How To Make Loving Yourself, A Revolution
300 weddings later, Michelle McMillian built the empire of Mission Stylehouse from the ground up. The style team is an in person service, providing the most intimate process possible for her clients. The beauty industry is an untamed monster. From the Photoshop savvy on Vogue, perfection is merely an expectation. Warped photos craft a deadly image in young minds, even adults are tricked by it. These magazine covers make it seem beauty must equal perfection. This isn’t all necessarily true. It shouldn’t seem a revolutionary act to love yourself, according to McMillian. The industry pushes products to attain beauty, but it is important to take a step back.
Michelle McMillian dispels this idea of beauty in a crowded coffee shop. Her hair is messily tangled, eyes focused on her iced tea between her fingers. Music fluttered through the speakers as her hands laced around an iced tea. She thrives from her success as a stylist in the beauty industry. She fronts her own style team, Mission Stylehouse, while keeping love at the center of it all. Working with celebrities through elaborate events to brides on their special day, she instills a memorable experience for everyone. She thrives on the revolutionary action of loving yourself.
The soundtrack from the shop sung in medley with her mantra: love yourself. As many beauty influencers in our time, she follows suit in the revolutionary idea of putting a person before beauty.
“I think it’s really important to know yourself and what you see in the world...The beauty industry is so misleading towards what beautiful means. It’s sad to me, but I want to be a provider of beauty services that dispel some of that culture.” She said.
McMillian wants girls to not have their type of beautiful to be predetermined through the screens of their Instagram feed. Plumped lips are not the key to happiness. She described beauty as “living your youth, making decisions with your gut, making compassionate choices with your heart, building your brain, and being creative and passionate with your time and energy.” The whole point of offering beauty services in this industry was not to mold women into a cookie cutter image, but enhance their own kind of beautiful. There is more to beauty than the cosmetic industry provides.
Her love of beauty wasn’t love at first sight. McMillian rolled through college, struggling to find what made her truly happy. It wasn’t until she worked in a salon after college that her passion bloomed. The salon was a part-time second job, hidden from her main job in business. She recalled the dreaded days of going to her main job. The environment at the salon was almost an escape. The emphasis of community and culture attracted McMillian, and eventually converted her to pursue a career in beauty. Despite having a degree, she returned to beauty school to follow her bliss.
Hairdressing wasn't enough once she had a taste. McMillian shadowed under celebrity makeup artist, James Ryder. Trained in both ends of the beauty spectrum, McMillian prides herself on her commitment to family and work.
