Today we’d like to introduce you to Jayda Davis.
Hi Jayda, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m from Augusta, GA about 2 hours outside of Atlanta. I started my social media journey (career) in the summer of 2018. Nearly five years ago! I’ve always been gifted in hair & really beauty as a whole. I feel as though I kind of had a head start as I started wearing makeup & playing in my hair in middle school. I remember my peers just being in awe because back then I was really the only one doing that, especially with weave. Looking back, it was relatively ugly, but that’s another conversation for another day. We all have to start somewhere! Over the years, I just perfected my talents & I would always get asked “Where’d you get your hair from” & “How do you keep up with your hair” things of that nature. So I kind of knew that I had the potential to influence; I just never took it further.
I also loved taking pictures. I got dressed literally just to take pictures even if I wasn’t going anywhere. So it really was always kind of in me. Now as far as YouTube. I watched YouTube more than regular tv! So much of what I know came from YouTube. Hair, makeup, facts, diys, the list goes on. One of my favorite things that I did was making colorful lipsticks out of crayons. I still have the picture till this day! There’s so many creators that I watched prior to my journey. Shout out to the Ogs! I always wondered as I watched how they did it & what it took to actually do YouTube. I was truly inspired. One day I just decided to give it a shot and it was the best decision I could have ever made.
I filmed & uploaded a Get Ready With Me aka a GRWM. Just doing my hair and my makeup. I created my first video with the intention to keep it going. I made a vow to myself to upload twice a week. At the same time, I was only 16/17 years old working at McDonald’s. I didn’t have a ring light or fancy equipment. Just my phone, a lamp, a selfie stick, tape, & a mirror. When I dropped my first video, it didn’t gain much traction, but I was still determined. I didn’t let a lack of support deter me. I knew eventually, someone out there somewhere would watch. It took about 3 videos before I saw much growth. The video that changed everything was a simple edge tutorial. I never knew that something so basic that I did in my everyday life would alter my life so much. After that video, my channel exploded. I posted my very first video on May 31, 2018 my 3rd video which was the edge tutorial was posted June 15, 2018. By the end of June, I had amassed 10,000 subscribers with thousands of views on that one video. I experienced tremendous growth very early on so it kind of felt destined like this was meant for me.
Originally my goal was to be a lawyer/politician. I’m truly fascinated with all things politics. I’m a history geek. Social studies was always my favorite subject in school. So I was going to try to pursue something within that field. One of my favorite movies growing up was legally blonde! Lol! It matched me perfectly, I’ve always been super girly, but I still had one goal. All that changed however once I started making videos.
In June of last year, I enrolled into Cosmetology School. As I stated previously, hair was a God-given talent. I was never necessarily taught; I just knew what to do for the most part. Fresh out of high school, I was strongly urged to get my license, but stubborn me insisted on going to college. I had taken Cosmetology in high school for three years, so I was kind of over it. Looking back, I wish I would have just done it, but I had to see for myself. As much as I tried to neglect my talent, it always came back to hair. I only worked on family & they would always tell me how they got compliments on their hair & I would always get compliments on my hair as well. Just recently, I’ve decided that I actually want to pursue a career in hair seriously. I was scared to work on clients, but school has helped with that fear. I remember at one point in I believe 2017, I started doing hair for a short period. I did box braids. I had maybe four or five clients total over the course of the small time I did offer them. So it’s not all foreign to me. I’m very interested to see where this goes though in the future. I graduate in September.
All these things truly changed the trajectory of where I thought my life was supposed to go. I’m so thankful that God made me see what my true path was because I wasted a lot of time trying to figure it out. It’s made me the happiest & I don’t think me in the past could have even imagined that my life would be this way today or that I would even still be creating content. It’s a blessing.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The road has not always been smooth. With anything there will be trials & tribulations, you just have to overcome them. My biggest struggles were facing burnout, & learning how to ignore negativity. Being a creator, burnout is something that will happen. After years of doing something, it’s easy to get in a creative funk because you feel like you’ve done everything. You don’t want to bore your audience & you want to stay current, you don’t want to necessarily follow a trend (to stand out) but how do you go about it? Sometimes you’ll go crazy trying to figure it out. & the negativity is quite self-explanatory people are always going to talk. You put yourself out the, so expect it. People on the internet are mean! I just had to realize there’s more people that love me than the ones who hate me! A lot of things challenged me and made me question if this was what I was supposed to be doing. So much so that I went to college 3 times trying to force something that just didn’t work. I was put on earth for a specific purpose & I feel like I’m truly fulfilling it despite the hardships. It all helped build character & it all plays a part in how I run my business now & who I am.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I consider myself a Content Creator / Influencer. I am also an upcoming hairstylist. My main platform is YouTube! YouTube is my baby. I specialize in beauty, lifestyle, and fashion content. I’m really known for my hauls & wig install videos, but my vlogs are also very popular. I’m most proud of my channel, being able to have built a platform off of just being myself is a dream. In my opinion, Youtube is one of the harder platforms to grow on, so if you do well on there, it kind of makes me feel like I really earned it. Not to say the others aren’t, but YouTube is different! The algorithm, the long videos (editing), man that stuff takes some work! You have to keep your audience engaged at all times! What I truly believe sets me apart from others is on my channel I try to share my life in the most authentic way possible. I’m not afraid to show my downfalls because life is an experience. It’s not always going to be peaches and cream. I display that because when I post my triumphs, the steps it took to get there can be seen, therefore it’s better received and appreciated. I really try to engage with my audience, I think they appreciate that too.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Until recently I was never too big on risk taking, because I didn’t like change. Those two are very closely related. With risk, the change can be good or bad. The biggest thing that I could consider a risk right now is me actually going to cosmetology school & pursuing doing hair. However, I’m now more than ever open to change & taking risks. So who knows what’s next to come!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://instagram.com/sosadditysalon?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/jaydajonae?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaydaDavis64?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: Youtube.com/JaydaJonet
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@jaydajonae?_t=8bnFesSXuaR&_r=1
Image Credits
Shyann Brinson Photgraphy
