We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shataia Townsend. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shataia below.

Hi Shataia, thanks for joining us today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

I have what you call a family of choice, who’s not only blood related but the family that are my friends, supporters, and my village. What’s appropriate is praying for one another, being able to bounce ideas off of each other and being able to help one another network to fulfill your own goals. What’s not appropriate is being judgmental and having a since of entitlement because you’re a family member or friend. Where I draw the line is advising that I am a business, and my rules and goals are as follows. If you don’t respect my business, then you don’t respect me as a human. When I went back to college to complete my senior year back in 2021 after being out of school for 16 years, I advised my family and friends on what my plans were and requested that they have my back on every endeavor. When I enrolled back into school, I had no idea that I was going to suffer with mental health, physical health and having to take on nine classes in my final semester of school. I had a breakdown, and my friend came running to assist me with classes I was struggling in, making sure my kids were taken care of and making sure that I stayed encouraged to run to the finish line. With that being said I was able to graduate May 07,2022 with all of my family and family of choice surrounding me with a circle of hearts to follow. This is why I feel that it’s important to understand who supports you.

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?

Hello, my name is Shataia Townsend, and I am the creator and owner of ByMe.Francois. I represent the city of Memphis, Tn where I was able to live the longest since traveling in living in several states while growing up. I am a mother of three wonderful children. ByMe.Francois is a brand where you can advertise your own uniqueness with creative patchwork. I have always been the person who likes to be complimented on my own creativity and unable to find items of clothing that edify my body shape and my personality. I have so many sayings that I’m know for, and I had an idea to have my favorite saying on a baseball cap t first, then I had a viola’ moment where I thought about having my favorite sayings or items that represent me on article of clothing. That’s when I designed my first jacket with all of the unique patches that represent me and what I stand for. I received so much positive feedback on my creations and people asking how they can order a jacket, that I was a little overwhelm because I never thought of myself as a business owner. I just wanted clothes that wear to events that caught other’s attention. LOL. So, I decided to network and reach out to friends that I have supported and asked about business ventures and where to start, I appreciate the positive feedback and help. The discipline can be a little difficult at times because you want to make sure that everything is a perfect as the last. You also want to put your all into every creative product, because each one of my creations tells its own story about the person and the who they are without the person even having to speak or explain each patch. What sets my apart from others is that I am passionate and try to learn the client that way I am able to suggest what patches that best fit their personality, because they usually don’t know what to ask for or only know that they want something that represents their brand, family or personality. I am most proud that I stepped out on faith with launching my brand not knowing how the positive feedback was going to give me encouragement to step out of my comfort zone. I’m also proud that I am able to legacy to my family and teach them the business as I learn and grow as well. I would like potential clients, followers and fans to know that my brand is a representation of me, and I understand that uniqueness is important, and I am here to make you outshine others with your uniquely YOU patchwork. My work is free handed and I am very detailed oriented with each creation.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

When I created my first jacket with my patchwork. I was so scared to post my creation because peoples opinion does matter when it comes to social media. I don’t care how many people say it doesn’t. Once I posted my creation and reached the number of likes and loves on social media within the first hour and people sharing my product, I knew it was time to build my own platform where it focuses mainly on my products and my brand. So, I went on Facebook, Tik tok and Instagram and created a page just focusing on ByMe.Francois so that I can get an unbiased opinion on each creation. I do suggest that when creating a social media page for your product that you leave it open to the public, learn your audience, accept criticism (positive and negative), interact within your pages and audience as frequent as possible. Post often even if it’s the same creation over time to show your growth.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Most effective strategy to growing my clientele is posting creations frequently, even if they’re not for a potential customer, but can be sold to a potential customer. Creating reels and tik toks to show off my brand. When I create a custom design for a customer, asking them to post a review in real time of the creation, and most importantly word of mouth. Last but not least, advertise your own product, in my case I make sure I wear my jackets and sweaters and I make sure my kids advertise my brand on their pages and wear my products as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: @ByMe.Francois
• Facebook: @ByMe.Francois
• Other: Tik Tok: @ByMe.Francois