We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shayna Ellis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Shayna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?
What I would change about the educational system is to incorporate more business classes in the curriculum and to bring back speech classes. I would make these classes graduation requirements among the students career path while going through their high school career. Yes there are already business management classes in high school. However, those classes are offered as electives by choice. Most of the business classes in high school does not go into depth on how important finances, credit, stocks, entrepreneurship, etc. in the world after college. In addition, I feel that speech should be back mandatory as a graduation requirement as well. Not only do this generation of students need to know how to speak in front of a panel or conference; they need to have the confidence to pitch/persuade large groups and learn how to actually put on an engaging presentation.
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
It’s crazy how I got into the cake industry. It started out as me just designing cakes for fun off of watching YouTube & the Food Network Cake Challenges. I’ve always loved creating things with my hands so I just made it into a hobby. It was when I was laid off from work where I had to take this craft seriously so I can use this hobby to start making money. With help from family and unemployment checks I started building my inventory and perfecting my craft. After many late nights, frustration, & tears I took a break from designing cakes as now the fun behind it for me was gone. As I started back working full time, I decided to get my Masters Degree just for something to fall back on in case I was laid off again. That’s where bartending came into play. I was a full time teacher and part time bartender. Bartending paid off my Masters Degree as well as my counseling program so that I wouldn’t have to pay tuition out of my teachers salary. Since the money was coming in so fast I couldn’t give up bartending after I finished school so I decided to continue with it which I then incorporated into Virtual Visions. With it all being in the event industry I figured why not? I had 2 crafts I was good at so let’s make it a one stop shop! Both bartending and creating cakes allows me to show my fun creative side and my personality!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think what helped me build my presence within the event market is definitely referrals. Referrals from friends, or other business owners I’ve worked with. It’s gotten to a point where I even took down my website just because I was getting so many clients from social media alone. It’s true what they say; you never know who’s watching and supporting you when you don’t even know it. All of the customers & business owners I’ve worked with came from mutual connections or just someone giving me a chance via social media and they still trust in me til this day.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
The most effective strategy for building my clientele is staying consistent on social media. It’s so hard now to run so many pages but I’ve learned the audience loves watching videos, seeing your work, and seeing you have fun. Even by giving tips/tricks on your craft and using hashtags can grow your audience. Also tagging those you get your products from or have done business with as well. The more those clients see your name & your brand the larger your audience grows!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.virtualvisionsdesigns.squarespace.com
- Instagram: @virtualvisions
- Facebook: Virtual Visions Designs