They say confidence is the key to success, but there are no clear directions for creating confidence. Some fake it until they make it by pushing false narratives of self-security and abundance until it becomes real. Some rely on searching for the flaws in others to make themselves feel better. Others try to find a way to live without it.
The funny thing about confidence is that no one knows if it is real or not. However, there is one fool-proof method of creating confidence that does not involve any of the above methods: making yourself look and feel good.
For Sheriona Talley Banks, that method is doing her hair.
During her first year of college, Sheriona taught herself how to braid her own hair. When friends and roommates started to notice her skill, she received an influx of requests for her services.
Soon enough, Sheriona had a steady customer base and was receiving multiple requests each week. That is when she saw a vision for her business.
“I began to take it a bit more seriously. I created an Instagram page for my hair business. The followers rolled in and so did the support. I had that moment of, ‘Wow, I can really do this.’ From there, I had to figure out a way to maintain my business while in school and while making a profit. That was the challenging part.”
Part of this challenge was deciding where Sheriona wanted to take her business, now named Divine Essentials Hair Care, LLC. Making her own haircare line seemed like an easy decision.
“I began creating my own haircare products that are still in the works. I make hair oils for all hair types that promote growth: shampoos, conditioners, and men’s beard products.”
Come graduation, Sheriona will be working full-time on her business and hopes to drop her product line by the end of the summer.
Being able to be a part of her clients’ lives, even just for the moments that she takes to braid their hair, is the most rewarding part for Sheriona. “When we think we look good on the outside, we feel good on the inside, and with my work that is exactly what I am able to promote.”
As a child, Sheriona dreamed of becoming a pediatrician and owning her own clinic. Then came high school biology and anatomy. She soon realized that all the blood and gore was not for her, but knew she still wanted to own a business working with youth.
Continuing to the Wisconsin School of Business, Sheriona will soon graduate with a double major in marketing and entrepreneurship. Aside from business, however, Sheriona has always aspired to work in the non-profit industry, specifically in youth development.
“Where I am from in Milwaukee, public schooling does not offer the same resources and opportunities for everyone. Life skills are failed to be thoroughly taught in the education sector. That is where I want to focus my efforts within my non-profit.”
Washing your clothes, cooking meals, and applying for college are all examples of the life skills Sheriona helped teach middle school children at Madison School & Community Recreation where she was an Assistant Director. She now serves as a Business Coach within the non-profit industry at CEOs of Tomorrow. To help connect her own passions and business to her nonprofit work, Sheriona also created Style and Embrace, an after school program teaching young kids how to do their own hair using Divine Essentials tips and tricks.
Outside of work, Sheriona loves to go bowling. Although hesitant to call herself an artist, she loves acrylic painting but thinks it is best that she sticks to painting flowers.
As for the future, Sheriona is set on continuing her work in the non-profit sector, but plans to discontinue her own hair braiding efforts, “Hair braiding was fulfilling to me for a while, but now it does not fit with my lifestyle. My passion for hair has lived on with my hair care line, but I have other plans. I want to make a genuine difference. I want to see the world. I want to move to Thailand and teach English, but above all I just want to be happy.”
Her best advice? Sheriona says it is all about going at your own pace.
“Do not worry about what the next person is doing. So, what if they started their business before you? If it is something that you want to do, do it. Do not allow anyone or any narrative to make you feel incapable. Your only competition is yourself. You do not know what tomorrow will bring. You do not know what the future holds. If you do not go for it, you will never know.”
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