We recently connected with Tiana Sheppard and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Tiana thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

The short answer is yes, I’m happy as a business owner, however, it comes with many unexpected challenges. As a part time lash artist with a full time job, it becomes overwhelming balancing the two. It’s been dificult for me to feel movitivated to put effort into my business, and when that happens, it shows. It shows through my booking, my engagement, sales, everything. I’ve had to learn the hard way that despite the many things I have going on in my personal life, I still have to MAKE time to show up for myself and my business. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to always remember my why, which is: I’m building this business so that I can provide the lifestyle I dream of for myself and my family. Right there-it snaps me back. Having the “safety” of a 9-5 has made me want to focus on more on that than my business but, if I can put the work in for someone else’s business, I can absolutely make the time to work on mine. God has been my rock throughout this entire journey and I’m continuing to lean on him and trust in his plan for me.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Tiana Sheppard, I’m a Lash Artist of six years based in Catonsville, MD! I got into the lash industry because I needed to make more money than what I was at my job fresh out of college. At that time, I was still living with my parents, they didn’t want me lashing from home and people coming in and out of the house. I was a beginner and I didn’t have a full book of clients to rent a suite, so I decided to be a travel lash tech. My Nissan Altima got me all around town to my clients home for the first year in business. Shortly after, I rented my first apartment. From there, I started lashing from home in my dining room and business was great, I built a loyal clientele from the ground up that consistently came back week after week-most of which were strangers! Having a 9-5 and balancing my business became overwhelming and I closed my books off and on for some time. It really impacted my bookings to the point where I now am rebuilding my clientele from ZERO. I’m going through a rebrand where I am focusing more on custom and specialy lash sets and believe that will help attract new clients. I want to stand out as a Master Lash Artist that can design and tailor a lash set to anyones eyes. I’m proud of myself for making the decision to not give up on my business and to keep going. My main goal right now is to remain consistent and remember that this is a journey, great things take time. I believe that God has big plans for myself and my family and I want to continue honoring him through everything I do.

How did you build your audience on social media?

In 2019, when I first became certified, marketing on social media was soooo much simpler. You could take a good photo of your clients eye or face, post it on your feed, and boom-you’d get bookings! You didn’t have to show your face as much but, I actually liked showing my face more then than now. There was a lot less strategy that was required than now. In today’s age of social media, you have to also be a content creator in order to get traction. People want to know about the face behind the brand, you can’t just post a cute lash photo and go. I have learned quite a bit about social media strategy but I have so much more to learn.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Running a business while working a 9-5 became HARD. Some of my days looked like this: gym at 5:30am, work at 9am, off at 5pm, client at 6pm, finished at 9pm. Doing that multiple times a week wore me out-quickly. The additional income was great but, there was so much going on at in my life at one time. I was just getting into my fitness journey and wanted to stay consistent with that while also managing the volume of clients I was retaining- but, I became burned out. This journey is full of ups and downs but by choosing not to give up, its shows just how resilient I am.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lashedtoatee.as.me
• Instagram: @Lashedtoatee
• Other: Tik Tok: @Lashedtoatee

Image Credits

Tiana Sheppard