Meet Shandalyn Busby

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shandalyn Busby.

Shandalyn, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My life changed for the better and worse when after I came home from school one day, seven years ago. I was 13. My mom told me we would be moving away from our small town in Arlington, Texas, we called Pantego. I was crushed, I wasn’t ready to leave behind the only best friends I’ve ever known and grown up with through the years. I quickly fell into a deep depression, packing up my things and saying goodbye to my friends. Two months later, after summer ended. I was now 45 minutes away in a city called Cedar Hill. The demographics were completely different. I no longer saw people of all skin colors. Now I was in a majority black school, you would think because I was black that I would feel more comfortable, but I felt the exact opposite. I felt nothing like the kids around me.

I soon started to get bullied by them because I sounded proper and I didn’t dress like them. Even though we all wore uniforms, I always made sure I added a little touch to my outfit, something that would make me different from the others. They didn’t like that. They didn’t like the fact that I was a kid that wanted to be different and not the same as everyone else. I had a few people I was comfortable enough to call my friends but I wasn’t popular. All the popular kids had Jordan’s and all the nice pumped up kids, but I was fine with my converse and vans. Materialistic things never amused me. I started falling in love with going to art class. For some reason at my new school, they put me into advanced art and I had never once taken an art class before. And that’s when my life started to change for the better. Mr. Ramon’s 4th period Art class. I loved it. It was the only place in the entire school where I could express myself the most without saying a word. How ironic? I also ended up meeting one of my best friends in that class.

The school year ended and it was now time for high school. I wanted to do something different and get my name out there a little more. So I tried out for my high school drill team, and I made it! I was the tallest on the team standing at center field on the 50-yard line. It felt amazing to actually have a name for myself now, and a group of girls around me I could call a family. I still remained in art and even had a few art pieces that were put out into the halls. High school was a really great learning experience and I had a lot of ups but when senior year hit, I had a lot of downs. I got involved with a bad boy and ended up dropping out for three months. Everybody was surprised. They would’ve never thought it would have been me. I had so many people calling me telling me to come back and I didn’t even know I was that important. It made me feel some type of way that people actually cared about me now.

And I didn’t want to let them down. So I came back and caught back up on all my classes three months before school ended and I walked the stage! It was pure euphoria. I knew I didn’t want to go to college, though. I only liked classes like English, dance and art. And I knew whatever I would be doing in the future wouldn’t require me to have to further my education. So I graduated and got a job working at Great wolf lodge and moved out at 19! And that’s when I filmed one of my highest viewed videos on YouTube sitting at 100,000+ views! My first apartment tour. I got so many great comments and people asking me how I did it, and that when I knew I wanted to be an influencer. Help others. And talk about mental health, because there was a point throughout my life, I wanted to end it all. And I’m so glad I didn’t because God has blessed me with so much! I want to help others that have lost hope in themselves and their future. Tell them all it will be okay in the end and to keep pushing!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it wasn’t easy at all. I wanted to give up on life so many times and if I could go back and tell myself my life would be how it is right now, I would’ve never believed it. I’ve dealt with anxiety and depression that landed me in the hospital so many times. I had to change my mindset.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
I am an influencer on YouTube. I enjoy giving my fellow millennials free games on life. It makes me happy, putting others on and helping them. Because there are so many others that rather hate than help, and I want to be a positive figure, somebody else looks up to and can always come to!

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
The time me and my sister stole my grandpa’s car out the garage and we didn’t know how to drive, so we were just rolling down the Main Street in reverse. By the time he noticed, we are blessed, he was able to chase down the car and stop it, or we definitely would’ve crashed.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @theh00dhealer (zeros) @supportyourlocalstripclub
• Other: https://youtu.be/dTBKUizcBOo

Suggest a story: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.