Paulina Perez’s career has taken her into major television studios, presidential debate stages and the biggest professional sporting events in America – but it hasn’t gone to her head. Her favorite job title is still “mom.”
Born in a small town in Mexico, Perez moved to Jacksonville at age five after her father accepted a job as a dentist. She spent her childhood between Florida and summers back home, where she remembers mountains, jungle, beaches and a community so close-knit that her grandmother would get word she’d stopped for ice cream before she even made it home.
She is equally nostalgic about her high school days at Bishop Kenny, and her favorite decade will forever be the 90s. She grew up on Nickelodeon and MTV’s “Total Request Live,” something she tries to keep in mind when she gets onto her kids for watching too much YouTube. She remembers fondly how plaid skirts were everywhere thanks to “Clueless” and Britney Spears, while the Spice Girls, Alanis Morissette and Whitney Houston ruled the airwaves.
Best of all, she said, was the lack of social media.
“Everyone was present, and most importantly, no evidence of your – let’s call them learning curves,” she said.
Perez went on to study communications at UNF. After graduating, she took a job at a local TV news station. She eventually pivoted to makeup, but not before meeting the man who would become her husband in the news station’s break room. He was a program director for a top 40 radio show.
Perez working with local news anchor Lauren Verno
“I’m one of the lucky ones who got to marry my best friend and the most incredible human,” said Perez, who will celebrate her 20th anniversary next year. “I try not to take that for granted and remember how lucky I am every day.”
In 2009, at what was arguably the worst possible time to start her own business, Perez bet on herself and started Makeup by Paulina Perez. She reasoned that in spite of the ongoing recession, she had nothing to lose.
“I just jumped in and haven’t looked back since,” said Perez.
When she’s not working, Perez’s world revolves around her two sons, both of whom attend Assumption Catholic School. She serves as their homeroom mom and tries to be at the school as much as possible to plan fun activities and parties for them. Family time is her ideal way to unwind.
Perez and her two sons, Devan and Gabriel
“I will never say no to good Mexican food and a well-made fresh margarita,” she said. “Combine that with family time at the beach or our pool, and that just about sums up the perfect day for me.”
Despite her line of work, Perez laughs at how low-maintenance she’s become. In her early 20s, she showed up everywhere in full makeup. Now?
“You won’t catch me with anything more on my face than good skincare and perhaps a tinted moisturizer,” she joked.
Paulina pauses for a photo during a trip to Vail, Colorado.
Perez loves the pedestrian-friendly neighborhood and simple pleasures she gets to enjoy right outside her studio on Oak Street. She loves being able to walk to Publix, Five Points and her favorite local spots, including Bar Taco and Carolina Jax.
While her life has taken her far from that small Mexican town where everyone knew everyone’s business, the values she learned there – family, connection, humility – still define her more than any celebrity client ever could.