Tell me your story, and how you evolved into becoming this highly successful serial entrepreneur and millionaire?
It all started when I had my daughter at fifteen years old. Growing up, I was an only child for a long time. My mom was a great mother. I was a very spoiled child, and I was raised in a good family. My mom was very stern about me not bringing boys into the house. SoI ended up getting pregnant and my mom put me out. I always tell people that ‘my mom put me out into the jungle, and I came back like a lion.’ I feel like when she put me out it was the best thing she could've ever done for me. I had my daughter when I was so young, and I feel like seeing my daughter was what gave me that motivation to go forth and be great. So I ended up getting a job in the middle of the mall at a cosmetics stand. I was about sixteen or seventeen years old. I went from place to place, couch to couch, me and my baby, and I was staying at my cousin’s house at this particular time.
She stayed two minutes away from the South DeKalb Mall in Decatur, Georgia. And I walked up to the makeup kiosk, and I was like: ‘I need a job.’ The owner asked me if I did makeup, and I was like: ‘Yeah, I know how to do makeup.’ I was always into beauty growing up, and I always made sure my eyebrows were good. I really didn’t know how to do makeup but what I quickly learned was that if you have a baby, you can do anything. Those mom superpowers kick in. So I ended up doing makeup for this random girl who went to my school. I did her makeup and the lady at the makeup kiosk hired me on the spot. And it’s been on since then. I worked there a couple of years, and I even worked in the back of a strip club, doing makeup. I got my own spot inside of a flea market, and that was when I started building my relationship with God really strong. So I did makeup in the flea market and then I ended up just meeting other people, and then started doing different celebrities’ makeup and it just took off from there. That is how I got my start in the beauty world, and then I launched my infamous Sierra Glam Shop.
What inspired you to launch Money Monsters Academy?
My story is what actually motivated me to launch Money Monsters Academy. I remember when I used to want help from other people to start up my business. Not even financially, just knowledge wise. I didn’t know how to get a business license; I didn’t know where to start with launching a business. So, when the pandemic hit, I had extra time cause everybody knew I did my Microblading the Sierra Way classes, where I travel the world, teaching girls the six and seven figure technique of microblading. But when the pandemic hit, I wasn’t able to go on my tours anymore. So during the time I was off on my tours, people would always ask me how I became so successful at a young age, and they would ask me if I could help them. And I never really had a chance to help them because I was always filming, being a mom, or either on tour. So, when I had that down time, I created Money Monsters Academy. I have so many different connections in China, and I just started sharing my connections and resources to my supporters. I would show them how to get their business license and show them how to create their website, where to start, how to post on Instagram, Twitter, and how to utilize these platforms so that they can monetize.
The market is oversaturated and there are so many competitive brands out today. What do you feel sets you apart from other brands?
For one, I feel my genuinity, my love for God, and wanting to see His people
do great sets me apart. So, it's always going to be a million people doing a million things, but there’s enough money for all of us. My motto is to just say let your work be good and speak for itself, and you’ll shine bright. So, it’s really no competition. If you’re really doing something good, and it's genuine and it's coming from your heart, and you’re really helping people, then you will soar. Also, word of mouth is everything. Before Instagram, I was very successful, and it was always by word of mouth. It’s important to leave a good impression, and make sure that you’re genuinely helping people and doing what you say you’re doing.
A lot of times girls come up with this fake “girl power” stuff and it's not really girl power they’re just doing it to get people's money. I really don’t have those problems because this is truly my passion. I really want to see girls be successful because I was counted out. So many people told me I was going to be on welfare, and they told me I wasn’t going to be anything. I don’t have a high school diploma, or a GED, but it’s something that I want to work towards. Many counted me out. So, for me to be as successful as I am today, it really is a pleasure for me to push other girls to succeed.
Being as though you are full speed ahead again with your “Microblading: The Sierra Way Tour,” what is your major goal with your tour experience, and what do you hope to accomplish?
