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

Hi Kat, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
When I decided to start my own business, I had already been renting a chair at a salon for three years. During this time, I was overseeing multiple clients and responsible for both the creative and business side of it. So, to me, it wasn’t a question of whether or not I wanted to start a business, but which type of business do I really want to have. I had also been contracting with local hair and makeup companies and had fallen in love with the wedding industry.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
As a hair and makeup company, we believe everyone deserves to feel beautiful, and that confidence plays a huge role in that. We want to make beauty available to everyone, from the people who wear winged eyeliner every day, to the ones who have no idea where to begin, but want to feel good on their big day. Everyone deserves to feel beautiful and confident. We have many things we’re excited about, we’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazing photographers and be a part of some styled shoots that were published. We were also awarded The Knot’s “Best of 2020,” and we’ve been invited to work some destination weddings, which is super exciting. This year, I’ve learned that if you want something, you can never stop working for it, you have to remember why you’re doing it and keep going. Life is all about the highs and lows and anything worth it is going to be hard sometimes. With the pandemic, 2020 quickly became a major challenge for us, as it has been for the rest of the world. There have been a lot of setbacks and disappointments, but we’ve really seen the wedding industry and all its vendors come together and support each other, which keeps us going. I know everyone will come out of this so much stronger and the weddings will be that much sweeter.

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?
How do I choose? Houston is so big! I really enjoy the outdoors, so I would definitely spend a couple of days in Galveston at the beach. There’s also so many cool things to do downtown, lots of museums, music, amazing food, and even touring broadway shows. I would highly recommend going to see The Houston Symphony play one of your favorite movies, for me it was Harry Potter. I’ve yet to do this, but I also hear you can book something called a “pedal party,” where you can basically ride this giant bike bus and tour popular areas, like midtown, EaDo and the Heights.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There’s so many people who have supported and mentored me along the way. If it weren’t for those people, I don’t think I would’ve found my way to where I am now. There’s Christine Mullins, my cosmetology instructor who helped me find my way during school. There’s Virginia Kolar, who I interned with at a salon after I finished school and who taught me about the salon world. Last but certainly not least, there’s my friends and family, who support me every single day. There are so many people I am grateful for.

Website: www.ivanovartistry.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ivanovartistry/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ivanovartistry/
Other: https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/ivanov-artistry-the-woodlands-tx-2003176

Image Credits
Kristen Giles Photography, Wild Rumpus Photography, Alyssa Beach Photography, Ashlen Sydney Photography, Heather Purvis Photography, Pj Williams Photography, Yvette Wood Photography, Ulises Reyes Photography