Community Highlights: Meet Shionda (Shay) Farrell of Elite Chick Media

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shionda (Shay) Farrell.

Hi Shionda (Shay), it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My journey started off as a hobby. My background is in banking and brokerage. For years  I hated the corporate life & was always trying to figure a way out.

My passion was hair for I have my license in cosmetology & was successful at starting a wig line where I landed a segment on the Charlotte news station and blew up from there. My customers were local and worldwide it kept me busy & I also enjoyed volunteering for the American cancer society for the look good feel-good program from time to time. But I slowly fell out of love with hair, never in a million years would I imagine myself even saying that but it happens and I found myself back in what I didn’t want which was the corporate world.

Where I took on a position as a workers compensation agent which again hated it! I was always good at marketing and leveraged that from my social media platforms which again was just a hobby but shortly turned into me monetizing what I did for fun for funds.

Started out with me having this bright idea to create a restaurant and travel journal for other foodies to document their restaurant experiences rather staying local or traveling which I sell on amazon.

Then one day, I decided you know what I’m going to bet on myself and put in a two week’s notice and put 1000 percent into me and what I want to do and what makes me happy. Which is community and bringing others together and I thrive off knowing that I’m helping other businesses rather big or small through my platforms.

Once I quit this job it was game time, I started managing a few big businesses social media platforms on top of my own because I am my brand, so not only did I create this food travel journal, but then I started throwing themed events, created a media kit to put package deals together for when these businesses wanted to partner & collaborate business with me. I always tell people say no to what you aren’t and yes to what you are that’s something I live by every day.

So now as a food and lifestyle content creator I have multiple streams of income from themed events, my journal, social media managing, and paid brand deals. I have worked with big brands from Smart Water, Courvoisier, Recon app & more. I have also been published in The Charlotte Observer along with other major publications.

I have a food segment on the radio 102.5 the block every Wednesday and Friday called talk foodie to me where I talk about some of my favorite Restaurants and hi-light some of the menu items.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was bumpy at first in the beginning but I always keep God first and knew with the work it would all work out. When you are putting in the work and it’s something you love it will always work itself out. I have had some ups and down far as in the beginning trying to make sure I could make ends meet and it all worked out in the end. All I can say is I’m thankful for a great support system & glad I didn’t give up and kept going.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I’m a food and lifestyle content creator. What sets me apart is I’m more than just food content although that’s what I started off and most of my content is I also uncover hidden gems places to go and I collaborate with tourism boards to bring awareness to smaller cities no one has ever heard of and or ever even thought of visiting because they simply think it’s nothing to do there.

It’s a big misconception that creators or content creators have a fun job when it is definitely not all fun and giggles it can be draining and it’s a lot of work from editing and so much more behind the scenes and any content creator can tell you that.

I set out to be more than a content creator that’s why I have other things going on from me hosting my own themed events, radio, journal , to starting my own virtual media marketing company. I have much more coming down the pipeline I’m working on so stay tuned and follow me on my journey.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMe922eYW/
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/yelpelitechick
• Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/shiondafarrell
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/yelpelitechick
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/yelpelitechick
• Other: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMe922eYW/