We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shya Prescott. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shya below.
Alright, Shya thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?
Very recently, I applied to be a Hall Director of a residence building on my college campus. A hall director is a student that supervises a group of resident assistants along with an entire building of students that reside in that building. I am currently an RA and I have been for the last two years. I have also been in many different organizations on campus and held or still hold a position on the exec boards. So leading up to the action of me applying for this HD position, I was very confident that I would receive the position. I did not receive the HD position and to me, it was a huge shock. It wasn’t a shock because I felt entitled to it or because of pure rejection, which isn’t something new to me. It was a shock because if I don’t pat myself on the back for anything else, being a leader and an involved student is one thing I definitely give myself a round of applause for. Being a role model, helping others and doing things for a greater change genuinely, has always been me, it’s what I do best. So again, not receiving that position was a major shock.
When I got the email my feelings were definitely slightly hurt, but my first response was “It just wasn’t for me”. I am a person that has a strong relationship with God and I believe that he always has something greater than what it is I think I need or would like to have, and that definitely still stands. But one of the directors of Res-life offered to meet with me to discuss why I didn’t get the position. Initially, I didn’t think it was a good idea to meet with him because 1) It wasn’t going to change their decision and 2) It was only going to make me feel even more disappointed in myself. I later decided to meet with him and he told me that the main reason why I didn’t get the position was because of my last semester’s GPA. My last semester’s GPA was a 2.6 which is definitely lower than my capability and what I have presented in the past. Under the circumstances of a new major and considering all of the extracurricular activities I was involved in, because I had more on my plate than I thought I could handle, I did not prioritize my academics like I should have been (which was all on me).
Going back to the point of not receiving the HD position, hearing the director tell me why I didn’t get the position made me realize how I could be sabotaging myself and potential opportunities. The rejection letter was something I instantly added to my vision board. I say that because I then realized that the work I do or don’t put in will affect the opportunities that I do or don’t have. This failure makes me regret not dropping some responsibilities because I felt as if I would be letting others down, or quitting. It also makes me wish I would have given myself more time to study or ask clarifying questions instead of complaining about the workload and focusing more on outside factors. On another hand this failure reminds me to never give an organization, employer, person, etc. the opportunity to have the option to deny me a position because of my own faults or something I could have prevented. This failure allowed me to view the situation in a different aspect than it being just rejection. Failures are not always failures. Sometimes failures can be lessons and if we analyze a failure from different viewpoints and we really dissect our own mistakes in the process there can be a much larger reason or answer that we uncover.
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?
My name is Shya Prescott and I am from St. Louis. I am currently a 20 year old student, in my junior year at Illinois College in Jacksonville, IL, majoring in Business Administration. I was raised in a single parent household with an amazing mother who exemplifies and exceeds everything more than my expectation of what a woman and mother should be. I have a younger brother who is currently a senior at Cardinal Ritter College Prep and a star basketball player! My mom and brother are a huge part of my support system, and aside from myself, they are also the reason why I do what I do and a reminder to never give up.
Here at Illinois College, I am the class chair of 2025, the treasurer of Black Student Union and I am also a resident assistant. I also have a part-time job at Home Depot. Over the past three years I have changed my major three different times; Starting with Elementary education, then moving to biology, and now I plan to graduate in May of 2025 with my bachelors degree in business!
My small business “Shya Nicole Customs” started in March of 2020. Prior to the year of 2020 and the pandemic, in 2019 I made a gift for a friend to give to their significant other. They wanted the gift to be meaningful and different, so I created a gift box with their memories displayed in words, pictures and embellishments that described their relationship. This gift was something I created with markers, store bought materials, and printed pictures. But once it hit my social media page it became a huge hit (which was unexpected). The year that COVID-19 hit, I made another gift box for a Mother’s Day present and the orders just started coming in. Considering the circumstances at the time, my custom crafts were convenient and affordable, everything was working out in my favor. As I continued to create these different gift boxes, I realized that I enjoyed making stuff for people to give to others or to keep for themselves, that allowed them to be expressive and made them feel special. I loved getting messages or comments from customers after seeing their finished customs and also seeing people share my products online! At the time I was in high school and my schedule was pretty busy, as it still is now, but school, extra-curricular activities and my part-time job have always been things that somewhat give me the short end of the straw when it comes to prioritizing my small business in a way that I would like to. But I like to say that everything happens for a reason and that it will all be worth it. So far it has been!
Since the founding of my small business, I have expanded the products that are available for my customers to purchase and the creativity of my custom products have also elevated. I provide custom gift boxes, cups, resin crafts and I am always open to new and first-time things that I have not yet made. Since I’ve been in college I have changed my major three different times, and doing this allows me to relate it to recognizing and acknowledging that as an individual, I am also always changing. My thoughts, ideas, interests, etc. are always changing, from the things I experience, to the mistakes I make and the great decisions I’ve been able to put in place. My small business has played a huge role in the growth of myself as a young woman, and I want my business to be able to play a role in the growth of others, just as it did for me.
Wanting my business to be something greater than just selling products has everything to do with my personal mission of having the desire to help others see themselves and be themselves in their highest form, no matter where they are in life. The continuous mission of Shya Nicole Customs is to specifically highlight the growth of an individual on both the inside and outside. I will make sure my customers feel and see that growth through personal connection and from the love and care I put into making my custom products. Nothing else should matter to a person outside of their own interest and beliefs, when building and living a life that they choose. Shya Nicole Customs is and will always be a business that exemplifies evolution, self-love and creativity! I would like for everyone to remember, the sky is not the limit.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson that I have had to unlearn is charging customers lower than the quality of my products because they or I think “the price is too much”. Very early on to starting my small business I had no idea what I was doing, especially when it came to finances. I had a mother that tried to help or guide me, but me being me and me being a kid, of course I didn’t listen. My prices in the very beginning of starting my business were reasonable at the time, but there then came a time where I was losing more money than I was making. My issue came from me not factoring in the cost of supplies being taken out of the money I earned. Since 2020, I have gotten better with considering my supply prices and making sure I am charging the price of the quality of my work. I was too worried about losing customers because they said they couldn’t afford it and things of that nature. Although I wanted to be of assistance and have them buy my product, as an entrepreneur that was not and is not my issue. I realized that the people that support me will support me when they can and even when they can’t, they will still find ways to support me like simply sharing a post, etc. And I also have to remember to support myself.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
From time to time I will reach out to a previous customer and ask them how their purchased product(s) are holding up. I am still fairly new to the entrepreneur world and I am running everything out of a little room on a college campus or back at home with little to no funds. So I want to know if certain vinyl that I’m using is not sticking like should so that I can alter my applying skills and things of that nature. I really appreciate the critical feedback because it helps for the long-run.
I choose to foster brand loyalty by sometimes giving my customers discounts on shipping or different priced items if I’m able to at that time.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: ShyaNicoleCustoms & Shya_Nicole