Welcome to the Entrepreneurial Leap Podcast. I'm your host, Rob Dubay. For context, this podcast is inspired by the book Entrepreneurial Leap by Gino Wickman. Gino is the founder of EOS Worldwide, and an author with over 2 million copies of his books sold worldwide. Now, in his next phase, he's taking his passion for helping entrepreneurs by partnering with five equally passionate, successful entrepreneurs, myself included, who have created the E LEAP Academy, where we teach the content from the book in a one year program guaranteed to increase the success of early stage businesses. Now, a quick note about me, I've been an entrepreneur since the age of 14. When I started my first business selling Blow Pop Lollipops outta my locker with my best friend, I ran a company that I sold to a public company and later bought back. I'm an author, speaker, host of an annual leadership retreat, and I'm partners in several other businesses.

I'll be your host for the Entrepreneurial LEAP Podcast, where every other week you will be hearing life stories from successful entrepreneurs who took the leap into entrepreneurship. You will learn from their mistakes and successes and be inspired as you move forward on your journey. Now, before I introduce my guest, I'm going to share with you a bit about Ewe Academy. The Entrepreneurial Leap Academy provides an immersive nine month experience for new entrepreneurs with a focus on the three Cs, clarity, competence, and community. Let's start with the first C, clarity. You'll learn to be clear about who you are, what you want from your business, and how to get it. The next C confidence, you will learn to be confident you are on the right path, equipped with powerful mindset tools. The last C Connected you will become connected to a community of entrepreneurs just like you. Now, all participants receive four full day in-person classes led by experience entrepreneurs to equip you with the tools and strategies necessary to build a successful business. The Academy's dynamic community connects participants with a tribe of like-minded individuals for support and networking opportunities during in between classes. Students also receive a seasoned mentor offering personalized guidance and expertise to help you navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship. To start building the business of your dreams, visit our website@eleap.com. Again, that's e leap.com. There you can learn more about and sign up for the next Entrepreneurial Leap Academy

In introduction for Shayla Unique 3, 2, 1. Today's guest is Shayla Unique. She's a member of our first entrepreneurial LEAP Academy cohort. So I am so excited for you to hear a little bit about her story and her experience as part of the academy.

Shayla is a certified HR professional, motivational speaker and entrepreneur, and was previously the Director of Human Resources at Hamilton Anderson Associates, a minority owned architecture firm before officially launching Unique Im HR support. Shayla was born and raised in the city of Detroit, Michigan, and is passionate about education and the importance of self-development. The saying, a mind is a terrible thing to waste is not just a cliche to Shayla. She truly believes that through education, hard work, and faith in God, all things are possible. Now, life has presented many challenges for Shayla. In 2012, being a single mom and wanting to provide a better life for her 6-year-old daughter, she moved back to Alabama in hopes of starting a new life in the South through a few dead-end jobs, experiencing homelessness for six months, a failed marriage, and a newborn son, she decided to move back to Detroit in search of support from her family in a better way of life.

According to Shayla, I fought and cried at the notion I failed at life as a mother daughter and a friend to many. Through Shayla's faith in God and determination to be a great mom, she knew things would get better. And in June of 2014, Shayla moved back to Detroit and decided to reinvent herself through her education, exceptional customer service skills and desire to be a provider. And a great example to her children. She focused on finding a career. Shayla's previous role as Director of Human Resources involved all functionalities of hr, but she is most proud of her efforts in introducing young African Americans to the field of architecture. As a formal member of the National Organization for Minorities in Architecture, she has traveled the country exposing over 500 minorities to Hamilton Anderson Associates in search of talent to join the team. Most recently, Shayla became an HR certified professional through the Society of Human Resource Management, holding an internationally recognized credential in human resources.

This earned her the promotion of becoming the youngest African American female to hold the director of human resources seat at the architecture firm. During this time, Shayla saved the company over $90,000 in audit fines won six UIA mediation cases, single handedly onboarded and off boarded. Over 200 employees developed and implemented the COVID-19 Work from Home program coordinated successful leadership trainings and so much more. In 2019, Shayla earned her first publicized award from Michigan's Corp Magazine as one of Michigan's most valuable millennials for her hard work, dedication and contribution to her human resources, responsibilities, and initiatives. In 2019, Shayla was also nominated for Crane's 40 under 40, and accepted into Crane's Leadership Academy cohort five. In April, 2019, Shayla launched her brand unique Im to help support and uplift single moms, young ladies and women. Shayla reminds women not to allow bad decisions and mistakes of the past to define nor confine them.

