with this insanely gold bathroom, gold everywhere, very dark, very romantic, like lighting, and I just was sick in the Oh my gosh. How hilarious! And I remember looking up at myself, I can remember looking up at my reflection and feeling awful. I think I got one of those gastric migraines, you know, when you're like you can't get rid of them without just lying down. But I remember looking at my reflection and smiling and just saying, Tom fucking fall. Where where were you shooting? It was at their they had like a studio where he worked, like it was where the actual fashion I don't know if it was where the actual fashion house was, but it was it was not a studio as in like a photographic studio. It was I think it was headquarters, it was doing Victoria. Okay. And yeah, I just I was just like uh this is wild. I'm meeting Tom Ford, I'm working for Kay Montano, who's an amazing makeup artist. Yes, but um just be because he was taking the pictures, uh-huh, still in a suit, yeah, of course. Which I just things like this, it's like it's everything I thought it would be, you know, just picking up on everything that I'm seeing around me, such visual like feast for the eyes, you know, and soaking up everything. But it didn't matter to me that I had this gashic migraine because I got to uh be around one of for me, the greats, and uh definitely assist Kay and and uh work on a beautiful campaign and and it just was yeah, it didn't matter, it was worth it.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

Yeah. Did you did you feel like you've made it?

SPEAKER_01 15:21

I didn't feel like I'd made it in the sense that because it wasn't my job, you know, but I I definitely think there'd been there's been so many moments where I've just thought little Gina would be so happy with this. And that's the person I'm always trying to impress, I think. She's always in the back of my mind.

SPEAKER_00 15:39

Okay, so little Gina, how was her career looking before motherhood?

SPEAKER_01 15:43

Yeah, so I I assisted Alex Box for three years. She was one of my main people, and I thank her a lot for mentoring me. I mean, she was definitely a specific type of makeup, you know, not everybody um was doing what she was doing at the time. So she really taught me how to be my authentic self. And even though I wasn't really kind of doing the same kind of thing as she was doing, it didn't matter. It was a good example of how to be my authentic self. And I think uh towards the end of our of us working together, she had just had a baby as well. Yeah, and um that was very influential to me because I didn't really see many people in this industry having babies. In fact, I don't think it was very commonplace at all for people to be having babies, and I and even though I was very into all of this stuff, I think deep down I'm quite a traditional girl in the sense that I wanted a family. Yeah, yeah. I come from an Italian family and a Filipino family, and family is like you know, very important. Yeah, and so especially big ones. Yeah, so I feel like once I'd seen her do it, I felt like, well, this person has done it, so it's possible. Yeah, yeah. It really kind of inspired me. Um, so I knew with that in mind though, I knew I wanted to have things set up for myself, I wanted to have money to spend on this baby, I wanted to have, you know, home, all those kind of things. So I really worked through to try and achieve some of those things, and I and I I got there eventually.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

And how yeah, how were you doing that? You mentioned about the money and having things set up in place. Yeah, I mean. How did you do that?

SPEAKER_01 17:25

I well, just from working, really. Yeah, um, I I had some great repeat clients. I worked a lot with ASOS. So after I worked with um a lot of high fashion stuff, as you probably know, it's not the best paid industry in the world, which people will be very surprised to hear if they're not part of this industry, it's actually the lower end of the scale and a lot of freebies. So I was realizing like quickly that I think coming from a working class background, like money is obviously like it's not an overriding factor, but if you don't have loads of it, you you know, you you're kind of thinking, Well, how am I gonna get how am I gonna get it? And the only way to do that was to work, and obviously, if the brands that are working with you and paying you very little, it's not it's not easy to carry on doing that without having a side job, which is what I had to do for so long. I had to still carry on having like a sort of freelance contract with Mac, which was so helpful because I could duck in and out with no strings attached, but it it wasn't ideal, it felt like I was living a double life because I'd be on these amazing sets, and I don't I remember like being in the shop floor, and there's nothing to be ashamed of at all. But for some reason I felt like oh, if they see me working in a shop whilst I'm also working on a big campaign for this brand, they're gonna think that I'm not doing well and they're gonna be questioned, you know. I just ruminated on like what they could be thinking when really I shouldn't have really cared at all, you know, but I was caring about optics.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

