Nowadays, women are on their hustle and grind, whether they are working as corporate investors or as teachers, these women are holding down the fort. Although they are exerting all of their energy into their occupations, they have other sides to them once they set foot out of the office or classroom.
Geovanna Fortuna, a New York native, is an NYgal who does it all. Fortuna was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to Manhattan when she was six years old. She was raised in Williamsburg and then moved to Washington Heights following with the Bronx and ultimately moving to New Jersey where she currently lives with her husband and six-year-old son.
"Growing up, I always said that I would never leave New York City," said Fortuna. "I loved the freedom to commute anywhere I wanted to around the city, the shopping, restaurants and the nightlife."
Although her priorities changed when she moved to New Jersey, Fortuna, however, is more than a corporate employee, wife, and mother, as she is a beauty guru with quite a following.
"Though I’ve always loved makeup, I really got into it after I had my son," she said. "I wasn’t getting any sleep when he was a baby so my skin was going through it."
With that being said, Fortuna went to a makeup counter and asked for their most powerful concealer. As the makeup artist removed the makeup she had on, she noticed Fortuna was not sleeping.
"I told her I had a baby who at seven months old was waking up every three hours," said Fortuna. "She recommended that on my commute home, I get a digital copy of a book that worked wonders for her on getting her own child to sleep, which I then tried the techniques that same day and my son started to sleep 12 hours straight after that."
Once Fortuna’s son got his sleeping pattern on track, the rest was history.
"I now had more time for myself and more time to focus on things that were bothering me," she said. "I started to try out every concealer and hack on the market. As I kept experimenting with products, I then got this obsession to find the perfect foundation and the perfect powders and built my makeup collection."
Friends and family members started asking Fortuna for beauty reccomendations. Therefore, she started a blog where she would write about her experiences with products, which also included charts she created as well as photos she took. She also attended makeup seminars and took online makeup classes in order to perfect her craft.
"I spent nights putting makeup on myself and taking photos for social media which lead to friends and followers requesting makeup appointments for special events," said Fortuna. "I now have very loyal repeat clients which I love."
Currently, she takes appointments in her home on the weekends and also teaches private groups along with one on one lessons.
"I know and can understand that not everyone has the time to invest in trying a bunch of products, so why not lead them in the right direction and help where I can," expressed Fortuna.
As a beauty guru, Fortuna is inspired by influencers such as Mali Magic, a makeup artist who has been in the beauty industry for years.
"There are many makeup artists out there that are amazing but what I love most about her is the passion she works with," she said. "She loves to teach and she’s always trying to find ways to better herself and never stops learning. I’m hoping I can take her course one day."
She also has beauty brands she swears by, which are Tata Harper Skincare, Mac Cosmetics, Fenty Beauty, Giorgio Armani, Cover FX, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Kevyn Aucoin, Tarte, Colourpop, and Maybelline.
As Fortuna is passionate about beauty, she stated she would love a career in the industry, however, she enjoys working for Nike as well, especially since financial stability is provided.
"I’m not much of a risk taker when it comes to finances," she said. "I would love to have my own beauty studio one day though and I would like to start working on what that would look like."
For more information on Fortuna and the beauty services she offers, visit her site, Beauty By Geo.
Image credit: Geovanna Fortuna