She does this through motivational speaking, sharing her story of how she went from a homeless single mother to director A of HR on various platforms and selling unique Im accessories unique. Im also provides resume support for individuals seeking a career shift or elevation, along with small business HR support unique. Im has presented as a guest at many women empowerment events and local vendor events through trials and tribulations. Shayla has experienced many accomplishments because everyone has a story, but your story is what makes you unique. You are going to hear lots of nuggets of wisdom during my chat today with Shayla. So here we go. Please enjoy. Shayla, welcome to the Entrepreneurial Leap podcast. I am so excited to talk to you today. It's not even funny.

Oh, I'm excited as well. I've been looking forward to this day for like, what three, so

Please, I'm sure you've lost sleep last night. Sometimes I like to start with a quote and I'm going to start with a quote, and then I'm curious what your thoughts are on the quote that I read. Okay, so it goes like this. You are good enough. Actually, you're probably overqualified, but let's start the week off. Humble. What comes your comes to mind Here it is. We're recording this on a Monday. So perfect timing. What comes to your mind when I read that

You've been following me on social media? That's so I, I actually used that quote before and you know, I think a lot of times what the first thing that comes to my mind is like, Shayla, you got this. It's you, this is me. You know, I'm gonna start the week off a little humble, but I know that I know my stuff. So, you know, I'm, I love that quote. I do,

You know, I tried to find who said it and I couldn't. It said unknown every place I found, so

Me too.

Thank you. That's a great quote. Thank you. Thank you. Exactly. So I wanna jump into your story because you, you really have an amazing story. Thank you. You know, I'd like to kind of start around 2012, and maybe you can pick it up and tell your own story and I'll maybe fill in blanks if I think it's needed.

Okay. Oh, my turn. Okay.

Yeah, yeah, your turn.

Okay. So in 2012, I did, like all of us do, I made a bad decision following behind the wrong person, and that decision caused my children, or I just had a daughter at the time, so it caused us to become homeless, following behind someone that I thought had my in good intentions for me. But turns out they didn't. And so, yeah, we became homeless. I was living in a motel for about six months, working as a waitress at Waffle House. I was a bartender for a minute, but just trying to make ends meet so that we could get out of that hotel and, you know, have a normal life. And so that's kind of where the journey started. You know, I made a bad decision and then it led us to that, which led me to working at the Waffle House, which led me to work harder because I knew that this is not for me. So, and that led me to eventually moving back home to Detroit after a few years. And that provided the opportunity for me to tap into hr.

Yeah. And you got into HR with a local architecture firm that's a decent sized company. And talk a little bit about that, because this is before your entrepreneurial journey actually started.

Yeah, yeah, it was. So actually, when I started in hr, I started as a temp for a company that is on the other side of like billing processing when you go into the hospital. And the lady there was so mean to me, like she was so mean. And so I used to try to read everything that I could to stay on top of everything. So she wouldn't have to question me, she wouldn't have to do any of those things. Well, they ended up letting me go after about six months there. And then that's when I had the opportunity to work at the firm. And because I learned so much on my own from the previous place, 'cause the lady was so mean. I went in there, I started as a temp, and in my first 30 days there, I saved the company over $90,000 because I knew about I nine forms the most important form you could ever fill out for employer. Right? So I knew a lot about the form. And when I saved that company, $90,000 in 30 days, they were like, you're hired. You're hired. So that's how I got, you

Got a good one here.

Yeah. Like, oh, I, I think we got one here. So they immediately took a chance on me, even with my limited HR background, it was the tenacity that I had. It was the ambition that I came in the door with to kind of prove like, I know my stuff, you know, I can do this job. And so I was very fortunate to be in a position where they were willing to take a chance on me, and that is how I kind of started on my HR journey.

Wow. And so you were with the firm for like seven or eight years. You moved your way up to, were you the top HR person?