Yeah, and you were actually like that's so interesting. And actually, I was listening to a podcast with a photographer the other day, and she was saying about how she had so many other jobs alongside trying to make it as a photographer, and actually still shoot, and it's like something that no one talks about. So you were saying so you were working at ASOS.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Yes, not in the studios, I was doing a lot of their campaigns, but I was I became a bit of a golden girl there. Um, so yeah, so I left the high fashion brands to work in a much more commercial environment, and it was a bit weird at first because the industry was quite binary, like you either did this or you did that, you didn't mix the two. And I think when I got signed to Frank, who are an agency that no longer exists, they were so great in the beginning. But I think a lot of my old school fashion clients were like, oh no, we're not working with someone that does, you know, high street brands. Yuck. And so um that it did not kill stuff for me, but kinda, it kinda did make me a little bit untouchable. And they warned me about that, actually. They said, When you come on board here, you know you are gonna be untouchable.

SPEAKER_00 19:59

Some people Frank warned you. Yeah, yeah, they warned me. And that was from an agency.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

Yeah, they were they were just like, you know, we're not everyone's but they weren't like super, you know, unta you know, distasteful untasteful, I don't know what the words. Um, they were still doing great things, but it was obviously more of your glossies, it wasn't your like edgy stuff. Yeah. But I was a bit like, I don't care. I need to earn money, I need to pay my rent, and if I'm still able to do what I love, I can do all of that stuff that I think's cool in my own time in a test shoot if I really want to, or carry on doing editorial.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

But I actually didn't realise that back then it was it was just sort of on the the precipice of where you weren't really doing both, and and it it it didn't really work out well for me in a lot of ways to do that, but where one door shuts and another opens, it opened up all these uh great commercial clients that allowed me to work for a for a good day's w wage, yeah, and from that I was able to travel. Um, I was able to do like all sorts of different things for different brands. I work for um this amazing makeup artist who I don't think she does makeup anymore, but her name's Mallie. But she was a big makeup artist in the Y2K era of Destiny's Child, Beyonce. So I was learning all these beautiful that she did the J-Lo glow techniques. Wow, and so I was learning all these crazy for me. I love to recall upon the elders, like not that she's an elder, she she doesn't say she'd be like, oh my god, what? But yeah, I love to recall upon the people before me because they have the knowledge and I think that's I've always wanted somebody like as a mentor to like be like, hey, am I doing this right? Like, what do you think of this? Someone to like give advice to me. And so um yeah, I loved working for her. But yeah, I I worked for a lot of other people, ASOS, Urban Outfitters, lots of high street brands.

SPEAKER_00 21:49

Okay, um and that was giving me the funds to the financial the financial stability, security, freedom, freedom, exactly. And and then You then are like, okay, I'm in a position to have my first child. How did that decision come up? Were you?

SPEAKER_01 22:06

So I had a bit of a weird journey to motherhood. So when I was 30, I had an ectopic um pregnancy. Um and that was not a planned pregnancy. That was a surprise. And I didn't really understand the gravity of what that actually meant at the time because I was experiencing a lot of pain. Um, which I thought was wind, which I know sounds nuts because it's it's a very bad pain. But I think I do have a strong pain threshold, and uh I was carrying on going to work and everything through it all, and people I said I didn't feel so good, um, but by the end of it, they were like, I think you should go home. You look really pale and you're having to sit out a bunch, like you're not well, like I think you should go home. So I was like, Yeah, I I think I should. But instead of going to the hospital, like I should have, because I knew something wasn't right, uh, I just went home. And and then I um went and to the hospital and finally had a scan, and they were like, Yep, you're bleeding internally, and we need to uh we need to actually operate immediately. Um, but unfortunately we don't have the capacity to do that straight away. So we're gonna send you home and if you can come back in the morning, but if you need to come in anytime before that, then obviously do, but uh for now we'll send you home and we'll operate in the morning. And I was like, Great, you know, all of this information just dumped on me, and I'm just like, oh my gosh. Um so it wasn't the finest entry into motherhood because that was quite scary, and I'd never been pregnant before. So um they did the operation and they had to remove my fallopian tube. That was another thing. They sort of like just said it very casual, we're gonna remove a fallopian tube. And I just thinking, my god, I'm never gonna get pregnant again. It was almost like I'd never really thought about motherhood in great detail, but now I am thinking about it, and now I'm thinking I can't do it because I'm gonna have something removed that's quite integral to having a baby. Yeah, yeah. And um I remember being really upset, really upset as well because I kind of I mean, I was 30, which is not old, but I think for my age group, there were people already that were 24, 25, you know, from friends from back home that already had ki started having children or whatever. So I thought, oh my gosh, am I an old mum or whatever? Um, of course I wasn't, but especially for where I was living, but I I suddenly felt like, oh my god, like everything was falling down, I'm never gonna have children, I've left it too late, why did I wait?

