We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Charissa Grant. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Charissa below.
Charissa, appreciate you joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
I’m in an entrepreneurial business savvy FaceBook group for women that’s based in the UK. I’m not even sure how I ended up in this group but I stayed in it because they were very supportive, business minded and fun. I posted that I wanted to open a selfie studio, provided pics for example and they loved it. Apparently they don’t have them there so it was new & exciting to them. When I started scouting locations I knew I needed a catchy name. I asked the group and in less than 30 minutes the post had over 500 comments. Everyone was so willing to help & they had such great ideas!!! Once I settled on Me Myselfie and I, I inboxed the lady who suggested it and offered to buy her a coffee. She said it wasn’t necessary & she was just happy to help.
Charissa, 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?
I have always been a person who loves to be creative, laugh & have fun. I’m the girl with the loud laugh who is always cracking jokes to keep people laughing. I love seeing people de-stress & enjoy themselves. In my 20s that lead me into party promotions. After 10 years of party promotions, a husband and 2 kids, I decided to pivot and transform into event planning. It feed my creative outlet & allowed me to bring joy to others. My late grandfather lived in California & every year would gift me a disposable camera. He lived so far away but wanted to keep up with my day-to-day life. As such, I started documenting everything I did at a very young age. My mother instilled an entrepreneur spirit & I started my first business when I was 8 selling pencil cases to my classmates. I currently own & operate an online T-Shirt shop. A couple of years ago, when I heard of selfie studios, it felt like a perfect fit. In addition to being a business owner & creating a legacy for my children, this combines my love for photography, creativity & creating experiences and memories for years to come. As a wife and mother of 2 we give so much of ourselves to our families, I feel it’s very important that we have something that’s or own & that we are given the space to create. I created the concepts & made a lot of the items in the studio myself and some with the help of friends. There is a peice of me in every scene. A lot of love & a lot of work went into this studio.
Me Myselfie and I Studio is a selfie studio. We have curated over 20 interactive photo installations including, a motorcycle garage, thunder room, an illuminated vogue runway, and more. At Me Myselfie & I Selfie Studio, you are given the space to create. Visit our studio for fun & vibrant photos to use for your social media & more. Whether it’s content creation, date night, birthdays, girls’ night, family photo ops, or team building, Me Myselfie & I Selfie Studio will set the scene for the perfect shot. Additionally, host special events like mixology classes, ugly Christmas party, picture with Santa & the Grinch. We hope to host photography classes, makeup classes, podcast airings, musical performances and other creative endeavors. I don’t want this to be just photos. I’d love for this to become a creative space for ideas to flourish.
Any advice for managing a team?
This is my first experience managing employees. I have a great team and feel really lucky to have them. I started my first job at 13 and have had a lot of managers. I took the things from my favorite managers and tried to amplify that. Alternatively, I remembered the management strategies that I didn’t appreciate and avoided them all together. My goal for my team is make them feel heard, valued & respected. While trying to be flexible, I set reasonable expectation so I don’t set them up for failure. I let them know if a protocol or policy that I implement seems counter-productive or cumbersome to let me know. The people doing the work know the most about it so I’m always open to suggestion. I let them know they can reach me at any time & talk to me about anything. I’m very transparent about what’s going on behind the scenes & I think that gives them a since of security to know what’s happening.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I began this journey end of 2019 looking for an event space. I pulling together my ideas, doing research & figuring things out when the world stopped. Covid devastated the world, and everything was on hold. Like most of us looking for something to do I got on TikTok. I saw a video of a selfie studio in another state and loved it. I remember telling myself once I get my event space off the ground I’d circle back and consider it. In May 2021 I started scouting locations for the event space again. I hit roadblock after roadblock. I had 3 different locations fall through for different reasons. I was very discouraged. So I decided I should revisit the selfie studio idea. I began my research and with a confidence boot from my husband and my mentor decided with switch gears. I signed my lease for Me Myselfie and I Studio in August of 2021. began construction April 2022 & had the grand opening July 2022!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.memyselfieandistudio.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/memyselfieandistudio
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/memyselfieandistudio
- Yelp: https://yelp.to/gffDHcTRfvb
- Other: TikTok www.TikTok.com/memyselfieandistudio