Today we’d like to introduce you to Twana Moore.
Twana, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a full-time educator and have been for the past 15 years. In June 2017, my love for graphic tees lead me to starting my business, Personally She, a ladies fashion and t-shirt boutique. I absolutely LOVE a graphic tee with a sassy saying that describes me. I found myself having an idea for a t-shirt, and not being able to find one anywhere, so, I decided I would start my own business.
It took me about a year to actually get serious about it, though. I knew it would be a lot of work, and I was also afraid. “What if I failed?” “What if no one bought my tees?” So, I kept putting it off and putting it off. Finally, after a year, I bought my first piece of equipment and I’ve been going ever since.
I also just launched my travel, fashion, and lifestyle blog, called Naturally T. Mo. That project also took me a year to get going. I’m not certain what it is about one year, but apparently, that’s how long it takes me to get my life together and get it going. Lol!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Oh my gosh, NO! Lol! There were definitely struggles along the way. First of all, working full-time and starting a business was HAAAARRRD!! Like, REALLY hard, lol! It probably took me the entire first year to figure out how to balance both. I’m not even talking about my other full-time jobs as a wife and mom. I’m just going to be upfront and tell you that I basically sucked at those jobs during that time. My poor husband and kids. Lol!
Secondly, starting a business also brought my strengths and weaknesses to the forefront. One of my strengths, being a researcher and processor, also became a weakness of mine. I would find myself researching for hours and not making a decision about how to proceed. So, that strength became a weakness when it stopped me from moving forward. My biggest weakness is that I’m a procrastinator. A year and a half later, I am still working on this one. Lol!
Being a solopreneur also made it very difficult because I had to learn how to do everything myself. Starting out, I didn’t have money to invest in paying someone to do things for me. So, I had to learn it all: website management, marketing, graphics, photography, everything.
I’m in a place now, though, where I am able to better manage all of my jobs. I’ve discovered how to handle my need to research. I KNOW how to stop procrastinating, I just need to implement it, lol! I am now able to contract certain tasks out. So, things have definitely gotten a lot better, but the work itself didn’t get any easier.
My advice to ladies just starting out would be to embrace the journey. You are going to fail at some things, so use it to learn from. You aren’t going to be able to balance everything, so don’t try. Rock out what you can rock out while you can, and when that switches to something else, rock that out, too. Just don’t give up! You’ve got this, girl!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Personally She & Naturally T. Mo – what should we know?
I spoke a little bit about my brand, Personally She. I’ve been doing that the longest. My new brand, Naturally T. Mo, is my lifestyle blog. That is very new to me. I actually launched the blog on my 40th birthday. It will mostly include travel posts (reviews, guides, and tips) and fashion posts. I have found myself at that point in my life where I realized I let my fashion sense go and I had to get it back. I’m having to rediscover my style all over again. So, the fashion posts will walk through my journey with that. It will also include other aspects of my life, such as grief, parenting, and any other random thing I decide to blog about, lol!
I am most proud that, at the ages of 38 and 40, I decided to GO FOR IT! I decided it was time to jump out there and do what I’ve been wanting to do. You’re never “too old.”
So much of the media coverage is focused on the challenges facing women today, but what about the opportunities? Do you feel there are any opportunities that women are particularly well positioned for?
Oh, yes! I am just going to speak about black women specifically on this. Black women are currently the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs. A lot of our needs are not being addressed by mainstream, so we are getting out there and addressing them ourselves. Don’t have hair care products for our natural hair? Okay, we’ll make them ourselves? Don’t have the makeup to match our extremely diverse skin tones? Okay, we’ll make it ourselves. Don’t have skincare products for our skin? Okay… you get the picture. Black women are also making waves in Corporate America, as well, with the number of black women in top-level positions increasing.
Michelle Obama was the first black first lady and now Kamala Harris is the first black woman to put her bid in as president. It’s exciting! We, as black women, are seeing every day the opportunities around us. We are now of the mindset that, you either give us a seat at the table, or we’re going to create our own table to sit. I’m loving it!
Pricing:
- Accessories from $10-35
- T-shirts from $18-29
- Clothing from $39-68
Contact Info:
- Website: www.personallyshe.com, www.naturallytmo.com
- Email: contact@personallyshe.com, hello@naturallytmo.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/personallyshe, www.instagram.com/naturally_t.mo
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/personallyshe, www.facebook.com/naturallytmo
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/personallyshe
Image Credit:
Brandon Moore (cover photo), Jalisa Vaughn (Grace & Mercy sweatshirt), Montalee Chavious (4 ladies), Angela Flournoy (I’m Not Bougie tee), Lashoundra Young (Motherhood sweatshirt)
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
