Women Who Disrupt
Jen Cayle Gaum: Fueling Life-Changing Confidence with Makeup
Makeup is no longer about creating a false illusion—it’s an opportunity to enhance and celebrate your natural beauty. Makeup gives you the power to highlight what already makes you unique, putting confidence at its peak! For centuries, we’ve been creating fabrications of perfection when, in truth, our own individual features are more than enough. It’s time for us all to reclaim this simple but powerful tool as a means of self-love and expression! Jen wants to disrupt the harmful makeup industry narrative of covering and concealing.
In an age where makeup is often used to create illusions of perfection, Jen Cayle Gaum, a New York City-based makeup artist, believes in the power of makeup to enhance and celebrate natural beauty. We had the opportunity to interview Jen about her journey in the makeup industry, her mission to disrupt harmful narratives, and her two makeup lines, Sam & Maddy Make-Up and Flushed Yoga Glow™.
Discovering the Empowering Effects of Authentic Makeup
Jen’s journey began as a part-time makeup artist while studying at Toronto University. Through her work, she noticed that many women failed to recognize their natural beauty due to self-criticism or a focus on their perceived flaws. Jen began using makeup to enhance and highlight rather than hide and cover, witnessing the empowering effect authentic makeup had on these women. This realization became the foundation of her purpose: to empower women through makeup that magnifies their natural beauty and highlights their inner glow.
A Successful Career and Founding Makeup Lines
With over 20 years of experience in the beauty industry, Jen has worked with some of the most renowned beauty brands. Recognized as “Best Makeup Artist” by Allure in 2010, she founded her first makeup line, Sam & Maddy Make-Up, named after her children. Her second makeup brand, Flushed Yoga Glow™, focuses on helping women look and feel their healthiest, emphasizing quick and easy makeup routines for busy moms.
The Mission Behind Sam & Maddy Make-Up
Jen’s mission is to teach people of all ages and backgrounds to use makeup to enhance and highlight their unique features. By embracing one’s authentic beauty, makeup becomes an empowering tool that boosts confidence and inner strength.
Changing the Narrative
Jen aims to disrupt the harmful makeup industry narrative of masking, hiding, and fixing, especially for the younger generation. By using makeup as a tool for empowerment, Jen is determined to change the approach to beauty and help people feel their best and strongest selves, inside and out.
Jen’s Success and Persistence
Attributing her success to her positive and determined nature, Jen emphasizes the importance of being one’s own cheerleader and learning from setbacks. When times get tough, she finds motivation in helping women understand the power of their inner beauty and the impact of authentic makeup on their self-confidence.
A Unique Approach to Makeup
Jen’s competitive advantage lies in her belief that makeup should not conceal perceived flaws. Instead, she focuses on helping people embrace their unique, authentic beauty and using makeup to elevate their natural features.
Advice for Women Starting a Business:
Jen shares three pieces of advice for women starting a business:
- Believe in yourself and know that you don’t need permission from anyone else.
- Speak up and use your voice to make an impact.
- Be adaptable and understand that success is not always a linear path.
Jen’s Services and Collaborations
Offering individualized beauty treatments, cosmetics classes, makeup organization services, and makeup for teenagers, Jen also works with career-driven individuals and businesses. She collaborates with companies to design specialized seminars, team-building activities, speaking engagements, and events.
Connect with Jen through her website and follow her on Instagram and TikTok to learn more about her mission to empower women through authentic makeup and self-love.
