We recently connected with Taliyah Fogle and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Taliyah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
What I think it takes to be successful is just simply showing up for yourself every day. Holding yourself accountable for the goals you said you’d achieve. It takes sacrifice, confidence, determination, and consistency. There will always be hard days, weeks, and even months but I believe success comes in waves. Learning to celebrate the small wins so you can cherish the bigger ones is always key. There is no designated point or max to success, but your comfort zone will always be tested because with success comes growth. If you are consistent and feel like you are doing your absolute best, then you are and will always be successful.
Taliyah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
All throughout High School I held this Dream that I had become my own Boss someday, owning my own Hair Salon and Product Line impacting the world as a Black Female Entrepreneur. In my Junior and Senior year of high school I was able to take Cosmetology classes and became licensed by the time I graduated, that is where I found my true passion for Hair and Skin Care. I Graduated in June of 2019 as a Licensed Cosmetologist from Lower Richland High School creating a name for myself as Sweet Tee the Stylist.
During June – August of 2019 I worked Commission as a Braider at a Downtown Salon on Main Street called Carolina Hair Studios. There I learned a lot of Salon etiquette, how to work on teams, and customer service techniques. I was able to expand my clientele, learn product knowledge, and how to share it with clients. All of this helped me get to where I am today.
In Fall of 2019 I started my 1st Semester at Midlands Technical College Majoring in Accounting and Business Management. In the middle of my second semester, I stepped out and got my very own Salon Suite called Sweet Tee’s Atelier, where I create my art which is Hair. This was a major accomplishment for me, and I was now in a stable place to cater to my clients the way I wanted to.
I continued to do 1 more semester that fall and after it was over, I decided I would not re-enroll for another semester. During that time, I did a lot of self-reflection. I realized that college was not really for me, and that my intentions for going in the first place was not strong enough for me to continue, especially during the pandemic. My family was supportive of me and the decision I made because they knew that I had a plan and would figure it out eventually. To be honest, I really did not have a plan at all. I stepped out on faith not knowing what my next move was going to be. I am so grateful for them because they have pushed and encouraged me always to keep my head up.
In the beginning of 2021, all my manifestations were coming into fruition! I finally had the freedom and time to focus more on my businesses. I began to work full time at the Salon Monday – Sunday. I started to offer 1 on 1 Braiding Classes at the start of February showing others how to braid, perfect their skills, and educating them on different techniques/products in the process. Since then, I have done over 10 1 on 1 classes ranging from the ages 8 – 18. My goal was to be able to step out my comfort zone and teach others my skills that wanted to learn from me.
I first Launched my product line Sweet Tee Organics back in February of 2020 creating handmade hair and body products from all natural and organic ingredients, doing Local Pickups and Drop Offs in the Columbia area. Which in 2021 I decided to take it up a notch and do a complete re-brand and create a website because I finally gained clarity of what my purpose was. I was self-educating myself in the Medicinal Benefits of Herbs and incorporating them more into my new products, then I Re- Launched in May as Sweet Tee Organics Holistic Hair. Skin. Body. LLC. Since then, I have created over 30 assorted products (All handmade by me), have 500 + customers and shipped over 200 orders to at least 5 different states.
I am so proud of how far I have come and how far I am going. Right now, I am working on expanding both businesses by networking and going to local events to meet others with a like-minded entrepreneur mindset and spirit.
We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.
Yes, I do manufacture all my own products. All of them are organic and handmade by me. When I first started, I had no clue how to do anything nor where to start I just knew I wanted an organic/healthy approach to my products using butters, oils, and herbs. Thanks to YouTube and a few teachers at my school I was able to start somewhere with creating my first product being a Whipped Body Butter made from varies oils, raw Shea and Coco butter. I learned a lot along the way, creating your own products isn’t easy. All recipes I came up with from scratch. Going through multiple test trials till I found the one that was most effective. In this process you must have patience It took a while to find the right ingredients and what initial purpose I wanted each product to have. I have products that cater to eczema, hyper-pigmentation, dry skin, insomnia, anxiety hair growth etc.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
I turned both of my side hustles into my full-time career before the age of 21. I’ve been braiding hair since I was 12 but taking clients consistently since I was 16. My first official clients came from getting the opportunity to do Lower Richland High School Bands Color guard team hair (which I was also on at the time) for football games and competitions August 2016. There were about 10 of us so the team was split between 2 other braiders and I to do their hair. From August to December box braids was the team style and we would touch up the edges every other month. During this time as I was getting more into hair, I also found that I had the desire to create my own Hair Care product line. Almost any project I was given in science or business classes I would somehow find a way to relate it to this future product line that I knew I would one day. I received a lot of feedback from classmates, friends, family members that I should take doing hair and creating a product line seriously.
The following year while I was in 10th grade, I decided to take clients after school in between band practice to boost my skills and gain a little money on the side to help pay for band fees and product ingredients. By this time, I knew I wanted to be a licensed cosmetologist. Thankfully I was able to graduate with my cosmetology license from Lower Richland High School within my 11th and 12th grade year. That summer I started working in a Commission based salon downtown Columbia until August 2019. I didn’t really pick back up on creating my product line until my third semester in college. At this point It was time to take both business to the next level so I could make it my career as an entrepreneur. I secured my very own salon suite in the middle of my second semester during the pandemic in 2020. Soon after I was able to take clients full time now that I had operational websites for customers/clients to book and purchase product. This made my life a whole lot easier and efficient. I’m so proud of how much I’ve accomplished in my entrepreneurial journey thus far. I’m always open to learning new things and remaining teachable and coachable to help better myself and my business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sweetteestorganics.myshopify.com/
- Instagram: @sweetteestorganics / @hairby.liyah_
- Facebook: sweetteestorganics
- Other: Booking Website: https://SweetteeTheStylist.as.me/
Image Credits
Jon J Photography LLC. Instagram: Jonjpics