I was. So I came in the door as a temp. I signed on the dotted line as the HR coordinator. So I grew from the temp to a coordinator, to assistant, to manager, to director, to a certified director. So I became certified in HR in 2019. And that kind of proves like, oh yeah, she's very proficient. She knows her stuff, you know, and they were like, listen, you, you are the director, you know, what else can we do, but make you the director? And so just taking that chance on me, developing me, helping me to grow, believing in me, I, I was the director. I ran a whole department by myself. Amazing.

For eight years, amazing years. Amazing. And what inspired you after all that growth, and obviously coming from homelessness and all the other challenges that you were experiencing, what inspired you to say, you know what? I actually want to go out on my own and have a, my own entrepreneurial journey and leave the firm

Covid. Right. Covid allowed all of us to kind of tap into some things that we didn't really realize that we had inside of us, right? We were so bored. So it's like, oh, let me figure this out, or let me do this. So during Covid, I was just kind of spinning out information on social media to help people, whether you were an employer or whether you were an employee. I was just providing legal information so people know their rights and what was going on. And I had a friend who asked me if I would help her to change her resume. And at the time she had on her form or on her resume that she was a daycare worker, you know, blah, blah, blah. And I changed that and I was like, yeah, you're not a daycare worker. You are quality control over adolescence. Nothing different than what she said to what I said.

It was just, I gave her a different title, right? And so when she did that, and she kind of put it out there on social media, like, Shayla did this for my resume, I got the job plus other jobs, they're looking at me. And people really started to believe in what I was doing, the information I was providing. And they were realizing like, oh, she's not just Googling this stuff, right? So they gave me the confidence to know that people out there need information that I'm able to provide. And they gave me the opportunity to really help small business owners and individuals, whether it was with a resume or whether it was on the HR side with processes and business. Covid opened the door for me to say, you know what? If I can go into a company and they take a chance on me, you know, I think I can take a chance on myself.

It didn't happen immediately, but eventually it did happen where I took that leap and believed in myself. Were you scared? Yeah. Yeah. I was. I like, you know, just my background, just, first of all, I have two children that relied on me, and they kind of had this lifestyle now, right? And so it was like, oh God, I gotta maintain this. How, you know, if I leave this secure job where I know I'm getting a biweekly paycheck to, you know, doing something on my own where there's ebbs and flows, can I maintain this? So it got to a point where, honestly, I had reached a plateau with the firm that I was with, and we kind of sat down and was like, you know, let's come to an agreement. Right? And so there was some separation there. And although you think about it all the time, like, I'm gonna leave this job and I'm gonna be an entrepreneur, when it actually falls into your lap, and then you're like, okay, so now I'm here. Okay, so now what? And it's like, you've been doing this all this time, what do you mean now? What? So it was very scary initially. And I mean, it's still scary now. 'cause like I say, there's ebbs and flows. There's days where there are no clients, and there are days where I can't even take a potty break, right? But so true. It's very scary, but it's very, very rewarding.

So talk about the evolution. If there has been one of the business it's called, if I have this right, unique. I am, and Unique's your last name

Unique is my middle name.

It's your middle name,

It's my middle name.

And so perfect. Right? I mean, that's so great, but it's more than hr, because as I'm researching you, I'm seeing purses and I'm seeing hats with beautiful hats with these silk, you know, liners in them. So like, I'm assuming it doesn't mess up your hair or something, which I probably need. But tell me about the evolution of your business and what you all do.

Yeah, so actually my brand and business was founded on empowering young ladies and women to not allow our bad decisions and mistakes to define who we are. My brand and business started by me just talking and doing speaking engagements with people. And I went to an event one day that was talking about being in business and things like that. And I told them like, you know, I don't have a business or anything, I just wanna share my story with people. I want people to know that if I can go through those things and come out on the other side, they can too. And at that event, that's when my friend told me, like, brand yourself, you are, you are the brand, you are a business. And I'm like, really? How is that gonna work out? You know? So I kind of just sat back and thought about that, and then I was like, okay, what helped me even through the process, what can, what can I do to get people to gravitate to me?

So that's how I came out with like journals and mugs and the different things that I have, because those were things that helped me along my journey. So it started with speaking, then it went over to journals and products because we were, we suppress a lot as people, I don't care if you're a woman, man, whatever, you know, we all suppress a lot. So journal writing was my outlet. I didn't necessarily talk to people about everything that I was going through. So journal writing was my outlet. So that's why I created journals. You know, the purse collection that I recently launched was because when I first started in corporate, I didn't look like everybody else. I came from a different background. And so I wanted anybody who was going into corporate or into business or wherever you're going to, I want you to feel like a boss, but you don't have to pay a high cost.

