Toy
Van Lierop decided to specialize in advising on camera talent
at local TV stations. A friend at ABC recommended her for
her first consultation: word-of-mouth and Van Lierop's reputation
did the rest... Van Lierop sas that her all-time favorites-
Halle Berry, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward-- "have
been extremely helpful. They have recommended clients, both
individually and at stations."
Although
Toy Russell, Inc. "grosses into the six figures"
these days, it wasn't all uphill. "It's extremely difficult
to go into a service business," Van Lierop says, "and
a lot of times it could be discouraging. What I am selling
is my expertise and myself. The single most important thing
you need is perseverance."
-Black
Enterprise Magazine
A
make-up artist is part psychiatrist, part friend, part surgeon.
It's long hours (mostly on your feet), and requires extreme
patience, and according to the cast [100 Centre Street] Toy
is all of these things and more. She is charged with addressing
the needs of each person sitting in her make-up trailer and
she feels herself lucky to have found a friend in L'oreal
who can help her accomplish her tasks with ease...
A
former model, turned entrepreneur who jokes that she is a"typhoon...
a tycoon in waiting". Toy has created My Essentials
Bag cosmetics and toiletry travel case, with unique
patented interior storage that will be in stores this year.
-L'oreal
USA
Toy
was the first woman of color to be admitted to Local 798.
She began an 18-month apprenticeship with the union, and at
the same time began a three-eyar apprenticeship at ABC in
New York.
After
taking her journeyman exam, Toy began freelancing. "But
because I had worked in television, that's where my experience
was, and that's where all of my contacts were... I did my
first feature film, The Bingo Long Travelling All
Stars and Motor Kings with Billy
D. Williams, James Earl Jones and Richard Pryor."
Bingo
opened the door to work on features like Running on
Empty, Glass Menagerie, Lean
on Me, Mr. & Mrs. Bridge, and
Strictly Business.
-Makeup
Artist Magazine
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