Helping people feel their best selves is the heartfelt mission of Nicole Elle Rogers King, a Newtown Grant native and return resident who is a celebrity makeup artist in New York City.
"What I do often seems more like a wellness practice because it's about having a well-rounded approach and assisting people with feeling comfortable in their own skin," Nicole explains.
In addition to being a professional makeup artist, Nicole specializes as a barber and men's groomer at The Wall Group, a talent management company that represents makeup artists, stylists, manicurists and hairstylists with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London and Paris.
Nicole's also a certified personal trainer and yoga teacher.
This Council Rock North High School graduate recalls, "I think growing up in the Newtown and New Hope region awakened by senses, and led to my interests and sparks in drawing, painting, dance, choir, color guard, cheerleading, theater and anything in the creative field."
She says she continued her passions by studying Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing at Penn State University. "While there, I also was in the Marching Blue Band, a 320-person organization, performing new routines every weekend in front of 110,000 people, with practice being every day except Thursdays. That amazing experience conditioned me to have a strong work ethic, discipline, being a part of a huge organization, time management, and most importantly how to be on time," she adds.
Shortly after graduating college, due to her mother's encouragement, Nicole says she enrolled in makeup school at Makeup Designory in New York City.
"I ended up loving the makeup world, and built my way from the bottom up. Sometimes working for free on TV pilots, films, photo shoots and music videos, whatever time it took to meet and grow in my field," says the professional now employed by celebs such as Jimmy Fallon and Joe Jonas.
She eventually also did women's hair and makeup for photo sessions at fashion magazines, such as Elle and Harper's Bazarr.
During 2016, Nicole says she caught her first big break by meeting actress Candace Cameron Bure at the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women fashion show.
After freelancing on her own for nine years, Nicole says she joined forces with The Wall Group in 2019.
Reflecting on those earlier years, Nicole admits it was an "intense" period. "There's no set path for making it in this profession. No right or wrong. I was working nonstop, but because I loved what I was doing, it didn't feel like work. I was just leaning into my gifts and talents."
Because Nicole now maintains routines with more unusual work hours due to inheriting her client's robust schedules, she says those early years prepared her for being able to get up at 3 a.m. and get into NYC by 5 a.m.
Then there are the special projects: "After working with Jimmy Fallon for four months, I was asked to fly to LA to do his makeup for the People's Choice Awards. I was there for just those few minutes and flew right back," she states.
Nicole says the biggest challenge of being a groomer for men is to find ways to handle their hair and makeup in manners that portray polished versions of themselves without looking like they have makeup on. "You'd be surprised how often a little moisturizer, lip balm and quick hair trim can help male clients look simply fantastic. Then we go from there."