Speaker 1: Calling all my sweeties to the forefront. I'm your host, Christophe,
Speaker 1: and this is to keep it positive.
Speaker 2: Sweetish show.
Speaker 1: Welcome to keep it positive, Sweetie, the place where we
Speaker 1: he'll grow and learn together Today it's even more special because.
Speaker 2: It's just me and my sweeties.
Speaker 1: It was important that I do this solo episode since
Speaker 1: I get so many questions about my personal branding, showing
Speaker 1: up online and what it really looks like to build
Speaker 1: a brand while you're still becoming, because I think a
Speaker 1: lot of people feel like they need to just have
Speaker 1: everything figured out before they show up, and that's just
Speaker 1: not the truth. So get ready. This is going to
Speaker 1: be so so good. I hope you enjoy it, Shelley,
Speaker 1: this is exciting.
Speaker 2: This is exciting solo episode.
Speaker 3: Yes, So we're gonna talk about just some personal branding,
Speaker 3: which you're so great at. You do it so effortlessly,
Speaker 3: and I know that people are really wanting to know more.
Speaker 3: So we're gonna just jump into it the first time.
Speaker 3: Start with I Grow.
Speaker 4: I g right.
Speaker 3: So I'm sure you get asked about it a lot.
Speaker 3: You've been on Instagram since twenty eleven. You have over
Speaker 3: seventeen hundred posts, and it seems like you never cleared
Speaker 3: your grid.
Speaker 2: I did a little clearing a little bit.
Speaker 3: Okay, if you scroll all the way back, and I'm
Speaker 3: sure a lot of the sweeties do, you can kind
Speaker 3: of see your evolution from early posts. So like you
Speaker 3: announcing your styling gig with Tyler in twenty sixteen to
Speaker 3: your lifestyle content, it's all there. So today people are
Speaker 3: really focused on aesthetics and curating, deleting, starting over. They
Speaker 3: might have color schemes, all these things. Right, let's talk
Speaker 3: about that. Why hasn't aesthetics ever been just something you've
Speaker 3: been fixating on.
Speaker 1: I believe that my entire life and brand is an
Speaker 1: aesthetic where I don't have to get caught up in
Speaker 1: the color schemes. I've seen people do that, and I've
Speaker 1: tried it, but it's just too much to keep up with,
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: And my life isn't a color scheme. You know.
Speaker 1: Some days it's gonna be bright, others it's not gonna
Speaker 1: be so bright, and you're gonna get all of it,
Speaker 1: you know. So I feel like there's authentic, there's transparency
Speaker 1: and not getting caught up in the super curated content
Speaker 1: and even the look of the page.
Speaker 2: You know, I am intentional about the content I put out.
Speaker 1: I think that's very important when you're building a brand,
Speaker 1: but for me, that wasn't a big thing for me.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love that, you know, you're definitely consistent with
Speaker 3: the content, but more so like you kind of like
Speaker 3: I like it because it's like, if you like it,
Speaker 3: you're gonna post it, period.
Speaker 5: Don't think too much about it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's social media. I think people get caught up.
Speaker 1: It's already takes up so much of our time, right,
Speaker 1: so much so I believe that when it comes to it,
Speaker 1: just post organically, post what feels good to you. And
Speaker 1: what I've noticed is that if it feels good to me,
Speaker 1: nine times out of ten, is gonna feel good to
Speaker 1: the people that are following me.
Speaker 2: That's what they're here for.
Speaker 1: So I think that's what sets you apart from other pages,
Speaker 1: you know, is that you are setting the tone. People
Speaker 1: know what they're gonna get when they come to love
Speaker 1: christal reinee Perfect.
Speaker 3: So that kind of goes into like not really focusing
Speaker 3: what's on the page. Brand actually is so talk more
Speaker 3: about that and how we say, like you don't really
Speaker 3: care about what it looks like, but what it actually
Speaker 3: the content, the meat of it. How do you kind
Speaker 3: of is there a circler, like are you doing.
Speaker 5: Some type of like lisz?
Speaker 3: How do you figure out like these fauss the proper
Speaker 3: bucket for your content?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think in the beginning, it was about posting things
Speaker 1: that I organically did around the house, whether it was
Speaker 1: doing my hair, doing my makeup and ti your design,
Speaker 1: you know, anything that I organically would do. I just
Speaker 1: put out my camera, you know, and just posted it
Speaker 1: just to let people kind of into my life, give
Speaker 1: them more of an insight of who I am outside
Speaker 1: of my YouTube and all the other things that I
Speaker 1: was doing back then.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 1: I think a big part of it is making sure
Speaker 1: that people when you do things that are authentic to you,
Speaker 1: not what everybody else is doing. And I think that's
Speaker 1: what set me apart. But I am intentional about what
Speaker 1: I post. I'm not just like, oh, I'm just post
Speaker 1: this or whatever, intent to make sure that whatever I
Speaker 1: post is on brand with who.
Speaker 5: I really am.
Speaker 3: I love that. I love that. So let's talk about that.
Speaker 3: You were consistent about it and you are intentional. What
Speaker 3: has that done for your brand?
Speaker 5: Man?
Speaker 1: It's done so much. And here's the thing twenty eleven
Speaker 1: I started this. It's probably twenty twelve thirteen that I
Speaker 1: started doing hair videos that was planning seeds, and that
Speaker 1: was over a decade ago.
Speaker 2: You think about its twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: I was doing things because I loved it, not to
Speaker 1: make money from it. I don't think we were getting
Speaker 1: paid off at Instagram at that point in time. It
Speaker 1: was just we were just doing things that we loved
Speaker 1: and this new age of social media was opening up
Speaker 1: a world that we weren't familiar with. And I look
Speaker 1: back now, all the things that I was organically posting
Speaker 1: has turned into brand deals for me, you know. And
Speaker 1: I think that's what makes businesses and companies and even
Speaker 1: the people who buy my products now really believe because
Speaker 1: it's like, oh, she was doing this when she wasn't
Speaker 1: making anything off of it, you know. And I think
Speaker 1: that's important when it comes to businesses understanding do what
Speaker 1: you love, build off of something that you genuinely care about,
Speaker 1: something you would genuinely use, not just oh this.
Speaker 2: Is popping right now, but I don't really use it.
Speaker 1: Like anything I do is something that I'm I'm behind
Speaker 1: one thousand percent.
Speaker 3: And I think that that's what I love following your content.
Speaker 3: I'm like, oh, Crystal said, because I know she no fraud,
Speaker 3: no fraudulent, So I know, like, okay, this is legit.
Speaker 3: So I definitely know that about you and appreciate that,
Speaker 3: and I think that's what we all love about it
Speaker 3: is like we know if you put your stamp on.
Speaker 5: It, my girl, she didn't use it.
Speaker 3: She doesn't yeh, or she gonna tell you like, okay,
Speaker 3: this is.
Speaker 5: So we know your.
Speaker 3: Story and how you you've always wanted to be in
Speaker 3: you know, in like a star. Right, So your confidence
Speaker 3: was pretty much there. But for someone that doesn't maybe
Speaker 3: feel like they have that confidence or just not sure,
Speaker 3: how would you what would you tell them to do
Speaker 3: the start of building a personal brand they don't feel
Speaker 3: confident yet.
Speaker 1: I would say that being in front of the camera
Speaker 1: is not the end all, be y'all to building a brand.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 1: I think there's been so much emphasis put on social
Speaker 1: media and online presence, which is very, very very important.
Speaker 2: You reach so many more people.
Speaker 1: On social media then you may be able to on
Speaker 1: a website or in other ways of marketing. But I
Speaker 1: would say, figure out your strong suitse what you are
Speaker 1: comfortable with, you know, because I don't feel confident every
Speaker 1: single day, you know, so I can understand like the
Speaker 1: person who may be like, I don't want to get
Speaker 1: on camera, I don't like speaking, I don't like doing this.
Speaker 1: Figure out research other ways to build a brand where
Speaker 1: you don't have to do things you're not comfortable with.
Speaker 2: But at some point you're going.
Speaker 1: To have to be able to speak about it, talk
Speaker 1: about it, whether you're trying to pitch it to a
Speaker 1: company or investors. That's going to come a point where
Speaker 1: you have to talk about it. But maybe getting in
Speaker 1: front of a camera may not be your thing.
Speaker 3: That's good because I know that a lot of people
Speaker 3: facize a lot of people away from doing their dreaming
Speaker 3: on it because they feel like social media is the
Speaker 3: way to get it out there when there are so
Speaker 3: many different ways.
Speaker 5: Right.
Speaker 1: But I will say this too, Shelley, there's two folds
Speaker 1: that some people are confident, but they just feel like, oh,
Speaker 1: I don't have enough following, or I don't have all
Speaker 1: the equipment or the lights and all the things.
Speaker 2: You have to start somewhere.
Speaker 1: You know, before I had this huge office and the
Speaker 1: lights and the camera, the crew, all that I literally
Speaker 1: had a tripod in my iPhone and I don't even
Speaker 1: remember what editing software I downloaded on my iPhone. I
Speaker 1: was doing everything and I didn't have all the followers.