You're not paying Louis Vuitton prices, but you have, you know, the Louis Vuitton look with the unique Im product. And then as I stated, you know, just continuously sharing my story, talking about where I've been displaying the products, and people are like, well, can you help me with hr? Can you help me with my resume? So I'm like, I can. Yes, I can. And so that's kind of how everything kind of evolved. It started with me just talking to people, then it went into me talking to you, but giving you something that's tangible that you can take with you and remember the story and remember your journey. Then it went into helping the businesses, you know, along their journeys as well. All aspects of life is a journey. And that's basically what unique I am. It's about, it's about your journey, it's about your process, it's about, you know, conquering the, the, you know, I, I say, you know, conquering the CEO mindset, conquering corporate, but corporate is a mindset. It is not necessarily a position. You are the CEO of your life. You are the CEO of the business. So that's kind of how everything got evolved. And so now I'm multitasking with the product, the speaking, the hr, and it's fun.

So cool. I love it. Fun energy. It excites you. It's your thing. Yeah. You know, one thing that we always like to talk about with entrepreneurs, you know, there's this thing that, that has started going back and forth over the last, I don't know how many numbers of years, but going to college or not going to college. And, and I saw that you attended Alabama State University. I love it. So, you know, what, what is your thoughts? Was, is it worth going to college or is it not worth it if you intend to become an entrepreneur?

So I will say it is definitely worth it. I, my college experience, I don't know about anybody else, but I had a ball college, you know, I learned a lot, of course, you know, I learned a lot. But I think that college is where you first learn to network with people. You learn how to interact with people because you don't have mom and dad there to guide you until you go talk to this teacher or hang with this person or that person. So it's your first networking opportunity. And so even if you wanna be an entrepreneur, I always tell people, you know, at least try college for a year. Go into learning marketing, go into business, some aspect that still want to help you as an entrepreneur. Try it out for a year. And then you have something under your belt, some kind of knowledge. You're gonna learn something you, you're not gonna sit in that class for, you know, these classes for a whole year and just not learn anything. You're gonna learn, take away something that's going to be able to help you along your business and entrepreneurial journey. So is college for everyone? No, my degree is in biology. Right.

Interesting. What?

Wow. And I'm an entrepreneur. I went to HR and you know, so, you know, it's, it's not for everyone, but I do encourage everyone to at least give it a try. Do something at the college that will allow for support of your entrepreneurial journey. Meet the right people while you're there. You have at least a whole year. So whether you meet the right professors, the dean, the students, meet the right people while you're there, and then you don't have to necessarily have such a struggle as an entrepreneur. Yeah, there's nowhere in the United States, honestly, I can go right now where I don't know someone from college. Like, I went to California and I called some friends like, Hey, I'm in California. And they're like, where? I meet you. So it's nowhere that, you know, that networking, those opportunities, I feel like you can get them in the world. But college is a setting where you can get that network and learn to about the

Business. That's so good. Good advice. You know, we, in the book Entrepreneurial Leap, Gino Wickman writes about every entrepreneur having a story of what he calls the nightmare, and then a story of the dream. And now you've been doing this four years, and so do you have a nightmare story? Do you have a dream story? Or if you have both, I'd love to hear 'em.

Ah, nightmare stories.

There you go. That's an honest entrepreneur. Yes, we've all had them.

Always. Oh my goodness. I think the biggest nightmare story that I have, and that I kind of let people know is if you are in a product side, get samples before you just buy in bulk and ready to sell. So I, my very first planner that I launched, it was, it was great, it was beautiful. I read it, they sent me a digital sample to read through. And because I'm the writer, when I read the digital, I'm reading it from my eyes, right? So I'm overlooking the errors that are inside because I know what it's supposed to look like, and it kind of looks like that to me, right? Yeah. So I'm like, okay, yeah, go ahead and print 'em. Yeah. 200 planners printed. I get the planners in the mail and you know, a long story short, I was presenting them to people, I'm giving them out, selling them.

