Ta'lor Pinkston Helps Women Prioritize Self-Love And Healing

Ta’lor Pinkston is the CEO and founder of LADYHOOD Journey LLC as a Self-love Coach, Self-love Lifestyle Blogger, Poetess, Inspirational Speaker, BOPO Model, and Mompreneur. She graduated with a Bachelors in Creative Writing and received her Master’s in Social Work at the California University of Pennsylvania.

Her blog focuses on helping women, college girls, and mothers prioritize self-love, to be advocates for Women Empowerment and to focus on Healing Over Everything™. Ta’lor also is the owner of the Self-love Shop which is an online store dedicated to all natural and organic wellness and beauty.

What motivated and inspired you to start your own business?

Since college, back in 2015, I desired to be the CEO of a non-profit organization for women and families. I got pregnant a month before I graduated with my Masters in Social Work and suffered through a depression for 9 months.

I was on an unpaid maternity, living in a one bedroom apartment, in a toxic relationship with my child’s father, and staring at my degree. I felt defeated and like everything I worked so hard for was slipping away. Writing was also another passion of mine, and I completely stopped writing.

I was sitting on my loveseat because we couldn’t afford a couch while scrolling through social media and saw an ad for starting your own blog. I felt my daughter kick and I knew that I had to make the change in myself so that she would not end up in the same position. I didn’t want my child to hold herself hostage to her past choices. That was the day I slowly started to fall in love with myself and share my story with the world.

In 2018, I decided to turn my blog into a business and I created the Self-love Shop and offered Self-love Coaching on my website as well.

Tell us about your business.

Through the online Self-Coaching services, I seek to help all women become their own priority. LADYHOOD Journey LLC believes in the power of self-love impacting every aspect of life.

Just like a Life Coach, as your Self-love Guide, I help women understand their worth, make self-care priority, and help them professionally and personally reach their S.M.A.R.T. Goals. Unlike a Life Coach, I help women to know their worth, to think with their heart, and to see their mind, body, and soul as beautiful. Currently, my Self-love Coach starts at $40/hourly.

The Self-love Shop is an online store that is dedicated to all natural and organic wellness and beauty that will not break your budget. I decided to create the Self-love Shop because I desire to raise my daughter in an all-natural/organic household but most products are so expensive.

I had been taking detox baths and drinking tea religiously and just decided to bring my creations to other women who were sick of spending their money on expensive products based on the label it came in. Every product in my store is handmade and priced under $10. I believe in eco-friendly self-care that should not be expensive to purchase.

List awards/certifications/accomplishments.

Path of Self-love Cultivating a Strong Inner Foundation Certification
Strengths-Based Family Worker Certification
Z Publishing House included and published my short story, “Maternity Leave in America: The Story of a Depressed Mother,” in their most recent release for Pennsylvania’s Emerging Writers: An Anthology of Nonfiction.

Where is your business based?

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

What were the first few steps you took to get your business up and running?

It was important for me to know what products I wanted to sell and the ingredients I would use to create them. I spent a lot of time comparing prices for the ingredients I needed for each product.

Everything I create, I also use. I spent months using the products and promoting them on social media before they were offered in the Self-love Shop. There are many product-based businesses that sell beauty products, I wanted to stand out by providing products for wellness as well.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness of your business and getting new customers?

Vendor events have been a great way for me to connect with people in my community and in my city. I find most of my vendor opportunities through Facebook and Instagram but I also use those platforms to promote my products and advertise them as well.

Facebook and Instagram are also the platforms I use to advertise for my Self-love Coaching as well.

What have been your biggest challenges so far?

My biggest challenge for the Self-love Shop is finding more vendor events and networking. As a single mother, I struggle often to make the time to attend events that are not kid-friendly. I take my daughter everywhere I go. She is why LADYHOOD journey was created and I want her to see mommy doing what she loves to do.

When it comes to the Self-love Coaching services, the biggest concern that I am faced with is explaining the difference between a Life Coach and a Self-love Coach. I am always saying, “a Self-love Coach is a life-coach who focuses on the heart.”

My coaching services are strengths-based and focus on helping beloveds build a solid foundation in self-love by addressing that mean voice inside of you, to understand your worth, and to acknowledge your heart throughout your daily interactions.

How did you overcome these challenges?

I am still working to overcome these challenges. Just like self-love, starting a business is a journey and I am loving that I can learn something new every day, even in my failures.

How do you keep motivated through difficult times?

There are a few things that I feel everyone needs when starting a business and in order to maintain that business:

Self-awareness and self-acceptance
- Get to know who you are
- Accept who you are
- Stay on brand with your purpose
A solid tribe of direct support
Faith: Prayer and Meditation

I meditate weekly and always feel grounded when I spend time in prayer and devotion as well. Logging off of social media or even specific apps that may distract is essential weekly for me as well.

How do you distinguish yourself from your competitors?

Many business/boutiques sell sugar scrubs, bath bombs, and bath salts, but not many of them focus on the ingredients they are using and the cost of those ingredients to make them affordable for anyone.

As a single mother, I know the struggle to have an all-natural and organic household, so I created the Self-love Shop with that in mind. I wanted each of my products to be non-toxic and to not break anyone’s budget.

What is the best advice you have received recently?

Stop comparing yourself to your past self and others. Stop worrying about followers, likes, engagements, shares, comments, and insights. Meet yourself where you are. Ask for help when needed and celebrate the small successes every single day.

What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?

When you feel discouraged when sales are not happening the way you would like them to, STAY GRATEFUL. Think about how far you have come, all that you have accomplished and how you can target another audience that you have not yet reached out to.

What are your favorite business tools/resources and why?

Facebook groups have saved my life when it came to turning my blog into a business. I am a part of a group created by Kyshira Moffett, MBA on Facebook called #HERMovement Network which helps female entrepreneurs and businesswomen “to learn, grow and connect.”

They provide tips, resources, live tutorials, events, and so much more. I have learned so much from these ladies and I believe in the power of networking and making genuine connections with others, so joining Facebook groups is something I advocate for.

What is a good article or book you have read recently?

Currently, I am reading “Choosing ME Before WE: Every Woman’s Guide to Life and Love” by Christine Arylo; a Self-Help book on why self-love is essential for every woman before they choose to enter in a beloved relationship with someone.

We have to choose ourselves before we can choose to be with someone else and I am learning that every single day.

What are you currently learning about for your business or looking for help with?

Currently, I am learning more about hosting events in my city. Collaboration is so important to me. I love connecting with other businesses and brands that are about self-love, healing, women empowerment, and body positivity.

What are your goals for the next few months and how are you striving to achieve them?

I hosted my first Self-love Workshop on October 6, 2018 in Pittsburgh, PA. This is an important part of my Self-love Coaching because I believe that we grow stronger together, in community with one another.