Speaker 1: But once people started catching on, they're like, oh, I
Speaker 1: like this, and before I knew it, it started growing. But
Speaker 1: it's because I was doing something organically and I started
Speaker 1: with what I had a lot of people feel like
Speaker 1: they got to start where they see other people finish. No,
Speaker 1: like we all had to start somewhere. I don't want
Speaker 1: people to forget that you have to start somewhere. Start
Speaker 1: where you are, start with what you have. People are
Speaker 1: shooting the whole movies.
Speaker 2: On their iPhones.
Speaker 1: These iPhones are so good now you can do so
Speaker 1: many different things.
Speaker 2: Get on Amazon. We were just talking about Amazons.
Speaker 1: Was just somebody, honey, get a tripod and get to shooting,
Speaker 1: you know, And it's I mean, they've made it so
Speaker 1: easy now where you can like edit super easy.
Speaker 2: Sometimes some abs even do it for you.
Speaker 1: So with AI, there's so many tools that are readily available.
Speaker 2: I think that it's so easy get caught.
Speaker 1: Up and where everyone else is and comparing yourself to
Speaker 1: others that they can stop you and you can get
Speaker 1: pigeonholed like that absolutely.
Speaker 3: And I think some of my favorite creators are people
Speaker 3: that I started when they first started and then send
Speaker 3: them and be like, oh, they got a new light
Speaker 3: or that's a new set, or they got a new
Speaker 3: you know, like that's always cool to see. Yeah, them evolved,
Speaker 3: but still like being themselves and sharing the same concept
Speaker 3: but elevating it and getting better with it. Right, So,
Speaker 3: speaking about evolving, how do you stay consistent when, like
Speaker 3: you said, you may not have the perfect light or
Speaker 3: things like that, but you know you have to shoot.
Speaker 3: What was your motivation to keep going and something that's
Speaker 3: maybe not say per se cliche, but something people could
Speaker 3: really hold on to.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they kept me going when I was doing it
Speaker 1: all by myself, without the with the bathroom, like I
Speaker 1: don't know if I had a ring, Like at that point,
Speaker 1: that was an investment I had to make. And when
Speaker 1: you're first starting out, everything is an investment and sometimes
Speaker 1: you don't have the money, so you got to save
Speaker 1: up for it. I think the thing that kept me
Speaker 1: going was attraction. You know, when you see people are
Speaker 1: interested in invested in what you're doing, they keep coming
Speaker 1: back and they're like, oh.
Speaker 2: Please make more content like this.
Speaker 1: Even if it's just a few people, you know, you're
Speaker 1: onto something, you know. So I think finding what that
Speaker 1: niche is your laying and create off of that and
Speaker 1: create out the momentum.
Speaker 2: That's something that definitely kept me going.
Speaker 1: And even today, I feel like sometimes when you don't
Speaker 1: get the collapse, initially you kind of want to give up.
Speaker 1: But if it's something you truly believe in, continue to
Speaker 1: do it, continue to create because everybody's not going to
Speaker 1: love everything.
Speaker 2: There's stuff that I do and some people are like, ah,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: In the beginning, even like they were like she's not good,
Speaker 1: you know, but then it's like God had another another
Speaker 1: plan and then it turned into something else. So I think,
Speaker 1: if you believe in it, no matter what, just keep pushing.
Speaker 2: That's what Anything not just right?
Speaker 5: Yeah everything okay, so let's get into something else.
Speaker 3: So I am a avvy. I need a social media break.
Speaker 3: I'm always like I gotta get off, and I'm like, dang,
Speaker 3: this is pretty much I gotta stay tapped in.
Speaker 2: Yeah you do.
Speaker 3: So I often have been thinking about you a lot
Speaker 3: because I'm like, she posts great, she always posting, consistent.
Speaker 5: You know what's going on? She does it so well.
Speaker 3: When you're building the brand, showing up consistently sounds good,
Speaker 3: but in real life it can be a lot just
Speaker 3: from like the doom, scrolling the news, the bots, like
Speaker 3: everything right, Yeah, has there ever been a moment where
Speaker 3: you felt burned out from showing up and wanted to
Speaker 3: take a break from social media?
Speaker 5: And then what did that look like? Did you do it?
Speaker 6: DoD it?
Speaker 5: Like? Like what did that?
Speaker 3: Could you tell it in the content, Like what does
Speaker 3: that look like for you? When you are feeling that way.
Speaker 1: A lot of times people on the outside wouldn't know
Speaker 1: it because you continue to show up. But I get
Speaker 1: social media fatigue quite often.
Speaker 2: It's a lot. It's demanding.
Speaker 1: You get desensitized that so much is being pumped out.
Speaker 1: Every time you open your phone, you're seeing something that
Speaker 1: we shouldn't even be seeing, you know, Like our psyche
Speaker 1: is not meant to taking so much information, and there's
Speaker 1: so much that we're being given every single day. So
Speaker 1: for me, yearly, I take like a month off, And
Speaker 1: sometimes there may be other peers where I'm just like
Speaker 1: I gotta shut it out, you know.
Speaker 2: But when you are building a.
Speaker 1: Brand, it's really hard. Shelly it's hard. You feel like
Speaker 1: my life is dependent on this. I gotta keep posting
Speaker 1: because if I don't, then they're not. I'm gonna lose
Speaker 1: followers and followers turning into dollars and I gotta So
Speaker 1: we put this pressure on ourselves to continue to be present,
Speaker 1: but we're not showing up for ourselves. We're not showing
Speaker 1: up for our families, the people that love us. Because
Speaker 1: you think about people that are really into the social
Speaker 1: media world, you go to dinner with and what are
Speaker 1: they doing now their phone exactly?
Speaker 2: I do that took at food getting good. I gotta
Speaker 2: get this fun up. But yeah, I'm like, okay, now
Speaker 2: y'all can eat.
Speaker 1: But it's one of those things where it consumes everything,
Speaker 1: and I feel like we are losing a sense of
Speaker 1: reality when it comes to that. Even that personal touch
Speaker 1: or just like being in tune with each other, we
Speaker 1: miss so much because we're blinded by our phones, you know.
Speaker 2: So I think it's one of those things.
Speaker 1: I get burnt out a lot, and when you're doing
Speaker 1: it on your own, it's gonna happen.
Speaker 7: You know.
Speaker 1: I'm fortunate now where I have a social media manager.
Speaker 1: I have someone where I can kind of tap out
Speaker 1: and she loves that. She said, no, I want you
Speaker 1: to disconnect, you know, and she loves creating, so it's perfect.
Speaker 1: Shut eye, Anna, But she go over there editing. Now,
Speaker 1: Hey Anna, I'm shouting you out.
Speaker 2: She's so focus working out.
Speaker 5: I love it.
Speaker 1: But see now I have somebody that can do that,
Speaker 1: so I can have these type of conversation or I
Speaker 1: can go study. No, I'm about to film, so I
Speaker 1: have so much going on where eventually you'll have to delegate,
Speaker 1: you know. That's something I had to learn the hard
Speaker 1: way because I love being hands on on everything, you know,
Speaker 1: because it is an extension of me. Everything I do
Speaker 1: is an extension of me. So it's hard for me
Speaker 1: to let go and relinquish the control because not everybody
Speaker 1: does things the way you like. So it is a
Speaker 1: vetting process to find the people that can do it
Speaker 1: the way you would do it, to the standard that
Speaker 1: you want it.
Speaker 2: But yeah, it's one of those things.
Speaker 1: Burnout is real, and I think it is very important
Speaker 1: to disconnect from the phones, take a break, you know,
Speaker 1: And there's so much clarity that comes with it. When
Speaker 1: I tell you I take social media fasts, I get
Speaker 1: so many amazing ideas, ideas that are going to bring
Speaker 1: more wealth, more opportunities to the people around me that
Speaker 1: I probably wouldn't get because I'm all you're seeing is
Speaker 1: what everybody else is doing. There's nothing original coming from
Speaker 1: it because it's like, oh, oh, this is.
Speaker 2: What we're doing. Okay, this is on trend.
Speaker 1: You know, no like tap out so that you can
Speaker 1: really tap into the source to get those original ideas
Speaker 1: that are just for you.
Speaker 2: Tap out, come on. That's a bar, write it down,
Speaker 2: put it in your notes.
Speaker 5: So I love that. So is your month for your month?
Speaker 3: Is it like a set month or it's kind of
Speaker 3: like you just feel like, Okay, I'm gonna have a
Speaker 3: little bit more downtime maybe, or do you have it
Speaker 3: like already programmed, like you know the holidays, or.
Speaker 2: I have a September sabbatical that I do love.
Speaker 1: This started a few years ago and September is my
Speaker 1: month where I go dark. And it's crazy because God
Speaker 1: prompted me on this probably two years ago, two or
Speaker 1: three years ago, and I had been like looming right
Speaker 1: under a million. It's like maybe one hundred thousand under
Speaker 1: a million. I took that month off when I came back,
Speaker 1: I had a million, so I missed nothing and it
Speaker 1: was a message and that I posted this on my
Speaker 1: Instagram page.
