We were lucky to catch up with Shanyah Brown recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Shanyah, thanks for 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 a business owner, I possess flexibility, control, and my own exposure. In a regular job, you have to conform to a schedule, which sometimes can change. You have to wear certain attire and do specific things per that job criteria. Everything you do around it has to be based around them because you’ve agreed to terms and conditions under this company or employer. I always sit and think about having a regular job. ALWAYS. I do have other ways of income but not a full career-based 9 to 5. Honestly, I still believe in multiple incomes so I will get a job here and there. It could be part time to where I still have control over my availability to my hair clients. It could also be full time to where I catch up my funds to invest into my business or my life aspects. When in a full time job, I cut back appointments and remain at limited availability. The last time that I actually thought of just working and cutting back on my clients, I thought long and hard about the abandonment of my hopes and dreams for NEVER by Nyah, my brand. I felt like I would be neglecting myself as well as my business, however, as I get older I realize you make time for what’s important. I looked at my slow weeks and months as a time for me to just get a job, but I thought to myself like “what if my business speeds back up and i’m stuck”, “what if i have to turn down my regular clients”, like WHAT IF!? However, things will be slow running a business. I don’t know any business, brand, or company that actually has all good days honestly. My solution to this was go ahead and be open to any job you put your mind to, your business is yours, your talent is yours so nobody or nothing can take that away from you. NEVER by Nyah will always be here for me! I feel as a business owner, you should stick to a job or other dependable incomes until your business is consistent enough to be your main income. Trust me, I have had months where I did live off of my business but for what I want my future to hold, I do know I need as many stepping stones to get me across the water until the river flows.

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

My name is Shanyah Brown & I am the owner of NEVER by Nyah LLC. I am a hairstylist and hair extension reseller. I provide services for my clients such as sew-ins, wig installs, quick weave styles, braids, & etc. In my reseller role, I sometimes purchase hair to have on demand for my clients or even people who just want to shop with my specific brand. I provide services where hair is included and my clients trust me to give them great quality human hair for their styles, which makes it a one stop service for them. A lot of people look for that in most cases so it’s a plus. Some cases, my clients have no idea about what style they want, what hair to actually purchase, when or how they should get it due to a certain occasion or event, I always have the answers in that case though. What I believe sets me apart from others is me remaining humble and never competing with somebody in the same field as me. Some hairstylists tend to believe that one may be against them because of us doing the same thing, when really I love to look and learn. I enjoy learning new methods and techniques for similar hairstyles from others in my field. I ask questions all the time. What I am most proud of is my marketing, I have a direct system for my marketing. I create all of my websites, my logo was home-based so I know nobody has it. I am always willing to rebrand but from past trial and error, I also want to see how far I can continue to push myself with what I started until I honestly get tired of my theme and marketing. I want all my clients, as well as future clients, to know that in the time we’re in I only want to help and never have greed because they’re vulnerable for services. I try to not be so stagnant on every little thing I do and just charge for the more tedious things, such as the service itself, a cut, maybe a specific style or curl. I do my best to include everything into one price, like a shampoo & blow dry because some people look forward to a nice wash from their beautician versus struggling at home to make sure it’s thoroughly done,

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to learn how to stop consistently running specials. Years ago, I would always feel like run a special, run a special, run a special due to slow business. Sometimes it would be just because, which would be hard for me because that’s what people looked for out of me. A DISCOUNT. I could do sew-ins for $60 and business would boom & once everything would go back to regular price, it would be crickets. I had to learn to market but not so hard to where it takes away from my actual business worth and my worth for my skills/time.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

It’s funny because my side hustle is doing hair. It was my side hustle from 14 until about 21. I started doing my own hair, then friends & family, then after school & weekends. I kept a full time job during college as well as in my adult years to maintain my life up until about 2-3 years ago. The pandemic came, I actually committed and worked full time as a hairstylist down in Jacksonville, Florida, my hometown. I couldn’t believe how consistent I became, how reliable it was for me, even more so the support! Today, I live in another area where I also grew up and graduated high school at in South Carolina, My clients here are blended. I get clients from GA, SC, NC & I even travel and take some clients in FL. I have clients that travel to me. I feel like since I have moved back, it sets me in the middle and also in a familiar area. It’s calm, peaceful, and it’s out the way of any commotion. The milestones were life itself. I went through different obstacles that made me stronger to get me here and allow me to stay consistent here because the old me would be ready for the next thing. Sometimes, it feels like my dreams are chasing me versus me chasing them!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.neverbynyahworkz.as.me
• Instagram: @neverbynyah
• Facebook: NEVER by Nyah LLC/Shanyah Brown
• Youtube: @NyahLanae