I wanted to become a makeup artist but dad wanted an athlete

there were three seconds left on the clock the score was 74 to 73 and i could feel the entire gym's baited breath waiting for me to pull a miracle the ball got inbounded to me i dribbled past one defender took a step back and shot the ball went through the net as the buzzer sounded making the score 75-74 we had won the entire gym erupted in loud cheers and my teammates rushed to me and picked me up this was a good feeling i had won our basketball team yet another match and hence the tournament against a rival school i looked at my dad sitting on the bench and he was packing up our gear as the basketball coach of our team he was in charge of making sure everything got back in one piece but it wouldn't have hurt him to just give me a little smile or a word of appreciation maybe just a thumbs up this was 8th grade and my natural athleticism and strict coaching by my dad had molded me into being the captain of our school basketball team i had learned to love the sport but the whole locker room roughness and the gatorade dumping and the hooligan behavior by my teammates was not really to my liking but i always felt like i had to do this for my dad he played college ball he was really good and everyone had high hopes for him until he got injured surgeries and bad choices affected his game enough to get him thrown off the team he could have gone pro but the mistakes he made had caught up to him and now he wanted me to live the life that he couldn't he wanted me to play in the nba one day nice shot doofus you really had to wait until the last moment to show off didn't you i turned around to see denise my elder sister standing behind me with her malicious smile she was one of those popular pretty seniors who took the mean girls persona too seriously and never missed a chance to make me look bad in front of my friends i was a bit hurt but i didn't show it this had been going on forever yeah whatever i don't see you doing anything worthwhile leave me alone i said and walked away with my team before she could respond i didn't need this especially not today i got back home and told my mom about my win she had always been supportive and i could tell her anything i took a shower grabbed a plate of food and sat in front of the tv flipping through the channels 30 minutes to complete transformation these words flashed across the screen and i was intrigued enough to pause on it it was a fashion channel and they were showing a makeup tutorial it started off with a girl who looked like she had just gotten out of bed and she opened her kit and started putting something called a primer on her face five minutes in she looked like a runway model what was this sorcery i wanted to see the finished look it was unreal what she could do with just a small color palette at that moment my dad walked into the room look at what this little girl is watching he announced to the house and laughed i got embarrassed and quickly switched the channel knowing i'd never hear the end of it if denise found out about it my face turned red and i could feel a warm feeling creeping up my neck that's how it had always been in the house my dad wanted me to be a man's man he would make fun of me for things like organizing my wardrobe or setting my hair right that's not how men live he used to say i finished my meal and went back to my room still thinking about the girl on tv was it her i was infatuated with or the literal magic she did on her face and what the hell was primer that evening while my sister was out with her friends i snuck up into her room i knew she had makeup in her drawer she had always been one of those fancy haughty girls in school who would never be seen dad without a layer of it on their face i wanted to see what it was i double checked to see if anyone was around and when everything was safe i went in and started going through her drawers jackpot the second drawer on her dresser was where she kept her makeup i started going through the items in it lipstick i was familiar with but a lot of the stuff said things like foundation and bronzer and highlighter isn't that stuff you use in your notes and finally i found it maybelline primer i read the instructions on it and took a little bit of it on my finger and put it on my face i spread it evenly and i could see it smoothening the lines on my already young face this was beautiful at this moment the door opened behind me and denise walked into the room what are you doing in here you pervert she screamed at me is this what you do when i'm not around come and go through my stuff you're vile this is when she noticed the tube of primer in my hand one half of my face looking smoother than the other her angry face quickly faded to a look of malice and derision and she said wow this is precious this is going to be fun she left the room closing the door behind her i was horrified if she spoke to my dad about it i would never hear the end of it i threw the tube back into the drawer wiped off my face with my sleeve and ran after her i found her in the hall sitting next to dad and smiling ear to ear my dad was sitting on the couch having a glass of gin and looking at me with the look of utmost disgust on his face is this true were you putting on your sister's makeup he asked me and i could sense the regressed anger in his voice i looked down at the carpet and didn't say anything he threw his glass on the floor and shouted