Today we are introducing you to Shakira, a beauty therapist in Derby WA who is leading the way for young female entrepreneurs in the region.
At the age of 19, Shakira is the small business owner of Beautiful Again. She already has a rewarding business journey to share and hopes that it can inspire other young Indigenous women and mothers in her region to also take the leap to go into business.
“I want to share my story with other young girls. I got pregnant at 16 and that didn’t stop me from doing what I love to do and to succeed at my goals. The journey has been amazing, we didn’t even completely stop during COVID-19 we could keep going. Working with Diana and Kris has been amazing.”
Shakira has been working with Kris, her Many Rivers business coach and Diana from Winun Nagari to develop a business mindset and reach her goals. Winun Nagari Aboriginal Corporation is the largest community development provider for remote Aboriginal communities in the West Kimberley. They partner with Many Rivers in the Kimberley region to help people bring their business ideas to life.
Read more about Shakira’s beauty small business journey.
Meet Shakira
My small business is called Beautiful Again and it is a beauty small business which offers waxing, tinting and spray tanning. I have been doing this for a year now.
Before working with Kris, I was working from home. I had an in-home salon and I was just doing that from home. I have always been in the beauty industry though.
Diana from Winun Ngari in Derby referred me to Many Rivers.
Owning my own business is something I always wanted to do, especially in beauty. Own my own business and do what I love doing pretty much. You can rely on yourself to pay yourself and you can make your own hours. Pretty much you can do your own thing, not follow someone else’s rules. It is something that I always wanted to do and I am loving it now.
The biggest change since opening my own business, I guess, is that I am just busier and happier. I am loving it more than ever. I did TAFE for two years and then when I got my certificates, I knew that I wanted to open the business.
Working with Many Rivers
Kris helped me with the money side of things – how to look after your money, how to spend it and how to put it away for things that you will need later on. Also, the marketing and promotion. Kris helped me create targets and set goals so that I knew how many clients I would need each week so that I could afford to pay for my rent, loan and bills.
Winin Ngari helped me get furniture for the whole place and signage. Dianna helped me find the place to rent out that I am now working in. I don’t have to pay any of this back or anything. They have a program called the incubator and they use this to help young people to get into business. They have money there to help you do your business and get stuff for it.
I have learnt how to run a small business because I didn’t know anything about it until Kris and Diana came on board, I just had beauty training.
I used the loan money from Many Rivers to buy a bed, a spray tan machine and some more products, so really to stock my store with all the equipment that I need.
Biggest Challenge and Success of a Small Beauty Business
Getting the clients in. When I was doing it from home not many people knew that I was doing this service. But as soon as I put it on Facebook that I was going into my own shop it just went wild, I have 30 new clients within 2 weeks, and it was great! This has also been my biggest success recently!
Future Goals For Beautiful Again
I want to look into getting more knowledge of the beauty industry. That way I can look into offering more services and then of course hiring some more people and training them up.
I want to share my story with other young girls. I got pregnant at 16 and that didn’t stop me from doing what I love to do and to succeed at my goals.
The journey has been amazing, we didn’t even completely stop during COVID-19 we could keep going. Working with Diana and Kris has been amazing.
Thanks Shakira
We want to encourage more and more people to take that first step towards building on their small business ideas, or their existing business.
We’re here to support you the whole way.
CLICK HERE to see if Many Rivers is right for you
Did you enjoy this client story? If you would like to read another, check out Bianca business journey. She creates traditional and contemporary aboriginal art in Launceston, TAS.
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