Zea Swainson is preparing for the biggest pitch of her life.

She’s one of about 20 young entrepreneurs who will present their businesses in front of potential investors as part of the third annual World Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge.

Zea, who turns 18 today, was invited to participate by Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, the global non-profit that is hosting the event and is a partner of the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation’s Young Entrepreneurship Initiative. Zea took first place in NFTE's BizCamp and was involved in the BEDC's Summer Student Entrepreneur Programme.

Both organisations were impressed with Paintz, the face and body-painting business inspired by Zea’s love of the arts. The company offers kids and adults face painting, glitter tattoos, henna designs, body art and professional photo shoots.

Zea will celebrate those efforts on November 21 when she makes her pitch at the New York Stock Exchange in Lower Manhattan.

“It's a part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. Entrepreneurs gather each year for one week, and they either pitch or they showcase different aspects of entrepreneurship. You just basically pitch an idea, and there’s judges and then they decide which they would invest their money in,” she said, likening it to the popular reality show Shark Tank.

It’s a journey she unknowingly started on about six years ago when she created a business customising shoes as part of a camp that taught young people the basics of enterprise.

“I found that I actually did have a love for entrepreneurship. To me, it’s sort of like problem solving. It really did resonate with me and so I enjoyed it and here we are, years later, and I still have a love for it.”

She took the lessons learnt to heart and, as she considered next steps, came up with a way she could pair them with her first love.

“Ever since I was young, I’ve very much been into the arts, whether that was crafting, painting, drawing, sewing — all of it. I was just very expressive in that way,” said Zea, who took art classes throughout her schooling in Bermuda but describes her Paintz skills as “mostly self-taught” aside from a few online lessons.

“People hosting events hire us to create more of a cheerful or creative aspect. What I like to do is [create a design that goes well with] what the person is wearing. So more or less, just create an accessory that accentuates their clothes or even their personality.”

As “fine arts and face painting are two different things”, she did have to put in some extra work. Fortunately, help was available online.

"I had to learn about timing, getting the overall idea [of an image] instead of [including too many] details; getting precise lines and learning how the brush works. With face paint it is a little different than it is to paint on a canvas.”

A lot of research went into choosing which paint to use. Important to the business owner was that there wasn’t a lot of oil in the paint, that it came off very easily and that the company behind it was eco-friendly.

“At Paintz, one of our priorities is cleanliness — whether that’s cleanliness in the brushes, wearing gloves, or just being sanitary in general, when you are experiencing the service,” Zea said.

“I tried the paint on myself before I used it on anyone else and I can say that they are very clean; that it’s a very trusted business.”

In 2020, likely because of the pandemic, her classmates at Bermuda Institute weren’t showing their typical “school spirit” at events.

To change the mood, Zea and a few of her friends bought some art supplies and offered face painting to younger students during sports day activities.

“They were loving it. I did it for, I think, two days, and the profit that I made from it was actually kind of mind-blowing,” she said.

The pattern continued for a couple years. People kept complimenting her on her talent and encouraged her to take it further.

For a while, she hesitated.

“But I'm so happy I did take that risk, and here we are. Paintz is one year old, and I absolutely love it.”

Despite that, the teenager is focused on a career in architecture and is now in her first year of studies at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan.

“Art has always been something that I was based off of and architecture fell into [that] pattern. I plan on opening my own firm when I graduate but Paintz is always going to be something that I love and will continue to do. It's not [about] the money, it's [about] the passion that I have for it.”

With lots of entrepreneurs in her family, inspiration to start her own business was never far away. Constant support comes from her mother, Zonique Furbert, who always made sure that her daughter’s studies took top priority and is running Paintz and the team behind it in Zea’s absence.

“Back in high school I kind of had to learn how to balance my social life, work life and school life. Time management was a very big thing for me,” she said.

“But I think having someone to talk to, someone who can help you, helps and my mom played a big part. We regularly sit down and talk and she always told me that school was my first priority, and that work was afterwards. So making sure that I had proper time management was key, but I made it work. And even now, although it is a little different being that I’m away, I still do put in the time.”

She’s hoping to claim the world champion title at the end of the month to add further credibility to the company.

“It just gives me more to put on my portfolio, to add to my résumé. This is just a stepping stone on what I would like Paintz to be,” Zea said.

“I would like to broaden Paintz so it’s not just face painting but also an after school activity for students in Bermuda, or even globally, to express themselves and have that sort of outlet. I don't feel like we offer that as much as we should, and it definitely fosters different skills and opens kids to be more in touch with themselves and their emotions.”

• For more information follow @facepaintzbyz on Instagram or visit nfte.com