Meet Nikki Badu | Houston MUA and Occupational Therapist

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

Hi Nikki, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I remember being excited to attend a party or any event, simply to take advantage of the opportunity to do makeup. I would do my friend’s makeup and family whenever they would ask. I also found joy in creating content to share my makeup process and the variety of looks through short videos. Eventually people saw my talent come to light and would ask me to teach them or do their makeup. In 2021 after taking everyone’s feedback into consideration, I decided to take a leap of faith. I created The Badu Experience and fell in love with its luxurious name. This business originally started as a way to bring individuals of different backgrounds together to enhance confidence in makeup application. It was an opportunity to learn, interact with others, have fun, and gain hands-on experience. I remember thinking to myself “How can I make this a fun, comfortable, affordable, and great learning experience?” Then, I thought, what better way to have fun, then to add some wine, music, good vibes, and a cheerful personality? After that part was established, I moved on to establishing the skills to teach, the makeup look, timing, food, decorations, budget, etc. Once I created a business name, vision and established my purpose, my brain started overflowing with ideas. The Badu Experience was created with the intention to expand and include an array of services such as, makeup classes, networking events, products, hair styling, makeup applications, etc. I’m grateful to say I successfully hosted five amazing makeup sessions in 2021 from October- December. In 2022, I pivoted to focus more on my clinical rotations and providing MUA services. I enjoyed hosting the makeup sessions and have plans to return with a new and elevated approach. I have endured many challenges, learned from mistakes, connected with amazing creatives, and gained new opportunities, education, and perspectives. This has truly been a journey and I am elated to see The Badu Experience flourish in passion, profit, and purpose.

Please tell us more about your art. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally? Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way? What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
I am a Houston based makeup artist and owner of The Badu Experience. Although I mostly promote my makeup services, I also provide hairstyling upon request. My makeup services include Soft Life Experience, Glamorous Experience and Innovative Experience. The Badu Experience encapsulates the essence of my brand personality which includes vibrancy, diversity, confidence, eccentricity, fun and cheerfulness. What sets me apart from other makeup artists is my versatility with makeup. I provide makeup on mature skin or young skin, do editorial looks or simple looks, creative colorful looks or simple natural looks. I do not like boxing myself into one type of look, so I love to try it all! What excites me most are dramatic, colorful, creative and editorial looks. These types of looks allow me to bring out my creative side and truly have fun with the process. There were many challenges that occurred throughout my journey such as, inconvenient location due to my clinical rotations, graduate school demands, self limiting beliefs, etc. I overcame self limiting thoughts by taking the time to check in with myself. I listed out all the negative statements, excuses for not going further with the business and wrote where those statements possibly stemmed from. I also reworded those statements to transpire positivity. I started doing makeup on models with different skin types and tones to gain more experience and confidence on doing makeup applications on others. I also invested in education to enhance my skills and improve the services I provide to my clients. Marketing is something that I struggle with and am still trying to figure out. However, I try my best to take full advantage of networking events to increase my outreach and connection with other creatives in Houston. To overcome the challenge due to location, I still offered MUA services, but reduced the frequency. Every challenge was a learning lesson, and reminder to keep going despite the setbacks. I also learned the importance of truly checking in with my mental health and digging deeper into my setbacks. Additionally, subconscious self- sabotage and imposter syndrome is REAL.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

For starters I love a good brunch, picnic and walk in the park! There are so many things to do in Houston and places to explore. I still haven’t discovered all that Houston has in store but I am having a great time exploring. Here are a couple places I recommend:

Brunch:

Boheme has tasty food and good vibes ! Drag Show brunch every Sunday starting at 11am

Sunday Funday HTx- great food, day party vibes, affordable drinks

Present Company- amazing Aesthetics, great picture spot, good music, a different vibe in every room, affordable food and drinks, happy hour from open- 7pm, $12 mimosa pitchers

Lost and found- great brunch vibes, tasty food, hookah

Hangout:

Social House- has good food, Great DJ and music, amazing and affordable drinks, hookah, chill vibes

Electric Feel Good- colorful aesthetics, nice drinks, cool hangout place, DJ

Atomic bottle- good music, chill vibes, hookah

Night life:

O2 lounge- great music and vibes, can get very packed on the weekends

Vienna- after hours, always playing great afrobeats

Sekai- cool vibes, can get in the pool, nice aesthetics

Parma- fun, good food, nice music

Fun:

FAO- this is such a cool bar, requires password to enter, has an adult arcade in the 3rd floor, great music, bar and good vibes

Herman Park- blanket and picnic

Third coast Volleyball club- beach volleyball, cool vibes, fun play, meet new people

Seismique- cool interactive art museum

Color factory- modern interactive art museum, cool experience, can take cool pictures

Pinstripes- bowling and a restaurant experience combines, nice drinks and good food

Glyderz World- Downtown Go Karting experience outside, so FUN, bluetooth speakers on go kart to play your own music, better experience at night time

Dairy Ashford Roller RInk- includes an arcade and big skating rink, good music

Parks:

Arthur Storey park- HUGE, different playgrounds, tire swings, different trials, lake view, great place to take a walk in the park

Memorial park- different trails, nice views, great place to go hiking

Buffalo Bayou – huge park, many activities, can go kayaking there

• Biking in downtown

Dinner:

Eunice- delicious creole food, expensive dining

Prey- nice restaurant, cajun food, expensive

Trez Bistro- – wine bar, affordable food

Huzzy’s and Reggae Hut- both have yummy Jamaican food

Turkey leg hut- gotta taste the hype, well seasoned turkey legs, huge portions

Chi’Lantro- yummy Korean BBQ, can create your own bowl

So is there a person, group, organization, book, etc that you want to dedicate your shoutout to? Who else deserves a little credit and recognition in your story?
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz helped me overcome self doubt and limiting beliefs. After hosting my makeup classes in 2021, I took a break from the business which continued throughout 2022. I noticed myself passively promoting the business and was feeling discouraged because the same people that encouraged me to start the business were the same people that did not show any support or did not attend the classes even though their words said otherwise. I wanted clients in addition to growing the business, however I wasn’t putting in the energy to receive that outcome. I was subconsciously sabotaging myself from opportunities and personal growth and did not understand why. One day, I went to Five and Below and saw The Four Agreements in plain view. I picked it up, skimmed through it and thought, “hmm this seems like an easy read and good book.” So, I purchased it and started reading it that same day. This book helped me re- evaluate my thought process. I realized that although I was physically ready to invest into my business, my internalized thoughts were holding me back. I started thinking of my limiting beliefs and where they stemmed from. Don mentions in the book that one must be aware of the problem in order to find the solution. My problem which caused me to feel discouraged and stuck were many limiting beliefs which I had to overcome to establish a solution. I had so many ideas and did not act on them because I was scared of not receiving my preferred outcome. But, This book reminded me that “without action there is no manifestation, no results, and no reward.” Now, when I catch myself having negative thoughts or self limiting behaviors, I remind myself of what I learned from The Four Agreements and change my mentality. This year I noticed many people glamourising about being a business owner and having luxury living, however, the mental health aspect is not discussed enough. The feeling of not being enough, perfectionism, self limiting thoughts, questioning your skills, feeling discouraged by others, depression, anxiety, fear, and many more aspects can affect the mental health of an entrepreneur. So, for anyone that may be experiencing any of the feelings I mentioned, please read this book and take the time to check in with your thoughts and emotions.

Website: thebaduexperience.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikkibadu/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NikkiBadu