We were lucky to catch up with Shonda Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Shonda, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I actually started providing loc services to clients in my living room while working a full time job in corporate America. It all started once they fired my coworker and I had to take on their responsibilities as well as mine. So this went from one full time job to two quickly. After 8 months I was fed up, one morning I decided to quit. I had zero savings and no plan. I turned my laptop in that morning and sat in a salon that day with zero clients but I made a few posts on social meds to market. At the end of the day I told myself I think I made a mistake. The next day I received 3 phone calls and had 3 clients. The next day more phone calls. I’ve been extremely busy from that day forward. I’ve always believed in God but in that very moment I knew I made the right choice and my faith grew even stronger! I will tell anyone, if you’re in alignment; TAKE THE RISK! A leap of faith is all it takes!

Shonda, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Growing up in Mississippi, my cousins would always ask me to do their hair. I would do quick weaves and sew ins or a simple flat iron with curls or to even put their lashes on. I could not figure out for the life of me WHY did they want me to do it! It wasn’t until I relocated and random people would ask me. Have you ever heard someone say, “People can see the things that you’re good at doing before you can”. Well, for years I was completely blind to my natural God given talents. I don’t consider myself the best by far but I actually LOVE what I do! If I didn’t have bills, it’s something I’d actually do for free any day.

After being in corporate America & wearing a mask for years, I can truly say what sets me apart is embracing who I AM authentically and unapologetically! I never want to appear to be someone I’m not nor do I want to follow society!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Be yourself! Do your own thing! Don’t look left or right. Create your own content and be original. If you can’t think of anything. Pray about it and it’ll come to you!

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I went from working in a salon that I loved but it was an hour away from my home so I decided to transition into a salon suite. I outgrew the suite and being there it started to feel like Corporate America again. So I decided to open my own space. My goal was to find enough space to have at least one or two other stylists there as well and I knew I wanted to keep my overhead as low as possible. I’ve worked in accounting for 10 plus years so the numbers had to make sense. I found an older building in a safe location with just enough space and transformed it to my liking. I did put about 3k into it but it was worth every penny to branch off and continue to build my brand. I understand that money comes in quickly but I encourage everyone to save something even if it’s just $10. Now, my future projects will definitely be funded from grants. It was a great experience to learn about negotiating and developing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sheisamazinglocs.as.me/
• Instagram: Sheisamazinglocs
• Facebook: Sheisamazinglocs