Meet Sharra Speer of XSpeeriences

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharra Speer.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Sharra. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
The wear-and-tear of the everyday 8-5 finally crashed head-on into the totality of the endless days that comes with being a mother of 5 and I ended up in the land of “compassion exhaustion” according to my therapist (and apparently according to my relentless stream of the tears that ran down my cheeks as I sat on her couch at the end of my rope in October of 2017).

She explained that the weight of my load had become so unbearable because I’d given so much of myself to everything (to my four boys, to the one the daughter I’d prayed and dreamed about, my ever-so-strained relationship with my significant other, to the tumultuous relationship with my mother, to the almost-healed-but-not-quite relationship with my father, to my co-workers, to my work, and the list goes on) and I’d given nothing to myself.

There had been a constant giving-out and nothing coming in. She asked me what it is I love to do. I struggled a moment to come up with an answer and then thought back to a card or three or four or twenty I’d made for this occasion or that, the time I decorated my mom’s dining room for her party, the surprise party I’d planned and executed for my sister, the book I’d wrote and illustrated for my boss for his birthday and and and.

I smiled as I recalled each gift, each experience of giving. And while I enjoyed these things enormously the bills still accumulated and the family’s basic needs still, at times, went unmet. After a few sessions, I’d come to understand that I’d been given a gift. My creativity had touched people, moved them to tears, excited them, caused them to remember, forgive, or have hope.

This gift was put inside in me, not just to sprinkle around like confetti, but to “make room” AND “make a way.” So, XSpeeriences was born. It is a true labor of love. It is everything I love to do; to create, to give, to make, to design, to share. XSpeeriences is “a creative expressions suite” that strives to “wow” every client by creating custom XSpeeriences that range from logo and website design to custom wedding invitations and party styling to interior decorating.

My website’s “about” page says, “Atlanta, Georgia is home, where I live each day as a master artisan, lover of words, fashion priest, and an unwavering believer in a million impossible things! I have always trusted my hands to do amazing work. They are the vessel through which I express my highest self. I was born an artisan; daughter of a master handyman.

I watched my father’s calloused hands craft with ease the most complicated household furnishings and repair and reuse whatever may have once appeared useless. He did so quietly, meticulously, and perfectly. While he was working on any given project, I would watch him make several exact calculations, and at the end of all the hours in one day I would be left in complete and utter awe, not of just what he was able to produce, but of his craft.

His gift was not the result of an abundance of trade school hours but of passion, precision, and innate know-how. That is how I came to be. I have been afforded the luxury of a creative skill set because I was birthed by creativity itself. I have worked tirelessly on projects perfecting my craft; careful measurements and endless days in pursuit of complete and utter awe.

I am excited to be on this journey of creative expression; abounding in impeccable style, intentional prose, and extraordinary XSpeeriences. It is a journey that begins with creativity and never ends; it goes as far as the imagination can stretch. So that is who I am and how XSpeeriences came to be.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Smooth? I’m not sure if that is the adjective I would attach to this journey. It has had its challenges, but it has always been certain. Because orders come in pretty quickly and the only hands I trust are my own, I work alone.

In the beginning, I would stay up until 4 or 4:30 in the morning, sleep for 30 minutes and then wake up at 5:00 to get the kids ready for school, then I’d come back home and work all day or deliver orders and then hit repeat. Then, in November of 2017, I fell asleep at the wheel and totaled my car. Lesson learned. Get. Some. Rest.

Then, soon after I quit my 8-5 to pursue XSpeeriences full time, my significant other was out of work, so we were dependent on what I could bring in alone. I worked extra hard, but we still lost the house. However, I did not lose hope. I knew my gift. I trusted it to “make room,” I didn’t look for a “regular” job to fill in the gap, I just worked harder.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
XSpeeriences is an everything branding, styling, creative expression suite. I specialize in custom creating custom XSpeeriences that express and speak to the heart of each client.

Past project have included a custom card from Towers High School in Decatur, Georgia to NFL player Da’Norris Search (Tennessee Titans), handcrafted cards for The Girl Scouts of Atlanta, a custom prop for Brushed ATL, and logos for Sweet Mossie’s (Washington, DC) and several local businesses in Atlanta.

I am known for my ability to capture a client’s exact sentiment without needing a lot of details. I am most proud of my ability to connect with the heart of the people who have called on XSpeeriences for their project. I am proud of the exceptional level of customer service I’ve been able to provide.

I set out to start a home-based business that had the feel of a corporate company to the likes of Nordstrom, and that’s exactly what I’ve been able to do. It is that unmatched customer service that feels very exclusive and personal that sets XSpeeriences apart from other creative businesses. It’s more than just another small business, it is my way of sharing myself with the world.

What were you like growing up?
Oh boy! Growing up I was all over the place. My mother would often call me Denise Huxtable because I could never just pick one idea and settle on it. Every week I had another idea for something new I “just knew” was “the best idea ever.”

Mostly, though, I stayed to myself. I loved my journal and my private thoughts. I made all kinds of things in my room, out of whatever. We had a book on our shelf called “Make and Do,” it was a kid’s encyclopedia of crafts. I’d made just about everything in that book in one summer.

I’d wait until cereal boxes were empty and then recover them and make up my own cereal and packaging and imagine I had an important meeting to pitch my new idea to a cereal company. (I loved watching “Who’s the Boss” and imagined I’d be the main character, Angela Bower, one day. She was the president of a marketing company!)

I loved shopping for more than anything. My mom said that when we walked into the mall I’d start shaking from excitement and she’d have to remind to breathe. How funny! I think I still do that now!

I was quiet, withdrawn around strangers and in strange settings, I was very observant and sensitive to the feelings of others. I’d cry when others cried. I felt everything, deeply. I later came to understand that people like me are called empaths. I feel the world around me, intensely.

I now know that it is this intense feeling that allows me to create immaculate XSpeeriences without being given much direction, “I just know.”

Contact Info:

• Website: xspeeriences.com
• Phone: 4047479543
• Email: wowthem@xspeeriences.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xspeeriences/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xspeeriences
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/xspeeriences

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