And this lady was like, you missed Wednesday. And I'm looking and I'm like, God, oh my God, I missed a whole day of the week and I've been passing these out. I've been selling these to people, nobody has ever told me. So now I have like 180 planners with errors. And it was a nightmare. Wow. Wow. That's over $2,000 that was spent to create print, bind all of this time and everything that was taken. And it was a nightmare. But I will say that because I'm very genuine, because I'm very authentic, and I'm gonna tell you when I make a mistake, I went live and I on social media and I told everyone, like, look at this. I opened the book and I'm like, look at what I did. You guys, look at what I did. I made a mistake. And so many people supported my mistake.

Wow. They were like, there's not really any book that you can find Shayla, where people have not made an error. The greatest of the greatest writers make errors in their books. This is nothing that you cannot overcome. Discount them. People will still buy them. I can write over the date, that's the day of the week. That's the error. And keep it going. I know my days of week. And so that was a nightmare for me because I just knew I had to take a loss on everything. Yeah, yeah. But because I was transparent, it was like, listen, we still, we got your back. We still gonna buy these. Gimme five, gimme thick. Oh no. You know, so what I originally was selling for like 20, $25, I did turn around and only sell them for about $5 or something like that. But they went so quickly that people, when I started to release new ones, they were like, gimme one of those too. So what turned into a nightmare actually turned into something great. Because when you're honest with your audience, when you're honest with your people, they overlook certain things. It's true that we take as the big deal, they overlook those. So that was a,

It's so

True that I actually got woke up from,

I love that. That is such a great example because when you're open and honest about your mistakes, people really appreciate it and they wanna support you. 'cause they've been there too. And, and look at that. I mean, people kind of even stepped up and bought the discounted version to help you out, which is amazing. And your energy, I can just imagine you doing it on social. I probably came across, you know, even funny, you know? Yeah. Like, 'cause you just owned it and you turned a problem into actually an opportunity. Yeah. So it's so good. What about a dream? Has there been a moment where you were just like, wow, this is a dream? What's going on right now?

Yeah. So I have been afforded the opportunity to speak in different states. And that has been the dream. That's the root of unique. I am right to share my story. And last year I was tapped by a friend of mine who knew about me from kind of speaking and things like that. And she's like, Shayla, there's this opportunity for you to be a co-author in a book and speak on a panel. And so I'm like, okay, let's try this. You know, something different. I've always wanted to write a book, but I didn't think about myself as a co-author. Right. But that opened the door for me and doing, so that has been a dream of mine to write a book and to be on a stage and share my story. And last year I had that opportunity just from me being me and kind of relating to people and talking to people.

So I had the opportunity to go to Atlanta, Georgia, and my, you know, where we were on a billboard off of Peachtree. We were posted everywhere on social media. And it was like, this is me. You know, this is, that's amazing. This is me and this is what I want to do. And so this year I've been asked to join a group in New Jersey in 2024 to speak on a stage in New Jersey and New York, like New York, New York. Like that's where Jay-Z is like this, these are the big people. They're in New York. So to have this opportunity and to have the peace of mind and to kind of be in the space that I'm in, it's, it's what I've dreamed of. Yeah. You know, just to be able to share my story on different platforms and have people really acknowledge and appreciate what appreciate I'm bringing to the table.

Yeah. Love it. Congratulations. That is amazing. Thank you. So cool to hear. And you know, when we teach the academy, and also in the book, we talk about these six essential traits that entrepreneurs have and their visionary, passionate, problem, solver driven, risk taker, and responsible. Do you feel you have all six of those?

So initially I didn't, but after reading the book, I was like, I, I'm all of these. I

Yes you are.

I didn't think that I was really a risk taker at first. I'm like, you know, I'm always so reserved with a lot of things or kind of afraid to do some things that, you know, just with our internal clocks. But it was Ryan who actually was like, Shayla, what do you mean you're not a risk taker. You have children, you left your job, you started a business, you are a risk taker. You know? So I was like, Hmm, when you put it like that, I guess I am, you know? Yeah. And so I do think that I hone in on all six traits. You know, I'm, I'm a problem solver rather than business or life. I take risk more than one.

You do indeed. You definitely do. I'm curious, you know, as part of, you mentioned Ryan, Ryan Henry who teaches the academy. How's the mentoring program going for you?

