We recently connected with Shamille Powell and have shared our conversation below.
Shamille, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
As I am growing along with my business, I get more and more excited. I’ve been in health care for 7+ years or so. As a traveling anesthesia technician, my pay was quite lucrative and I was used to the security of a weekly check and guaranteed insurance/benefits, whereas as a business owner you do not have those comforts. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with keeping your 9 to 5 until your business becomes consistent and profitable; there is no shame in building your business while you work a regular job.
I know social media and all its experts would tell you differently, but you also have to be realistic and do what’s best for you. I think that’s why I’ve found so much pleasure along with excitement in building my business because I’m doing it at my own pace. There’s no rush. When you work your business; it doesn’t work for you so you’re able to enjoy the fruits of your labor, savor the moments used to build the business and learn from those moments as well. For me, I enjoy my regular job, however I have been off for a few months and during this time it has allowed me to hone in and focus more on my business. Honestly, there is no right or wrong answer. I was happy working a 9 to 5, but I find a sense of self fulfillment and security having my own business, building my own legacy, taking pride in my own brand, making money for myself and not anyone else.
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 back background and context?
Founded 2019 in Atlanta, GA, “The Black Mecca”; I realized that there were a large number of hair vendors, but still a large percentage of women wearing low quality hair extensions. Thus, my mission to start a hair company that would provide superior quality, long lasting human hair. With that, I set out – determined to make a change. My goal is to always provide quality hair at an affordable price. I recognized that some women feel more confident with fuller hair expressed in different variations of styles and colors. Phi Hair is committed to continued growth and is establishing a globally recognized brand. Founded with the purpose of promoting strength, health, passion and fulfillment. I love and value serving the everyday woman and girls. My goal, however for 2023, is to transition and scale Phi Hair LLC into more of a corporation vs a normal ecommerce business. While I will remain an ecommerce business, I am pivoting into more of a distributor/vendor role becoming an exclusive hair provider. Contractual agreements alongside our ecommerce business will lead my business Phi Hair into becoming one of the most sought-after hair companies in the industry!
Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?
I use Shopify. I like Shopify over other platforms because it gives you a wider range of options when building out your websites along with more features. It does allow you to completely shape your site to whatever capacity you want no matter how big or small. Those are the pros. The cons however, each system you use or if you’re using the $29.99 package you do have to pay for more features and they can become quite expensive. Depending on your budget, I say start with the 29.99 package and if you feel like your site has grown exponentially, then go with the other 2 more expensive packages. Still, I feel Shopify is the better platform because it also offers you all your analytics, tax info, it can be linked to an other platform, it offers marketing systems such as SMS and emailing, It helps build your email list etc. It gives you a plethora of options and you can’t go wrong.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
As someone who does work well with others, but prefers to work alone; building a team has been surprisingly rewarding in a sense. My issue has been learning how to let go and delegate, trusting that my team will get the job done, however I have the final say and and everything has to be ran past me first for approval. Still, developing a trustworthy team who has your best interest at heart is hard to often come by. You may go through a few people until you get to the right people. Do not be afraid to put people on paper! That has been the #1 thing I have realized since the inception of my business. Contracts and NDA’s are your best friend. Utilize them to the fullest. Anyone who you are discussing an idea with – give the a NDA. It’s only to protect yourself, your brand and your business.
I love that my team and I are open and honest with one another, but they respect me as the boss and not to overstep those boundaries, but we are a team and we work together to get the job done. I hate it, but they do keep me on track and focused. They riel me in when necessary to maintain the common goal. We motivate each other and they allow me to be myself and recognize when they may need to step in when I’m overwhelmed. I truly appreciate that because I am someone who will just go and go and not ask for help. We have a when I win, you win mentality. I love my team! They believe in Phi Hair just as much as I do. That’s so important and a strong necessity.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.PhiHairLLC.com
- Instagram: Phi_Hair_
- Twitter: Phi_Hair_
- Youtube: COMING SOON
- Other: snapchat: shayp_phihair tik tok: phi_hair_atl
Image Credits
Hair: Phi Hair Hair Stylist: @i.dreamhairstudio @lex_slayy @lovegreen_monai MUA: @visualvoguellc @iam_beautybyrenee @fabelle.mua @i.love.lissa Photographer: Knox_is_shooting