Meet Karla Menendez | Face Painter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Karla Menendez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Karla, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?

I am a preschool teacher and KaLiam Party Faces was born in the classroom. I started face painting at the school’s festivities, with no intent of turning it into a business. The school had a very simple face painting kit with some craft brushes, and I just volunteered to do face painting because I was the “artsy teacher”. However, my coworkers believed I had the talent to turn this volunteer activity into a business. They believed so much in me, I started to believe in myself too. I started researching and bought my first professional-ish paint kit. I did not have a business structure in mind, I had no business strategy or a five year plan. I just had paint and brushes and the desire to make it work.

I took the leap and did my first face painting gig. Quickly, word-of-mouth started doing its job and my first thought was “I need a website”. I wanted to present myself as professional as possible. Customer Service and quality of artwork became my number one priority and I believe it has been the cornerstone of my success. KaLiam Party Faces is only 3 years old and the party is just getting started.

While I have always been a creative individual, I never thought I would have a face painting business. Transforming children into characters and seeing their imagination go wild, has been the most fun and gratifying job I’ve ever had.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Face painting is a form of art and it involves different painting techniques than those that you would use on paper or canvas. While I did not go to school to become a face painter, I have certainly navigated my way through online courses from world renowned face painters in order to hone my skills and provide good quality artwork, which is what I am most proud of. Being able to do amazing artwork and be quick at the same time, it’s quite challenging. However, painting comes easy to me and this is why I have so much fun doing this job. The hard part has been, the business aspect of it all. Finding the time to develop marketing strategies and expanding the services. It’s a daily learning experience.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If I’m not doing facepainting over the weekend, I would definitely go eat at Gen Korean BBQ in Carrolton. Even my three year old loves eating there!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband and I moved to Texas about 7 years ago from Puerto Rico, and our entire family is there. Being away from your family is hard, but I am forever grateful for the family advocates at my school and my co-teacher. They have become my family and my back-bone. KaLiam party faces only exists because they saw something I didn’t, and encouraged me to exploit my talent. This shoutout is for them!

Website: www.kaliampartyfaces.com

Instagram: instagram.com/KaliamPartyFaces

Other: facebook.com/KaliamPartyfaces