Today we’d like to introduce you to Shala Marks.
Hi Shala, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started my business, Peculiar On Purpose, two years ago! Time truly has flown by because I can remember when I first started.
Peculiar On Purpose is a local Dallas organization that creates space for Christian women to feel authentically represented as we grow in Christ and community. We do this by curating monthly faith-based social events called Cute & Connected for women to intentionally connect while growing in their faith. This month (December 2022) marks one year of hosting our monthly Cute & Connected events! It has been quite an experience—with many ups, downs, celebrations, and lessons learned—but I am grateful to have created this organization that truly creates refreshing, transparent, and engaging events that help women make new friends and connections.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The greatest obstacle with entrepreneurship is having endurance because you’re going to inevitably encounter obstacles. It can sound easy and even liberating to quit your 9-5 traditional job and pursue your passions; however, the reality is that pursuing any type of passion and/or dream will be extremely hard work. You’ll have rewarding times when you reach milestones and begin to see results, but these will come with much sacrifice, effort, and countless hours of investing into your business/goal. Without endurance, it’s impossible to stay the course and successfully navigate the entrepreneurial path.
I have had the opportunity to strengthen my endurance numerous times over the past two years of operating this business. One time, in particular, was especially challenging. I planned a women’s empowerment panel on identity and relationships. I was so excited about this event, which was going to include a guest panel of other women in business and even giveaways. I invested a lot of time and money into planning, promotion, and securing a venue. However, two weeks before the event was to occur, I had to make the decision to postpone it. The reality was that my business was not ready to host an event of that size and I had to make the difficult, humbling (yet correct) decision to put my goals of hosting large-scale events on hold until a better time. This required a lot of endurance to keep going, even through an unfortunate setback. Yet, this experience taught me that you truly have to crawl before you walk on this entrepreneurial road and to focus on building your business to a sustainable, consistent level before attempting larger endeavors.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am excited to introduce my newest product, You Are Beautifully Different: A Guided Journal To Embrace And Celebrate How God Uniquely Designed You. I created this special journal to help women discover their true identity, celebrate their physical design, cultivate their gifts, and unapologetically walk in their purpose. The journal includes 165+ pages that carefully guide you through four different sections: Identity, Physical Design, Gifts & Talents, and Purpose. It is rich with content and includes a range of features from writing prompts and personalized prayers to encouraging love letters to yourself and key scriptures that celebrate your unique design.
I can proudly say that this is not your ordinary journal and that is intentional because my goal is for the women who purchase this to celebrate that they are far from ordinary! God intentionally created every unique thing about us as women for an incredible purpose, and my prayer is that this journal will help women embrace this truth while celebrating the differences that make them beautiful. It is available now on my website peculiaronpurpose.com!
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My advice for those just starting out is to be open to change. Entrepreneurship requires being able to adjust because running a business will undoubtedly require you to pivot at some point. You must be open to adjusting your vision, goals, timelines, and even your products or content to meet the needs of your target audience and customer base. Being flexible in business and having the ability to adjust and pivot when necessary will help you transition through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship.
Pricing:
- $36.99
Contact Info:
- Website: https://peculiaronpurpose.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peculiaronpurpose/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peculiaronpurpose
- Other: https://peculiar-on-purpose.myshopify.com/
Image Credits
@lynncreatesphotos
@peculiaronpurpose
