As I look back on the last eight years, they seem like a dream. In fact, being the CEO of Shana Bryant Consulting has been a dream come true. Having the opportunity to be my own boss and to do the work that I love is something that many people never have the opportunity to experience, and that is not lost on me.
When you start a business, your focus is always on the short term. You go to work each day with the goal of building the business and making it profitable. That’s true in a usual business environment, but COVID changed everything.
I’ve always loved beautiful events. To be a part of creating special moments that stay with people for hours, days, and years after that special day is a privilege. Like everyone else, I worked in regular jobs for my early adult life. It was great work, but I knew that I was destined for something more. I made the decision to go to college and graduated in 2014 with my degree. In fact, my good friend Eric Estevez even helped me rework my resume to get my start following graduation. But the year that changed everything was 2017.
That year, I joined an accelerator with Malia Lazu that taught me everything about running a successful business from the ground up. In fact, it was a year of a lot of firsts for me. My first website was launched after being built by Jeremy Colon. My first contracts came in and allowed me to start working on projects, including the Greater Boston Morehouse Alumni Association’s The House on the Vineyard event. And most importantly, I had my first collaboration with the founder of The Collier Connection and Boston While Black, and my business bestie – the amazing Sheena Collier. This was all while I was still working a regular full-time job, but that was all about to change.
In 2019, it was announced that I was going to be laid off. I knew that this was a pivotal moment for me with my fledgling business, but things were still very new. Eric once again showed what true friendship and collaboration is when a social media post by him led to me landing paid jobs that equaled my annual salary – a huge step forward for a new business owner. That’s when I made Shana Bryant Consulting my official full-time job. But just like that, the world changed and we were all impacted by COVID.
The pandemic was a time of change for most people, but this was especially true for a new business owner like me. This was when you had to make a choice: pivot to survive, or watch the business I had just created crumble in a world that was changing by the moment.
I chose to pivot.
Events as we had known them were simply not happening, we were living in a time when we began to hear about virtual events. That was the opportunity I had been searching for, and I developed a 16-module event planning course that eventually became Course Trifecta – a nod to my Trifecta Approach that leads each event I do to this day.
Along with pivoting to virtual events, I also learned how to run in a business that could last through any situation. I credit Christie Lindor with giving me many lessons that helped me to develop Shana Bryant Consulting into the business that it is today. She wasn’t only a great teacher, but she also held me accountable to make sure I was following her advice. These lessons, along with learning how to create a lean budget, helped me to not only survive the pandemic but to come out on the other side stronger, more determined, and successful.
Following COVID, I was applying for any opportunity that I could because money was pretty tight. But it’s in those moments when the best opportunities present themselves. That’s how I began my journey with Open Streets Boston.
I remember staring down at the scope for the project with a huge range of emotions. This was my biggest project to date, and I knew that it was going to be something truly special. I couldn’t have imagined how big it was going to be, and it’s only going to continue to grow! I also couldn’t have gotten through those early days without my amazing early team, which included Ieasha James, Ayana Mack, and Kache Boyd – my Open Streets Boston rock stars!
Through all those highs and lows, I’ve had constant support of my family and close friends. You learn very quickly that you just need a solid few members of that circle who believe in the dream as much as you do, and they’ve never wavered in their support. Without them, I could never have done any of this.
But where do we go from here? Read my next blog post to see what the future holds for SBC!