MUA turned motivational speaker

SHERRY Ann Dixon loved to make people look beautiful! All her life, she fancied the beauty and ‘makeup’ world and even worked on a few celebrities in London. Today, though, she has a focus on something much deeper – helping others realise their inner beauty.
Sherry switched from being a professional makeup artist to becoming a motivational speaker, helping women, in particular, to achieve more confidence and recognise their worth.

Leaving her home in Guyana at nine years old, Sherry completed her schooling in England, and even attended the University of Westminster for a short time, before attending beauty school.

“I just had this thirst for doing make-up. I was always practising at home, practising on my children. Those were the days when they didn’t have make-up in many shades. We had to blend; mix and blend,” she recalled in an interview with the Pepperpot Magazine during a recent visit to Guyana where she was delivering a motivational speech at an event at the Marriott Hotel.

“I became very successful and even made-up celebrities. The biggest one that I ever did was Luther Vandross. Somebody made him up and he wasn’t pleased, so one of the agents called me in and I just took charge. He was still vexed and throwing things around but he loved my work. He said, ‘Thank you, doll,’ and gave me a peck on the cheek.” Sherry also recalled working with briefly on Whitney Houston and Nelson Mandela, among others like Maya Angelo, Shaggy, and Nia Long.

Growing up, she always had an interest in literature and read a lot. It is with this background that she got into writing and editing.

Pressing on in her career, Sherry edited three magazines – Essence Magazine, Pride Magazine and SHE Caribbean and wrote for many publications including, The Guardian, Sunday Observer, The Times, Guyana Chronicle and Stabroek News, Upscale Magazine and The Voice.

Her editorials were always filled with motivational pieces, especially after she started studying psychology. Eventually, she was noticed and asked to speak at important events. “I realised that words are my thing. I think if you can write it, you can speak it, so it moved on from being just words written to mentoring a lot.” In fact, she has delivered addresses at the House of Lords, House of Parliament in London and The United Nation in New York.
Sherry has done numerous television and radio shows including Lorraine Kelly (LK Today) and BBC Worldwide helping to dispel the myths surrounding health and beauty for women of colour.

In December 2014, she was commended by The Mayor of London acknowledging her inspiring work with women in her community by presenting her with a Certificate of Appreciation at the London Peace Awards.

Read a Book

Explaining her work at the moment, Sherry expressed: “I lecture on understanding yourself, understanding your being, understanding how to gain confidence, how to be assertive and non-assertive. Aggression is not assertiveness but you can be assertive and get things done. I also teach emotional intelligence.”

She is advising everyone, women, in particular, to keep on educating themselves. “Read a book or borrow one if you can’t afford to buy one,” she said, as she reflected on her days of borrowing books from a stall inside of Stabroek Market.

At the moment, Sherry said she feels fabulous at age 65 and still believe that there is a lot more that she can do for younger women out there. “I’m showing a lot of younger women that there’s no need to stop; showing them how to live their lives effectively as they get older.”

She believes that women should not become dependent on men to the point where it can affect their self-worth.

“Women have to carry on exuding their fabulousness because it’s ok on Facebook to put on a dress and do the pout, but then be lonely at home by yourself. You have to go out, make your life work. If you don’t have a friend to go out with, go by yourself. Go to the cinema, go to a motivational event by yourself. Just don’t sit at home waiting for a man. When it’s all over, the ‘shoulda coulda woulda’ is all irrelevant. Live your life effectively as you go along because men do. They don’t stop because a relationship is broken up,” she advised.