Speaker 2: Sometimes when you tap out and tap in.
Speaker 1: It was metaphorical for me to show that like are
Speaker 1: symbolic for me that when you let go and like
Speaker 1: focus on God, he handles the things that you're so
Speaker 1: focused on. It's like, I gotta do this. I got
Speaker 1: do so I can keep building, keep building, And he
Speaker 1: was like, focus on me and watch what I do.
Speaker 1: And that turned into something else, and you know, it's
Speaker 1: just one of those things where I've noticed that in
Speaker 1: every air of my life, when I just.
Speaker 2: Let go and let God, it multiplies.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Who I love that, Like, don't even worry about
Speaker 5: They're gonna be here. They waiting on you.
Speaker 1: They are, and when you come back, they're excited, you know,
Speaker 1: and you got some refreshing ideas.
Speaker 2: So yeah, take your time, let the thing marinate.
Speaker 5: Yeap. So always better that way. It is.
Speaker 3: It is so you're basically talking about discipline and how
Speaker 3: you're discipline not only how you show up in like
Speaker 3: your working things, but you're disciline when you listen to
Speaker 3: God and take up take a beat, right, But how
Speaker 3: do you decipher between okay, stand discipline, I'm a post
Speaker 3: this day, or I'm just tired, like I need a break,
Speaker 3: Like how can someone kind of know what the difference between, Like, actually,
Speaker 3: you need to get up and do it, Like, Okay,
Speaker 3: this is real burned out, you really need risk.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think.
Speaker 1: Having a discernment and being in tune with your body
Speaker 1: and what your body needs is very important for any
Speaker 1: person in business, but especially entrepreneurs.
Speaker 2: When it comes to pouring, you're pouring so much.
Speaker 1: If you're depleted, you have nothing to give your company
Speaker 1: and the people that are working for you and with you.
Speaker 1: So I think it's very important to take those moments.
Speaker 2: I'm a blackout queen.
Speaker 1: When I say blackout, I mean blackout dates okay on
Speaker 1: the calendar, not available, don't call me.
Speaker 2: And that goes for everything, you know.
Speaker 1: So I think when it comes to social media, just
Speaker 1: listen to yourself, Like when you know you need a
Speaker 1: break mentally, literally, physically, whatever the is, shut the phone off,
Speaker 1: don't pick it up. You know they will be there.
Speaker 1: Like we said, the people are going to be there.
Speaker 1: They're gonna be excited when you come back. They're probably
Speaker 1: be wondering where you are, which builds great anticipation, you know.
Speaker 1: I mean it's really strategic, honestly. You know, if we
Speaker 1: want to talk about brand strategy, sometimes not being so
Speaker 1: seen or in the in the light can be a
Speaker 1: blessing and a strategy as well.
Speaker 3: So let's talk more about that and just kind of
Speaker 3: stay in the course and you know, really listening to
Speaker 3: yourself and things like that. So now and then also
Speaker 3: to speak for someone that may not have those million
Speaker 3: followers and kind of like really starting because I'm a
Speaker 3: comment creeper. I like to look on the comments and
Speaker 3: the comments and what's going on, but I feel like
Speaker 3: the sweeties, it's just so it's literally keep it positive,
Speaker 3: sweetie on your page, right, But how do you protect
Speaker 3: your energy? Because I'm sure because you can actually see
Speaker 3: anotherifications it's not telling what you see, what people are
Speaker 3: actually saying and things like that, how do you protect
Speaker 3: your energy while still building your brand? And in those
Speaker 3: earlier years when you were first starting in people the
Speaker 3: naysayers for real, like how did you just keep showing up?
Speaker 3: And what does that look like for someone in that space?
Speaker 1: Early on you think, well, I have innately been a
Speaker 1: risk taker. I don't care what you say I'm gonna
Speaker 1: do it. You know, That's always been me. It didn't
Speaker 1: matter what it was. My mom could say I don't
Speaker 1: like that, and I literally look at her face and
Speaker 1: be like I do. Like I just never care what
Speaker 1: anybody else saw until I became famous. And then it's
Speaker 1: like you, I think, when you're hearing the people you love,
Speaker 1: it's one thing.
Speaker 2: But when you're hearing it from strangers, people you.
Speaker 1: Don't even know that are hiding behind their phones or computers.
Speaker 1: I don't know why, because it should be the complete opposite,
Speaker 1: it sings differently, you know. And I think it took
Speaker 1: me a long time to get to a point where
Speaker 1: I just got out of the comments, you know, like
Speaker 1: when it came to like my stuff, you know, like
Speaker 1: you posted comment. You know, I'm saying it's good to
Speaker 1: comment and engage with people, because that's what it's about.
Speaker 1: But then at some point it's like, all right, that's enough,
Speaker 1: you know, because at some point you're gonna get down
Speaker 1: there and it's gonna be something that's not so positive.
Speaker 7: Right.
Speaker 1: So I think for me, it's maintaining my piece is
Speaker 1: knowing when the log off and also just knowing that
Speaker 1: everybody's I'm not everybody's cup of tea.
Speaker 2: And that's okay.
Speaker 1: I'm okay with that, you know, because there's a one
Speaker 1: point five million people that love me, you know, so,
Speaker 1: and I'm.
Speaker 2: Sure it's more than that. But on Instagram, we just
Speaker 2: kind of on Instagram. I don't know how people in
Speaker 2: the world love me.
Speaker 5: Yeah, everybody, everybody.
Speaker 2: Everybody love me. Everybody love me.
Speaker 1: No, but yeah, when you look at the grand scale
Speaker 1: of things, you know, I know my God loves me,
Speaker 1: My mom and Daddy loves my family love me. And
Speaker 1: I've got a tribe of sweeties who just ride for me.
Speaker 1: So you know, when you look at that, it's like,
Speaker 1: am I really about to give these few people this
Speaker 1: much's attention and allow them to disturb my peace?
Speaker 2: No, I'm not doing it. So that's where I am. Now,
Speaker 2: that's how protected.
Speaker 5: I love that.
Speaker 3: So before I get into some other stuff, I just
Speaker 3: had another question that popped in. How is it now
Speaker 3: with Instagram? Like at first, you know, people use it
Speaker 3: as like as a homegirl, like you could check in
Speaker 3: on people.
Speaker 5: It's like your job, like your business.
Speaker 3: How was that for you to kind of like switch,
Speaker 3: like you can't maybe send a little shade comment to
Speaker 3: your homegirl, cause they like, you know, like, how were
Speaker 3: you able to work?
Speaker 5: Did you have to shift that? Monse? Has there ever
Speaker 5: been a time where you were like I could not
Speaker 5: post it? Why did I?
Speaker 3: You know, like have you ever had those moments where
Speaker 3: you couldn't be in your comments? Because it's like I
Speaker 3: am Crystal.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, there's plenty of times I want to
Speaker 1: clap back on people and I have to remind myself
Speaker 1: of who I am.
Speaker 8: You know.
Speaker 1: It's like you can't do that, you know when Michelle
Speaker 1: Obama says, when they go low, we go high, you know.
Speaker 1: So it's like I have to remember the influence that
Speaker 1: I have, the responsibility that I carry now as Chrystal
Speaker 1: Hine Hazlet, and the brand is positivity?
Speaker 2: Am I leading with that?
Speaker 5: You know?
Speaker 1: So I try to exude that in every aspect of
Speaker 1: my life.
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh yeah, girl, Yeah, I have to do very
Speaker 1: like cause you be liuse now, I'm human, okay, and
Speaker 1: I'll get with you now, So I have to do
Speaker 1: I might do a little and then delete, but.
Speaker 7: Like y'all see, like, yeah, so we've been talking a
Speaker 7: lot about, of course Instagram, because that's like the leading,
Speaker 7: but you are everywhere your Instagram.
Speaker 3: TikTok, YouTube, hate your newsletters, website. It is a lot
Speaker 3: to manage. So we of course know you have Ayana
Speaker 3: shout out to her again. Yes, but when you think
Speaker 3: about all those platforms, do you think they serve a
Speaker 3: different purpose or do you approach them the same?
Speaker 5: Is it hard to decipher? Like was it hard to decipher?
Speaker 3: Okay, I'm gonna use this for this and use for
Speaker 3: this for this and then again like you're a brand,
Speaker 3: So not being on TikTok really wasn't an option because
Speaker 3: one somebody is that's still your name and be e
Speaker 3: you're making content anyway, t listen, what was.
Speaker 5: That like for you?
Speaker 3: And how do you with I mean, they're only making
Speaker 3: more social media and things like that, So how do
Speaker 3: you decide where you're gonna you know land?
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's good when it comes to the content. This
Speaker 1: is something Ayana and I have said down to really
Speaker 1: decide like what type of content goes on each platform.
Speaker 1: With TikTok, I do this thing basically called a FaceTime
Speaker 1: where I'm talking straight to camera doing a life update,
Speaker 1: and I talked to them about what I have going on.
Speaker 1: Lessons I may have learned in this season or whatever
Speaker 1: I have going on, I really just opened up transparently
Speaker 1: about it. Nine times out of ten, I'm doing my
Speaker 1: makeup or just like sitting with no makeup on having
Speaker 1: a real conversation, and.
