Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lashanda Talley . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lashanda , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Thank you! I’m honored to be here sharing my story. Especially during Women’s History Month. First I would like to start by saying congratulations, keep going and never stop believing in yourself to all the women out there who’s trying, who’s giving their all trust me it’s gonna happen, if it haven’t already. You got this, just keep growing! My mission is to empower individuals to embrace their individuality, express themselves authentically, and discover their own unique beauty. Sometimes we forget what makes us different is the most beautiful thing about ourselves and In a world that’s all about “trends” I believe a lot of individuals are afraid of being themselves. I believe that beauty knows no boundaries, nothing upsets me more than someone telling me how something should be when it comes to me and my desires, to me there’s no “do’s and don’ts” if it’s what I desire and if you don’t like the way I prefer to do things then that’s fine to. I love a MUA that does what the client desires and not what’s the new trend. To summarize it I encourage individuals to Be Your Own Desire.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Yes, of course. Shanda Renee I’m from Fort Worth, Texas. I’ve always had a passion for beauty and making others feel good about themselves. When I was little all I wanted to watch was movies about makeovers. I was just so fascinated at a young age with the transformation I always told myself “I’m going to do makeovers when I grow up” I would watch my aunt do her makeup. I did my very first makeup in high school, that’s what did it for me because I did it for someone who was being bullied at the time, her reaction, the whole school reaction was priceless. I knew for sure that was my passion. My mama never really wore makeup and it wasn’t as big back then so my mama would not let me wear makeup. She told me I couldn’t wear makeup until my 12th grade but I already knew how to do it, I could do hair, I could do all things beauty. I remember when I got my first makeup my mama got me everything at M.A.C I was so happy, I was a M.A.C addict after that! I believe I am where I’m at now because my vision never changed. Although, I did not go into a beauty profession, I’ve always worked in cooperate, it wasn’t until 2016 I had just got laid off. I was so upset I started planning Be Your Own Desire. After they told us we were laid off they let us leave early, I went right to the county office and registered my business name. I had no clue how to run a business, I just knew I was tried of getting laid off and I was going to do what my heart desired. At first it was me just planning, I ended up getting a really good job in regulatory with a pharmaceutical company a few months later, so I just planned and planned I started testing different products, researching everything by the time I was laid off in 2020 I had so many notebooks filled with information about BYOD all I needed to do was make it happen. I got laid off during the Covid pandemic, I saw so many people starting their businesses it motivated me to quit playing, so I did and here we are partnered with the #1 Beauty Subscription Company in the world. I’m where I’m at now because I never gave up, I believe in me and this ain’t it because I’m looking up in I don’t see no limits lol

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Yes! Though out my journey I’ve had layoffs after layoffs, So many times I thought about giving up because it cost money to operate a business and I didn’t want to lose everything I had worked so hard for. I thank God for my family, my grandparents, my mama, my auntie my Meme :) without them it would of been almost impossible because ya girl kept facing layoffs but I just couldn’t give up. I didn’t even tell anyone about my business, I mentioned it to my auntie, back when I first thought of it in 2016 she loved the name so that really made me want to do it. But no one knew how far I got with planning everything until a few months before I went public with it in Aug 2020. I had to get them to believe in this just as much as me, once they started to see that I wasn’t just talking I’m for real they were all in. And I didn’t tell anyone about BYOD until a few months before I went public honestly because I wasn’t sure if I could do it, I didn’t want anyone asking me where I was with everything, I just wanted to plan in peace I didn’t want to feel rushed and I already knew how I wanted it to be. That’s why it’s so important to do something that you’re passionate about it’s hard to give up on something you love doing, at least for me it is.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Oh wow, where do I start, let’s see, um everyone is not for you, everyone doesn’t want to see you win no matter how close the person may be to you. I do not need approval from anyone because people are going to feel however they feel about you anyway. People are going to say whatever they want others to believe about you anyway. It’s so many different versions of me out there written and spoken from people who I don’t know or people I trusted close to me that threw salt on my name because of where I’m heading. I use to go out my way to clear my name, I’m just not in the business of doing that anymore. I protect my space more than anything these days, it’s all about business and deals with me, if it’s not about that I don’t have time. I let people believe what they want, as long as they know, I’m a boss CEO standing on BIG business and needed no one’s approval.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.byodesire.com
• Instagram: @byodesire
• Facebook: BYODesire
• Twitter: @byodesire

Image Credits
Extreme Works Studio