Lori McSorley ’86

Entrepreneur

Lori McSorley ’86 started out as a Photography major, but then changed her major to Illustration while at Montclair State University.  After graduating, Lori started work at Print Tech, which is a print shop in Westfield, New Jersey. Lori says, ”At that time nothing was digital, so you had to have type set, meaning somebody typed out the wording and you had to cut it out, glue it, and position it.”

Through her 11 years of working at Print Tech, Lori was promoted from the art  department to managing the art department, to the sales department, and then to managing the sales department. She remained at Print Tech until deciding to become a full-time, stay-at-home mom. During this time, Lori started her own local house cleaning business also doing faux painting, and painting murals. Then, while attending a family party, Lori was asked if she could keep the kids busy by using a tiny paint kit to face paint. She received such praise for her work that she decided to start her own business. “I researched it and looked up the special paints I would need and took classes on it, and I picked it up pretty quickly because of my art background,” says Lori. “But that’s really where it all started.”

She didn’t realize how quickly her business would grow due to a need that she was willing to meet. “I really enjoy spending time with children, and since I never got my teaching certificate, I feel like this fulfills my enjoyment of working with younger children,” notes Lori.

As Lori’s business continues to grow, she hopes to expand by concentrating on securing larger accounts. Lori has many repeat customers and works closely with several party planners. She has a team of artists she has trained that also work with her. Lori’s business was recently hired to work an entire season of college football games, and hopes to continue to land similar jobs. She has many corporate clients and businesses in the area such as Morgan Stanley and Top Golf.  Lori was also the official face painter on the Royal Caribbean Cruise line in April of 2013. She was also featured in an article in Woman’s World Magazine, April 2015 with tips on how to start your own face painting Business.

Montclair State University gave Lori the time needed to explore different art outlets. This had created a pathway for her to expand her creative mind and build the business she has today.  Studying art, she worked on various projects and vividly remembers taking one illustration class where she was able to design covers of romance novels for a professor who worked in the field. During her junior and senior years at Montclair State, she was a part of a committee that organized winter and spring break trips. The club had an incentive for selling a certain amount of trips, which allowed her to go the Bahamas, Hawaii, and Acapulco.

In her spare time, Lori likes to give back to the community as well. “I usually offer my services five or six times throughout the year at various locations, such as at my local gym,” says Lori. “They have 5k charity walk/runs and other events that I like to volunteer at with my services.”