Speaker 2: I found that those are moments that they really enjoy.
Speaker 1: So I was like, Okay, we'll do this on TikTok
Speaker 1: and then we have some of the more fun trendy
Speaker 1: content on TikTok, and then you go on Instagram.
Speaker 2: It's more branded.
Speaker 1: We have the podcast, we have the hair care in
Speaker 1: large unapologetic. It kind of shows you everything that Crystal
Speaker 1: Rene Hayes a brand, encompasses, right, So it's almost like
Speaker 1: a pitch deck yep.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: But like if you go on, it's like any brand
Speaker 1: that we want to talk to, they can go to
Speaker 1: my Instagram be like, oh she works out, Oh she's
Speaker 1: a health nut, Oh she.
Speaker 2: Loves the Lord.
Speaker 1: It's there, you know, so they don't have to question
Speaker 1: like what is she about and who is she for?
Speaker 2: Do we want to work with her? Because it's all there.
Speaker 1: It's solely keep it positive, sweetie, you know, trying to
Speaker 1: decide if I want to open it up to other things,
Speaker 1: maybe blogs and things like that, but most of that
Speaker 1: lives on Patreon, which is our pay subscription. And it's
Speaker 1: one of those things that's so many different things, and
Speaker 1: it is a lot to keep up with, which is
Speaker 1: why I need an ayana because it's a lot and
Speaker 1: it can get draining.
Speaker 2: And at one point I was doing everything.
Speaker 1: I was posting stuff on YouTube, I was posting on Instagram,
Speaker 1: pushing it to Facebook, I was posting on TikTok.
Speaker 2: Then I had to post it on.
Speaker 1: Patreon and it's like, oh my gosh, like I need help,
Speaker 1: you know. So it's one of those things you do
Speaker 1: what you gotta do until you can get the help
Speaker 1: that you need.
Speaker 3: So we're going to talk about that. But before we
Speaker 3: get into that, you said it's some of the things.
Speaker 3: It's something that you did just because you had to
Speaker 3: do it. So the person that's in that point, they
Speaker 3: might be right at their tipping point where they can
Speaker 3: go pay somebody, but they're there now where they still
Speaker 3: have to do it. What do you What are some
Speaker 3: strategies for them that you have? Are you is it
Speaker 3: plann or organization notes like automated? What are some things
Speaker 3: that people could do to really make sure that they're
Speaker 3: showing up on all these platforms.
Speaker 5: But it's just them.
Speaker 1: There are so many amazing apps. I'm not gonna plug
Speaker 1: them because they're not me. Unless you want to talk,
Speaker 1: we can talk. But there are apps where you can
Speaker 1: plan properly. Planning social media.
Speaker 2: Will alleviate a lot of the time that you have
Speaker 2: to spend. Have a bachel they of shooting.
Speaker 1: Just schedule out, okay, I want to shoot, Get ready
Speaker 1: with me, make a routine, hair, routine, workout, video, whatever
Speaker 1: those things are.
Speaker 2: Write it out. Figure out if there's a.
Speaker 1: Day that you can just shoot all those different things,
Speaker 1: like wake this morning. You know you're gonna work out,
Speaker 1: film it. I did that this morning, knock it out.
Speaker 1: You know, I know that I'm probably. I did my
Speaker 1: hair so I knew it was day five hair. I
Speaker 1: wanted to show them this is what I do. My
Speaker 1: hair is looking crazy. Get that water bottle and that jail,
Speaker 1: that napolotlot.
Speaker 2: You know it, unapologetic jail.
Speaker 1: Get that, I know right, get that unapologetic jail, and
Speaker 1: we go slick this thing back.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 1: So like I kind of think through my day, Okay,
Speaker 1: what I have to do scheduled out, you know, and sometimes.
Speaker 2: Just pull it out. It doesn't have to be perfect.
Speaker 1: People think they got to have all these cameras and
Speaker 1: it's got to be a shot and overhead and all
Speaker 1: this stuff. Honey, I do autumn shots with one camera.
Speaker 1: I lift that thing up and slant it down, pull
Speaker 1: it back down, get different angles.
Speaker 7: You know.
Speaker 1: You can do all that with one camera set up,
Speaker 1: you know. So I think scheduling it out. There are
Speaker 1: apps that you can use to do scheduling so that
Speaker 1: you know on Thursday this is going up.
Speaker 2: It can already be in there and it's already scheduled out.
Speaker 2: You're good.
Speaker 1: I think that until you can do it, sometimes you're
Speaker 1: gonna have to do what you gotta do, you know,
Speaker 1: and it's it's just a part of it. This is
Speaker 1: what you really want to do. I'm telling you, every
Speaker 1: single job, I don't care what job it is. When
Speaker 1: you do it, there's gonna be something that you don't
Speaker 1: really enjoy. And sometimes it's maybe the shooting that you're
Speaker 1: tired of, but you know it's a part of the job.
Speaker 2: So you just got to do it.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's good question.
Speaker 2: Yes, Oh, okay.
Speaker 8: Question is I know that as an entrepreneur go down
Speaker 8: to I know that as an entrepreneur, you have to
Speaker 8: be you have to have a social media presence, you
Speaker 8: have to share your work. Your social media profile and
Speaker 8: presence has become your resume, your capabilities deck a. But
Speaker 8: for some of us it's not that easy to kind
Speaker 8: of create the content sharing that way.
Speaker 4: We're probably more I don't.
Speaker 8: Know if it's old school or uncomfortable and sharing that way.
Speaker 8: So my question is as a creator, as a multi
Speaker 8: hyphen it how much of the content that you create
Speaker 8: and the amount of content that you create, how much
Speaker 8: of it is strategy versus passion.
Speaker 1: Mm, that's a great question, Shauna. Okay, So I feel
Speaker 1: like when you're in alignment with strategy and passion, it
Speaker 1: marries right. So, uh, with the hair care line, it's
Speaker 1: a passion, but it's also a business. I have to
Speaker 1: be strategic about how we do this. Are we doing storytelling?
Speaker 1: Are we gonna like show organic like me? Today we
Speaker 1: posted me washing you on West's hair. That was organic,
Speaker 1: showing like me really into the project. And then like today,
Speaker 1: we had a big meeting for another I'm a serial
Speaker 1: entrepreneur at this point for another venture where I had
Speaker 1: Iana come shoot BTS and now is because I'm always
Speaker 1: thinking of storytelling. But for the people who may not
Speaker 1: be like cause you have an incredible marketing company, event planning,
Speaker 1: you do a lot there, maybe even be NDA's where
Speaker 1: you can't even film the stuff you know, So I
Speaker 1: think finding those moments where you can having a videographer
Speaker 1: you don't have to be talking, you make because some
Speaker 1: people don't want to be in front of camera, they
Speaker 1: don't want to be out dancing all in.
Speaker 2: The videos and stuff. You know, some people just want
Speaker 2: to get the work.
Speaker 1: So I think having someone there just to fly on
Speaker 1: the wall, catching the content and creating to show people
Speaker 1: this is what Because you do it at a very high level,
Speaker 1: people don't even know half the stuff you do. So
Speaker 1: I feel like even just having somebody come in be like, hey,
Speaker 1: I don't want to be on camera, you can catch me.
Speaker 2: I don't want them to hear me talking.
Speaker 1: Just get BTS fly on the wall so people can
Speaker 1: see how I create these and curate these events without
Speaker 1: you having to really be a part. But that's strategic
Speaker 1: showing that one building your brand. Also when people like
Speaker 1: when I say, hey, you need to book a Shauna
Speaker 1: but when you go to Shauna's page, you don't see
Speaker 1: nothing about what she does, you know, not really, So like,
Speaker 1: even if you don't want it to be your page,
Speaker 1: what we're doing now is kind of separated and keep
Speaker 1: it pot of sweety from Crystal and a hazelet build out
Speaker 1: an ares Agency page. I would say that that takes
Speaker 1: you out of it but shows everything you can do.
Speaker 1: So when people are like, oh, the as Agency, Oh
Speaker 1: this is what they do.
Speaker 2: You know, so did the answer?
Speaker 8: Yeah, it feels like it starts with the passion and
Speaker 8: the become strategy. Yeah, if you're really passionate about it, yes, yeah,
Speaker 8: because people can Yeah, no, for like create like as
Speaker 8: much as I'm into creating, like a beautiful experience or
Speaker 8: experience that you just do the I need to be
Speaker 8: as passionate about yes.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But some people you're so present though, and I feel
Speaker 2: like you are.
Speaker 1: You come from like a different world like from you,
Speaker 1: I'm saying, with some real goats of our time where
Speaker 1: you don't oh geez, where you don't film everything, you
Speaker 1: don't document it, you don't talk about it. And if
Speaker 1: it is it's more like documentary style where we're telling
Speaker 1: the story for later or somebody just important it is.
Speaker 2: To compete, you gotta have.
