Anneline Black's mother used to joke (none too nicely, as only mother's can
do) that she could always spot Anneline from a distance, because she was the
only teenager in the neighbourhood who had perfectly shaped and plucked
eyebrows.

There is no two ways about it; Anneline has always been a style leader. From
the age of 13, she was known as the lipstick queen. “I always put on lipstick
straight after school,” she remembers.

Living in the not-so affluent areas reserved for people of colour in the
1980s – whether it was stolen from her mother or bought with precious pocket
money - she always had make-up and was the unofficial make-up consultant to all
her friends, helping to ensure that they were a glamorous bunch.

However, while she despaired of her daughter's frivolous habits then, 30
years later her mother has reason to be proud, as Anneline has turned her
passion for shaping appearances into a thriving small business. She sits on the
committee of the Western Cape Businesswomen's Association and is a role model to
young people and women everywhere.

It has not, however, been a smooth transition from teenage style queen to
make-up artist and businessperson.

In between, Anneline, who married and became a mother at just 20, trained and
worked as a book keeper and accountant (the sensible choice) and went on to
spend many years climbing the corporate ladder before she realised in her mid
30s that she “kind of hated it.”

“I was a square peg in a round hole,” she remembers. And even though the hole
was a high up corporate job with a big title (financial manager) and a nice
office, her creative personality still felt the discomfort of it.

Her life took a U-turn when a friend from the old days spotted an advert for
a course for make-up artists and, remembering the old lipstick crazy Anneline
now stuck in posh job, suggested that she try it out.

The course was to prove a catalyst for change and inspired her to turn her
back on the corporate world. At the same time, she left her husband and became
at a stroke, an unemployed single mother. But she was jubilant.

“I had found my passion,” Anneline says.

To make ends meet, Anneline did some freelance make-up work and started
training other make-up artists. From this she realised that she could combine
her passion for the creative side of make-up with a newly discovered talent for
empowering others.

“I realised that I wanted to teach – and give other young people the
opportunities that I didn't have,” she says. Her business, Brushstrokes, was
built around this principle. Borrowing money from Khula Enterprises to invest in
the materials she needed to set up, she launched her very own school of
make-up.

Like all small businesses, she experienced some difficult times in the
beginning. For example, thinking that she needed a partner, Anneline employed
someone on a high salary, but then found that the employee was not adding enough
value versus the sales income. She also nearly burned out before she had even
got started.

“I hardly slept for a year,” she admits. Fortunately, her second husband, who
is a businessman, was able to help and support her on this crazy journey. And
gradually she has learned to create balance at BrushStrokes and in her life.

“I have realised that I am the business: so as long as I am OK, the business
is OK,” she says.

Today, BrushStrokes is four years old and doing very nicely. Each year it
trains upwards of 50 youngsters who are eager to move into the world of make-up.
BrushStrokes also has private clients and runs image workshops for corporate
clients that put a slightly different spin on looking good. Anneline explains
that hers is a holistic approach.

“I am intrigued by the psychology of why people want to change,” she says. “I
maintain that they must understand who they are and what they want to project
before they embark on change.

Quite simply, she says, it is about more than slapping on make-up and wearing
red instead of brown or black. A truly successful transformation needs to be
more than skin deep.

“Make-up and image are only really the conduit by which people arrive at
change,” she maintains. “It can transform the way people think and - more
importantly – feel about themselves. When they look at themselves in the mirror
and see a different side to themselves it can unlock a deeper change – and that
is what is really satisfying.”

“People pay me for my time easily because it is a glad thing,” she
smiles.

In her business, she has helped countless women – and men - discover this.
Recently, BrushStrokes has been invited to do a series of corporate workshops
for all-men groups. The first time she did it, she admits she was terrified that
she would not be able to hold their attention for more than 10 minutes. But at
the end of three hours she had them eating out of her hand.

“Such experiences take you out of your box and teach you something about
yourself,” she says. “It gave me such an insight into the psyche of a man. And
it was a revelation to discover that they want the same things as women by and
large. They want to know how to dress and how to project themselves
successfully.”

Not bad for a girl from “nowhere” whose mother was a single parent who kept
Anneline and her four siblings by working as a dressmaker and was a dab hand at
turning second-hand clothes into stylish outfits.

Anneline is very conscious of the distance she has travelled, which is why
she always offers a full-bursary to at least one student each year. Last year's
student, appropriately enough, came from the same school – Trafalgar Secondary –
that she spent her high school years in applying lipstick to herself and all her
friends.

“I am extremely fortunate because I have found what I love to do in life –
and get paid really well for it,” says Anneline. It's a good recipe for business
success as well.

“If you have a passion for what you are doing – the money kind of follows.”

Link: see full interview via google search, Anneline Black.