Meet Aja Elam: Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Aja Elam and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Aja, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Freedom and full creativity to create and flourish in my own interests. A 9-5 five days a week just to be free for 48 hours limited my time to be creative and grow my businesses and my daughter’s business. The biggest issue was limiting my income. I realized early on that jobs have a cap. They can only pay you whats in their budget to pay you. In order to make money with no cap or limit to what you earn then you have to be in business for yourself. I use to cringe at the thought of waiting until retirement to touch 7 figures or a million dollars when that can easily be made in 1 year with dedication, hardwork, and consistency.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
What sets me apart from others is my discipline to manifest whatever I set my mind to. I’m disciplined enough to set a goal and see it through no matter the obstacles. When I am in the midst of accomplishing a goal I get tunnel vision and anything that does not align with my goals I consider it a distraction. I’m most excited about Khy’s Growth Refinement LLC and where it’s going. Khy’s Growth Refinement is my 8 year old daughters legal business. I’m doing everything in my power to continue to make it successful and currently working to get the products in stores.

I got to where I am today by simply stepping out on faith and believing in myself. My husband encouraged me to walk away from everything that was no longer fulfilling and wasn’t serving my purpose in my corporate life. I’m so glad I did. I had many thoughts about everything that could go wrong but I realized I’ve never failed at anything I put 100% into so I just did it and figured things out as I went. I never allowed “not knowing how to do everything” stop me. I just used those moments as learning curves.
Honestly, everything has been fairly easy nothing too hard. I always say I never make it look easy I just make it look possible. The most challenging business by far is Khy’s Growth Refinement because I have to juggle hand making all products, filling orders, website updates, bottle and container vendors, labeling and packaging, and monitoring shipping. I overcome the small challenges with the help of my husband and mom when I get overwhelmed and drowned in business. They can jump in and pick up the slack with little to no help. They literally save me.
The lessons I’ve learned along the way is to give yourself room for mistakes, take time for yourself and pour back into yourself. Operating on a full glass is so much more productive because you operate in a sense of fulfillment and joy. Burning yourself out only creates aggravation and resentment for what you are doing. You will start to lose the joy in working for yourself. You have to love what you do or it will most definitely feel like a demanding job.
I want others to know I created this brand for my daughter simply to have a product that fits her hair needs and the hair needs of close friends and family who struggled with store bought products that dries out the hair due to the alcohol that are in the products. The love and appreciation that so many customers have given me makes the time and effort it took to create these products so worth it. I consistently get praise reports along with then vs now pictures of the growth, fullness, healthiness and shine that every customer gets from using Khy’s Growth Refinement and that is what keeps me going.

Alright, so let’s jump right in! The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there a person, group, organization, book, etc. that you want to dedicate your shoutout to? Who else deserves a little credit and recognition in your story?  
Khyln Elam is my main inspiration. I never want her to ask for a seat at another table when I can create one for her to sit at the head of.

Website: www.KhysGrowthRefinement.com

Instagram: Khys_growth_refinement

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KhysGrowthRefinement/

Yelp: KhysGrowthRefinement