It is my mission to teach more girls, so that they can change their tax bracket and their situations and change their family’s lives like I said before. There are so many different techniques that I teach on the microblading tours–you have microblading, micro shading, and lash extensions. I know that these are all six figure techniques and can change peoples lives. And I just hope to God that He continues to put the right people in my class and I pray that it takes off for them just like it did for me. I know how it feels to want to master a craft. It felt so good making my first hundred thousand, it felt so good when I made my first ten thousand, twenty thousand, I was able to do different things for my kids and my family, and other people around me. It feels so good to be a blessing, so I am super excited to see these young girls be able to reach their goals and build their empire with the different techniques that I am teaching them.
Let’s talk about beauty! Tell me about your Boss Up Babe palette?
So pre-orders for the palette are now available, and the palette released on Valentine’s Day. The concept for the Boss Up Babe palette came from my daughter, Paris. One day she began motivating me, telling me to boss up. She turned seventeen on Valentine’s Day, so I decided to drop it on her birthday. The palette is just the beginning of an entire line of cosmetics. As you know, I was a makeup artist for thirteen years. and there is a lot of stuff that I’ve seen, in the beauty industry of what I like, and I just want to give it to the world. You only need a dime size amount of foundation to really cover your whole face. People don’t know how to do those things, so I’m going to come out with different products to create the perfect flawless glam. The Boss Up Babe Palette is such a beautiful eyeshadow palette– it’s soft, subtle, but with a pop of color.
Congrats on your engagement! That ring is gorgeous! How did you and Eric meet?
Eric and I met when he dropped my truck off that I ordered from his luxury car dealership, PTG365. He dropped my truck off to me– I bought a brand new 2021 Bentley truck from him. And it was over for me, it was like love at first sight.
How has it been balancing your empires while being newly engaged?
Honestly, it's so much fun. Eric and I, we’re equally successful. So, it’s like when he’s working, I’m working. When I’m cooking dinner, he’s in his office working all day. And when he comes out, we have our little loving time and then he goes back to work. And when I’m working, he comes and checks on me. So, it's actually really fun, we definitely make it work.
Do both you and your fiancé plan on taking more in-depth endeavors when it comes to working together?
Yes! So, Eric has his businesses, and I have mine. As a woman that’s just a headstrong woman that has a great entrepreneurship mindset herself, we just flow. Of course we want to do things together. We have mutually decided to come into our new marriage acknowledging that my businesses are mine, his businesses are his, and whatever we build together under the Whitehead tree, is ours together. We are still talking about owning a restaurant together as well. So, I'm super excited to build new empires with him.
How does it feel knowing that you are receiving your happy ending in both aspects– career and personally?
It feels so great. It reminds me that God answers prayers and that He’s real and that He will literally give you what your heart desires. I did go through a lot to get here, it wasn't just peaches and cream. I had to sort out the bad apples and then I finally got my good apple, and I can’t lie, it’s so exciting. It’s like: ‘Wow you’re really waking up to the person you want to be with, and yall are both successful, and yall both doing God’s work and yall are both growing and building together.’ It really feels so good.
What message would you give to someone who wants to one day become a serial entrepreneur, a beauty mogul like yourself?
You have to stay consistent, that’s one of my biggest mottos I live by. If you want to be successful, you’re going to have your hard days, and you’re going to have your good days. That’s why I’m very transparent with my following. It's not always peaches and cream, money doesn’t always solve every problem, you really have to get on your knees and pray and trust God to work it all out. So, you have to stay consistent in whatever you’re doing to become successful. Stay consistent with your prayer life, stay consistent with getting up, making sure that you are exercising, eating right, and working on your business plan. Staying consistent overall, it may sound cliche, but it really is the key to success.
Makeup: Camille Thomas @cxmile
Styling/Creative: Rohan @ysl.rohan
Hair: "Kee Glam Hair" @keeglamhair
Model: Sierra Gates @sierra_glamshop_
Studio: Kissworks Studio Atlanta @kissworksstudios
PR: Divine Influence PR @divineinfluencepr @iameboyne
Photographer/Creative: Sommer Nicole Photography @sommernicolephoto
You can read The ARTIST ISSUE Vol. 462 here: