Exploring Life & Business with Shantell La’Nise of Bougie Ambition

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shantell La’Nise.

Hi Shantell, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Okay lol! I’m Shantell La’Nise, and I originate from Memphis, TN. I’m a business coach or a business whisper, as someone recently called me. I enjoy helping new business owners break through the world of entrepreneurship.

How did I get here? Well, my husband and I decided to quit our jobs on March 6, 2021. After hopping into my Jaguar truck on March 8th, we drove 26+ hours to California with the kids. When we arrived in California without a job and permanent residency, we traded our Memphis licenses for a California one. Our apartment application was approved on March 12th, despite their 6-month plus waiting list, and everything was smooth sailing after that.

On September 19th, 2021, I was taking a photo at the grand opening of my hair salon. Imagine if I told you that six months later, I realized owning a salon wasn’t what I wanted, so I gave it up. That’s right, I did! Truth be told, I was no longer interested in being a hairstylist. In fact, I even took a microlink class, thinking that it would inspire me to stay in the hair industry, but it didn’t. With every booking, I became more and more resentful of being in the salon.

The thing about me is that I often enjoy helping others develop their business and brand. I could help you build, but the execution was another story lol. Due to my lack of vision, I settled for becoming a hairstylist because I couldn’t see how I could turn my passion into a successful business.

As of today, I am a business coach. My goal is to help new business owners navigate the world of entrepreneurship by sharing resources to help build and grow businesses.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Lol!! There’s no smooth roads in the world of entrepreneurship, just mixed emotions and rollercoasters. In most cases, my struggles stemmed from my own thoughts. It was sometimes hard for me to feel motivated, and there were times I didn’t want to be an entrepreneur altogether. It seems that most of those feelings resulted from my inability to decide what direction I wanted to go after deciding that hair wasn’t for me. The universe sent me people to confirm that I was on the right track, but I didn’t have enough faith to trust the process. It’s like I had to constantly remind myself that I wasn’t building businesses, but providing proper resources for them because voices in my head would ask me how I could teach business when I haven’t built that credibility of running a “successful” company.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Bougie Ambition?
As founder and owner of Bougie Ambition, I coach businesses. I help new business owners navigate through the world of entrepreneurship. I share resources to help build and grow businesses. In my experience,  a majority of coaches ignore newbies because it takes patience to deal with someone just getting started. However, I enjoy being that motivation. I enjoy helping people find their purpose, because most people know exactly what they want, but they get stuck because they do not have anyone to talk to or be that guidance, let alone talk to on a level they can understand. No shade intended, but it’s almost like everyone wants the dollars, but isn’t interested in showing the new entrepreneurs the how and really breaking it down, more like I did ABC, so if you do ABC you’ll be successful. Right there is my unique selling point – I help those who have all the passion and determination to succeed as business owners, but simply need a little help and some things explained clearly.

Outside of providing resources, I empower business owners to cultivate a strong brand identity and aesthetics that helps promote brand awareness and teach them the importance of owning their branding name through trademarking.

I have a Youtube where I share resources to help business owners succeed. There is one video that is almost at 20K views that shows entrepreneurs how to trademark their brand without hiring a lawyer.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
This is a good question and to be honest, I don’t know. I’m pretty much an open book.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bougieambition.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/shantelllanise
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/shantelllanise