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Tarryn Feldman
Tarryn Feldman is living what seems like a Nashville dream. The celebrity hair and makeup artist works with the likes of Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild, The Bachelorette's Kaitlyn Bristowe, and Kelsea Ballerini, who cast the glam gal in her “Club” music video.
But Feldman is quick to point out she’s no overnight success, and that life in the world of beauty isn’t always pretty. In between A-list clients and running her new blog, Nashville Glam, Feldman sat down to talk all things beauty, business, and breaking into Music City.
Nashville Lifestyles: How did you get into the beauty business?
Tarryn Feldman: I was born and raised in California—Los Angeles. I went to makeup school and hair school very young, but I’m a beauty school dropout. I worked at one salon and was like, ‘No, I'm never ever, ever going to work in a salon.’ Then I went to makeup school and loved it. I worked at every counter, did so many Fashion Weeks, tried it all—even special effects. There's so many facets and so many roads you can go down with beauty, and I tried as many as I could until I moved here. That’s when I was like, "Oh, I only want to work with celebrities."
NL: What makes celebrity clients different?
TF: Working with a woman, whether she's a singer or an actress or whatever she does for a living, she knows the drill. Every once in a while, it’s fun to work with a bride or with somebody that's never had glam before, but I would rather be a part of a well-oiled machine.
NL: You moved to Nashville in 2011. How hard was that to relocate to Nashville when you’d been working to establish yourself in L.A.?
TF: Nashville takes a minute. People here want you to prove yourself. But I’ve had so many full circle moments—people who didn’t know me then who are trying to hire me now. It’s wild. I’m happy I came here when I did because it can be a long, hard road. I still am navigating through what I'm doing, what my purpose is, and what I want. But I love Nashville, and I’m really happy where I am now.
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NL: Was there a moment where you thought to yourself, “Ok, this is all starting to come together?”
TF: I've probably had a few of those moments. When I first started working with Big Machine and I was working with Edens Edge, I felt good doing that. And then that grew into Danielle Bradbery or Maddie & Tae, working with different artists that felt like, "OK, this will work,” or, “This is good. My hard work has finally paid off.”
NL: It seems that people in the music industry—especially in country music—have their teams in place for years and years, or that they inherit them from other artists.
TF: It does, and I think that's why my approach is a little different. I'm signed with an L.A. and New York agent, so that's different about me. I don't have to be with one artist for everything that they do. If they have different makeup and hair people, that’s OK. I am most likely friends with them. I want my clients to have other people in different cities. I want what's best for everybody. I come from a place where there's a lot of really talented people, and you’ve got to just be who you are and do the best that you can and put your own little twist on it.
NL: Is it ever daunting to keep up with all the beauty trends out there? Or to outdo yourself every time?
TF: My job is to be constantly educating myself; learning new things about new products and new trends. I travel a lot and every time I go to L.A. or New York, I'll go into a PR showroom and I'll pull from the walls and I'll get all kinds of products and try them on. I follow people that ignite my passion and my need to learn. I don't keep a closed mind to anything. I love Nashville. I respect Nashville. However, I think the country music industry is changing and everything about it needs to change [with it]. Not so that it's completely lost, I think the music still has a country sound, but things are just elevating, so I think for a performer, their look has to as well. As an artist myself, I need to as well.
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Kelsea Ballerini
NL: What is the signature Tarryn Feldman look?
TF: I try to put my twist on an L.A./New York meets Nashville glam. I'm not very heavy-handed. My thing is really clean, pretty beauty because it's relatable. If you’re at home, you probably feel like you could achieve that look. You see somebody like Kelsea [Ballerini] with hair and makeup and you’re like, “I could do that! She loves the products I love.” Ultimately, no matter what the music is, or the trends are, country music's defining thing is that every person is authentic and relatable. It's beauty, everybody should feel it. Everybody should live it. Everybody should own it. It's not just for the rich and famous.
NL: How did your beauty blog, Nashville Glam, come to be?
TF: Originally when I started Nashville Glam, it was a glam squad. It was a couple of my closest friends who also did makeup and hair, and it was awesome, and it worked great when it worked. Then everybody went off and did their own thing, so it didn’t work anymore.
NL: So, you never planned it as a website?
TF: I never ever thought I would run or start any kind of blog or publication, but everyone's always asking me what do I use on this person? What do I do for this? Where should I go do this? I will always be the first to try a new treatment. I will get all the things done and then I'll tell everybody about it, so, it naturally made sense for me to start an online publication that was literally just about beauty and wellness and supporting all the people here that are doing the same thing. We launched Nashville Glam on December 10. People care about what is going into their skin, on top of their skin, what they're ingesting. They care about beauty now, and they’re coming [to the site] to learn more, which blows my mind. I'm just kind of diving into what I love a little bit more and it's making me love what I do a little bit more.