Before the infamous Puffy/J-Lo incident that ended in a shooting, Tammy Ford was a model with a catchy name and one of the top female nightlife promoters in New York. At a Tammy Ford party you were bound to see anybody and everybody, but she gave it all up because she had dreams to settle down and raise a family.

In preparation for the new journey, she took all the money she made from throwing VIP parties and invested in her own company in 2002, The Tammy Ford Agency, where she represented makeup artists, hairstylists, photographers, fashion stylists, manicurists and groomers. Three years later she became a mother and all things changed.

Tammy took a hiatus from her busy life. She looked for ways to spend time with her son while still make a living.

“I didn’t want to do something that I wasn’t passionate about,” says Tammy. “My love of makeup began when I started modeling. My first professional test shoot was with celebrity makeup artist Sam Fine and celebrity photographer Keith Major.”

“Sam was the first person that ever did my makeup professionally. We started our careers together.  He was a striving makeup artist and I was an aspiring model. Sam inspired my love for makeup. He taught me how to apply my own makeup at a  time when there were not many makeup artists that knew how to apply makeup on black models. Makeup is my passion; it gives me the pleasure of being creative and the flexibility to spend quality time with my son.”

Her son is now seven years old and he’s taught his mom “that it’s not about me anymore, it’s all about this little person that I brought into this world.  I do everything in my power to protect and nurture him…my son is my motivation. He is the air I breathe. Everything I do is for him. My other motivations are having the pleasure of working with such talented people.”

Tammy is now back in the nightlife scene.  You can find her in Harlem on any given Tuesday celebrating her new venture: Phat Tuesday, a comedy night with her two business associates Rob Stapleton and Oscar Chimilio. The event is held at celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson’s restaurant Red Rooster.  Her celebrity guests include everyone from Chris Rock to Tyra Banks.

“Being a single parent, balancing your career and raising a child is very hard.  It’s not easy, there are days when I don’t know how I manage it all.  However, I am blessed to have a great family and friends to assist me with the ability to manage day to day, week to week.  The saying is very true, it takes a village to raise a child. But there are times when my family and friends are not available.  There are times when I need to attend special events for work and can’t because I don’t have a babysitter, and that’s just fine with me. I’d rather be home anyway. Finding someone you can trust to watch your child is a challenge. Living in New York is no cake walk, but this is the town I love and wouldn’t change a thing about my life.”

Words: Dominga Martin