SPEAKER_02 24:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:40

Um, when when really I didn't need to worry about all of these things because obviously now I'm a mum and everything's fine, but um at the time it felt catastrophic. Yeah, it it almost felt like why did I think about work so much when I should have been focusing on being a mum? Like now I'm never gonna have that chance. They're taking bits out of me and putting everything into perspective. Kind of and they are telling you that you know your chances of having a baby are not um impossible, but um, you know, it's possible that it will be difficult. Yeah. Yeah. It takes a certain percentage of that.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

And so how quickly or how soon after that do you become pregnant?

SPEAKER_01 25:20

I after that whole debuggle, I'm like, I don't I start telling myself I don't want to be a mum.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

Okay. Oh wow, again.

SPEAKER_01 25:27

Yeah, I don't I don't need to be a mum, like it's fine.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

Like and did you truly believe that? Okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

No, I knew I didn't. Yeah but I felt it was safer because I knew that if I had to try being a mum in terms of trying for a baby and it doesn't work, I would be yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:45

So it was self-preservation, yes, very much so.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

Okay, um and I also to be really frank, I haven't really been that obsessed with kids. You know, I wasn't someone that was like, oh my god, babies, or like how people are with puppies. Yeah, yeah. I was never really like that focused on that part at all. Um I kind of think of it as like it was not not a box tick by any stretch, but it was kind of like the next step after marriage, maybe. But I just kind of told myself, no, I don't, I don't want children. Because if I had to open that Pandora's box and it didn't work, I'd be devastated.

SPEAKER_00 26:28

But obviously that Pandora's box did get opened. It did get opened, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

I and it's funny, it was like an overnight kind of like one day I didn't well I knew I did, but I I think I stopped telling myself this lie when I just started to feel like no, I need to I want a baby, I think. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:47

Kind of like you listen to your instinct, your intuition, like whatever was going on inside internally.

SPEAKER_01 26:54

I think I'd kind of prepared myself to a stage where okay, work is going well. I feel like I'm earning a good enough amount to feel like I could support another person, and we have a home. So yeah, I feel like I'm ready. So I think I was telling myself that lie, but really in the background, I was getting everything set up.

SPEAKER_00 27:16

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

I'd started working out, I'd never worked out before. Okay. And I started working out religiously, I started getting myself strong, yeah. Body was in the best shape ever.

SPEAKER_00 27:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:27

Eating well. I'd been vegan, I think, for like something like eight years or something by that point. Wow. And so, yeah, I was ready.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

Okay, you were ready. And so you have your first child. I did, yeah. And were you working up until like up until the birth? Or how long did you take off? Like, paint me a picture of that.

SPEAKER_01 27:50

This was actually another weird entry into motherhood because it was a COVID baby.

SPEAKER_00 27:54

Ah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 27:55

But actually was the best time because you could really be pregnant and just focus on being pregnant. You had there was you couldn't work, there was no jobs. I was getting money from the government because they were giving grants out, and I was lucky enough to get maximum uh payout. So I was just like, this is dope. Like, I don't have to do anything, I'm getting all this money, and I get to hang out with my partner who's working from home most of the time on furlough, so we're always together. The sun is shining, you know, because of the where it was seasonally. We got to go on walks. I was like, this is the best. Like, I've got a picture of myself from when I was pregnant, and it was like just when they started to shut things down, and I I can't believe that's I feel like it's still one of the best times. Like, if I look at that picture, I look the healthiest I've ever looked. I looked so happy and content because it's all of that worry, all of that freelance worry that we have on a day-to-day that actually consumes and eats away us was gone, and I had an autoimmune condition that completely disappeared for that period. Wow, wow, and it came back after when I started working.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

Okay, so yeah, it's crazy what the mind can do to the body, it could just relax, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:09

It could just relax, and I had a very pleasant pregnancy first time around, no like juicy details really. It was just kind of it's very standard and happy, and I was very in my hippie era, yeah, because you know, I could be. I had time to indulge in myself and optimise myself in the way that I wanted to, in all all facets of life, and so I felt like he got a good that that baby got a good version of me. Yeah, I think it was a fun pregnancy for me.

