Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharonda Williams.
Hi Sharonda, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m now 36 years of age but I began working at the tender age of 9. Born in Compton, CA partially raised on the south side of Chicago which is where I began the hustle of making my own money. My mom lived off government assistance and her mate at the time worked in hospitality. My siblings (a total of 7 from my mom) and I started our candy shop in the basement called “Snix Snacks.” We would open up to sell nachos, airheads, fruities, and the famous flaming hots with pickle juice lol! All the money we made would go towards clothes and shoes and my sister and I traveled to sing with the church youth choir and we needed money when we were away. My drive for helping others and the quest for entrepreneurship began in Chicago. Years later due to the situation that my mom was in, we had to leave Chicago on an emergency basis because it wasn’t a healthy environment for us. We saw and experienced shootings, pedophiles in the neighborhood, a household filled with violence, killings, etc. As a result of this we moved back to California and my desire to be in church serving and working continued at this point. The year was 1997. I had to start all over and my passion grew for doing hair. I already had the desire because my mom gave me every process or perm you can think of so that she could take care of my hair. Me being young and stubborn, I wanted to start doing my own hair but to my surprise this drew a lot of attention to where people started asking me if I could do their hair so I started doing hair at the apartment complex where we lived and I would just charge for it. I would do my mom and my sisters’ hair and I would cut my brothers’ hair. This was all before I graduated from high school and I attended a Marinello school of beauty in downtown LA off of Broadway and Seventh. At that time I just wanted my degree so that I could open my own business. Before going to hair school I was already working at my first hair shop on Vernon in Normandie in South Central, Los Angeles. One of my great aunts was getting her hair done at a shop and a woman who went to a church called Faithful Central, a very popular church in California, needed a hair assistant and I just took off from here. I was making enough money to get my first car and enough tips to pay my bills and help my mom pay bills. So, I ended up graduating in 2005 and passed my test with flying colors. I got 100 out of 100 for the practical and the written part of the test. I obtained my cosmetology license and started my own business called “Chiyna’z Traveling Chair”. My business advisor “Loan Angel” who went by the name of “Davida Blackwell” gave me her wisdom and invested in me because she believed in me and she was also one of my clients. I needed stable income to get my own place so I started working for a few companies which consisted of a mortgage company in Culver City, CA, background acting with “Central Casting” in Burbank, CA, and taking clients after work and in between booking gigs. I invested in my own YouTube talk show (The Sharonda Nicole Show) where I would interview up and coming young adults that were successful but not A-listers or known stars. Then feeling that I was being overworked, I transferred to another mortgage company in Cerritos, CA while also working for an Amazon and SMX LLC where I would package flat Screens just so I could make rent. Eventually I got tired of helping other businesses grow, so I quit and went full pursuit in acting, doing hair or makeup on various tv/movie sets, and did a few music videos where I was either dancing or styling lol. I do not like idle time and I take life seriously so I decided to do everything I always wanted to do. In 2011 I was over the party scenes, dating, working and not sleeping. My depression became overwhelming so I just became a workaholic. I almost died of dehydration in February 2011 and as a result of this I surrendered my life completely to Jesus that year and that helped me to reset my life and start again . I met my husband (who at the time was my boyfriend) that year and our first date was July 4th. I took him to Long Beach Pier. 6 months later we were married and we lived in downtown Los Angeles at the SB Lofts . At that time I was still acting, booking game shows, and working at the mortgage company. 2012 was my last year acting and I quit the mortgage job and went back to my freedom and passion, hair and working for myself. Between 2013 and 2014 my husband & I got our first apartment. At the time our schedules did not align due to work and so we barely saw one another . In 2014 I got pregnant with our first son and it was a difficult pregnancy and I couldn’t work anymore. This was hard for me because I was so used to making my own money and being busy lol. I felt God speak to me and he said “If your son is going to survive you need to rest”. Fast forward to 2016 I gave birth to our second son and we moved to Mauldin, SC where my husband worked at a megachurch and we moved into our first townhome. We were able to pay off debt from hospital bills and once again start all over. From 2017 to 2019 we lived in San Jose, CA where we both worked at the church and combined with outside work that brought our income to 6 figures. Our marriage took a hit because I was homeschooling two children that were later diagnosed with autism both on two different ends of the spectrum. We wanted to be somewhere where we could be planted in a church with a healthy space for our kids to get the necessary help they needed without me being stressed out and also space for my husband to help but still work to provide for the family and spend more time with us. We moved to Texas on October 31st, 2019. Starting Life over again! Then the pandemic hit and it hit us hard. We went from a 6 figure income, company car, etc. to living with my sister in her apartment. My husband worked 3-4 jobs so we could help with bills, groceries, rent, etc., all the while being shut in because of Covid-19 making plans for the lives of everybody in the world! We found a church home that worked for our family and stable income so we were still blessed. We moved out and got our apartment in April 2020 and bought a car from one of my husband’s customers and paid it off in a year. By 2021 my husband and I had multiple conversations and meetings about what we wanted to start fresh considering everything that had transpired in the previous year. I started helping to cut and do hair but that’s not all I wanted to do. So now we have come to what I’m currently doing. I create graphics and design and give social media advice so that customers or clients can organically receive more traffic and followers. I am also an event planner and visual designer… I’m a help enthusiast meaning I love helping and meeting new people. I’m gifted and talented in a lot of things but with homeschooling one son that is autistic and the other public school I still help him with homework and day to day living and that is my main priority. It’s impossible for me to master all those trades and still be faithful in all that I do. My husband and I truly put family first and I choose to put my husband and boys first and give them the energy and time they deserve. I’m never without and as we continue to grow in wisdom and finances, I’m able to take care of myself, my health and use my energy wisely so that I can continue to serve others. I love what I do and my goal will always be the same. That goal is to do all that I am called to do and allow the Holy Spirit to lead me. When my time is done on this earth I know that I will feel secure and be satisfied with the inheritance I’ll leave behind.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I would not say that it’s been a smooth transition or road but I’ve learned to adjust to every change and be sensitive to the needs of my sons and their learning disabilities that make plans for my life every day. Autism is a name but it’s not their name. I’m a strong advocate for my sons Noah Jai Williams and Isaac James Williams. I teach them and remind myself every day when it’s hard or challenging that “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me .” Philippians 4:13
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
https://fb.me/CTCBOLD
There are many things that I do on a day to day basis but my primary mode of business is helping people develop new social media strategies and campaigns. I also help to manage budgets that are to be spent on promoting social media posts. I also do social media graphic designing as well. I’m what you would call a “plus person” because people pay me to solve problems. I believe the key to having a great business is understanding that relationships are the new currency.
What do you think about happiness?
Living not being boxed in. Doing what I believe to be right according to the word of God helping people.
Contact Info:
- Email: ctc.bold@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/ctcbold?r=nametag
- Facebook: https://fb.me/CTCBOLD
Image Credits
Brandon J Williams
