We had the good fortune of connecting with Riku Campo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Riku, what makes you happy? Why?
Every morning when I wake up I am happy. I am happy that I am healthy and I am interested in life itself that gives me the motivation to keep going in my personal life and my professional life as well.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started doing makeups in 1988 as a demonstration makeup artist for a French skincare and makeup brand Stendahl in Helsinki Finland: quite soon after I started to do photoshoots and I noticed that working with talented people as a team to create some amazing fashion and beauty images was really something I enjoyed the most.
My journey hasn’t been easy. I was rejected many agencies until I came to LA in 2000 and got signed by Visages and soon after I stated to work little by little. It was Photograoher Yu Tsai who gave me my first international campaign for Guess and after that I was wanted everywhere. I am also thankful for him of my career. There is always one person who believes in you. And you just need to believe in yourself 100%

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
In Venice Beach : Great White
In Santa Monica: Via Veneto ( great Italian )
Citrin ( Michelle Star quality food )
Shutters for dinner ( great to sit and see the sunset over the ocean )
Los Angeles : The Little Door ( a classic and fun place to have dinner in candlelights ).

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are quite many people but I have couple of people .
Photographer Randee St Nicholas who believed in me when I moved to LA and gave me work in the beginning of my LA career.
Marysa Maslansky , the former Visages Agency CEO who signed me up in 2000 and also believed in me.
And Harper One Books President Judith Curr who has believed in my visions of two international beauty books.
And many photographers and other industry people but those 3 are the most important ones .

Website: https://www.rikucampobeauty.com

Instagram: @makeupbyrikucampo

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