SPEAKER_00 29:37

Okay, and so obviously then like the world, we know how it goes, it opens up, you have to go back to work, um, and you've actually got three babies. Oh yeah, three boys, three boys, and so you know, it's having kids and well like maintaining a career is is really tricky.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Very tricky, especially if you're freelance. Yeah, yeah, you're on a hustle like daily, because you know, if you're working on a long job, which is like two, three weeks, like contractors do, maybe more months even, then that's one thing. Yeah. But to do this daily, like, okay, what's on tomorrow, what's on next, it it it's exhausting and scary because you've got dependents now, you've not got just yourself to think about.

SPEAKER_00 30:26

And do you think um having kids changed your ambition or changed the pace that you had to work at?

SPEAKER_01 30:34

Definitely. Because things like childcare come into play. Obviously, you have your maternity leave, which is awful for money. Like obviously I'm grateful that I had anything, but it's not enough to survive, especially in London. Um, and so the first baby was fine because I could take a year off, because that's just the nature of what was happening with the world, so that was quite welcome. But with the second baby, I took eight weeks off, and with the third one I took two. Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:08

What was like I mean, eight weeks is crazy. Two weeks is like wow.

SPEAKER_01 31:14

Yeah, that that's a bit m nuts. That was a bit nuts. But I you know, if needs must, unfortunately, it it's turned me into mad survival mode because it sounds stressful and it and it is, but at the same time, it's it's not it's not terrible because you wouldn't do it otherwise, but it's you just have to do what you have to do. Because people often say, How do you do this or how do you do that? And it's like, well, I don't know. I just have to. It's like this like breathing air, there's no choice. I've got to do it, and you just somehow figure it all out, and it's not I think going with the flow as much as possible is the best thing you can do because if you try and control everything, I learned that I needed to focus on what was in front of me in that moment rather than try and worry too much about you know what work saying, you know, it's it's very difficult because you're getting emails left, right, and centre, and I also am quite Amish with my kids, they don't have any iPads or anything like this. Um they have TV and stuff, but I like to keep screens to a minimum, and so that in itself is also tricky because there's no kind of like entertainment other than me, and I don't have a support system, so I have like 10 out of 10 on all the like scores for difficulty. I think um my partner is in a full-time job and doesn't work from home, so I really am on my own a lot with them, so I have to I have to alter the pace. There's absolutely no way I could do motherhood and my job if I didn't alter the pace.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

And how do you do that?

SPEAKER_01 32:51

Well, if I have work, I have to ask my mum to help me with the baby because he's too little to be in um nursery. But it I love my mum and she's helped me tons, and I really rate her for doing that. But it's not how I was when I was a kid, where you could just get dumped at your grandparents and they'd be cool with it. Yeah, people have people have lives now.

SPEAKER_00 33:15

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:16

My mum's got places to be and things to do, so she doesn't she will always help me, but she won't always be kind of yay to do it, which in itself is also quite stressful because you're like, oh great, someone someone's helping me, but they don't really want to. So I will pay for a nanny sometimes, but it costs me about 160 quid a day. Yeah, wow. So before you even start your day, before you've even put Petra in your car or your taxi or your train fare, you've spent £160. So that also sometimes does the pacemaking for you because you're like, well, can I even do this job? If it is it worth it? By the time I've taken away my tax, my um pension, my expenses, my nanny care, yeah, is it worth it?

SPEAKER_00 34:03

So that's that brings me on to a question in terms of like shooting editorial content, right? Yes. Which is like you might shoot an editorial and you're not gonna get paid. So therefore, would you turn down editorial opportunities, but know that they may also get you commercial opportunities? Like, does that make you think about where you strategically need to put your energy into your career?

SPEAKER_01 34:31

I think that because I'm from the old school, um editorial means a lot to me, but actually for me, I feel that's the way that you can still move with the times because I don't want to be like an old makeup dragon either, you know, where I've like, you know, not learnt new techniques or moved with the times, you know. You see someone like Val Garland who's I don't know how old she is, I don't want to make a guess, but she knows she's she's had a very long established career, but she's still relevant to um the younger generation, and she hasn't done anything to make herself particularly like Uber cool, she's just been relatable and made sure that she's kind of shared her knowledge and um yeah, just remained a a mentor of such, you know, to to the younger generation, and I think that's where I want to continue, and so doing that and working with new creatives has allowed me to do that. Okay, you know sometimes I think they don't realise how old I am, and then I mention I've got kids, and then it all becomes like the curtain drops, I'm old and I have children, but um yeah, I I find doing that is what is actually going to keep me young, keep me going.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

Yeah, so like so working in a way with younger teams and picking up like new techniques that you can like learn, yeah. Um and also that I guess leads us on to the fact that you actually do play a massive part in makeup education with your role at CBM Academy. Can you tell me more about that?

