Alexandria Gilleo: Professional Makeup Artist, Beauty & Wellness Expert

The Ballers Magazine
Aug 7
12 min read

There are two pillars that have always captivated Alexandria Gilleo: connection and community. For Alexandria, it all started 18 years ago after she founded her own makeup business right out of high school. A decision that—in the years to come—would lead her to embark on a journey of personal growth and self-discovery; and one that quickly solidified her commitment to helping others "glow from within" through the focus on beauty and wellness. She hasn't looked back since. From brides to celebrities to influencers to top executives to athletes, Alexandria has worked with an array of individuals throughout her time in the industry and cemented her

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legacy as a professional makeup artist and beauty and wellness expert. As she reflects on her career thus far and all the amazing feats she has achieved, Alexandria remains inspired by the clients and athletes she works with on a daily basis, the opportunity to help them feel beautiful inside and out, and the chance to also assist other aspiring creatives in her field along the way. Truly fantastic!

Take us all the way back! How did you get started in the industry?

Yeah! I have been doing makeup for 18 years. I started doing makeup right out of high school because school was definitely not my forte back then (*laughs*)—which is so funny because now I feel like it would be so different. Now, you can always find me reading a book somewhere or educating myself on something. (Back then), school was just not it so I had to figure out what I wanted to do. My parents were like, “If you're not going to school, you need to figure out a job for yourself.” I was always interested in beauty. I loved beauty. I loved everything about skin care, glowing skin, and makeup. I also really loved art and I loved connecting with people. Connection and community for me has always been so big, so I was like: “You know what? I really think I'm going to try doing makeup and seeing how that lands.” I mean 18 years later, here we are.

Love that! Now take us through that journey into the world of sports. When did you make that transition into sports?

I grew up playing softball. Softball was my jam. I played softball for almost 15 years. Once I didn't want to go to school anymore, that was kind of it for me. I was like, “Well, I guess it's over.” But, I always loved sports. While I was doing bridal, I was also out in New York City hustling and getting my name out there. Very randomly—it was very much word of mouth—, I started working with athletes probably about 12 years ago. I remember my first big athlete I worked with was Carmelo Anthony for his Jordan shoe commercial. It was probably over 10 years ago and it kind of opened my eyes up to more of the behind the scenes of sports. I was like, “Oh, this is pretty cool.” Then, I was doing a shoot with Joe Namath—who was like an OG football player on the Jets. You know, it just started to kind of roll into sports very slowly. I was then introduced to Ali Krieger about 8 years ago on a Bumble & Bumble campaign. The moment we started working together, she started to open up to me about women's sports and how they're so excited about starting to do brand partnerships—that's how me and her connected on this Bumble & Bumble shoot. I was like, “Wait, I like love you guys.” Then, I just started to really get more interested in watching women's sports and supporting women's sports. I was like, “Wow, these girls are so gorgeous. They're so influential. They take care of themselves because they're pro athletes. That's so cool.” The more I was interested in the actual sport, I was also paying attention to them as humans and their rituals and routines. I knew from then that I really wanted to start working in that space. So at the same time I was growing the bridal business, I also started growing the women's sports business as well. Truly, it's just been word of mouth (since).

From basketball in the WNBA to the NWSL, it's just been a really cool transition. It's been so fun and so incredible to be part of this journey, to witness their growth, and to see the movement in women's sports. When I first started working in women's sports, I just felt like no one was really talking about it and maybe not that many people were watching it. If I would go to a game, they were usually pretty empty and it would really upset me actually. I was like, “Wait, this is so crazy. Why are more people not investing in women’s sports?” Now fast-forward, we're here in 2025, and it's just so incredible to see more brands showing interest and more beauty brands reaching out wanting to work with these women. I'm all for influencers—I think that's an incredible space of its own—, however, a female athlete has 300 times more influence than your “influencer.” I'm like, “These women are so driven. They're all about teamwork. They're all about a supportive community.” Just watching them work so hard on and off the field, and be so dedicated and driven, has inspired me so much. I'm like, “Oh wow. If they're doing this, I can do this. How can I apply their routine and how they are so motivated with their rituals? How can I apply this to my life as well?” It’s just been a world of inspiration and growth, and I'm so excited to see more and more people excited about women's sports.

As you look back on that journey early on, what were some challenges that you faced and how did you work to overcome them?

Because I've been a makeup artist for 18 years, I've worked with so many people. I’ve worked with celebrities, influencers, actors, actresses, your everyday bride, a lot of CEOs of companies and top executives of companies. I've worked with so many different types of people, so I really have had a good range of ideas of how people like to work with makeup artists on set. Something I’ve realized is that no one was telling these athletes, “Hey, you can request your glam team to come with you.” So I'm starting to see more athletes get their own team. Whether it’s a content creator, a social media manager, a publicist, a proper lawyer or a hair and makeup artist, it's great to see that now. I would say back then that was really a challenge. Now, it's definitely become much less of a struggle for that. I still think there's a lot of work to do, but we're now definitely seeing more women athletes have a proper team; and I think it's been super helpful. I think that needs to continue to happen for the brands to realize: “Oh, we also need to invest in women's sports. It is very much worth being invested in.”