Oh, the mentoring is great. So I actually started with Laurel when we first started the mentorship program. And Laurel has been amazing. So she has a background in as an attorney, and then she's an entrepreneur and she's a woman. So when I connected with Laurel, it was on a, a level where she was able, we were able to meet each other where we are, right? Because she understood the legality behind what I was doing, how I was trying to present a lot of things to business owners. So she was able to really help me and really pull some things out of me that I didn't know were inside. So she's like, why and why and why? And I'm like, oh my God, I don't know why. So she was able to pull some things out me that I didn't know were inside. And then there was a switch that was made over to Ryan being my mentor.

And initially I was like, now I have to start over. I have to tell him about me. I have to tell, you know, where I catch him up to where I am. But, you know, after we get over that initial shock of changing mentors, I looked at it as a, a greater opportunity. He's a male, he is not in my industry, you know, but he does have knowledge in the, on the construction and the design side of it, which is where I kind of came from. And he's going to bring to me a different perspective than what Laurel brought to me, because he comes from a different industry. He comes with different knowledge. And so I, you know, I'm loving it, you know, I'm loving the way that he is encouraging me. I'm loving how he's pushing me to places that I didn't know that, okay, I'm ready for that. Are you sure? Okay, let me go, let me try this. You know? So it has been a great opportunity to have two different mentors from two different walks of life, from, you know, just being able to pour into me. I'm always the poor, I'm always pouring into other people. So to really be able to sit down and have,

We need somebody to pour into you. Yes. That's what mentors do.

I love it. Like, why did you get one of these before?

I know what you mean. It's so important. And it makes you know, it, it's great to have a mirror to somebody who can mirror you. You know, somebody who can help recognize some of the things that you might not be seeing and just, you know, the experience. You know, somebody who's been through some things that might help accelerate whatever it is that you're doing. Now, you're two sessions into the academy, and I think the next one's coming up here soon, if I'm not mistaken. How, how were the first two sessions for you?

So the first two sessions were great. I was able to sit at a table with some people who were from a completely different industry, who have more years of experience in entrepreneurship. And again, we all have different backgrounds and different reasons of why we're doing what we're doing. And at that very first round table that we had, I gained a client, I left with a client. Cool.

Wow.

And when I went back for, when we had our second session, that client is telling other people, and they're like, get her, hire her. She, she's amazing. You know, and that led to more clients. So not only did it provide an opportunity for business growth, it provided opportunity for me to even talk to other people who are in a different industry, you know, in marketing or something to say, okay, look at this, you know, what do you think about my, my website? Right? And it's like, Shayla, this seems like a giant resume. What is this? You know, I love that kind of feedback. Tell, be honest with me. And I'm surrounded by a group of honest individuals who, again, pour into me, I'm pouring into them doing business with them. So it has been really great. Even the learning aspect of it is like, it is, it is very interactive. I don't, I don't want to be in a classroom anymore. Right. And this is not a classroom setting. This is definitely a learning.

I'm curious, has, has there anything that you've, is there anything that you've learned that you've found challenging where you're like, oh, wow, this is, you know, this, I wasn't expecting this. This is harder than I thought it was gonna be, but I'm glad I'm learning it.

Yeah. My, my pitch, this is, well, not really, the pitch part is more of the personal statement, right? The, the one sentence that really will get a person to understand what you do and make them wanna do business with you. What problem are you solving for the individual? So before I had sentences, right? And it was so hard to really put into one sentence what I do, because I do so much, right? And so it took me months, like I would send Laurel, like so many different one-liners all the time. Like, help me, okay, so now help me, you know, pull this in. So it was really, really hard. But after, what's it been like five, six months, I think I finally have it. Like, it was very hard. But I think I finally have it. And when I'm even using it in person or on paper, people get it now. People get what it is that I do.

Very cool. You know, one of the things that we teach is it revolves around thinking in 10 year timeframes, having a clear vision. And you know, I thought back to, you know, 2012, you're homeless, and now it's 2023. It's like basically 10 years, 11 years. It's 2023 right? Now. What do you see in the next 10 years? I mean, you have come so far in 10 years, it's unbelievable.

Sky is the limit, you know? And that's what I had to

Sky is the limit. Listening

To you like, this is where you were 10 years ago, here's where you are. Like, I did that. You know? So I think reading Elite, the elite book and really visioning, having that 10 year vision has helped me to not necessarily worry about the day to day I'm focused on the big picture. Okay. Yeah. Right. So before I even read the book, I used to worry about like, okay, I need to make this amount of money today, or I need to do this today, or by the end of the week, I need to hit this sales goal. Well, now I'm more so like, hmm, I have a bigger goal, you know, that I'm trying to reach. And every day I'm working towards that big number. As opposed to that, you know, I'm not, I won't say it's a small number, but as opposed to that end of the week number that I used to have.