SPEAKER_01 36:09

So I attended CBM Academy, this is where I actually did my prosthetics training and everything else. So um I always loved this school from a student perspective. So when they approached me in 2013 to teach a fashion pathway, I jumped at the chance. And um I didn't know how I was gonna feel about it because there's that whole expression, isn't there, of like those who can't do teach. And I was like, oh my god, I hope I don't fit into that category. But at the same time, like I don't even care if that is my category anymore because I've I've trained some amazing makeup artists, I've seen them go on to do amazing things, and there would have been a period of time that maybe the old version of myself prior to having children might have maybe been a little bit like, oh, I would like to be doing what they're doing. Why aren't I why aren't I doing that? But now I realise no, I'm a I'm a mother makeup, I'm a makeup mother, I'm I'm extending my uh maternal instinct and my nurturing in the makeup capacity, and I feel proud of those people, you know. I'm not saying it's a testament to me, um, they have their own talent and their own vision, but being able to have connected with them in their early formulative years and being a part of that that does make me feel really good, and I'm happy for them and their successes. So teaching came quite naturally to me, I think. I do get very attached to my classes actually. We're only together for like a week, but it feels the way I teach, I'm very involved, and I speak to people on a very one-to-one level. So I really part of what I enjoy about makeup is that intimacy with somebody, that kind of therapy session that you get from being with somebody, even the tactile experience of when you massage someone's face, of making them feel good and relaxed and comfortable. I love that part of it. So, to then be able to teach and make someone feel seen and supported and encouraged, that's really like special to me. Yeah, so I've really kind of enjoyed that and and kept that up because what are we now? 2026. Yeah, I've been doing it for a very, very, very long time. I didn't realise how long I'd been doing it actually. So I must like it. Yeah, because I wouldn't keep doing it, and it never feels like, oh my god, I've got to teach.

SPEAKER_00 38:36

Yeah, I never feel like that. Do you feel like oh my god, or anything struggles within any aspect of your career, or is there a part of your business that that feeling comes up?

SPEAKER_01 38:47

Yes, but it's nothing to do with the job itself. Like, I tip I swear on my life that I've never ever woken up and thought, I don't want to do this job today, oh I can't be bothered because I don't like the job. It might be, oh, I'm so tired today, but I've never I've never wanted to pull a sickey, if you get what I mean, from my job. Never, ever. That's one of the things that how I know I love this job is because if you had me in retail, I'd be pulling sickies right and centre, but for this, never, ever, ever. And it could be it doesn't matter how large or small the job is, I've never felt like that. So the thing though that now I've noticed that gets on my go a little bit more that makes me think, oh, is as budgets have changed, they combine the practice of hair and makeup in a fashion setting. I understand it a bit more in a commercial setting, but even then I'm a bit like but having to combine the two when it was just so respected as two very different, very intricate and years of training, especially for hair, you know, people start when they're like 15 or something, to then expect that from one person who hasn't got that training, and also for you know, way less than what they would pay two separate people, it's all about saving a buck, right? So the quality of the work will slip because you're getting someone who genuinely is not strong at both. I mean, I think you do get some artists that are, but I think genuine generally speaking, one is less strong than the other, and it stresses the artist out, and so yeah, I just I wish that wasn't happening in the industry, I have to say.

SPEAKER_00 40:32

And so let's talk about like some strengths that you feel you've uncovered or learn about yourself since having children, and and how does that show up in your work?

SPEAKER_01 40:43

Um, my arm strength has definitely improved because I've got like nine-pound babies. Um definitely resilience. I think our industry is it's hardcore, like it's not for the faint of heart, you have to have a thick skin. Um, so that was there already. But I think that when you have a baby, you kind of everything gets put into perspective, I think, you know, and I it's probably like a very common common theme for people who have children that you realise what's really, really important. So if somebody's freaking out about something that can be fixed or can be sourced, you just think, oh, there are other things that we can be worrying about, it's not that deep. But I but equally I do understand the urgency, you know, like it's just because I've had a child doesn't mean that nothing else is important anymore. Um I have complete respect for everyone's needs, but I I just don't get personally so twisted in or not about it, you know, the night before, up all night worrying like I would, because I I I mentioned to you um before we had started the podcast that I had ADHD, Audi HD, um that was diagnosed whilst uh being a mother, so that was something that was very uh triggered by motherhood, which is actually very commonplace um for women. But that I I just think I learned from it sounds weird, but my strength was knowing what my boundaries were and what I'm capable of to function at an optimum level for work or for any setting, really. So um for me that is a strength because without motherhood I would never have realised I had these things. I would have just thought I I just wasn't very good at coping.

