We were lucky to catch up with Shyia Simmons recently and have shared our conversation below.

Shyia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path was in elementary school. I always wanted to be in the plays. I wanted to sing in the choir. I wanted to be on the dance team. (Even though I can’t dance lol). I just loved the joy it has always given me. A way to express myself through art.

Shyia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve always wanted to be an actress for as long as I remember. I grew up watching Disney and thought I’d be a Disney star, but you needed parents that would back you up for that dream. I went to college at University Of District Of Columbia and majored in Theatre Arts. I even went to makeup school during my junior year of college to ensure if I wasn’t going to be on that stage, at least I’ll be behind the stage being creative. Little did I know, my makeup career would come in handy besides just to be on stage. Today, I do makeovers for weddings, body building competitions, proms, engagement shoots, and many more special moments in people lives. It also allows me to show up for myself when I have important events, trips & content to show up for. Being a content creator & influencer allows me to pursue my acting dreams everyday I pick up a camera. It’s one of the coolest careers to have today. I get to influence people to dream, to think, to want better for themselves. It’s something I’m very passionate about.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Yes there is a particular goal & mission that keeps me driven every day. I want to make the world a happier place. We have enough people working hard everyday to ensure life is hard and as miserable as it can be for people. With my content, I give people hope, ideas, opportunities to dive into a world they haven’t thought of before. I review restaurants, spas, vacations, hair stylist, clothes and so much more to showcase to my audience so that they too can add a little happiness and adventure to their life. I wish for my cup to be runneth over so that I can pour into as many people as possible. I started teaching how to become an influencer and content creator and just recently had my 2nd class. I want everyone to be able to get paid just to simply live their life. You can do that by being an influencer. It’s not always easy, but it’s worth it.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Resilience is something I have had to get real comfortable with on this influencer journey. The day I hit 20,000 followers on tiktok my account was hacked. Instead of feeling defeated I started over from scratch. I’m now at 55,000 followers today. I also went a whole year with my followers being stagnant at 40,000 followers up until recently they took whatever hold they had off my page. With social media you realize the only thing you’re in charge of is how you show up. So I show up everyday, as my best self ready to influence. One week I may have millions of views, another week maybe thousands but on both weeks I give it my all. My consistency in my journey is what makes my audience continue to support me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Shytown1988
• Facebook: Shyia Simmons
• Youtube: Shyia Simmons
• Other: TikTok: @live.love.luxury4