Never in a million years did you think that you would be on tour with Harry Styles.
Sure, you were a celebrity makeup artist, but your wheelhouse consisted of red carpets, runways, and editorial shoots. You were familiar with Harry's work, had even gone to one of his shows for his first album, so you knew that he and his band didn't really do anything crazy in terms of stage makeup.
For those reasons, you said no when you first got the call. Someone knew someone that knew you, and you were suddenly in touch with the tour manager for Harry Styles. They gave you a brief description of what you would be doing on tour—mostly the band's makeup, but Harry's as well for two shows in New York, something about a Halloween special. Going on the road sounded fun, but the job itself didn't feel all that fulfilling. You absolutely loved makeup, it's why you became a makeup artist in the first place. You loved getting people dolled up in full glam, playing with colors and themes and experimenting on clients when they gave you the chance. You were more than capable of doing more natural looks, your job often called for it. But makeup was a form of expression for you, and you didn't think that this job opportunity was going to challenge you in any way, so you politely declined.
You thought that was the end of that, and went about the rest of your day. It wasn't until a week later that you received another phone call from the same unknown number that you finally took the job.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist you take this job," the tour manager said. "H is really impressed with your work, and he doesn't want anyone else."
H? You thought. Was it rude of you to assume that Harry Styles didn't have any involvement in the choosing of his makeup artist? You knew that he'd been dipping into different parts of the beauty industry lately, but you still thought that this was something that his team would take care of.
"I don't know, this just isn't something I would normally do," you said, feeling bad for rejecting the tour manager for a second time. You hoped he wouldn't be in any trouble with their boss.
"What's your normal rate?" they asked.
"Excuse me?" It wasn't an uncommon question, you just weren't expecting that level of desperation from the tour manager.
"How much do you typically charge? We'll double it. Or come up with a price that covers the whole tour. You would be a very valued member of our team."
Double? The tour manager didn't even know how much you charged clients, yet they were already promising to double it. Perhaps it was a tad selfish of you, but now that more money was on the table, you were considering it. You loved makeup as an art form, but you still had bills to pay. "Uh...Okay. I'll do it."
"Great," the manager said, and you could almost see the weight being lifted off their shoulders. "How fast can you get Covid tested and on a plane to Las Vegas?"
They wanted you to start now? "Well, most of my kit is fully stocked, but I still need to get some things together. And I have to pack, obviously. I'd say...two, maybe three days?"
"We need you here by tomorrow night," the manager said, making your eyes widen. How did this become so last minute? "Okay...Okay, I've got it. I will have someone take care of getting whatever you need for your kit, you just pack and do whatever you can to get here as soon as possible. We're going all over the country, so be prepared for all types of weather. And make sure..."
You listened carefully as the tour manager rattled off a bunch of details about the tour—more of what was expected from you, when you needed to be there, how to get to the venue, where to stay. You realized that this was going to be a long phone call, so you muted yourself and began packing, pulling out your large suitcase and carefully putting what you thought you would need in it while listening to the tour manager go over things like Covid restrictions and signing an NDA and other technical stuff.
