Many of you may know me as Glossy or GlossyBee, but my real name is Brennan. I'm a self proclaimed travel addict, an influencer to some and a professional makeup artist to many. If you know me personally, or have spent enough time following me on instagram, then you know how passionate I am about traveling. I have felt this way since I was a teenager, and now as an adult, mentally and emotionally, traveling is my saving grace, my breath of fresh air. To understand this part of me, you have to understand a small piece of where I come from.

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As a teenager, like many, the concept of travel was not obtainable, it wasn't within reach. I couldn't even grasp the concept of being lucky enough to see the world. In my mind, I already knew that my life would never amount to much. With that mindset, the inevitable happened; I became an angry and rebellious teen. I had little to no guidance, no moral support, I was being raised by a single mother who worked so often to make ends meet that I had a dangerous amount of freedom, and used it accordingly. Father in jail, brother in jail, low income household and even lower self-esteem. A mixed child growing up in predominantly white town, never really fitting in, unsure of who I was and therefore eventually acquiring the skill of being a chameleon. Codeswitching my way into so many social groups. Who was I? I had no idea, but I appeared socially happy, yet constantly felt out of place and completely unhappy. I truly hated my life for so many years of my childhood. My favorite source of comfort came from daydreaming, and I would do it all the time. I would day dream about leaving everything behind and starting my life over in an entirely different country, in a place completely foreign to me. My first visually romanticized introduction to how beautiful the world of travel can be, came from The Travel Channel. You wouldn't believe how many sleepless nights I spent laying in bed silently crying as I binge watched Travel Channel re-run episodes. Sounds crazy, I know, but on a larger scale, I always had an openness or a longing to experience the world outside of my world. Through it all, one thing I've always been confident about is my ability to think outside of the box, which is why I love learning about the world. But I felt trapped in a life that was never meant for me. I told ya'll, I was depressed and at that time, and for many years to come, I was sure that MY life, just wasn't the kind of life that did extraordinary things.

 

Fast-forward in time, I am now the single mother struggling to make ends meet, living in Philadelphia and completely unhappy. Seeking SOMETHING to make me feel good about myself, one day, on a whim, I decided to walk into a MAC Cosmetics store. Hoping a little bit of makeup would at least help me FEEL better. I was in a terrible mental space at that time, and after the sales associate finished putting the slightest bit of makeup on me, I looked in the mirror and felt a little splash of self confidence. On that day, in that moment, it was exactly what I needed. From that day forward, I dove into learning how to do my own makeup, I spent hours on end watching makeup tutorials on YouTube. I was obsessed. This was literally the first time in my life that I ever consistently worked hard to master anything and the first time that I allowed myself to feel proud for accomplishing something new. Learning how to do makeup became my first serious hobby. Up to that point, I never stuck with anything, I was a quitter, and I even tried to walk away from my new hobby countless times, yet some unrecognizable force just kept calling me back to it.

 

A year after falling in love with makeup artistry, I started working for MAC Cosmetics, which was when my life slowly began to change. Although I still experienced very low low's through out my journey, I poured so much of myself into becoming the best Makeup Artist that I could be. I also enjoyed giving people an extra boost of confidence with my acquired makeup skills. A question that I am always asked is how I ended up getting into makeup, I usually dance around the the answer, try to make it sound simple; but the truth is, depression. As time went on, the path that led me to and through my days of working at MAC, continued to carry into the next chapter of my life. Eventually I was able to part ways with the brand, luckily this was during the time that social media was starting to set the bar for the beauty standard. I was fortunate enough to make a smooth transition from retail sales to becoming an entrepreneur, working solely for myself.

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After leaving the company, a former customer of mine ended up becoming one of my most supportive personal clients. Over the last eight years, she has become one of my best friends. It's insane how one path leads to another and another.  I cannot tell this story without her impact on my life. Unknowingly, she played a major role in giving me the confidence to pursue what I've always dreamt of doing. She gave me that push, "just spend the money Bren, you'll make it right back", "you deserve it, treat yourself" ... ME deserving to treat myself? That was almost unheard of, so naturally when the time presented itself to spend money on a vacation, I was TERRIFIED. I couldn't even wrap my head around even having the opportunity to travel, but she kept pushing..and so, eventually I spent the damn money! My excitement to have even accomplished that much...it sounds crazy, but for me, that was my first successful attempt at chasing the one thing I've always dreamt about..and guess what? I made the money right back.