Daily Inspiration: Meet Karina Horton

Today we’d like to introduce you to Karina Horton.

Hi Karina, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story of becoming an entrepreneur is almost enough to give you whiplash. I walked into college with every intention of graduating top of my class and climbing the corporate ladder to be a top executive. I graduated with my business degree and immediately worked on climbing those rungs. Little did I know joining a Network Marketing company two years into my climb in Corporate America would change everything. I started selling makeup and skincare to help make my car payment and quickly learned I could match my current salary by having so much fun on social media. Serving my friends, family, and network – teaching them skills I had just learned and encouraging them to take care of their skin became my new nightlife.

I was having SO much fun and diving deep into a whole new world. My coworkers noticed this change in me and encouraged me to keep going and do the most with it. Up the ranks, I climbed in my “side hustle”. I moved to a remote role where I took over a Human Resources position and helped hire the company an outside consultant. One with more experience than I had. She and I connected over zoom and what she saw in me was drive, ambition, and motivation but not with the company I was working with – it was with my online company. She encouraged me to “take control of my own life” and I decided I would retire from Corporate America and become a full-time online makeup artist. This transition was terrifying and it lead me down a path of meeting an enormous Bridal Team (the biggest one in North America) and making my online makeup artistry an in-person gig too!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road. And I would say no entrepreneur “has it easy.” It takes drive, consistency, and fire from within to put yourself out there, be told no, and still go back for more. One of the struggles of being a self-taught makeup artist would be worrying about what others might say. I quickly had to realize that some of the biggest professional makeup artists in the world are also self-taught – and a God-given talent doesn’t come from any sheet of paper.

The other struggle I’ve had is keeping my mindset in the right place. It’s so easy to let that ugly creep in and start to doubt yourself and your capabilities when someone doesn’t hire you after a trial, or when I’m having an off day and my social media is down. I tell myself and my team that entrepreneurship is 80% mindset – 20% hustle. If your mind isn’t in the right place, it doesn’t matter how hard you hustle, the success you want won’t be there.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in creating a Five Minute Face for the person that either doesn’t have a lot of time or doesn’t want to take the time to sit at their vanity for hours on end to create a look like Beyonce. My Five Minute Face focuses on taking care of your skin first with all-natural skincare, and using professional products that allow you to look put together, refreshed, and younger while you go about your day.