Gabriele Martin

       My journey to get here started when I was as young as 10 years old. I was the child that would beg my mom to let me wear her lipsticks or ask to use her sparkly eyeshadows even if I wasn't going anywhere (which was the only way she'd ever say yes). Growing up in my teens only grew my curiousity and love for makeup past the clear mascara and the phone lipgloss sets into eyeliner, smokey eyes, vibrant lipsticks. I was always trying to push the limits that were set for me. Due to my mother's religious beliefs, creativity with makeup was not allowed and was seen as something that was disdained or only present on " ungodly women", but still I persisted.
By the time I moved out I landed my dream job at the time at Ulta where the environment was something I'd only dreamed of, where creativity was encouraged and I was allowed to branch out and truly experiment, understand, and teach others the knowledge about products I had gained over the years. While I was there I was also exposed to the other side of beauty: skincare. Because I loved makeup so much I definitely struggled with acne, which caused me to go out and look for a solution. Over time I started seeing amazing results, results I genuinely never thought were possible. Through those results I became the number one spokesperson for anything skincare at my Ulta location, and being able to teach others and have them leave learning information they didn't know coming in fulfilled my heart in a way I never thought was possible, which was the ultimate deciding factor in taking the next step to become licensed in the profession I've grown to love so much.