Speaker 8: To be able to show the work. And like now,
Speaker 8: it's not you can't just write it on paper and
Speaker 8: say I did this, I did that. It's like we
Speaker 8: need to see it, and like you're the community that
Speaker 8: you build and the movement that you build around your
Speaker 8: business is as important it is. I definitely acknowledge that,
Speaker 8: which is why this conversation is very important.
Speaker 1: I really feel like a shan and you should like
Speaker 1: put that in your line items, like there should be
Speaker 1: a part of your budget videographer every event you do,
Speaker 1: have a videographer there from beginning to the breakdown, like
Speaker 1: should be Yeah.
Speaker 2: And even have them do a time lap. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: so you can stay.
Speaker 3: Can reach out for the client anyway, so you might
Speaker 3: as well go ahead.
Speaker 1: And even have them do testimonials like where people are like, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm catching some testimonial about this event. Howd you do
Speaker 1: yourself where people can get real Like you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. It doesn't feel forced, it's not.
Speaker 3: People would absolutely love to see you and love they
Speaker 3: would love it.
Speaker 2: That's a showing itself love it. That's a show.
Speaker 5: They would love it. They would love it. But this
Speaker 5: is great. So this goes shack to who is Shawn's show?
Speaker 7: Oh so so on Billboard?
Speaker 3: But that's perfect now, So that helps because I feel
Speaker 3: like what we're talking about, Shauna is one of those
Speaker 3: people that is present relationships.
Speaker 5: She can call anybody. She literally knows everyone in the room.
Speaker 3: So that goes into my next question, which its rezooming
Speaker 3: out for a second. So social media is a very
Speaker 3: small part of the brand, but it's a big part
Speaker 3: for you, right, But without social media, I still think
Speaker 3: you would thrive just because of your ambition and things
Speaker 3: like that.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 5: It's not the whole story.
Speaker 3: So brands also live in your relationships, your partnerships, your
Speaker 3: real life interactions. How do you think about your personal
Speaker 3: brand beyond social media and real life in these rooms
Speaker 3: and relationships? And I say that because we talk a
Speaker 3: lot about how we meet people who may come in
Speaker 3: here and we be like that it's you know, like
Speaker 3: or a lot of people, it's like you are how.
Speaker 5: You are on the internet.
Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, talk about your real relationships and we always
Speaker 3: I always say it about you like you are exactly
Speaker 3: who you are.
Speaker 5: I love that, you know.
Speaker 3: But let's talk about that and people that forget social
Speaker 3: media just those type of relationships. What does that do
Speaker 3: for a personal brand everything?
Speaker 1: You know, So many of the deals that I've been
Speaker 1: able to accomplish have been off of true, honest relationships
Speaker 1: that didn't start off as transactional, you know.
Speaker 2: I think a lot of times you get caught at
Speaker 2: what can you do for me?
Speaker 1: You know, and when you really just go into it,
Speaker 1: like yo, I really like what you're doing, Like I
Speaker 1: rock with you?
Speaker 2: How can I serve you? How can I poortant to you?
Speaker 1: You're building real relationships with people outside of the social
Speaker 1: media world. I think it also translates through how when
Speaker 1: I go out in public or I have events where
Speaker 1: I actually get to see the people who support me.
Speaker 2: That's when the real.
Speaker 1: Tangible things happen, because you can really connect with someone
Speaker 1: versus Ah, it's all through the internet and through social
Speaker 1: media where I'm just texting you and it's like, hey,
Speaker 1: gir I see you. When you can actually get with
Speaker 1: somebody and really look at them in the eyes, it's
Speaker 1: something different about that, And I think that's how my
Speaker 1: brand translates off of social media into real life, which
Speaker 1: is why I love doing the live shows. I love
Speaker 1: doing the pop ups, the meet and greet. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: so important.
Speaker 6: Can be.
Speaker 1: I am an ambrovert, where like I can be an
Speaker 1: introvert and an extrovert, and it's one of those things
Speaker 1: where like my energy and my battery depletes really fast.
Speaker 1: So I have to allow myself to have my energy
Speaker 1: stored up so that when it's time, I can give
Speaker 1: them everything that they deserve, you know.
Speaker 2: But as soon as I'm done, my team knows.
Speaker 1: I'm like, all right, cause it's like it takes everything
Speaker 1: out of it. It's a lot, it is, But I
Speaker 1: think it's so important, and that's the biggest part.
Speaker 2: People relate to real, you know.
Speaker 1: And I think once you get behind the screen and
Speaker 1: get in front of the people, that's where the real,
Speaker 1: the real energy, the real.
Speaker 2: Relationship is built where they're like, no, I know this girl,
Speaker 2: like how you like when you meet me. It's like, oh, no,
Speaker 2: I feel it. You know, you feel that I'm a
Speaker 2: big energy person, So I feel it. Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 3: Okay, So I'm sure a lot of that and going
Speaker 3: back to the team, a lot of that. You're able
Speaker 3: to do that and be present in these rooms again
Speaker 3: because of your team.
Speaker 2: Yes, shout out the team.
Speaker 3: When was the first time, Well, what was it when
Speaker 3: you were like, I cannot do this all by myself?
Speaker 3: And was it from like a not that part? But
Speaker 3: when did you know? And was it more like, Okay,
Speaker 3: I'm a sacrifice the cast for it, or I got
Speaker 3: the cost it's more like about my piece. What was
Speaker 3: the last stob like, oh no, I got to get
Speaker 3: somebody there to do this.
Speaker 2: That's really good. I think it was season two of Sisters,
Speaker 2: so that's probably like twenty twenty going into twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: One, after the world opened back up, which Atlanta never closed.
Speaker 1: I think it was then where I realized I needed
Speaker 1: a team, and that started with management and then from
Speaker 1: their new opportunities came and I was like, okay, now
Speaker 1: I need a videographer, like I've got brand partnerships, I
Speaker 1: gotta do content for them. And it was more than
Speaker 1: me just setting up a tripod at that point, like
Speaker 1: they needed certain things, so I needed to start building
Speaker 1: this team. And then even then I was still doing
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff organically on my own. It really
Speaker 1: wasn't until twenty twenty four. Towards the end of twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four that I started to build things beyond my
Speaker 1: own capability. Where I knew was like, I cannot do this,
Speaker 1: Like where I want to go. My vision got clear.
Speaker 1: I was praying for in large territory and I knew
Speaker 1: where I was going, Like I could see it. I
Speaker 1: knew where I was going. I was like, I can't
Speaker 1: do this by myself. So building the right team, people
Speaker 1: that understand me, that see me, that see the vision,
Speaker 1: that get it and don't mind getting in the trenches
Speaker 1: with me doing the work. When I tell you my team,
Speaker 1: I was on an interview the other day and I said,
Speaker 1: there's nothing that I've come to them with. And we
Speaker 1: just talked about how Shanna can literally call anybody on
Speaker 1: the phone and say I don't care what it is
Speaker 1: between her and West and say hey, I got this idea,
Speaker 1: this is what I want to do, and they're like, oh,
Speaker 1: I know somebody like in a meeting is set up
Speaker 1: within you know what I'm saying the week or so.
Speaker 1: So it's a blessing one but it also is a
Speaker 1: beautiful situation when you have people that get it and
Speaker 1: you're in alignment.
Speaker 2: You know, even with.
Speaker 1: What we're doing now, we got the hair care line
Speaker 1: that was a shauna, you know, like saying, hey, no,
Speaker 1: we're not selling squares on an Instagram page. We want
Speaker 1: to build a brand and we want equity and like
Speaker 1: some big.
Speaker 2: Boss Yeah, okay, can we get into it?
Speaker 1: Like like and that's the type of energy that I give,
Speaker 1: you know, like listen, like we ain't tiptoeing, you know,
Speaker 1: we're stopping around this day. We're gonna be over with it,
Speaker 1: but like we're coming and taking what's ours and understanding
Speaker 1: that the world is our oyster, you know, and we
Speaker 1: don't We're not a monolith. We don't have to just
Speaker 1: do one thing. But you cannot do that by yourself.
Speaker 1: And I think that was too. Twenty four was when
Speaker 1: I realized I got big goals and big dreams and girl,
Speaker 1: you cannot do this on your own.
Speaker 2: We're gonna have to pack the tripod up, pass it on, yeah,
Speaker 2: and get some help. Yeah.
Speaker 5: So for someone that's like okay, I'm ready the team.
Speaker 3: But and we talk about this a lot, just like
Speaker 3: this nasty needed people that's gonna get in the trenches.
Speaker 3: What does that look like? Or I mean we talk
Speaker 3: about legends of Sharma and West, so it's like come on, no, yeah,
Speaker 3: It speaks for itself for someone that is like, Okay,
Speaker 3: I'm going to have to interview people. I'm gonna have
Speaker 3: to do this. What does that look like to someone?
Speaker 2: You think, let's talk about it?
Speaker 1: Because I I let's talk about it.
Speaker 2: I had.
Speaker 1: I hired my first assistant, probably in twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: hired an assistant. I met her at a Hawks game
Speaker 1: and she just seemed like a really you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, young, eager, energetic person. I was like, this
Speaker 1: might be a good fit, you know. So we interviewed her.
