Rising Stars: Meet Janelle Tejan of Colorado Springs / Denver

Today we’d like to introduce you to Janelle Tejan

Hi Janelle, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Well to start, thank you for taking the time to reach out and allow me to introduce myself to so many with my journey & business as a makeup artist. It’s very much appreciated. I started the journey of beauty fresh out of high school. I put myself into beauty school about a year after graduating. I always had a fascination for makeup, and hair and this idea that these things can change or transform form you into anything you want to be. I have always looked at makeup and hair as a form of art and self expression. I went to International salon spa Academy, where I obtained my cosmetology certification and degree. Located in Colorado Springs, Co. The school was very supportive and made sure I obtained the necessary skills to be successful in this industry. A Huge thank you moment, to every single teacher and staff member there who not only helped me and taught me all the skills I know but truly was so patient with me every step of the way. Once I graduated, I began doing work locally on fellow friends, family members, and some who found me through referrals. There was also this love and passion for creating when it came to makeup specifically, hence the content creator in me was born so to speak. How do I explain this?. Once I found out / realized you could ONE, go to school for hair, makeup, nails, essentially ALL things beauty IT WAS GAME ON ❤️ but once I saw what the love of makeup was doing for those through the internet all because of creating?! I was immediately obsessed & of course influenced with TWO, now creating content online as a makeup artist. During this time, the constant creating just became more and more reliant & with being so consistent, I was able to be blessed with opportunities, working with different makeup brands, some being my favorite of all time. Now were things for me as a makeup artist start to get serious and where I choose to fully re-brand myself as a makeup artist begins about 3-4 years into my modeling career. For me, as a black woman and as a black model, I’ve been modeling almost 10 years of my life, with that being said, I’ve always noticed there being a lack of makeup artist who never had my shade in their kit, or you could fully tell or feel they weren’t fully confident in doing black women’s makeup. Now once covid HIT, everything in terms of doing makeup on others not only paused but truly stopped and changed things for me. Once Covid was over and we were going back to the normal world, I really wanted to pause, reset, rebrand, and refocus where I wanted myself as a makeup artist to go. With the help of some amazing people in Denver, some of the best models I’ve ever known, I was able to rebrand myself into a business as a makeup artist. Gaining my LLC buying the rights to my business name, even building my own website, and just making sure I was doing all the things that I needed to do from a business owner standpoint and finally taking that full step.
So in a way everything‘s been kind of a full circle moment for me.
The journey for me as a makeup artist has truly been so rewarding because the end goal is always, always, always, to make sure that the person in my chair, in my hands, is not only satisfied with the work that has been done, but truly, feels beautiful inside & out.
I create safe spaces for anybody who lands in my chair, who lands in my hands. I want every person who lands in my hands to know and feel that I am 110% confident in doing your makeup.
I have everything you need in my kit.
I promise.
I guess you can say I don’t do anything that doesn’t stem from the heart and I always stand on something and everything I do matters and it has meaning to it so me doing makeup on people isn’t just me doing makeup on people…and I think that’s what makes it so enriching for me.
I think that’s what makes it so rewarding for me.
It’s truly about that person experiencing every ounce of happiness, satisfaction, gratitude, and beauty all in one moment just from me getting the chance or opportunity to create.
The journey for me is a make up artist only continues to get more beautiful more deep and more serious.
I’m excited to share I will be dabbling in some classes next year.
I want to learn from the best of the best.
I want to keep progressing with my skills and I want to take myself as a makeup artist and business owner to New Heights.
I hope to one day on my own, makeup brand Creating my own formulas in a lab.
I of course would start with foundations and eyeshadows.
Dreams are there for a reason.
To every person who continues to follow me along this journey, allowing me to take you along this journey and allowing me to reach you through my journey…thank you and thank you for listening to my journey and my story.
I hope to find you one day Gorgeous ☁️💞

