NaToya Cooper

I would contribute it to, of course, my family, and also all of the other moms and mothers who want to be a stay-at-home mom. When you have one or two kids, it may be a little bit easier to have a job, but what about the moms who have multiple kids, or who have a lot of kids back-to-back? Your life looks a little bit different - you have practices and things your kids have to go to, and it's not just for one child, it's for many children. I would dedicate it to motherhood, and I would also dedicate it to people who use what they were brought up to do. I come from a family full of entrepreneurship - my grandfather, my mom's dad, he was an entrepreneur, a lot of people in my family have businesses, and it's just who I am. I think a lot of people try to be something that they're not versus using what they already have to become what they need to become. Sometimes you look at things and you want to be a certain type of way, when honestly, certain things are just already instilled in you, and it's just who you are. You have to use it to your advantage. So I do it for the moms out there, I do it for the people who want freedom, for the people who want peace, for the people who don't want to be tied behind something else, and who genuinely just want to be an entrepreneur and a business owner.

The best advice I've received is to not only surround yourself and reach out to people, but to build a community. When I say build a community, people think community means thousands of people, but a community can be one or two people. Build a community of people who you can reach out to, who you could talk to, who you could sit down with on a personal level. And not only just that, be the person that someone else can reach out to, because your turn is going to come when you have to be that person. When your friend is feeling down and out, and they're feeling unmotivated, or they want to quit, you're gonna have to be that person that says, no, don't quit. Like, what are you gonna do now? You put in all this work, it's not time to turn around, it's time to keep going and maybe pivot, maybe try something still in this lane, but maybe switch lanes and do something else. Not only be surrounded by motivational people, but build a community, and also be that person that people can reach out to.

I would let them know that it's not gonna be easy, and there is gonna be a longer road ahead for you because content creation - people think content creation equals when you have a whole bunch of followers, that equals money, and it's not that. When I was doing it with my first two kids, I was doing content creation, I had the followers, but I didn't have the income. The income really didn't come until I started doing TikTok Shop. Now, there are a lot of other content creators who make their money in different ways, but for women who are like me, I would just say be patient, and just keep putting out quality content, put out quality work, make sure you look good on camera, make sure you speak well. Even if you don't have the money to invest in mentorship or coaching, do the research and the data yourself. I will also let them know to surround yourself around other women and other mothers who are on the same path as you, because that's gonna be your counselor. Those people, when you want to quit, when you want to give up, those are gonna be the people that you reach out to, and y'all are gonna keep each other motivated and keep each other to keep going. And don't think that just because you're a stay-at-home mom that you're less qualified. You're actually overqualified in a lot of areas, so use that to your advantage.

I feel like the challenge is that there are a lot of people doing what I do, but I feel like that's in any market. It's about perspective. There's a lot of people in the industry, but there's not a lot of you, so just be you, be yourself. I feel like that might be a challenge, because people get caught up in oversaturation, and people feel like, oh, everybody's doing it, so I don't want to do it now. But that's where the advantage comes in, because yes, there's a lot of people doing it, but there's not a lot of you doing it. There's nobody like you. You're your own individual, you can make it your own way. Honestly, just be the voice of people or of other women who might not have that voice at the moment. That's what's gonna bring you the followers, that's what's gonna build your community, because there are a lot of people who think like you, or who want to be like you, or who have similar values and beliefs as you, but they're just not gonna talk about it. So if you're that voice, that's actually gonna be a good thing.

What values are most important to me is, honestly, as a Black woman, you have to show up for yourself. You have to show up looking good on camera, you have to show up speaking well. As a Black woman, and I believe as any minority woman, it's a little bit harder for us. That's the honest truth, it's a little bit harder for us. I'm that type of woman who I want to show up comfortable, and I want to show up who I am all the time, and I did that, I did a lot of that. But now, once I start stepping into a higher level, or I start meeting with different people, I realized how important it is to show up professionally. I think that really makes me kind of a selfless person as well, because I know when to switch it. I know when to be professional, I know when to show up looking good, I know when to show up speaking well, but then I can also still relate to my community and still be who I am at some point. I feel like it's very important for minority women to show up on camera looking good, speaking well, being able to make that switch between being professional and being true to yourself so you can relate to your community.