We recently connected with TaKeira Simon and have shared our conversation below.

TaKeira, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us a bit about who your hero is and the influence they’ve had on you?

My hero is my grandma. While growing up, I always thought she was the most perfect human to walk the face of this earth. It’s almost as if she lived at church; she was always on multiple ministries at a time. She was always easy to talk to and have the most convicting black marble eyeballs. She constantly did for her 4 kids and 8 grandkids, raising us when our moms were at work. She and my grandpa had been married for 62 years before my grandpa’s untimely passing in 2021. My grandpa is also my hero, but I will save him for another time.

My grandma was the epitome of style and grace and I hate that I’m saying was, but the truth is, she has dementia and is not the same, sadly. However, before her mental decline, I witnessed her be a pillar of strength many of times to family, friends, and even strangers. She always served others. I witnessed her open her home to many people over the years, whether they were recovering from an illness, homeless, or just needing a break from life.

At one point, she led the women’s ministry at church for a couple of years, which was usually the role of the Pastor’s wife, but my grandpa was not the pastor. As a teenage girl, that was major, to me. So, I would often attend her events and assist her as much as I could. I clung to her, staying up under her as much as I could because she was just a light to be around and still is! I couldn’t understand how she could be so humble when she was a living legend!

From my grandma, I learned, for one, how to have a personal relationship with God which sets the tone for my whole life. I also learned how to serve and be humble, how to be compassionate, how to love others, and how to overall just be a great woman! In October 2021, I co-hosted a Woman Empowerment and Networking Tea Party in Philadelphia entitled “Not Ya Granny’s Tea Party”, which I intend to make a yearly event and expand to more cities in her honor.

TaKeira, 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?

As a content creator, it is very important for me to share my story. I constantly highlight my struggles with anxiety, depression, and imposter syndrome. I also share my motherhood and unemployment journey. These things are important to me because I am determined to break generational curses by breaking the chains that keep people from healing. Those barriers include communication and transparency. So many people have similar journeys, but suffer in silence because they feel that no one can relate and will be judgmental. Therefore, I share my life with others so that I can initiate the chain breaking.

I share not only my story, but the stories of brands, as well. I enjoy digital storytelling and have become very good at writing and video editing. I have collaborated with brands including WalMArt, Torrid, Aerie, and Lansinoh, to name a few.

As a personal stylist, I enjoy making plus sized women feel confident. I have a very bold style which I often receive compliments on as well as other women telling me “I wish I had your confidence”. I wish they had my confidence to and try to make it my mission that they do. I want plus sized women to live their lives without limits. I strongly dislike when others feel like they can’t fully be themselves because of what others may think because in reality it’s more of a reflection on them than it is that person. People are uncomfortable in their skin and project that on others.

My desire is that not only plus sized, but ALL women learn how to express their true selves through their personal style so that they can show up in the world as the bad ass that they are! My ultimate mission is encourage women to take off every shackle and free themselves of every limitation that society or themselves has ever put on them. This looks like generational curse breaking, healing, free expression, story sharing, etc.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Before becoming self-employed, I had been working as a Behavioral Health Care Manager, but the pandemic honestly put some things into perspective for me. I had come to the realization that I was not satisfied at any job that I had. It was really important that whatever job I worked in, it was fulfilling to me. While pregnant, God spoke to me and told me that it was time to step out on faith and go into business for myself. I battled with this idea for months until I decided I was just going to take that leap. After I came back from maternity leave, I turned in my resignation two days later.

In 2020, a few months into the pandemic, I had started blogging. However, I had no clue what blogging consisted of. I just wanted to share my story to inspire others. Since we had to stay home during the pandemic, I was sitting in webinars, researching, joining Facebook groups, participating in Clubhouse discussions in order to learn as much as I could about the blogger and influencer world. As time goes on, I learn more and more. Sometimes, you just have to start and figure out the rest later. When God tells you to jump, you just ask “how high?!”

How did you build your audience on social media?

I built my audience by being authentic and creating engaging content. Being personable and sharing your story with others makes people feel more inclined to follow you. They’re always waiting to find out what happens next. People love the relatability factor. I also joined Facebook groups to find others that were in my niche and fostered a community with them. They have been very supportive and have helped me grow, as well.

My advice to others looking to build a social media audience is to show up and be your authentic self and to create content that can either 1.) Educate 2.) Entertain or 3.) Motivate. A combination is even better! Another key piece is consistency. When you constantly show up for your brand, it gives you more reliability. Not only can people see that you’re serious, but also, it helps the “algorithm” push your content out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://takeirasimon.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/tak3ira
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/TaKeiraSimon
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/takeirasimon/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/TaKeiraSimon