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The struggles and obstacles for me that I have faced when it comes to this journey of being a makeup artist and a business owner is maintaining balance and organization with everything else that I’m trying to achieve in my life.
When you are an entrepreneur so to speak and you have to maintain a professional career, the balance, of it all can be a little bit overwhelming.
But By the grace of God, he had shown me the way and he’s guided me to a space. We’re not only do I feel like I have the balance that I need in order to be the business owner I need, but I have learned how to not spread myself so thin, not say yes to everything and understand that not every opportunity is a good opportunity, that’s something I’ve definitely had to learn, especially from a business owner standpoint.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Theres two things besides me being a makeup artist and business owner that Im fully proud of ❤️
I’m a full-time medical assistant working at Heuser chiropractic one of the largest chiropractic offices in the state of Colorado.
Im also a Wilhelmina Denver model. I’ve been signed to Wilhelmina Denver for about 6 1/2 years of my life. Wilhelmina Denver is one of the largest agencies in the Denver metro region. After Covid, I saw what it did to the world and I really wanted to find another way to reach more people and help people. I’ve always had an interest in the medical field, but just didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do whether it be nursing or even being a doctor one day. Doing some research, I discovered Pima medical Institute and decided to obtain my certification and degree as a medical assistant.
I’ve been modeling pretty much the same amount of time that I decided to obtain my cosmetology license. The first few years of my modeling career were freelance, my freelance years were some of my best years because I got to connect with so many individuals. I always mention Charlie price, and Denver Fashion week because truly that time for me in my life as a model was were I learned alot and from alot of people and I was able to get my name out into the scene of Denver. I will forever be grateful for those times. I signed to a local agency called NXT in Denver where I had learned what it meant to actually get paid as a model and once I discovered this, things really started to pick up for me and I started to do more research into how I could essentially take things up a notch for myself in my career as a model. I was signed to NXT for about two years and then after that I discovered Wilhelmina Denver, where Wilhelmina Developed me & essentially alternated the directory of my career. Iv been signed with them ever since. What sets me apart is the fact that I just don’t stop. I’m very much a go-getter. Once my mind is set on something…It just doesn’t change. It’s set until, until I achieve it. I truly deeply believe in myself and there’s no lack of and I think that’s what truly sets me apart. You have to believe in yourself in order to be successful and in order for whatever you want in this life to truly work.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
A huge mentor, supporter, advocate, and client goes out to one of my dearest friends Jessica Baumann.
Jessica was an individual who helped me actually get my business going.
She taught me how to get my LLC and how to establish my business with my own state.
She really helped me every step of the way with FaceTimes and calls and just giving me some real pointers and tips when I first started. She gave me big sister guidance that I will forever be grateful for.
And honestly taught me alot. Thank you always Jessica ❤️
I have done her makeup as a client a few times and I’m blessed to call her a True Friend.
One of my biggest supporters is one of my best friends Sunaina Rangnekar.
One of the most inspirational women I have ever met and know.
She has not only been one of longest friends but truly someone who has lifted me up in ways I will truly forever be grateful and thankful for.
She has always believed in me and always has had this way of reminding me how strong I am and how I can do anything.
She sold me her old Apple laptop where I was able to use it for not only school where I obtained my medical assistant certification but I was able to build my website with that very laptop she sold me for my business MakeupByTejan.
Jordan Garcia is another amazing woman who I feel truly supported me and was one of my all time favorite clients. She is a Fashion magazine editor for the magazine The Curio Cabinet Magazine. I had the amazing opportunity of doing her makeup for one of her most important days EVER.
Her wedding day.
Doing her makeup and her bridesmaids makeup last year really elevated things for me within my b makeup business as I believe it gave me the chance to show the world yes I to can do weddings/brides.
It was a wonderful experience and I felt Jordan not only took a chance with me but believed in me. She took great care of me as well.
She also gave me some advice when it came to me making sure I’m always properly compensated in terms of pay.
Her advice truly stuck with me as a business owner, and for that I’m forever thankful.
To one of my closest most dearest friends and truly one women who truly moves me is
Melanie Joyce.
Melanie is a designer who I have been modeling for over a few years now.
Finding one another and truly making the connection has been ever lasting. She was one of the first female designers I truly got to work close with and i was truly her muse. She was the one who referred me for this interview and chance to even share myself with you all. 🥹 The way she always sets me up and connects me with opportunities will forever be something I hold close to my heart. Thank you so so much Melanie ❤️
There really is such a long list of individuals I want to list out here. There’s a lot of people who truly have held me down over the years. Lifted me in ways I didn’t even know I could reach and truly love me.
The Denver scene to me, is so supportive, so unique, so large, and has so so much to offer in it. I’m very thankful for every single person who has ever believed in me, worked with me, booked me as a model and makeup artist, just everything.
To reach our dreams we can’t do it alone. We will always need one another and I’m forever thankful for every single person who has ever been there in anyway.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://makeupbytejan.squarespace.com/Makeupbytejan
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makeupbytejan?igsh=MXVmcmFmN3ljamJucA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nelly.tejan?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@makeupbytejan?_t=8pg7At9V7gV&_r=1

Image Credits
Professional modeling Photos – Nick Suarez
Models used for MakeByTejan – Isaro & Morgan C
Makeup on – Susan Zager Modeling for Melanie Joyce