How one woman’s insistence on standards, systems, and discipline created measurable outcomes, and transformed lives
In India, where generations of women have grown up being told that work must wait, ambition must be negotiated, and financial independence is optional, quiet revolutions rarely announce themselves. They show up instead through outcomes, women earning more than their households ever imagined, building names, creating confidence, and reshaping what is possible.
Over the last nine years, the Aliya Baig Academy of Makeup (ABAM) has trained and graduated more than 800 professional makeup artists. Today, many of these alumni earn six-figure monthly incomes, often surpassing the earning capacity of male counterparts within their own families. They work across bridal, fashion, international assignments, and entrepreneurship, building sustainable careers rather than short-lived gigs.
This is not an accident. It is the result of an institution built deliberately, measured, system-driven, and uncompromising in its standards.
Alumni as Evidence, Not Testimonials
ABAM’s most compelling proof does not sit in marketing campaigns, but in the alumni who continue to swear by the institution years after graduating. Their stories, publicly shared across platforms and professional networks, reveal a pattern: confidence rooted in competence, not hype.
Graduates have gone on to work nationally and internationally, build studios and brands of their own, and establish reputations in an industry known for instability. Many come from backgrounds where women working at scale was never assumed. What ABAM offered them was not just skill, but permission backed by preparation.
Today, over 35% of ABAM’s batches consistently comprise national and international students, creating a diverse, globally oriented learning environment. That exposure, coupled with rigorous training, allows alumni to move fluidly between markets rather than remain confined to local ecosystems.
Solving the Real Problem in Learning
Aliya Baig did not approach makeup education as a creative problem alone, she approached it as a learning problem.
Across education systems worldwide, the most persistent challenge is not access or talent, but lack of visibility into learning itself. Students often finish courses without being able to objectively answer three critical questions: What have I learned? How much have I improved? Where am I still lacking?
In the beauty and makeup industry, this gap is even wider. Learning is typically intuitive, memory-based, and subjective. Feedback depends heavily on individual trainers, and progress is rarely tracked over time.
ABAM chose to disrupt this at the root.
Over nearly a decade, the academy developed and refined ABAM’s proprietary Performance Management System, embedded within its smart classroom infrastructure. Borrowing rigor from formal education and performance-driven industries, the system tracks each student’s progress longitudinally, from day one to graduation, using objective, numerical, and comparative metrics.
Students can see their growth over weeks and months, compare performance across modules, identify specific gaps, and course-correct early. Learning becomes visible, measurable, and accountable.
This framework, purpose-built for makeup education, does not have a comparable equivalent globally. It transforms talent into repeatable competence and replaces ambiguity with clarity.
Building an Institution the Hard Way
In an industry driven by shortcuts, ABAM chose the harder path.
Smart classrooms, performance tracking, structured assessment, and professional systems were not expected, nor common, in makeup education. They were also expensive, time-consuming, and resisted by convention. But Aliya Baig insisted on them anyway.
Her philosophy was simple: if an institution claims to be world-class, it must behave like one.
Education at ABAM is treated as a sacred responsibility, not a transaction. Students are not customers, they are future professionals. Discipline is not punitive; it is respectful. Transparency is not branding; it is process.
When Global Experts Validate the Seriousness
It is precisely this institutional seriousness that attracts global experts, not as visiting endorsers, but as long-term collaborators.
James MacInerney, a London-Irish special effects makeup artist and faculty member at ABAM, is unequivocal in how he assesses the academy:
“I have to say in complete honesty, the standard is second to none. It is at the same rate, if not more established and more highly developed, than my own faculty and training in Ireland.”
Having worked across London Fashion Week and international fashion houses, MacInerney does not focus on aesthetics alone. He points instead to structure and student welfare:
“The facilities, the infrastructure, the lighting, the techniques, the products, the welfare of the students, I can’t stress enough how top-tier this is.”
He is equally direct about student outcomes:
“I’ve seen students pick up special effects techniques that took me months to learn, and they did it on their first attempt. That is a reflection of proper teaching.”
That validation is reinforced by Beryl, founder and head of the International Makeup Association (IMA) and a senior global examiner with over five decades of experience.
For Beryl, credibility is inseparable from ethics:
“Our pass mark is 80. If a student gets 79, they haven’t lost one mark, they’ve lost 21. Standards matter, even if it’s something as simple as a dirty brush.”
She is openly critical of superficial international claims within the industry:
“When you research many so-called international bodies, there’s nothing there. They don’t truly understand makeup.”
Her respect for ABAM is rooted in discipline and intent:
“Aliya is brilliant at what she does, focused, driven, and passionate. You can’t buy kindness, compassion, or empathy. She chooses to share her knowledge, and that doesn’t come easy.”
ABAM is also among the very few institutions in Asia, only the third, to be formally affiliated with IMA, a distinction that attracts students globally who seek certification that is independent, rigorous, and respected.
These voices do not form the foundation of ABAM’s reputation. They quote back the seriousness that was already built.
ABAM’s impact extends far beyond makeup.
It represents a model of education that creates economic independence, professional identity, and confidence, especially for women in environments where these are not guaranteed. By combining global exposure, measurable learning, and uncompromising standards, the institution enables women not just to work, but to lead.
In a culture that often encourages speed over substance, Aliya Baig’s work stands as a reminder that institutions built with rigor outlast trends.
Quiet, Earned Credibility
ABAM does not rely on borrowed labels or loud claims. Its credibility is visible in its alumni, embedded in its systems, and affirmed by those who understand standards deeply.
Aliya Baig did not build a brand. She built an institution, one that measures learning, produces outcomes, and quietly reshapes what is possible for women in India and beyond.
Explore the academy’s programs and global faculty and understand why instructors from around the world choose to be part of its mission. Learn more about ABAM through these insightful videos: Watch James’ perspective and hear from the international faculty