at me look at me is this true my mom hurried into the room horrified at the sound of the shattering glass she took a look at what was happening and held my hand and led me to my room i was cowering with fear almost about to cry she asked me what was going on fighting back tears i told her that i saw something on the tv about makeup and i just wanted to try it out because it seemed interesting my mom had always been the supportive one she wiped my tears and told me to calm down it's okay i understand you're allowed to experiment with whatever you want i just want you to be open with me about everything i'll manage things with your father for now just stay away from all this and focus on your games that's what he wants i somehow stopped sobbing and agreed with her my heart was in the right place but i could not open up to her about my interest in makeup i wasn't sure if i wanted her to know just yet over the next few weeks i watched my sister do her makeup i learned that she used a lot of brushes for different things and the order of what she put things in mattered as much as the product she was using i watched the fashion channel now and then when nobody was around and picked up a few tips from there as well but i still needed my own things to practice with i couldn't get anywhere with this interest if i had no hands-on experience i think that my interest in it grew more and more because of how it was prohibited i had started being resentful of all the things i was being made to do and i felt like everything in my life was just dictated by my dad and my sister they decided what clothes i wore which sports i played which subjects i needed to study everything this was my act of rebellion and in the process of indulging in something that was truly my own i was drawn to makeup enough to risk going out and getting some of it for myself i had money saved up from my basketball wins and my summer dog walking and paper routes i had no idea how much makeup cost but i knew i had enough to afford at least a beginner's kit i was confident i'd get it right what i hadn't thought of that i'd completely freeze as soon as i walked into the salon there was just so much of it everywhere i looked i could see small boxes brushes of all sizes fake eyebrows in different colors i didn't know where to start i didn't know if i could do this i stood at the door for a few seconds turned around and left i didn't want to do this i was so close everything i had read in the used magazines that my sister had thrown out had given me information and it was all useless i needed to get my hands on it i decided to try again the next weekend i went back to the salon walked back in and this time i actually managed to walk up to the counter i had to do this the woman behind the counter smiled at me as i entered her name tag said kayla and she looked at me with inquisitive yet kind eyes can i help you with anything sir i immediately got awkward and said um no i don't know i was just looking around for some stuff for my sister okay what kind of things are you looking for i i don't know makeup stuff she understood that i was nervous looked around and dropped the cold professional demeanor it's okay kid i'll hook you up with a beginner's kit yeah you'll get the basic brushes and the basic foundation it'll be a good place to start don't worry about it i immediately felt like home with her she was kind and understanding and she spoke to me like she understood what i was going through she took out a few brushes from under the counter put together a few packets and said there you go that'll be 32.50 you can have it for 30 first time discount she winked at me as she handed me the stuff and i knew in that moment that i was coming back here i practiced with it on late nights with the door of my room locked when i was sure that everyone was asleep i actually got pretty good at it i even found the confidence to talk to my mom about it and she surprisingly understood if this is what you like do it i support you no matter what she said fast forward a few years and i was almost a pro at doing makeup as much of a pro as i could become with my limited time and access to new information anyway i knew exactly how to apply a primer how to pick the right color of foundation how to make broader brush strokes when putting on highlighter how to pick the right flesh tone concealer everything basketball was still in full swing and my game was suffering from all the late night makeup practice i was doing but i didn't care makeup was my thing basketball was just something that was thrust upon me and i knew where my priorities were i had become great friends with kayla by now because of my frequent visits to the makeup salon and she had helped me a lot regarding everything it was the final basketball game of my senior year and it was an important day for my dad he told me that there was going to be a scout at the game and that it was extremely important that i bring my a-game he was hoping i'd get a basketball scholarship to get to a good college to study business and then eventually go pro he told me that this was the most important day of my life and everything i did on the court today would decide what my life was going to look like but did i want this to be my life 20 hours per week of coaching constant pressure of studying and being surrounded by dude bros i wanted to be a makeup artist i wanted my own salon maybe my own brand someday this wasn't the