SPEAKER_00 42:37

And how how did they manifest? How did you realise that you were like, okay, actually I should probably look to getting a diagnosis?

SPEAKER_01 42:45

I mean, I always had potential like thoughts that I might have some kind of neurodivergence. There were things as a child, like I would walk on tiptoes, I stim, those kind of things, which for me were normal, but they aren't actually the everyday thing for somebody. And my husband kind of didn't point it out in a rude way, but he like knew that there were certain things I would do that were like a little bit, oh and but he just kind of kept them in his back pocket, and it was only till I personally myself started to think, oh, I think might there might be something. He then sort of cemented that with what he thought, and I was like, okay, fine, I'm gonna go get this checked out. But what motherhood brought to me was one the oversensory levels because obviously, especially as being a late parent, if you know what I mean, a geriatric mother, as they say, I've lived I'd I'd lived 34 years doing everything as I wanted to do. Um, or at least in all my adult life, I was able to like do things to my own drum, um, not worry about what other people needed from me because everything could be done at my own pace. But when you're a mother, that doesn't happen. It's all about somebody else's needs. So I realized oh, this is very overwhelming. Why is it that when we go to the park, they all look Super clean and amazing, but I literally look like death warmed up. I've not showered in days. Um, did I brush my teeth this morning? I don't know. And how come all these other mums I'm seeing look amazing? And I'm just like out here surviving on like, you know, little sleep and just I don't know. I think I was it was a bit of comparing, which you should never do, but I could sense that I just wasn't I just wasn't coping in the way I thought I was gonna cope. And that manifested through the lack of self-care for myself. Okay, fine. And then obviously what I could handle with noise and like just finding it all very like overstimulating.

SPEAKER_00 44:43

And do you feel like it's affected you creatively?

SPEAKER_01 44:48

Do you know what it has, but not not the ADHD. The motherhood's affected me creatively and the fact that I keep having to park it. And that can be quite frustrating because if you're in a creative flow, you just want to get really indulged in it, don't you? You just want to just get all the ideas out because I'll forget everything and I won't remember what I wanted to do or say, or and that can also be very uh annoying to have to keep stopping and starting something. Um because you're constantly getting interrupted, so that's really, really difficult, even if you don't have any neurodivergence, to be constantly interrupted is a real assault on your nervous system. So that plus that equals uh send the men to come get me, take me to the asylum. Was there was there any like one moment that you can remember and you were like, oh my goodness me, this is luckily for me, no, there wasn't like a moment where I necessarily blew up out of control because I I would hate that for my children, but I could really start to sense okay, this is not this is feeling like I'm gonna bubble over. Let's let's fine put a stop to this before it actually manifests.

SPEAKER_00 46:01

And it sounds like you've got a very supportive family environment that you could say, like, hey, yeah, help.

SPEAKER_01 46:07

Yeah, I mean, like I said, my mum is kind of like my only support network. My dad doesn't live in the country, and my partner's family are from Yorkshire, so they're not around. But um, people do help where they can for sure. Yeah, um, but my mum, because of her age as well, I guess it's it's hard for her. Like three boys, my god, but I mean two of them are in like daycare slash school, but you know, it's a lot, you know. So um I think what it is that when you my mum's one of ten, so she, you know, looked after all her siblings, and like she so she fits very well into the role of like helping, caregiving, but I think it's just you know, she doesn't live nearby, so it's a lot for her to come and so on. But yes, when I if I need her, if I really need her, she will be there, which is all that really counts, isn't it? You know, like I have other people to help if I pay, but you kind of hope that your parents are gonna be there to just do the little bit of that sort of grandma duty, but um but that's another thing. One thing I have learned with motherhood is that unfortunately you've got to kind of imagine doing it like there is no help, because if you kind of imagine it like there is someone to go to and expect it, you will be disappointed at some point along with it. Managing your expectations, managing your expectations, because I think for people my age, we were kind of brought up thinking that that's just what happens because it's not the first conversation I've had about this with many people my age, because they were also raised by their grandparents, you know, while their parents went to work, it was very normal. Your parents probably did shift work potentially, and then your grandparents stepped in and helped and whatnot, but um yeah, it's not not how like how it used to be.

