An Inspired Chat with Stephanie Mays of Conyers

Stephanie Mays shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Hi Stephanie, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What do you think is misunderstood about your business? 
My business, S. Mays Designs focuses on helping business and organization owners to build their brand and develop successful websites. I believe that most people misunderstand the process and the value of proper branding and web development. Your brand is the face of your business and defines who you are, what you do, how you do it and who benefits from what you do. The website is your digital business partner that helps you communicate your brand online and presents digital solutions for both you and your ideal customer.

In order for your brand and website to best serve you and help you meet your business goals, there must be strategy involved. Simply throwing something together, grabbing a free template, or asking AI to do it for you is not sufficient enough to create a meaningful and affective brand or website that’s going to build awareness, connect you to your ideal customer, make a lasting impression, make processes more efficient, increase your revenue, or help you to stand out in a saturated market.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Stephanie Mays, I am the CEO and founder of S. Mays Designs; a brand strategy consultancy and website development agency. At S. mays Designs, we work with faith-based, or Christian business owners, organization leaders, and non-profits, helping to build their brands, and build their websites that function as their digital business partner.

Our mission is to help position great quality brands with good moral standing as leading competitors in their industry. In order to do so, we implement a strategic process with every project, “Define, align, then design”. This way we ensure that we are developing digital solutions that serve both our clients and their clients and offer them real, measurable results.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I attended a church conference at Excel Church Atlanta in September 2023 called the Reprogram Conference, and this conference completely shifted my world-view. I have always been a Christian, but I didn’t always see myself how God sees me. My entire world-view was shaped by my experiences and the culture I grew up in, and I saw myself as a victim of circumstance who had to settle for where I was at the time. I thought, maybe that was God’s will for me and I just needed to work with it. I was a slave to the hustle, always had a back-up plan and only depended on what I could for myself.

After the Reprogram Conference, I learned who I truly am in Christ, what was promised to me, and that I didn’t have to hustle to receive it. I learned that God’s promises applied to all areas of my life; even my business and all I needed to do was apply his principles to see the promises manifest. I had a complete mindset shift. I went from hustle to hope and from rush to rest. Once you believe and understand who you are, you stop settling for less than what you know is yours.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
There’s a scripture in the Bible, James 1: 2-4, that tells us we should actually be happy when struggles and trials come our way because these bring opportunities for growth. This of course is easier said than done, especially in the moment of the suffering. We don’t want to feel the pain of suffering and we will do whatever it takes to get out of it.

However, I have learned a lot and grown a lot through times of suffering; a lot more than in times of great success. Times of suffering revealed truth; I learned where my trust and faith lied, I learned what ideologies were keeping me bound, and I learned how to find peace and rest. Suffering also made me more innovative, strengthened my endurance and prepared me to properly steward the success that followed. I honestly believe that in most cases, had I received the success without the suffering, I would not have been prepared to receive it, wouldn’t have appreciated it as much, would not have recognized it or wouldn’t have what it took to manage or maintain the success.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes, the public version of me is the real me. Do I share everything? No, but what I do share is 100% authentically me. I believe that if you want to truly make an impact in someone else’s life, you have to be the real you that God created you to be. The real you was designed to reach a particular “type” of person. If you are trying to be someone you’re not, you are robbing someone of an experience that could ultimately shift their life for the better.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. If you retired tomorrow, what would your customers miss most?
Honestly, I wouldn’t retire, I would just shift. I plan to shift from design and development to strictly consultancy. My business would still operate, I would just be less hands on. With that said, my customers would still get the same high-quality services, but they would miss being able to interact with me directly as much as they are now.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.smaysdesigns.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/smaysdesigns
• Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/smaysdesigns
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/smaysdesigns
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/smaysdesigns
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl7DyZN2JxuVOLxl1ObwF4g