Speaker 1: We interviewed one other girl. The other girl came in
Speaker 1: with this energy like, oh, I know I got the job,
Speaker 1: and I was like, no, that I didn't need that.
Speaker 1: I needed somebody because I could already tell where that
Speaker 1: would have gone even working together, Like you're too comfortable already,
Speaker 1: that's not going to work. So I ended up hearing
Speaker 1: another girl and she end up being a thief. Yes,
Speaker 1: she gave my gate code to my housekeeper. I had
Speaker 1: never given that code to anybody. Gave my alarm code
Speaker 1: to my housekeeper, and I would have known that because
Speaker 1: my alarm takes pictures every time you put in the code.
Speaker 2: So I know who's like, I literally can see who
Speaker 2: punched in the code.
Speaker 1: From my phone and so I called him like hey,
Speaker 1: I was like, did you go let the cleaning people in?
Speaker 2: And she was like yeah, And I'm like, no, you didn't, No,
Speaker 2: you didn't.
Speaker 1: I was like, cause I see as Morelda on my
Speaker 1: eighty t Okay, me and Zzi been together since twenty fifteen.
Speaker 1: Anybody getting them colds?
Speaker 2: Okay, So you gots to go.
Speaker 1: But it's this is a thing like people think that
Speaker 1: it's just so easy to find good help. It's not,
Speaker 1: you know, and you're gonna find people that are not honest,
Speaker 1: you know, and people that will take advantage of you.
Speaker 2: But you cannot allow it to harden your heart.
Speaker 1: You got to stay open knowing who you are will
Speaker 1: eventually be transferred through the people that are around you.
Speaker 1: So that was a thing where like I hire somebody
Speaker 1: and it was not a good experience. And I wanted
Speaker 1: to share that because I think a lot of people
Speaker 1: look at me and be like, oh, her life is great,
Speaker 1: She's never had any No, I've I've had instances where
Speaker 1: like that was a bad choice. This is what happened,
Speaker 1: and I had to learn from it. But that's when
Speaker 1: it comes to like vetting and really trying to interview.
Speaker 3: How long after that did you take a beat and
Speaker 3: was like a hold on now, I don't know about
Speaker 3: this existing or was it like okay, get.
Speaker 5: Back on them.
Speaker 1: I end up hiring somebody that I knew, Okay, okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: I end up going with a close friend Marquise Okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: it was like a brother's man of hiring him. And
Speaker 1: then yeah, but like it's like, you know, one of
Speaker 1: them things where everybody has dreams, everybody has passions, so
Speaker 1: understanding you have to find somebody who really wants to
Speaker 1: be in that position. I think a lot of times
Speaker 1: you want to help people, want to do different things
Speaker 1: and bring people on, but you have to talk like
Speaker 1: what are you really trying to do?
Speaker 2: What is your endgame? For me?
Speaker 1: I know, I need an assistant that want to be
Speaker 1: an assistant, you know what I'm saying, Somebody who they
Speaker 1: just thrive off of helping people a heard of service,
Speaker 1: you know, And you got to deal with every position,
Speaker 1: what do you really want to do? And you got
Speaker 1: to put them in a position to thrive, you know,
Speaker 1: even if it's you're my assistant, but you want to.
Speaker 2: Be a writer.
Speaker 1: Okay, I got an opportunity for you to write as well,
Speaker 1: So they can still be felled, you know, because you
Speaker 1: may like doing something, it may not be feeling your
Speaker 1: purpose and making you fool, you know. So I think
Speaker 1: it's important as a leader to also talk to your
Speaker 1: team and like really find out what do you want
Speaker 1: to do?
Speaker 2: Why are you here?
Speaker 1: Because you can have people around you that's just trying
Speaker 1: to get a check, you know what I'm saying. But
Speaker 1: if they're not passionate about it's going to show eventually.
Speaker 3: I think it speaks to character too though, because in
Speaker 3: this industry we all know and I'm sure in several
Speaker 3: industries people have such egos.
Speaker 5: So it's hard for you.
Speaker 3: To I just want my assistant to myself or I
Speaker 3: just want mine, and it's like no, you have to
Speaker 3: really get to know a person and know what a
Speaker 3: person wants and know, like you said, greta territory. God
Speaker 3: has things coming for you. So if you sow, it'll
Speaker 3: come back. And I think you do a great job
Speaker 3: of that just with your team overall, like we are
Speaker 3: all gonna eat. But was that always a mentality? Is
Speaker 3: it something that you just saw practice or you know,
Speaker 3: for someone that doesn't have that mentality, how could they
Speaker 3: shift their mind to be open to allowing someone to
Speaker 3: have a position on their team but also be doing
Speaker 3: their own thing.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Honestly a lot of people who are watching this probably
Speaker 1: already know my story with how I even got to
Speaker 1: where I am round and that was through Tyler Perry
Speaker 1: actually allowing me to do what I love and give
Speaker 1: me the opportunity to do what I really wanted to do.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 1: So, I don't even think i'd be sitting right here
Speaker 1: today if I hadn't had the guts to ask one
Speaker 1: or for him to be.
Speaker 2: Like I support that, you know. So I think seeing
Speaker 2: it and.
Speaker 1: Being a recipient of it allows me to also see
Speaker 1: other people and be cognizant of, Hey, what is it
Speaker 1: that you really want to do? And also knowing how
Speaker 1: I am and knowing that there's so many different things
Speaker 1: I want to do, you know, so understanding that just
Speaker 1: because somebody is in this position. I tell my teams
Speaker 1: all the time, Like Wes is building a brand, I
Speaker 1: tell them all the time, Hey, I know this isn't
Speaker 1: your end all be all. Ashanna has an incredible company.
Speaker 1: This isn't her Christo h and Hazlet Enterprises, whatever we
Speaker 1: would call it. It's not their end all be all.
Speaker 1: They have other things they're doing. But I never feel it,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, like they don't take on
Speaker 1: too much. Then I always tell people, look take on
Speaker 1: as much you can, you know, because you want to
Speaker 1: give excellence in every part. I never feel like I'm
Speaker 1: getting a backseat to anything when it comes to them.
Speaker 1: And I think it's important because a lot of times
Speaker 1: you hire people and then it's like I'm not I'm
Speaker 1: not getting that.
Speaker 2: But here's your question.
Speaker 5: Now you're answering it.
Speaker 6: Your internet. Now your internet. We're covering everything. And also yep, yes, yeah,
Speaker 6: and so it allows us.
Speaker 5: Give us she knows it's gonna get handled the moment.
Speaker 2: Yes, conversation, opportunity back, Yeah, okay, we yes, absolutely, yeah,
Speaker 2: grace and trust. And I'm like, I was.
Speaker 3: Definitely thinking that, and that's what I was going to say. Overall,
Speaker 3: it's even with the team that you chose, you chose
Speaker 3: they were chosen for a reason. You see the roster,
Speaker 3: you see how it's full circle, you see the storytelling
Speaker 3: of it all, and I feel like you do the
Speaker 3: same thing as well, just the connections and how everything is.
Speaker 3: So I think that's great to even say that. And again,
Speaker 3: you know who you have as your team, so you're
Speaker 3: also trusting them. But that goes back to mindset, to
Speaker 3: mind shift, and how it may not have always been
Speaker 3: like that. Right, So you find your perfect executive assistant.
Speaker 5: Shout out to.
Speaker 3: That guy, you find your perfect manager, you find these things, right,
Speaker 3: how did you shift your mind to be like, Okay,
Speaker 3: this is what I wanted. I wanted it on autopilot.
Speaker 3: I wanted not to have to think about it. I
Speaker 3: want to just say something because I'm sure they didn't
Speaker 3: just come overnight.
Speaker 5: What was that like for you? Were there any instances
Speaker 5: where it was like.
Speaker 2: It's always like that for me because I'm so hands on,
Speaker 2: Like I don't think anything. It's ever autopilot. We all
Speaker 2: work really.
Speaker 1: Hard to make this happen. Everything people see. I had
Speaker 1: some people ask like I've been seeing people like trying
Speaker 1: to talk to us, like, which'll, hey, they're mighty because
Speaker 1: everybody sees they see the fruit, they see what we
Speaker 1: are doing over here, and they're like, yo, I want
Speaker 1: to be a part of that.
Speaker 2: But it wasn't it wasn't always like that.
Speaker 1: And I think for me it's not autopoly because we
Speaker 1: work really hard and I am very hands on with everything,
Speaker 1: you know, and I just feel like anybody who has
Speaker 1: something they care about as much as I care about
Speaker 1: every entity of my brand, they're gonna be hands on,
Speaker 1: you know. So I think for me, it's the trust
Speaker 1: comes when I know that I can say, Hey, this
Speaker 1: is what I want to do and these two human
Speaker 1: beans are going to make it happen with whatever if
Speaker 1: they're gonna try together. If they can't, you like, hey,
Speaker 1: we couldn't do that. But there hasn't been many instances
Speaker 1: where that has happened.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So.
Speaker 1: I feel like when it comes to the tenacity and
Speaker 1: the grit, I feel like it's the perfect harmony because
Speaker 1: we all like work really really hard. Like why I
Speaker 1: say getting the trenches with me, they be in the
Speaker 1: trenches with me.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I have something to add. I should have just
Speaker 8: been a part of this episode.