So right, in 10 years, I can see myself having a, I don't want a big firm. I want a nice small HR practice that we are supporting the processes of businesses with under 50 employees. I have my cafe, my business cafe where people come in as business owners and you are able to use like a cubicle or a suite. And then you're also able to have round tables with other entrepreneurs who may be in at the time as well. And then having this corporate collection all over the place. You know, I wanna make sure my products are all over the place and people know me by my name, knowing the authenticity of who I am, knowing the genuineness that I provide and all of the business services and products. Like, there's a story behind this brand. It's not just, that's right. Louis Vuitton came out and now this is a $3,000 purse. This is a unique I am because there's a unique story behind it. And I have a story too. And I'm carrying this product because of my story. I love it. So I, I wanna see myself just in the business and the brand just being a well-rounded, well robust program for everybody.

I love it. And you and I, before we started recording, we talked about your shirt, which just says Detroit versus everybody. It's kind of hard to see on the video, but there it is. It's, yeah. So you're from Detroit, will it be in Detroit? Yeah, it'll be serving the from Detroit.

Born and raised. Yeah. I left for a while, came back.

But you, but your cafe will be in Detroit.

Oh yes. The cafe will, the headquarters will be in Detroit, you know, I love it. And then that's when we kind of go into that 15 to 20 years. There you go. We kind of branch out to other places, but it'll definitely be based in Detroit, even though it's a 10 year goal. I've started looking for locations. Wow. I've started just really mapping out, because we should have the vision. We should see it every night, right? So I have this vision of what I want the cafe to look like, and I just envision it every night. I pray about it, and I'm just doing the work right now until it actually all falls

Together. It makes my heart warm that you just said, see it every night. Explain to the listeners what that means. 'cause you learned that in the one of the academies

I did. So we're supposed to be able to see our vision every night, our 10 year goal, our plans, our business plans. Exactly. Like envision it exactly as you want it to be. And I envision it every night. I talk about it every morning, I probably talk about it to myself or in the mirror, right? But when you speak it out loud, when you are speaking about the business and what you want, you have to envision it. You have to feel it. And I, and that's what we were taught. We were taught to feel it, envision it, and see it every night. And I make sure I see this business cafe every night. I see how it is, the glass doors, and my office is upstairs, they're all glass. Like I see everything, everything.

Oh my God, I, I can't wait to visit you. I can't wait to visit you. So I got, we will be barking my calendar sometime in the next 10 years.

In the next 10

Years. That's right. And, and one of the other must-dos that we talk about is working hard, really hard. How has that been for you over the last four years? How hard do you have to, are you finding that you are working?

So initially, at first I was working so hard. I was burning myself out. Really. That's not a good thing. I was up starting the business, you know, even when I was working my job, I was doing the job After the job, I'm doing the business. I'm up till two o'clock in the morning, then I'm turning around, you know, you still have to do your motherly duties and things like that in between. And I was honestly burning myself out. And then I had to realize that you still have to set aside time for you. Whether it's, I'm watching a movie, whether I'm just doing absolutely nothing playing with my son, or whatever the case may be. I have to learn that you have to take time out, no matter how hard you work. There's no reward for burnout. Burnout. There's no rewards for burnout.

That's right. So

I had to learn that, how to work harder but smarter. Right? And so that's where I kind of said, well, Shayla, you teach people processes, start implementing some processes on your own. So I started doing automations and things like that with social media, emails and things of that nature. Having code emails already set where I just copy and paste some things. So I had to learn how to work hard at what I'm doing, but work hard in a smart way. Smart. Yeah. And so that's kind of where I am now. Now I still have nights or days where I'm up pretty late, and then I have to tap myself and say, this is going to be here tomorrow. It's going be here tomorrow. You know? Yeah, yeah. The things that are gonna make you a million dollars overnight, you got that in place. Let's, the other thing, let's, let's, you know, focus on it tomorrow. It's always

I love that. I love that. And you don't see burnout coming, so like, it hits you, you know, it's not like it's around the corner and go, uhoh, here it comes. It just hits you. So I'm, I'm so happy to hear that you have that awareness and you make sure to take good care of yourself. Yeah. Another thing that we talk about is taking criticism and doubt with a grain of salt. You know? So this is people who have all kinds of opinions about what we're doing. How's that been going for you? Have you noticed that happening?

