Dear Lisa, where are you from?
I am a 100% Southern Californian Girl - very hard to find these days! But like most Americans, I have some very mixed blood: Spanish, Italian, Russian, Austrian.

What can you tell us about your passion?
Oh my gosh (laughs), I started playing around with make up when I was 12 years old, doing little plays and stage performances for my family. It was really very funny and Im sure they got really tired of watching me perform! Then, as a young adult, I went to Beauty School - a natural progression - and later I got several awards/certificates in this profession - by some of the top Cosmetic companies around the world!

How was your first job and your first impressions about it?
Wow (laughs)! My first job was kind of a make up factory job! I would work on eight woman a day (one hour each doing hair, makeup and wardrobe) for a big photography studio, 8 in a row - no lunch breaks, can you imagine? But I learned two major values about this industry: hard work and passion will take you anywhere you want to go. It takes extreme dedication to my craft, real professionalism, years of practice and true passion to make this work well for me. But now I quite love my life!!!

What are your other skills ?
I got into marketing through my various experiences. So Ive worked as a marketing manager, brand manager and most recently in television shopping producer with brands such as: Redpoint, RAW Natural Beauty and Kronos. Ive traveleed the world doing makeup and marketing and Im quite good at both - I must say! (Smiles) i also do some modeling in my free time - which has been a very fun and personally rewarding experience.

How have you grown internationally?
I have a huge appreciation for people from other countries now and have made some of the best friends Ive ever had in my life. I think these will be friendships that last a lifetime and span the continents. Thank god for the internet!

Where do you travel?
I travel all over the world - but most often to Dusseldorf, Germany (great food and happy people), London (great shopping), Sydney (great looking men (laughs) - I also know you have an e branch over there. I've also been to Toronto, Mexico, Panama many times.

What are the next steps in your career ?
I am now creating a secret brand of my own - building my own secret little empire which goes live in January - I will let you know about it very soon!
I plan to stay focused on the USA market in the beginning and then branch out throughout the world.
What I love about life, is that there are endless possibilities - even when you least expect it! (Smiles)

Dear readers, you can find LISA MARTINES on the web :
www.redhotmakeup.com
www.redhotgurl.com