Speaker 5: Come.
Speaker 8: But so I because you guys are talking about like
Speaker 8: building a team and what what is it like to
Speaker 8: or how do you build the right team? And one
Speaker 8: of the things that I feel like is so important
Speaker 8: and that I try to remind myself of and that's
Speaker 8: worked for me actually is like, you know, I imagine
Speaker 8: there's a lot of people maybe watching this episode who
Speaker 8: are just starting to build their business or right in
Speaker 8: the middle.
Speaker 5: You know, there's you.
Speaker 8: Know, it takes a lot to get to where Crystal is.
Speaker 8: She's at a different type of level. And so when
Speaker 8: building that team and trying to get to Crystal level,
Speaker 8: sometimes we look at the person who's doing it big,
Speaker 8: we look at our mentor we look at someone who
Speaker 8: already has the success. We want the big manager who
Speaker 8: has big clients. We want the big publicists who has
Speaker 8: big clients. We want insistent who used to work for
Speaker 8: the president right right, And I think oftentimes we miss
Speaker 8: the people who are on our level and parallel to us,
Speaker 8: who want it just.
Speaker 4: As bad as we do, who you.
Speaker 8: Know, we're operating with a different type of passion hunger,
Speaker 8: And I think that's the thing that we miss, Like
Speaker 8: we're always looking for even me, like you're looking for
Speaker 8: someone I want. I want the marketing person who worked
Speaker 8: that translation, who worked at Sunshine Sacks. It's like, no, actually,
Speaker 8: the person who may not have been at an agency
Speaker 8: at all, who just has ideas, who you can trust,
Speaker 8: who knows how to operate with discernment, who.
Speaker 4: You know doesn't lie or cheat like you know, that's
Speaker 4: the thing that.
Speaker 8: You should look at first before the person that has
Speaker 8: all the experience in the world has the big clients,
Speaker 8: as we me included, are looking at like team building,
Speaker 8: building our infrastructure, building our teams like you may not
Speaker 8: want to look ahead, look next to you, because that's
Speaker 8: usually like Wes and I. Wes and I met twenty
Speaker 8: years ago when I was the head of marketing at
Speaker 8: one of Brothers and he was managing an artist that
Speaker 8: was on Warner and I was the head of marketing.
Speaker 8: He had an artist there, and we established a respectable
Speaker 8: great rapport. Twenty years later, he is calling me to
Speaker 8: partner with him on the Chrystoerz. So you know, you
Speaker 8: never know where those opportunities will come from. And if
Speaker 8: I was looking at somebody else to partner with or
Speaker 8: to you know, it wouldn't I would have missed it
Speaker 8: right versus looking to my right and my left and
Speaker 8: seeing the opportunity that exists with the people who are
Speaker 8: on my level, who want, you know, the same thing
Speaker 8: or cut from a similar claw, who have the same hunger.
Speaker 3: I think it talks about energy though, Crystal, and how
Speaker 3: you put the energy out there too. And so again,
Speaker 3: even with you and West, y'all been friends and you
Speaker 3: and you surrounding yourself with these type of people, yeah,
Speaker 3: and your circle, and how that does matter because you
Speaker 3: are you all are after the same things.
Speaker 5: You have the same.
Speaker 3: Mindset, you have the same integrity, you have the same
Speaker 3: drive the thing goes and I know even in my realm,
Speaker 3: it's definitely.
Speaker 5: Parallel, you know.
Speaker 3: And then when you do meet these people, it's like, oh,
Speaker 3: we're good over here, you know, to the retreat.
Speaker 8: Yeah, like trying to meet this person next to.
Speaker 4: You may have a great idea.
Speaker 8: Y'all might partner on something and turn something into you know,
Speaker 8: something you couldn't even imagine, chasing you know this CMO,
Speaker 8: c O, president, founder, whatever.
Speaker 5: For you.
Speaker 2: Hello, we'll run circles around there. Get to get on
Speaker 2: the microphone.
Speaker 3: Come on, because we all know West from the I'm
Speaker 3: like I knew West and West with a homeboy.
Speaker 5: He came through and it's been great to just really
Speaker 5: work and.
Speaker 2: Yeah, how you doing.
Speaker 9: Okay, So now let's have a question. You know, we
Speaker 9: all are close, we all are tight, Like, how does
Speaker 9: for you being in the position you are, for us
Speaker 9: to be in a position we are in, how do
Speaker 9: you handle doing business with friends?
Speaker 5: That's great.
Speaker 9: I think a lot of people like a Shanta Shawna's point,
Speaker 9: how she said, you know the people next to you.
Speaker 9: People next to you a lot of times are your friends.
Speaker 9: So like, how do you distinguish what friend can go
Speaker 9: with you and what friend can do what? And how
Speaker 9: do you handle that?
Speaker 2: That's a great, great question. Vig Feller. Okay, so there's
Speaker 2: a caveat to this, Yah.
Speaker 1: Working with friends can be amazing, right when friends understand
Speaker 1: that business is business and friendship is friendship and understand
Speaker 1: the boundaries. So the thing that I love about you
Speaker 1: and I West and Ashana Wes, you and I have
Speaker 1: known each other a lot longer is that, like we
Speaker 1: work together, but I can tell him, like when I'm
Speaker 1: pissed off about something or like I'm not happy how
Speaker 1: this is going, like I would anybody else that I
Speaker 1: work with, versus.
Speaker 2: Like I got a tiptoe.
Speaker 1: And I've had situations where I feel like I had
Speaker 1: a tiptoe around because I was working with friends. And
Speaker 1: it's not a good feeling because I need you to
Speaker 1: understand this isn't cool, you know, so I need to
Speaker 1: be able to talk to you, and like anytime I
Speaker 1: call it with me like yo, like what's going on,
Speaker 1: because like we're learning together, you know, like we're figuring
Speaker 1: certain things out together, certain ventures.
Speaker 2: It's like, all right, we're gonna you wanna do this, figure.
Speaker 1: It out, you know, and then you naturally things don't
Speaker 1: go as planned. Sometimes there may be things that frustrate me.
Speaker 1: But I don't have to tiptoe around it. I can
Speaker 1: express how I feel without being disrespectful, and he'd be like,
Speaker 1: you know, I got it, You're absolutely right.
Speaker 2: I'm with you, got you.
Speaker 1: You know, like we can like talk things out like
Speaker 1: that and I can let them know like, hey, this
Speaker 1: is how I'm feeling versus There's been times where that's
Speaker 1: not the case. And for me, when it comes to
Speaker 1: who can come with me, are the people one who
Speaker 1: I know genuinely support me, which I've never had the
Speaker 1: second guess that with either one of these or with
Speaker 1: herman people that one are not trying to like be
Speaker 1: in my position and do what I do. You know,
Speaker 1: I feel like we all uniquely have our own things
Speaker 1: that we want to do where there's no hidden agendas
Speaker 1: or like that subtle competition or jealousy. You got to
Speaker 1: be real careful with that when it's work, when you're
Speaker 1: working with friends, and then also people understanding when I'm working,
Speaker 1: I'm working. I used always reverbordcked Tyler because Tyler and
Speaker 1: I were really good friends, but he was also my boss.
Speaker 1: When we were working, it was yes, sir, mister p
Speaker 1: Like then when we on the plane headed to where
Speaker 1: we had to, Hey, tee, you never gonna get you know,
Speaker 1: But it's I knew my boundaries, I knew my lane,
Speaker 1: and when I'm working, I'm working, and it's a respect
Speaker 1: there at all, no matter what. Like I still didn't
Speaker 1: do nothing crazy even when we were off, but like
Speaker 1: I knew I could relax a little bit when we're
Speaker 1: not working, you know what I'm saying. But like I
Speaker 1: feel like sometimes it's hard for friends to understand when
Speaker 1: she's working, she's working, and I need to operate like
Speaker 1: I would any with any other boss. And I mean
Speaker 1: I've had me and Herman have had conversations where I'm like, hey,
Speaker 1: like we'll do check ins, you know, like I think
Speaker 1: every leader should always do checking It's like, hey, how
Speaker 1: you feeling, you know, like just want to check in
Speaker 1: to see like are you still enjoying this or whatever
Speaker 1: the case may be. And then I'll have a list
Speaker 1: of like, hey, when you did this, I didn't appreciate that,
Speaker 1: or hey I need you here dad, and given real
Speaker 1: expectations of what you want from the job, especially when
Speaker 1: you work with friends, because it may be a thing
Speaker 1: it was just a lack of communication where oh I
Speaker 1: didn't know you expected that of me, you know, so
Speaker 1: like really putting it out there like this is what
Speaker 1: I need from you. And if you don't see a
Speaker 1: shift or be like or you feel an attitude like,
Speaker 1: then that's when you know you can't they can't go
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. You got to be able
Speaker 1: to take construct the criticism, want to grow, feel inspired
Speaker 1: when you're like with herman, like, we've been friends. We
Speaker 1: worked together, we were pas at Tyler Perry Studios together.