SPEAKER_00 47:53

And so your youngest is 10 months, yeah. So do you feel like you're back in the flow?

SPEAKER_01 48:00

In a weird way, yes, but in a weird way, no. Um, yes, I'm back in the flow of in as in our we I'll say yes to most things now. I will worry about the child care later. Whereas before I'd almost like long it off to answer and get that all orchestrated and then uh, you know, then reply, by which time the job's gone. I've learnt now you've got to just say yes and figure it all out. You've got to just make it work, and even though that sounds like a really irresponsible bit of advice because you might not figure it out, like you always do figure it out. That's the one thing that I'm realizing is like the mother superpower. Everything just somehow works out because you just have to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's like no other choice. There's always a way. That's right. Somehow, somewhere, some somehow you will do it. Like, somehow, some way there will be a way to do it, and you do have to accept help, you do have to call upon favours, you do have to pay. It's just you know, it's just what you have to do, but you can you can make it work, but that doesn't mean that it's easy, and it doesn't mean that like I'm not even just mentally exhausted by the logistics. Of course, I always am, but I also know that everything I do is for them. That's really lovely. Yeah, that that's that's the thing. It's I'm not doing this so I can, you know, buy things for myself, which would be nice once in a while. It's literally all to go on enrichment activities to feed them, to clothe them, to make sure that we maybe have a little bit to go on holiday with at some point, so they have experiences or days out. You know, it's lit ev really and truly everything I do is for them.

SPEAKER_00 49:37

And would you say you've then had to make sacrifices, let's say, with the like career trajectory that little Gina thought she was potentially gonna go on? Oh, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 49:48

Like I see people doing things all the time, and I think they've been doing it way less time, and I've been a bit of a slow tortoise, you know, why aren't I there yet? Or I've been doing this amount of time and so have they, and look how far they're they've gone, and I'm still here in a pivot. Um I think that that's the worst thing that I could have done to myself, and I wish I didn't spend so much time doing it because it robbed me of so much joy with my own children because I was comparing and disparing my trajectory. Um, and everybody's situation is so unique depending on the support system they have, depending on the financial situation they have, depending on their own mental or physical health. There's so many things that can impact that person's success. Um, and so uh the best advice I have for my own self now is to not really focus too much on others and focus on the choice that I made to be a parent and how best to make everything work harmoniously together as best as I can and not try and I don't know, expect too much from myself at this point because I think that's what often happens. We want to have it all. We're taught that we can have it all. Um and I if you can, I think that's amazing, and I congratulate you, and I actually want some tips. Yeah, I totally I totally agree, but I think it's really okay, and it's not you know, not um what's the word? How do I explain this? So it's not um an insult to your feminist views to slow down, like you're not you're not going backwards by doing that, you're not turning into like a trad wife just because you know you want to focus on your children for a bit. That's it's okay, it's natural. It's mu that's motherhood. That's the natural instinct, you know?

SPEAKER_00 51:44

To give yourself permission to very much put the focus on the children and and actually build the career around it. And it sounds like that's something that you very much have done.

SPEAKER_01 51:55

Yeah, I think that's what I have done. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are days where I think, oh, why have I why do I feel a little bit of stifled, you know, why do I feel stifled? You know, why do I feel like I can't do XYZ? Why is there why are they an obstacle? Which they are not, but sometimes it can feel like I've got this obstacle, I can't get to where I need to get to in straight line. I have to do so many like round the houses manoeuvres to get there. And will I even get there on time? Because I've had to take this journey, and it can feel like that a lot, especially with the content churning out and a million makeup artists and hairsides coming out of left, right, and centre, and it just feels also fast. It's very easy to get FOMO, but then you just look at them and you realise what you did, and you think, oh no, like they're amazing. They do I I think it's so important not to get too wrapped up in it because it affects their childhood, if I'm honest. I think if you're not happy, it really does affect your their childhood.

SPEAKER_00 53:03

And do you do you feel like part of that is like for instance, I feel like Elephant in the Room is like looking at Instagram, comparing yourself and actually the perhaps the key to success is focusing on yourself, yeah, making sure kids happy, healthy, and just like doing what you need to survive. Yes and like that that is success.

