[ HAWAII AT WORK ]
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
At the Ala Moana Center Sephora store, E'Jay Maldonado puts the finishing touches on Lesley Hironaka's makeup.
The art of bringing out
one’s inner beauty and
confidenceI am the director of beauty and international trainer for Body & Soul Cosmetics. My main focus is to develop and create new products to grow the brand and business. The other hat I wear takes me to the mainland and all over the globe to impart knowledge and motivate the sales staff and makeup artists of our accounts and distributors.
Body & Soul is a cosmetics company founded in 1998 with worldwide distribution. Unlike most other international big-name cosmetics companies, we are based in Hawaii instead of Los Angeles, New York or Paris.
E'Jay Maldonado
Titles: Director of beauty and international trainerCompany: Body & Soul Cosmetics
Personal philosophy: "There are two stages in life, we are either 'young,' or 'interesting.' Cheese, wine and furniture get 'old'; we get 'interesting.'"
I have been in the beauty industry for more than 25 years. I started doing commercials and Spanish soap operas as a teen actor in Puerto Rico. Then one year, on a dare from the set's makeup artist, I was challenged to do makeup, and by the new season I was offered her job.
Still not convinced that the beauty industry would be my life career, I started to attend both cosmetology school and medical school. During the year and a half working in the Medical Service Emergency Treatment Center, I would find myself sharing beauty secrets with the patients to calm them down while waiting to be seen by the attending physician. It was then that I realized my true calling. I would rather give someone a lipstick than an injection any day!
I continued to be trained both in New York and in Paris for makeup artistry. Then one fateful day, I was lured to Hawaii as a consultant for a pageant. I fell in love with the beautiful people of Hawaii and stayed. Hawaii is such a special place, I literally service the beauty needs of generations here. First I service the grandmother, later the daughters and then the granddaughter.
Proper skin care and makeup are my true interests. Because I spend so much of my time at work, I feel really blessed that my work, play and hobby are one and the same. When I am not traveling to conduct trainings and events, I can be found at Sephora on most weekends, doing what I love most -- in the service of clients, helping them learn how to make colors work for them, and bringing out their self confidence and inner beauty.
What I hate most to hear are things like "I can't do that" or "I'm too old for this."
"Hawaii at Work" features tell what people do for a living in their own words. Send submissions to business@starbulletin.com