Speaker 1: That's how long we've known each other. And he was
Speaker 1: my supervisor when I was a costume designer, So like
Speaker 1: I knew he understand how to run things and how
Speaker 1: to like manage I knew if he could manage me
Speaker 1: at the studio, he could manage my life.
Speaker 2: But now it's more personal.
Speaker 1: You know, Tyler Perry was paying our bills then now
Speaker 1: I'm paying them.
Speaker 2: So it's a different expectation that I have.
Speaker 1: But when you just it's a constant thing you got
Speaker 1: to express, like, hey, this is what I'm feeling, this
Speaker 1: is what I need. Hey you're doing great. Hey you're slipping,
Speaker 1: you know, and just being honest. And when you have
Speaker 1: people that can roll with you and be like, you're right,
Speaker 1: I messed up, own it, take accountability and like, no,
Speaker 1: I want you to tell them when I'm messing up,
Speaker 1: you know. So it's like that kind of thing. But
Speaker 1: it gets tricky. It can't get tricky.
Speaker 5: You working iron shoping is iron though.
Speaker 3: And I think that in these spaces of excellence, if
Speaker 3: you're excellent, you're excellent. So you're just gonna have certain
Speaker 3: types of characteristics where you understand what you're there to do.
Speaker 3: And like you said, everyone has their own lights, so
Speaker 3: you're gonna shine regardless of where you're in. And I
Speaker 3: think you guys do a great job of showing that.
Speaker 5: And it's great to be a part of it.
Speaker 2: We're happy to have you.
Speaker 3: Love so I think that's good for people that maybe
Speaker 3: want to work with a friend or may not, or
Speaker 3: maybe want to be the leader and work with their friends.
Speaker 3: I think those are good tips to have, just so
Speaker 3: you understand a point of view and the perspective right now.
Speaker 3: And again, people don't see the labor of what you
Speaker 3: guys really do and how you guys are having meetings
Speaker 3: after beating and talking and you know, checking in and
Speaker 3: all these things.
Speaker 5: People don't understand.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I talked to them like twenty four
Speaker 1: to seven, Like me and Herman are like I'm on
Speaker 1: the phone west every morning, like, hey, where's this?
Speaker 2: What are we doing this? Where's this?
Speaker 1: You know, like there's real things happening in real time.
Speaker 1: We got one brand to just launch and then I've
Speaker 1: got my merch over here. Stuff is stuck in customs,
Speaker 1: Like people don't see those calls, like where is it?
Speaker 1: Like we're trying to figure stuffing out and tears are
Speaker 1: out the roof is like now we got to do
Speaker 1: this and oh it's stuck here.
Speaker 2: You know, they don't.
Speaker 1: They just see the end result, but they don't see
Speaker 1: all the phone calls, the hours of meetings and have
Speaker 1: the ones I'm not even on because they're on them right,
Speaker 1: you know, so that I can be available to do
Speaker 1: what I had to do. But it's so many moving parts,
Speaker 1: and yeah, you just got to have I think clear boundaries.
Speaker 1: Co communication is the biggest thing when it comes to
Speaker 1: working with friends.
Speaker 3: Yep, those KPIs matter, like when is the expectation? Yeah,
Speaker 3: but I think what you also speak to is no
Speaker 3: ego because you are the boss, but then they're also
Speaker 3: bosses in their own rights. And I think operating from
Speaker 3: that of knowing like yes, I am serving Crystal per se,
Speaker 3: but like I'm I'm on my calling calling as we
Speaker 3: talk about being called right, and so I think that
Speaker 3: that's amazing to see too, is how everyone shines in
Speaker 3: their light. How when you say herman's name is excellence
Speaker 3: for you know, it's the representation of you, but more
Speaker 3: so repsentation of who he is or West or a
Speaker 3: Shawna or any of us here.
Speaker 5: So I think that's great. I think that's amazing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, for those people that so we've talked about social media,
Speaker 3: we talked about building your team, we talked about personal branding.
Speaker 3: But for those people that just you know, they may
Speaker 3: be raising families, they may be building behind the scenes,
Speaker 3: or they just don't want to be online or or
Speaker 3: like that someone who feels like it just isn't their thing,
Speaker 3: but they still want to have they still yearn for
Speaker 3: that that personal brand or building and not maybe even
Speaker 3: that's a personal brand, but just a brand period.
Speaker 5: What do you say to them? Can they still build
Speaker 5: up a brand you think? Or is there is there
Speaker 5: an instance where it's like, Okay, now something.
Speaker 2: Can they build a brand without being on social media?
Speaker 3: Social media or social media and that like networking and
Speaker 3: being out there?
Speaker 5: Is there a something?
Speaker 1: Yeah? I don't know, Like Shauna has built an incredible
Speaker 1: company and brand, but she doesn't have a huge social
Speaker 1: media presence, So yes, it can be done. But a
Speaker 1: Shauna has a network at the wazoo, like she can
Speaker 1: pick up the phone.
Speaker 2: So you gotta either have a network or you're gonna
Speaker 2: have to.
Speaker 1: Put it out there so that people can understand and
Speaker 1: buy into what you're trying to sell. I think you're
Speaker 1: gonna have to do one or the other. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think it's hard to build anything without having people that
Speaker 1: have your back that will because you need resources, you know,
Speaker 1: whether it's financial resources or hey, I know, you know
Speaker 1: so and so I need I need this from them,
Speaker 1: like can you connect us so we can like barter
Speaker 1: or work together whatever the case.
Speaker 2: May you do your China is coming back.
Speaker 3: Oh no, And I wanted to just I wanted you
Speaker 3: to say that because I think a lot of times,
Speaker 3: I'm sure you meet people and they're pitching you and
Speaker 3: they're saying and it's like, okay, well you don't have
Speaker 3: no social media, you don't got no website, nobody don't,
Speaker 3: nobody can vouch.
Speaker 5: So I think it was important for people to hear like,
Speaker 5: you gotta do so, you.
Speaker 2: Have to do something.
Speaker 4: Yeah, agreed. Period. I would also say you have to
Speaker 4: do great work.
Speaker 2: Come on.
Speaker 8: So you know, I think a lot of times, especially
Speaker 8: young the younger generation, they get caught up in the
Speaker 8: social media presence and not in the work.
Speaker 4: And you have to do the work. The work comes first.
Speaker 8: And so when you don't have that social media presence
Speaker 8: like me, you know, somebody can ask, or you can
Speaker 8: have a referral, or somebody can say, well have you
Speaker 8: worked with her, or what's you know, what was your
Speaker 8: experience or how did this turn out? You're always gonna
Speaker 8: get like they work hard, she's created or whatever whatever
Speaker 8: it is. But I think you know, you can't lean
Speaker 8: on your social media presence and you're pretty you know
Speaker 8: squares on Instagram and not have the work to back
Speaker 8: it up. Like, start with the work because then everything
Speaker 8: else is gonna come. And then when you add your
Speaker 8: social media presence, and when you add all of that,
Speaker 8: that amplifies the work that you already do.
Speaker 4: But you can have one without the other.
Speaker 2: Come on.
Speaker 3: It was like, what is some real tangible ways people
Speaker 3: will build their work?
Speaker 5: Do it excellent?
Speaker 1: And that goes back to what we talked about in
Speaker 1: the beginning about doing the work for huh oh my
Speaker 1: goodness lord, because yeah, be kind please, yeah now, but
Speaker 1: that it goes back to what we're talking about the
Speaker 1: beginning about doing it because you love it, you know,
Speaker 1: do the work, you know, and it's not about the paycheck.
Speaker 1: It's like, no, I actually enjoy doing this, and then
Speaker 1: it's gonna make room for you and you're gonna, like
Speaker 1: we see it. You know, you will end up and
Speaker 1: pay a big time. The payout will come. You just
Speaker 1: got to do the work. What I hope you take
Speaker 1: away from this is that your brand isn't something you
Speaker 1: wait to become it is something.
Speaker 2: You build as you are.
Speaker 1: You don't need the perfect plan, and you don't need
Speaker 1: the perfect esthetic.
Speaker 2: You definitely don't need to have everything figure it out.
Speaker 1: What you need is the willingness to show up consistently,
Speaker 1: honestly and as yourself.
Speaker 2: Because at the end of the day, people don't connect
Speaker 2: to perfection, that connect to the truth.
Speaker 1: So wherever you are your journey, don't overthink it, don't compare,
Speaker 1: don't wait to start showing up, and let your brand
Speaker 1: grow with you. Thank you so much for tuning in
Speaker 1: to another episode of Keep It Positive, Sweetie. Guys, don't
Speaker 1: forget to download the season eleven kIPS reflection Guide at
Speaker 1: Christine Hazel dot com. Subscribe and share this episode with
Speaker 1: someone who needs it.
Speaker 2: And if you ever need advice.
Speaker 1: Positivity, or want to share what you're going through, just
Speaker 1: email us at Keep It Positive Outcomes at gmail dot com.
Speaker 2: I'll see you guys in part two.
Speaker 1: As always, stay blissed, stay encouraged, and keep a pause.
Speaker 5: The City m