[music playing] I've been in State College for 11-ish years, and before this, I was in Schuylkill County, a couple of hours east.

But I'm from New Hampshire.

I've been painting for about 15 years, and face painting specifically a year and a half-ish.

With face painting, the original draw was that we had our son, and we bought a house.

And it needed a new roof.

So I was like, oh, I think I can probably find some way to make a little bit of income.

A few days later, in a Facebook group, someone asked a question, if anyone knew of a person that wanted to try out face painting at an event they were having for the end of summer.

I was like, oh, that's so funny.

I was just talking about this.

I'd love to give it a try.

And so I went, and it was a bunch of kids.

It was a little neighborhood.

It was very cute and fun.

And it was like, wow, this is everything I love.

The window painting came about because I spent days walking around in downtown State College, going into every single store that I could find and ask if they'd be interested in having their windows painted for the holidays.

And enough of them said yes that it completely filled my month.

But what ended up happening with the window painting, I wasn't expecting, was people walking by would stop and chat, and it was just really, really sweet.

It Involved the community in a way that I wasn't expecting.

They really appreciated it.

People would say, hey, I just want to let you know, seeing this makes me really happy.

Something so simple like that.

I was like, oh, my goodness.

I'm so glad.

[music playing] Faces are not flat and stationary.

They are moving.

They are sometimes wet.

They sometimes have food on them.

It's very different.

So if you are an artist and you think, oh, I can do face painting-- I thought it's very different and still takes a lot of practice.

So another challenge that I faced trying to rewrite this narrative that it's worth it to pay a professional has been really challenging with getting corporate events.

Some people don't know the appropriate and safe products that they can be using on skin, and professionals have that knowledge.

The wrong product that's not designed for face painting can cause dermatitis, just general skin rashes and irritation.

Everyone's skin can react differently, so it's important that you're using high-quality products that are ideally hypoallergenic and using FDA-approved ingredients.

[music playing] Some goals that I have with my business over the next year or two would be having a small team of artists that I can kind of send out to do smaller birthday parties while I focus more on corporate events and festivals.

I have done some belly painting for pregnant women, which is really sweet.

That can be a whole gift to an expecting mother.

Let's Face It with Emily really kind of speaks to where I was a year ago.

So I'm working on a rebrand that will better reflect the more general art that I'll be offering.

Longer-term goals would be I would like to branch out more into adult spaces.

So face painting is not just for kids.

It can be really elegant and lovely.

And it's very popular in other countries to do weddings and bridal showers, or in restaurants or bars for different themed nights.

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