most important day of my life this was the most important day of my dad's life i was not going to live my life according to his rules anymore and this was step one in that direction so i tanked the game i was terrible i missed easy layups i butterfingered easy passes i turned the ball over and i ran out shot clocks no scout in their right minds would have thought of me for a scholarship we lost terribly and i was feeling both elated for my personal victory and scared because of what my dad was going to do the yelling started as soon as i got home i've never seen my dad so angry he threw things screamed till his face turned red and almost hit me i tried to keep my feelings in check and not cry i was not going to let him have this one you couldn't even make one play right we've been practicing for this for years you have screwed up everything what are you gonna do with your life now this was my moment it was now or never my voice was quivering with suppressed tears i said dad i don't want to play basketball i want to be a makeup artist he was dumbfounded for a second he took a few heavy breaths and said is this some kind of a joke what are you some sort of fairy what kind of man wants to be a makeup artist you're going to study and go to business school as long as you're living under my roof there will be no more talk about this yeah maybe i don't want to live under your roof anymore and i think it was that moment that changed the entire course of my life i could have listened to him and just went along with it as i had for all my life but i'd had enough i was done i knew i had enough savings to make it on my own for a while or i could get a job and get started on my journey this was something i had to do for myself and i wasn't going to let my dad get in the way smoke was practically coming out of my dad's ears by then get out of my house i don't want to see your face ever again he said and stomped away to his room i could hear mom pleading with him to calm down and understand what i was going through but i knew my dad well enough to know that he wouldn't budge it was time for me to leave home i went up to my room packed up some of my clothes in a bag and went to say goodbye to mom she couldn't stop crying and i reassured her i told her i would stay in touch with her no matter what happens i asked her not to worry about me and that i would be okay as i was leaving she slipped some cash in my bag without me noticing the first thing i did was go back to the salon to see kayla she was the only person i knew who had any idea about what i was going through hey kayla i need a favor yeah kid how's it going you seem down is everything all right no but it will be kayla i need a job can you give me something to work on here please i promise i'll put everything into it caleb paused unsure of what to say she asked someone to cover the counter took me in a corner and asked me what was happening she asked me if i was sure about all of this and if there was something i could do to salvage the situation back home i told her everything about my dad and how things were and that there was nothing left for me back there sadly there wasn't a job opening at the salon she told me that the best she could do was offer me an unpaid internship as i had no proven experience in the field i had to prove myself in order to get paid i said that was okay it wasn't ideal but it was better than nothing within two months i had a job it paid a decent amount of money and it's a good thing that i got it when i did because i was almost out of my savings i learned more in those two months of unpaid internship than i had in four years of sneaking around and watching fashion tv channels and reading tutorials in magazines kayla was always supportive and helped me with all the things i was doing wrong or was unfamiliar with i kept in touch with my mom giving her regular updates on how my life was going the single-minded focus my dad helped me develop made my progress faster and as i began to grow more and more anger towards him vanished although not completely this was seven years ago life has changed a lot since after working with caleb for almost six years i decided it was time to start my own small business i'm planning on renting out a small place near the town center and stocking up on a few products and salon instruments i made an instagram page for myself for marketing my skills six months in i was doing decent and i was turning a decent profit with my work i even have the resources to hire another makeup artist to help me today i turn 26 i've been working in this industry for eight years i've decided to open my own little salon my instagram makeup page has more than 100 000 followers and i regularly get contracts to do the makeup for weddings and photo shoots i've reached influencer status in this town and i've even had a few paid promotions for makeup brands life has been good i know that it wouldn't have been the same if i'd gone to business school but i don't spend time wondering what it could have been i made this happen for myself and i'm happy that i did and now i'm expanding my business and for the grand opening my dad called and asked if he could come visit with tears in my eyes i said yes

Channel: My Story Animated

Views: 1,018,302

Rating: 4.8690586 out of 5

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Id: 0jyt1GapZKU

Length: 14min 55sec (895 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 03 2020