Meet a Member - ShaGraila Hammond
ShaGraila Hammond loved being involved and making things happen when she was younger. She would help organize events like retirement and birthday parties, and later student events on campus, and people began telling her she should make a career out of it. Feeling good about this skill, and with the obvious support of those around her, she got it in her head that she of course could become the best event planner the world would ever know. She now recounts many life lessons which reveal you have to be honest with yourself and learn to play to your true strengths.
ShaGraila founded her first company, Plan with Gray, as an event planner focusing on small weddings and birthday parties. She got to work organizing, taking on every role, and managing to keep her hands on every aspect of the process. In 2018, while working on a project with others, ShaGraila started to get a glimpse that maybe she was not as stellar as she thought. She doubled down and plowed ahead to keep momentum, looking for new opportunities to grow her business.
Mutual connections make for fortuitous opportunities, and ShaGraila Hammond’s first chance encounter with Eric Parker of theClubhou.se was through such a mutual acquaintance while walking into a restaurant. “After that,” she shares, “I started hearing about theClubhou.se every so often and eventually had a few meetings there with members.” A few months later, ShaGraila saw Eric again at the Georgia Cyber Center grand opening. She was still developing her business at the time and Eric recommended she apply to Startup Life, an entrepreneurship program presented by theClubhou.se and funded by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation.
ShaGraila entered the Startup Life program with her event planning business. She looks back on her time in the program as a tremendous learning experience. Despite the program helping to lower the barriers to entrepreneurship, not having access to capital during this growth stage of the business was stifling. ShaGraila found it was difficult to complete the necessary steps like establishing and paying for an online domain for her business. Without that access to capital, she took on every responsibility as she was unable to build a team and hire out tasks. During that time, she also went through a rebranding which affected her momentum, and she realized, “Attending events is more fun than planning them.” Being young, without much experience, ShaGraila admits she made a couple of mistakes early on, leading her to close that business. Her biggest takeaways from that endeavor were learning about the responsibility of running a business, setting boundaries for herself and her business, and to avoid overpromising. After some consideration of the ups and downs, she decided to start another business. “I know I’ve tried a lot of different things,” says ShaGraila, “What I am doing now feels right.“
Currently, her business is ShaGraila LeAnn & Co., which focuses on marketing and branding for startups and small businesses. Her focus is to help business owners who are just starting out avoid having to rebrand in the near future. “Without a solid brand,” ShaGraila says, “ trying to market is a constant chore.” She helps business owners develop a brand, optimizing it for future marketing campaigns. She says her wheelhouse is taking a client's idea and helping them with an execution strategy for launching their brand. Be on the lookout as she is developing content for an official launch of her own in May 2021. As an extension of her skillset, ShaGraila has been making floral arrangements and creating different drink recipes. Add to that an interest in photography, ShaGraila is considering folding these into a wellness and lifestyle aspect as a portion of her brand.
Reflecting on her hard knocks education, ShaGraila emphasizes, “Be honest with yourself. It’s okay to start a business and not be a business person. Though it is important to partner with others when needed. You may have an idea, but need a partner to see it come to fruition.” She has learned to establish realistic expectations of her responsibilities and to embrace the inevitability that things do not always go according to plan. “It’s okay to evolve beyond your initial inspiration,” she advises. “Businesses are ever-changing, and people and trends do the same. Stay aware and be adaptive.”
“Without a solid brand, trying to market is a constant chore,” ShaGraila says. She helps business owners develop a brand, optimizing it for future marketing campaigns.
ShaGraila Hammond with her very own Cowbell of theClubhou.se and Eric Parker.
One of her biggest realizations is that her strength is in managing. Whether it is people, a project, or a campaign, she relishes the opportunity to see an idea come to fruition through the teamwork of collaborators. It was a hard truth to accept that she did not have to be the person whose hands were on every aspect of the business.
ShaGraila currently sits on the board for the Greater Augusta Black Chamber of Commerce as a Vice President at Large. “We are helping to create a space for black people in the area to have access to education and resources. It is a passion of mine to make sure people who look like me have a seat at the table. If the space does not exist, it must be created for them.” She focuses on creating access to small business ownership for Millenials and Gen Z. Her approach is to help them with understanding their communication style and the impact it has on their business. ShaGraila is also the Lead Organizer of 1 Million Cups Augusta.
Not one to let another passion go unexplored, ShaGraila is one of the partners behind Augusta Community Fridge. The endeavor seeks to make fresh, healthy food available to those in need with no questions asked. She is working on it behind the scenes handling operations that entail logistics, research, and community connections while her partner serves as the face of the business, handling donations, education, and the nutritional component.
ShaGraila has now been a part of the community of theClubhou.se for a few years. We appreciate being able to see the values of theClubhou.se embraced and exemplified in our members. Asked about the values, ShaGraila reflected on them and provided us this insight: “I am learning to take risks and not second guess them. I am becoming more serious about honoring the commitments I have made to myself and others. I work to gain the trust of others. I am educating myself on how to give without being an over-giver because you can’t pour from an empty cup. I am a solution-based person, therefore I will always find a way to share solutions.”
Considering her involvement in the growth of businesses in the Augusta area, ShaGraila hopes that Augusta as a whole grows to “an unexplainable level”, as she puts it, in the next 5-10 years. “I feel like Augusta is on the cusp of some major changes,” ShaGraila says. “There is so much coming to the area, whether it is upcoming businesses or new developments. Hopefully, I will still be living in Augusta to see and be a part of the growth.”
The entrepreneurial cycle is sometimes a tumultuous one, with all the joys and sadness of life baked into the process. As exhilarating as success can be, the failure can be equally crushing. Through both, ShaGraila demonstrates the importance of learning and adaptation that are helping use her love of making things happen to grow her business and support the Greater Augusta Community.