Oh yeah. It happens all the time. You have to pick and choose your battles. You have to pick and choose what you respond to and what you don't respond to, right? I think the hardest hurdle, or the hardest criticism that I came across on this entrepreneur journey has been from someone that was, that's really close to me and kind of said, you know, Shayla, I think you're kind of being selfish, being an entrepreneur, you know, knowing where you and your children came from, and now you're willing to jeopardize and possibly, you know, jeopardize everything that you worked hard for, to follow a dream that is not necessarily guaranteed. Right? That's a hard pill to swallow, because I mean, if you break it down in reality, yeah, it's kind of true, right? You know, I'm, I'm following a dream that doesn't necessarily have a financial number attached to it automatically.

But that was really hard. But then you have so many other people who are like, say in consistent, or I see you, or you know, I go into rooms and people already know who I am. I don't want to be a, a mega celebrity. I do not, that's not the goal. I just want to be recognized for the help and empowerment that I'm pouring into other people. I'm pouring into their business. And so, when I started noticing people know who I am, or recognizing my logo and things like that, it's like, oh, I'm doing this. I'm gonna keep doing this. And I don't care about what else is being said. People are always gonna have something to say. That's, you know, that's right. You know, whether it's about a product or whether it's about the way you provide service, people are always gonna have their own opinion.

But my major thing is to always think about myself, not necessarily as this small business, if you are not going to treat Walmart or Nike or any of these other big brands that way, you're not gonna treat me that way either, right? So I kind of have to put myself in a balloon or in a head space where I'm Michael Jordan and how is he thinking about creating a next pair of Jordans? You know, he's not worried about how everybody else feel. He is worried about, you know, how am I going to get this process complete? And that's what keep me like, keep going, Shayla.

That's right. I love this. I love it. You know, one of the stages that we notice that entrepreneurs go through is this idea of capitalizing on coaching and training and mentoring. And you seem like a learner to me. And so that really popped in my mind when I was preparing. So how has that played out for you? And talk a little bit about how you continually learn and, and look for ways to, you know, of training to help your company be better and help your brand be stronger.

Yeah, I'm always learning. I love learning new things. Now, it can get overwhelming, especially when you're taking, taking so many branding courses or so many marketing courses, right? 'cause you wanna try to implement everything that you're learning, right? But you have to really learn what works for you and your business. Everybody has their advice that they're going to give. What worked for them, what worked for them is not necessarily going to work for you. But you can take bits and pieces of what, of the information that they're providing and see how that will work. You know, you don't have to take the whole horse. You can take little pieces of the horse, the legs or the tail, and then put it into your business. And so I'm always looking for courses or for webinars or in-person events. Sorry, I have to set alarm to pick up my kid. That's how my work I'm, but

Hey, that's, that's the life of an entrepreneur. You got it all going on. The balls are the air

Alarm. Like go get your kid from school. But I'm always trying to position myself, whether it's a, a paid course or whether it's free courses. I always look for the free ones. But if it's a paid course, I know that there are going to be some takeaways from it. If I'm paying for something, I know that I'm going to have to go into this with an open mind to be able to receive what is being delivered and then implement it. Don't just take the information and then now you have this notebook full of information. You're not doing anything with it. I'm an implementer as well, so when I'm learning something or when somebody teach me something, I'm gonna try to do it. If it works for me, perfect. If it doesn't, I try. Right. And that's all that I, I tell people, get into these courses. Find what works for you. Learn about it. You know, I, and if it works for you, great. If it doesn't work for you, that's okay. You try it. Right? So that's

Me. Lot of wisdom in those words. A lot of wisdom in those words. Well, Shayla, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me today. I greatly appreciate it. I know how busy you are and you got kids to pick up anyway, so Yeah,

It is fine. They, they're up the street. It's okay. You know, they get out school, they play with their friends for a minute and

Yeah. Yeah. I got you and all the amazing entrepreneurs listening today. I greatly appreciate you spending time with us, and I wish you all much love and gratitude.