meet tona michelle​
Tona Michelle - entrepreneur, creative director and published, fashion/wardrobe stylist.
Tona has a combination of more than 20 years in the fashion and beauty industries. She began her beauty career as a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant in 2000. During her time as a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant, she quickly learned the ropes and within months she’d recruited numerous Consultants and earned her first Red Jacket for top sells and recruiting. After several years as a Mary Kay Consultant, Tona decided to attend beauty school to gain more training as a Professional Make-up Artist. In 2007, she graduated with a license in Make-up Artistry from Bennett Career Institute, where she received training from industry greats Sam Fine, Valente Frazier and Derrick Rutledge.
In 2008, Tona took on a job as a Make-up Artist for independent film “Misunderstandings”. Her work was well received by the producers, later making her the Key Make-up Artist for the film in which she received IMDB credit. She would then go on to work on another independent film “God’s Truce”, music video “Break Your Waistline” and her first magazine cover for “I am Modern” magazine. She has also freelanced written for online and print magazines DC Fashion News, Élan Extreme Magazine and Demand Studios. She also had several columns for Examiner online.
In 2009, Tona decided to utilize her skills in sales, customer service, fashion and beauty to launch her first online boutique DC Consignment Boutique. Later in 2010 she launched her cosmetics and skin care brand Tona Michelle’ Cosmetics. Since launching her most recent career as a style consultant/wardrobe stylist, she has become the go to person to help professional men & women create their signature look and style. She has appeared on local/national television giving tips and advice on the trends on beauty and fashion as well as makeovers. You can also see her work on the cover and inside national and international fashion magazines.
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Tona learned about creative direction, branding, and marketing through her experience as a business owner where she provided these services for her own business. In 2022, she launched October Moon Branding Agency, a creative branding agency for minority and women-led businesses in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle. Tona saw that there was a lack of representation with big branding firms for minority women-led business owners in these industries and decided to fill that gap.
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