Meet Sharia Barlow

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharia Barlow.

Sharia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
For 15+ years, I’ve been refining the vision of my life, creating my own dreams, doing what I love. The vehicle to my success has been creativity, hustle, and motivation of family.

Truth be told, as a wife, mother of 5, and full-time entrepreneur, the cornerstone of everything that I’ve ever done has been the result of working the only way that I’ve ever known how to: From the heart.

Excellence and ambition was instilled in me as a child, growing up in Philadelphia with the strong examples and unconditional guidance of my very own SHEROES, my mom and grandmother.

I developed a deeper sense of pride, handwork, and dream building during my collegiate career, studying Psychology at FAMU. While I was still determining what my life as an adult would look like, I became a mom in 2003.

Having my son ignited a new level of passion and focus that I’d never experienced. While there were many uncertainties, I knew that I would create a life for my child that he deserved.

In 2004, I started my first wedding planning company, during graduate school at Florida State University. It was through this endeavor that I began sharpening my skills as a businesswoman and an innovative, customized event specialist. The biggest lesson I learned while building that business was that my gift was truly in being able to capture the essence of my clients and introduce special touches to their memorable milestone celebration that made each event one of a kind. My competitive advantage has always been in curating an experience that balances delicate intimacy with undeniable impression.

After relocating to Orlando, FL to begin a career as a School Psychologist, I gave birth to my daughter in 2008. Despite the steadiness of my profession and the logic that would suggest that because I’d just earned 2 degrees to do work in the field, my heart remained in creating on my own terms. I refined my brand and relaunched my event planning company as StyleHouse Wedding & Events to exclusively work full-time in the field I was passionate about.

Those early years in business and in motherhood were the foundation that has driven me to continue to dream, create, and stretch myself to pursue ideas and create opportunities that align with my personal definition of success.

In 2014, I dissolved Stylehouse Weddings & Events and reset entirely with a move to Atlanta, GA. Since then, I have continued to strengthen my professional resume through strategic partnerships and new business development.

Today, I am still curating breathtakingly weddings and events, in addition to efficiently planning and seamlessly executing corporate events. As a truly ambitious entrepreneur, I am the proud owner of 10Twelve & Co., a customizable, reversible sequin accent pillow company, as well as co-owner with my husband of Snap Fire Photo Booths providing mirror photo booth rentals for private events.

Although I am the owner and major contributor to multiple successful companies, the most important role in life is being an example of hard work and proof that you can be successful when you are courageous enough to envision and chase your dreams for my children.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The journey has been extremely rewarding, but it has not been smooth. As an entrepreneur, the heart of the business is the person behind it and so the journey to professional success has required a lot of self-development; which hasn’t always been easy.

Keep in mind, since I began my entrepreneurial journey, I’ve become a mother of 5 children that I am responsible for raising into successful, well-rounded, well-loved adults. At one point, I had to step away from my thriving business to protect the needs and interest of my family. With time, I was able to get my family in a place that allowed me to resume my professional focus.

With such a full load, to say that I’m busy all of the time would be an understatement. However, I have never forgotten the commitment I made to my son in 2003, which has extended to my other children in the years since – to create a life that they deserve and teaches them that the sky is the limit. I am immensely proud of my professional success, but more than anything, the journey has absolutely empowered me in my role as the COO of my busy household.

Aside from the inevitable and on-going challenges of being a working wife and mom, one of the biggest challenges in my career was definitely the recession. Event planning is a field that is largely dependent on disposable income. So having to position my services as a necessity in a traditionally commoditized market was as daunting as it was necessary. In many ways, I had to shift the way I was marketing myself. My services could no longer be discussed as an optional, nice to have experience. Instead, I began to speak to the psychological benefits that my support and partnership could provide. My value could no longer be perceived as one that was just “helpful”, rather my value became essential to maximizing value and creating peace of mind as an expert in the industry. As we moved out of the recession, this mindset remained with me.

Sharia Barlow Designs – The Event Experience Firm – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Sharia Barlow Designs is a brand that is committed to elevating the entirety of the experience process with a focus of personalization, intimacy and unforgettable impressions. It is the opportunity to elevate a client’s experience full scale or through unique touches.

Whether it is event planning services and manifesting the reality of a vision that properly and authentically reflect the fullness of your life event; or capturing the individualized moments of your guests that memorialize the experience through an immersive photo-booth, or personalized accent pieces that elevate your theme and signature through decor. Honestly, every ancillary business I’ve created was founded on the basic commitment to being innovative, creative, and keenly in-tuned with the unique clients I support and pride myself on being professional, thorough, and effective at every level of my business.

More than anything, I want people to know that Sharia Barlow, the woman behind the brand, is a committed wife, mother, passionate creative, and fiercely driven women. I work with heart and hustle and am constantly reimagining what success looks likes for myself and my family.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success to me is rooted in integrity. I want my family to be proud of me and inspired by my example of commitment, hard work, and ambition. If my kids grow up believing in their own value as creative, innovative, resourceful and productive people and know it’s worth working hard to make to happen… I’ve done my job!

My mother and grandmother poured sooo much into me, so I also want to make them proud and be a living testimony of their wildest dreams for me. My grandmother, starting in the 60s, was a trailblazer in her field with a government job. It was uncommon for women of Color to hold such high supervisory positions of success in the workforce at that time. I was able to watch her model gracefully carrying the demands of a successful career, all while managing a robust household. I remember being so proud of her and subsequently my mother who also followed her footsteps. That is success.

Finally, freedom is success. Freedom to live authentically and confidently, to have experiences and opportunities whether it’s by having a seat at tables or creating tables of my own, and to operate from a place of an abundance of inspiration and resources.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shariabarlow.com and www.snapfirephotobooths.com and www.10Twelveandco.com
• Phone: 7707782172
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @snapfirephotobooths @10twelveandco

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