We recently connected with Shauntis Woulard and have shared our conversation below.

Shauntis, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I was looking back at pictures from my 29th birthday and I immediately became upset at how much weight I had gained over the years. Being a mom, the stress of school and everyday life I had completely lost myself. I told myself I was going to get back to ME! And losing weight was the first thing on my list of things to do. I joined the gym and started portion controlling, but it still wasn’t enough because the scale was just going up and down. I knew I needed something to help me gain confidence and still lose weight at the same time. I got online and the first thing that popped up on Google we’re Waist-beads! I fell in love with the idea. Seeing different body shapes and how confident they looked I knew it was something that would work for me. I went out and brought beads and string to make my own and got started. I stopped stepping on the scale and started paying attention to my waistline. The shrinkage in my waist was seemed to be falling off of me just like the Waist-beads as I was getting smaller by the day. My family and even strangers started noticing my weight loss and my confidence was through the roof. People began asking what my secret was. I always told them, “it’s the beads.” Eventually I started making waist-beads for my sister, friends and random people that would see me out wearing them. During this time I was in school and no longer working because I was at the part of my program where most of my time was going towards my clinical hours. The more I was making waist-beads for myself, others and posting them on my personal social media I thought to myself this could very well be an income. I created a business page on instagram and my sales took off.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

My name is Shauntis and I’m a small business owner of something that started out as a personal hobby for myself that turned into something so much greater! In 2020 I launched Beaded & Bodied. Which consists of waist- beads that are all handmade to help track your waist size, become more self aware or to gain confidence. The beads cater to anyone that’s on a weight loss mission or just simply in need of something that gives a little more oomph to you’re daily routine. What makes my Waist-beads unique from others is that I give customers the option to add crystals that symbolizes healing or positivity. The different crystals of choice cause you to exude good energy and promote body adornment. I tell anyone I meet or that’s curious in purchasing waist-beads that, “ the beads don’t discriminate, they regulate.”

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

When I first started Beaded & Bodied I was using my personal funds to purchase supplies and inventory. Eventually I realized I needed a plan to stay afloat. I set a goal income wise and slowly began to reach it. I didn’t want to touch my personal earnings. I created a product list of what I was selling started actually charging for shipping and drops off’s. I was able to get over a little hump to reach my income goal, but it still wasn’t enough. So I started looking around for pop-up shops to attend. I had a little money saved to pay for vendor fees. I attended my first one and nearly tripled what I would make monthly from selling online.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Many times I have followers or customers that don’t read they just want what they want and quick. I’ll take their order and send pricing or an invoice and they ghost me. By then I’ve already started creating what they’ve requested and it’s ready to be shipped or for pick up and I’m stuck with what they’ve ordered and no payment. It’s always disappointing, but that doesn’t stop me. Between my loyal customers and family I can post what I’ve created on my story and their on it asking how much or telling me a time to meet them for a delivery. And that’s what keeps me going!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSett3O4flHh8e4Qre34wqstmMH1la6cDSCUxk6e4QH0pSzWfQ/viewform
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/beadedxbodied?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/BeadedxBodied/

Image Credits
The Clark’s Photography https://instagram.com/theclarksphotography?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=