Samera Hussain founder and owner of Artistry Make-Up Academy reveals how she fought for her life out of a coma and achieved her long-life ambition of becoming a professional makeup artist and teacher when the odds were against her. By Fiaz Rafiq.

I have always believed that having a profound passion and cultivating a drive are major forces which lead to success and make your dreams come true no matter what field you’re in.

One person who I lately came across, who I can resonate in this respect, is a young down to earth makeup artist Samera who set up her business called Artistry Academy which boasts two academies in the West Yorkshire area.

During secondary school Samera contemplated on pursuing a career as a nursery nurse. However, when she went on to do work experience from school she became cognizant of another talent she possessed and decided to take another path venturing into hairdressing and makeup artistry.

As soon as she left school, she studied hairdressing and makeup at Huddersfield Tech College. After completing the course, she ventured into business at the age of 18 in addition to continuing her training and professional development with a makeup academy in Pakistan and later in London.

Juggling studies and running a business lead to exhaustion and stress which lead to high blood pressure.

Things got worse to the point Samera went into hospital and coma and her family didn’t think shed wakeup.

After 4 days she woke up and suffered from a short-term memory loss and she realized she was totally a different person.

She says, “ I realised life's too short to just be messing about, so I wanted to kick start my career back again but was very difficult to do so with me falling ill over and over again!.

“I had a lot of passion and I wanted to go big with my career so looking back to my past I tried to forget it and pushed myself to open another business and when I did things started falling in place”.

One of the most imperative aspects pertaining to her work is participating in Asian wedding shows, which seem to have gained much recognition and give such artists as Samera an opportunity to meet people and showcase their skills for the potential clients.

“My passion for creativity is what drives me and my ability to be innovative is what sets me apart from other MUA’s, exclaims Samera. “ I not only keep up with makeup and fashion trends, I combine movements and techniques from Fine Art with both contemporary and traditional makeup”, continues the ambitious young woman."

As well as managing her staff, Samera’s academy offers courses for all those wanting to become qualified makeup artists.

Artistry Academy is nationally recognized now and has several branches.

But that is not enough; Samera plans on gaining an international platform and endeavors to achieve further success.

I believe Samera, with her work ethic, immense drive and passion, epitomizes the new generation of hardworking career oriented Asian women and will no doubt climb up the ladder of success and achieve her goals.