mEET, GABBY.
Owner of “Glammed Up by Gabby” and Head Makeup Artist.
Born and raised in Miami, Gabby is a professional makeup artist with 7 years of experience, specializing in all events. Lead Artist and Head of Glammed Up by Gabby, Gabriella “Gabby” Martinez is a vibrant talent who is a hopeless romantic herself and loves all things, “love”. Gabby’s sought out style is focused on a soft glam that enhances natural beauty, leaving each beauty her brushes embrace feeling confident, beautiful and set to stun.
Glammed Up by Gabby takes pride in not just meeting expectations, but exceeding them! These beauties speak for themselves-
‘why DID YOU GO INTO Makeup?’
I’ll be honest… It wasn’t my first choice. I’ve always said, “I need 3-4 lifetimes to do everything that ever sparked an interest in me!”. After jumping from one career idea to another, I ended up graduating from nursing school with my Bachelor’s degree. Sure, a grand achievement that had everyone around me so proud and so excited, but ultimately, I wasn’t happy.. at all! I started noticing the only time I was actually content was when I was with clients. Jumping out of my scrubs and into whatever black on black outfit I chose that day, it almost felt like my super suit. When each of my ladies look in the mirror and their eyes grow wide open, the first gasp, the first “OMG”, the moment their tear ducts begin to get a little watery and I have to save the day with a q-tip— that’s my “why”. I do what I do because the confidence that exudes as soon as you get up from that chair is pure satisfaction for me. My why stems from the the ability to make women look and feel gorgeous, confident, and empowered with just a few brush strokes!
‘What’s your greatest accomplishment within the scope of your business?’
I think overall, my greatest accomplishment has been the slow and steady progression of Glammed Up by Gabby. When I began doing makeup, I did it as my outlet to destress from what was going on in personal life. I NEVER thought I would’ve pursued this hobby and turn it into what it is today. I remember when I started, I had 1 single person booked for her prom in May of 2015. Following that one, I didn’t have another single booking for about another 6-7 months following that day. About a year later, I had booked a few more girls for the next prom season, which led to some friends or friends booking for other events. At that point, I had maybe 3 sessions booked per month, which then turned into 5 sessions a month, and so forth. Humbly, today I have anywhere from 8-20 sessions booked per weekend. Absolutely mind boggling!
I don’t recognize how much effort I’ve actually put in to GUBG until I have these sporadic moments of reflection when I actually take a minute to pause, reflect, and think “holy crap! how did we get here?!".
If you would’ve told my 16 year old self that some years down the line, this hobby of sitting in the bathroom at around 12:45 AM while the rest of the house was asleep, taping my phone to the wall to allow the flashlight to shine at me, sticking a towel in the bottom crack of the door to avoid my light shining down the hall, stacking my textbooks one on top of another to create height for my mirror to stand on, while I experimented with makeup- would turn into my job… my jaw would’ve been on the floor. But here we are…Growing, thriving, prospering but most important of all- happy as I do it all!