Reading: #87: When a Disability Forces You to Reinvent (Terri Bryant)

“Until I was open and honest [about my Parkinson’s Disease] I couldn’t unlock my reinvention,” says Terri Bryant, makeup artist and founder of GUIDE BEAUTY, a company that is rethinking the ergonomics of beauty tools and products for all users. Bryant, who had done makeup for fashion runways, films, print ads, and cosmetics got her diagnosis five years ago and found herself having to sit on her shaking hands during television interviews. And when she could no longer hide them, she decided to rethink and redesign the beauty tools that she used on her job. Gone is that pesky eyeliner brush that requires perfect small motor skills. In came a Precision Tip applicator that looks like a surgical tool that allows anyone to create a perfect cat eye in seconds. “The opportunity to embrace [your disability] is the opportunity to find your community,” Bryant Says. “Then you are not alone.”