Meet Shenique Shade: Influencer/Blogger

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

Hi Shenique, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I simply want to work towards my own dreams. Having my own business idea started when I realized that I strongly disliked working on someone else’s time. I want to be able to do what I want and when I need to do it. That freedom is everything to me! At that time I knew I wanted to be my own boss but I just did not know what kind of business it’d be. Until, I started blogging my natural hair journey back in 2015 on Instagram. That’s when I started to notice the lack of self love when it came to some black women and girls loving their natural hair in its purest form. I loved being such an inspiration to help women learn to care and love their natural hair. That same desire to inspire is what started Dope No Lye, LLC.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Well my journey to finding a career that I’m passionate about was not easy for me. After I graduated high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do and at the time going to college just seemed like the right thing to do because everybody else was doing it. So, I enrolled into a community college and majored in psychology. I changed my major multiple times during college in search of my dream career. When I graduated from community college, I earned an AA degree in pre-nursing. I always knew I wanted to help people but eventually learned that being around blood all day and working 12 hour shifts was not something I’m interested in. I had gotten accepted into two nursing schools before realizing that nursing was not it for me. But because I still wanted to help people I felt that the health field was still a field I needed to be in so I went on to pursue other health care fields but I still was not happy about what I was going to be doing. It wasn’t until the year 2019, after getting back accepted at Florida International University, that I realized my dream career was in mental health. Mind you, I graduated community college in 2013. So, it took me a while! After experiencing my own mental health and learning about the huge stigma about it in black communities I was drawn to it! I earned my bachelors degree with a minor in Psychology and I am now pursuing my masters degree in Clinical Social Work. I am so excited to become a therapist! Don’t ever give up on finding and pursuing what makes you happy. I promise you the end result is worth it.

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.
I’m not a person who goes out a lot but we’d definitely do some water sport activities at a beach here in Miami. I also love Wynwood because of all the art and creativity there so we’d have to go a few places there. And if I had to choose one other place for eating and staying it’d have to be Brickell! I love the Brickell area, it’s like being in a whole different state. 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 someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My target audience on Instagram from when I first started blogging to now deserves all the recognition for the support and love they have given me.

Website: www.dopenolye.com

Instagram: @dopenolye

Twitter: @dopenolye

Youtube: www.YouTube.com/dopenolye