SPEAKER_01 53:28

Yes, that is success. Being good enough is success, it doesn't have to be an excelling, keeping your head above the water is good enough. I think I just wanted to hear more of that myself when I was at low points during you know post-natal because you our job, I I've spoken to this so many times with a friend, like, is such a toxic mental health situation. I think more so in like the front of house element where you're dealing with like the talent and how you have to look versus I don't know, a cameraman, for example, who doesn't really have to think about what they look like on a day-to-day basis unless they really want to, of course, which is great. But I mean, you know, you're behind the scenes and you really are behind the scenes. Now a makeup artist might be caught in the behind-the-scenes footage or has to talk about what they're doing and be on camera, even though none of us necessarily signed up for that. Um, also the way we look impacts how people book us. Like if we turn up looking like you know, how I would look covered in spaghetti stains and like, you know, a top I've been wearing for four days and my hair not brushed, of course, I'm not gonna get rebooked. Let's be real. We're not we're not gonna rebook that person, are we? Versus the person who's maybe showered and a little bit more put together. So, you know, it's just uh it is a little bit of a looks-based industry.

SPEAKER_00 54:49

Well, you I feel beauty artists more than ever have become a brand in themselves. 100%. Like you have to have everything put together, and that's such an interesting point. Like, yeah, of course, the makeup artist has to kind of look amazing, right?

SPEAKER_01 55:03

Right when they turn up on set, face level, clean, and you know, not covered in spaghetti. Good hygiene. Yeah, good hygiene, good basic hygiene. But yeah, so that in itself, especially for someone with ADHD who has enough on their plate, that even can seem like a massive thing. It's like, oh, I've I've got them ready, great. Oh, now I've got to do this whole like makeup routine on myself. Uh-oh. You know, so I think that's why I cut all my hair off and stuff, you know, it's just easier. I need like the least amount of effort to for maximum results, and I think that's in general what a mum becomes is very resourceful and like okay, what can we do quickly and to the best of our ability? So, yeah, it's just it's just all a bit wild, really, and you're just kind of coping, but that is a success story. Yeah, uh you know, I don't want people to feel like they're failing at motherhood just because they're not doing, you know, the latest, you know, whatever big campaign. You know, if they've been doing it before or they've had to take a bit of a slowdown or um it's different, it looks different, that's okay. You know, as long as you're healthy and your kids are healthy and you know you are able to survive, that's a real achievement. I just want people to, you know, feel that because it's hard out there.

SPEAKER_00 56:20

It is, it is hard, and I think that's also why one of the reasons why doing this podcast, because like I don't think you realise until you become a mother what a tribe of wonderful women there are um out there. Um, Gina, thank you. I feel like I could talk to you for hours about everything. Can you tell us like where can we find and see more of your work?

SPEAKER_01 56:44

Yeah, sure. Um, so I am at Instagram uh Gina underscore blondell and I have a website, but I don't update it a whole bunch because no one cares about websites anymore. But that's ginablondell.com and I teach at the CBM Academy. Um so if you want to have a lesson with me, you can reach out there. Um, and I also do one-to-one, so if you ever want to reach out for me to teach you, feel free. Drop me a like.

SPEAKER_00 57:14

Oh, that's thank you so much. That sounds really comfortable. Well, thank you, Gina, for um yeah, being so open and sharing your story.

SPEAKER_01 57:22

Oh, thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 57:25

Thank you. That was Gina Blondell. It's quite mad. The industry she trained in just isn't the industry she's working in today. And with every child, she's had to evolve and keep up right alongside it. I feel really privileged that she opened up about her need for self-preservation, telling herself she didn't want children because wanting something that might not happen felt too dangerous. Since then, it's been about going with the flow, doing the maths and what a nanny actually costs before the days even started. And then being diagnosed with ADHD as a mother. Underneath it all, everything she does now is for her three boys. I think a lot of people resonate when she talked about comparison and describing herself as a slow tortoise next to other artists, watching people who'd been in the industry less time get further faster, and how much of that thinking's actually robbed her of the joy that she could have had with her own children instead. Her conclusion was that everyone's situation is different. The support they have, the money, their health, and that the only thing worth focusing on is the choice that she actually made. And that is to be a parent and making that work in her own way. And as she puts it, slowing down isn't an insult to your feminist views. You're not going backwards. It's just motherhood. You'll find links to Gina's work in the show notes. And please follow the podcast and leave a quick review if this spoke to you. It makes a huge difference and helps more mothers and creatives find these conversations. You've been listening to Mothers of Creativity. I am Sabrina Saar, and it's brought to you by Blinkbid Media.