Today we’d like to introduce you to She’Faira Jones.
Hi She’Faira, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am SJ The Gifted Visionary, a creative entrepreneur from Houston, TX. My parents working people, taught me the importance of hard work from a young age, with their consistent dedication to their employers. They also taught me with God ALL is possible, something that pushed me to want more always. I worked my first job at the age of 16 in the 11th grade, I even worked two jobs at one point in high school while remaining an AP student, actively on student council, in the treasury club, running track and participating in dance. My entrepreneurial journey began in 2017 with an investment I made into a “Start a Tax Business” class with Ms. Cynt at C&J Tax Services. At the time I knew I loved numbers, I didn’t know this would be the foundation for my later businesses. I went into the tax field the following season and I’ve been doing so ever since. The tax business was not as lucrative for me as an agent as for some an owner, yet it was still extra income and much knowledge. From here, I took a turn to my creative side with the investment into a lash course at OGLE. I love the beauty of the craft and the smiles of happy clients. I struggled to build initial clientele as I was home-based. With both of these, I still worked full-time for someone else. I wasn’t a full-time self-employed nor a business owner. It wouldn’t be until the third endeavor, which they say is” the third time the charm”; that I was able to self-sustain without an additional source of income outside of my business.
Three Little Cleaners LLC was birthed in the summer of 2018 with the help of God, divine inspiration came to me nightly and I wrote the planned plan in a journal. Three Little Cleaners came to me in a dark time, a time I was filled with grief from the loss of my maternal grandmother, I was hurt from losing my job after a wrongful termination and I felt alone. It takes the dark for the light to shine, and 3LC has been my lamp. I took the plan God had given me and invested my little $200 unemployment check into it. I launched 3LC with a backpack and a dream. I have served over 200 clients in the time since. The following year in the Fall of 2019, two significant factors occurred. A client requested to purchase the cleaning solution I’d been using to clean his home, “FairyDUST Multi-Purpose cleaner” and I was accepted into the University of Houston S.U.R.E. Program for entrepreneurs. The selling of FairyDUST expanded my cleaning service from a service-based only business to a product and service. I became the sole manufacturer and distributor of my all-natural cleaning solution, opening up an additional stream of income for the company. The S.U.R.E. program was designed to help entrepreneurs launch their business from scratch, well I was one step ahead, or so I thought. The program offered foundational business blocks, a plan, and an assigned business consultant from the graduating class of the year studying to gain their MBA.
This was a pivotal moment for me, while I’d been operating the business without any assistance before, the program offered me structure and mentors plus countless successful business owners, investors, and finance experts in my reach. I created my first “official” business plan with their help. I saw the fullness of the potential of the company and the needed building blocks for any company. I was so blessed I not only was an in-person Fall Cohort of 2019 but also a virtual Spring Cohort of 2020. I got a double portion! I was able to fully understand the financial side of things and increase the value of my business with further teaching and mentoring. I took this blessing and ran with it as they say. With the foundational information solidified I pursued other business endeavors in the time thereafter including launching an apparel brand (InspiredbySJ), becoming a certified microblading/microshading artist through Sierra Gates’ “Glam Class” (The Dollway Glam Studio), freelance photography (SHOTxSJ) and used the many skills I acquired to start a company to help other companies (SJ Graphics+More | SJ Elite Professional Services). Since I love being an entrepreneur, I wanted others also to have the opportunity to launch their businesses and turn their dreams into reality. I recently tapped into a new endeavor in a completely different field for me, the transport industry has to make way for SJ because Done Better Dispatching is here to stay. The goal of my latest company is to help our beloved truckers lighten their workload by removing paperwork and booking and increasing their revenue with negotiations on their behalf. I am always learning and constantly evolving and I love to help others. All of my businesses tie into helping someone someway. This is why I am SJ The Gifted Visionary.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This road has been a bumpy one, first, the pandemic hit, and I lost almost all of my clientele either because of health concerns, not wanting to have anyone in their homes with the risk of COVID or the financial struggle hit them and they could no longer afford to use my services with my most lucrative business, Three Little Cleaners. In order to make it through, I was forced to make some changes and trust God. I was blessed with all new clientele by the Grace of God. I had to implement new policies and ways to clean contactless and protect my team as well. We made it through the pandemic and are still here four years later. Failure is indeed the best teacher, with me not yielding the results I desired in my beauty endeavors I still learned the ways I can be better and I learned the value of the business that has constantly succeeded. I am grateful for my many endeavors and lessons. Being a first-generational entrepreneur there were many things I didn’t have parental guidance to steer me in as far as business. I had to figure it out on my own, with God. It was many personal skills I needed to harvest and develop to be better, a better boss, owner, coworker, and person overall. It is truly necessary in order to be a successful business. The financial challenges come and go, I learn as I go. Knowing the numbers is the best thing because as I learned during my time in the S.U.R.E. program, “the numbers don’t lie, people do”.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I simply create. I am a poet, writer, blogger, photographer, and artist. As well as an entrepreneur. My businesses are pieces that are art to me as well because I started from nothing, just like a blank canvas. With each additional piece I add, it’s like a brush stroke. All coming together as a beautiful masterpiece. This is what sets my businesses apart from others, all I do is out of LOVE. The cleaning of homes with love and a product manufactured in love brings peace and joy to clients. Providing professional services such as a website or logo built with love brings joy to the client and sets the tone for the business that reaps. Providing beauty services with love leaves the client feeling confident, renewed, and joyful. Likewise, with photography, shooting with love brings the best out of any subject. Last but not least preparing taxes with love leaves the client worry-free. I am most proud of the wide variety of services and products I have to offer. It’s truly a blessing.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
The S.U.R.E. program was a blessing to me, along with SCORE mentors who collaborated with the S.U.R.E. program at the University of Houston. I advise anyone looking for a mentor to reach out to SCORE or visit your local SCORE mentors. This is what has helped me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/BILLIONAIREFAIRA
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativelysj/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillionairFaira
Image Credits
Jasmine Smith pictured in Billionaire State of Mind Dad Hat and Sierra Gates
