Meet Shanise Danyelle: Actress, Model && Entrepreneur

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

Hi Shanise, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I love hats, tanks and tee’s and whenever I take a trip, I almost always visit a gift shop and grab one if not all three. Back in 2019, I thought to myself, why not sell the things I love purchasing… I initially wanted to come up with my own clothing line; I wrote it out in my journal and then I just sat on it, never giving it a second thought. Out of nowhere, Covid-19 came along, and caused many setbacks. During this time, I lost my job due to the pandemic and was out of work for 8 months. I had a lot of free time, and finally decided that it was time to start something for me so I don’t have to depend on someone else’s dollar. This is when ShàCity Prints was birthed. I offically brought this business into fruition in September, 2020. We sell custom clothing apparel; where the goal is to turn your thoughts into creative, unique designs.

What should our readers know about your business?
I am excited that I took a leap of faith and decided to start my own business. What sets my business apart from others is that we create designs that you don’t see often. My thought process is I want to be creative, unique and different so that my merchadise doesn’t look like the next. I got to where I am today by taking a chance on myself! It was definitely not easy. I had many doubts, thinking what if people don’t like my designs? what if I spend all this money and see no profit in the end? can I really run a business? It took a lot of preparation and motivation and then I realized just about anything you do is a risk. Most successful businesses today did not become successful overnight. You have to be open minded to the fact that you may fail at first, but you just have to take that as a learning experience and turn that loss into a WIN. Once it clicked in my head, that I am going to lose money in the beginning because I am putting so much into the business and the profit will build up later, I was finally okay to start the entrepreneurship journey. I would like the world to know that we are still fairly new and we have a lot to learn along the way. I am a small black business owner and I am learning each day to better my business and make it that much more successful.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My best friend already stays in the same state as me so hypothetically speaking, if he was visiting from out of town, I would definitely take him to our top mall which is Somerset; we would definitely hang out downtown at night, walk around.. I would show him some of the new shopping centers that were built, go to a few bars and have some drinks. We have a few arenas/theaters downtown, so if there is something going on while he is in town, I would definitely treat him to a show or concert. Definitely have to take him to the Motown Museum so he can learn some music history and learn which legends came from Motown records. We would have to make a stop at the Detroit Institute of Arts, I haven’t even been myself so that would be something new for the both of us. If the weather is nice, we can hit the beach and lastly, I definitely have to take him to some of the hot spot restaurants our city has to offer! Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to first and foremost thank my beautiful mother for believing in my vision and helping financially, to bring it to life. She has been a HUGE help when it comes to purchasing items needed to run the business. Next, I want to give a special thanks to a good friend of mine, Oliva, for helping me out on the business side and dropping gems. Thanks to her, I have everything covered from a legal standpoint so that I am able to run my business smoothly and successfully. Lastly, I want to shout out each and every person who has inquired, shared, reposted, and/or purchased merchandise from ShàCity Prints. To my family, friends, and customers I just want to say thank you so much for your support and continued support. Because of you, my business continues to thrive. I am forever grateful && blessed beyond means.

Instagram: @shacityprints @actmodsha__

Facebook: Shanise Danyelle

Image Credits
All images were taken by me.