72. Justine Sweetman: Makeup Artist, Creative Producer and Founder of the Fashion Workers Initiative

Starting out doing makeup for friend’s student films, the early days of Justine Sweetman’s makeup artist journey consisted of hustling in NYC and finding jobs through, of all places, Craigslist. Eventually, Justine got connected with the right people, which snowballed into being able to work freelance full time. The clients she has worked with include the likes of Nylon, i-D, ORIBE, Zadig & Voltaire, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29, New York Times, Women’s Health, and American Eagle, just to name a few. A couple of years into her makeup career, Justine found a new love for producing and soon after she co-founded REALnew Collective, a production company and community of artists that creates, develops, and produces film and digital media. They’ve worked with brands such as Club Monaco, Montiel, Jonesy, and Vitruvi to produce films that are rooted in care, respect and collaboration. On top of all that Justine has going on in her life, she is also the founder of the Fashion Workers Initiative, a community and advocacy group for freelancers working in the fashion industry. As an organization of volunteers, their mission is to end the exploitation of independent contractors in the New York fashion industry. In this episode of the podcast, Justine breaks down the reality of working freelance in fashion, the red flags and precautions to look out for before taking on freelance work, and the power in saying no. You can find REALnew Collective on Instagram at @realnewcollective and the Fashion Workers Initiative on instagram at @fashionworkersnyc

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