ShAunta Moore

I attribute my success to my family, especially my mother. My mother was a minister of music who could sing and was a walking band - she played keys, guitar, drums. Growing up, I had a family gospel quartet group which my mother led, and we also had a family choir which my mother led. We went on tour with them and were very high in demand, very well known in the southern region. We're from South Georgia. So I don't think I had any other choice but to tap into what was definitely exemplified in front of me. Even now, when people see something in reference to me on social media, nine times out of ten something says, oh, she's just like her mother. And I take it and I wear it with a badge of honor. My kids also drive me - I'm a firm believer that the most important job you can have on the face of the earth is being a parent, and to be really specific, being a mother. My oldest is 28 and she is a professional model and actress. My middle baby is a photographer and videographer. Watching me in that arena, the hair, the makeup, the clothes, it sort of grabbed them. The girls grabbed onto it and they hung on to it.

The best career advice I ever received came from Walter Orange of the Commodores, who I toured with for a while. He said to me, never allow anyone to treat you mediocre, because there's nothing mediocre about you. Always know that you've earned everything that you received, and that you're good at it. That, to me, was very good advice, because you deal with a lot of people who, for one reason or another, put you in a bracket, disrespect you, don't feel like you should do it, or think you're the wrong something. And so that definitely stuck with me. It's about knowing your values and not letting anyone treat you as less than what you're worth.

Stand for something, or you will fall for all of it. You gotta stand firm on your beliefs, on your morals, on your values. Because the reality is, yes, this is a dog-eat-dog world, and everybody is out to make money, even if they have to sell you. Standing on morals and standards and values is the only way you're gonna last in this game, because if you get caught up in the warp of the system, if you get caught in the game of the industry, it doesn't end well - emotionally, physically, psychologically, monetarily. It doesn't end well. And I thank God that I don't have that story of it not ending well for me. I've had experiences where major labels like Sony wanted exclusive rights to my songs with no credit or royalty for me, and I said no. I've had people try to disqualify me because I'm a mother with children. But I stood on my standards and didn't let anybody discredit me or make me feel like my reality is an interruption. When you know your worth, you're not crazy. Don't let anybody do that to you. Don't let anybody feel like your reality is an interruption. No, it's my reality, it's who I am.

The biggest challenge for me has been keeping revenue coming in to run my entity, Ocean Eye Productions, so that I can continue to be the product. I'm not Sony, I'm not Arista, I'm not Electra, but you still need to have that big boy look, and that big boy feel, and that big boy sound, and that big boy quality. So just finding my groove to keep generating revenue has been the challenge. The beautiful thing is, I did not have to spend any money - everything came to me. So whatever I put back into the business, we reaped it 100-fold, plus some. As far as opportunities, doors are always open. I just got three bookings in the last week. With the Urban Incentive, we've walked into a lot of doors with business development and business growth. We've partnered with quite a few people, including a network out of California about three years ago, so our work reached from South Georgia over to California. There's also opportunities to provide education to schools or organizations to teach and educate people that aspire to do some of the things that God has blessed me to be able to do. My hashtag is hashtag Here We Grow - I love to share because I feel like we grow best together.

The foundation of my life is that I am a pastor I'm licensed and ordained. For me, it's having the standard of God in everything that I do. I'm that type of person where there's not a gig or a dollar that I'll sell my soul for. There's not a place that I'll go that I know goes against what's on the inside of me, to represent the goodness of God. So for me, it's just keeping the standards of God. I'm also a firm believer that the most important gig, job, profession, anything that you can have on the face of the earth is being a parent, and to be really specific, being a mother. I don't take that lightly, and I don't feel like a nanny is the one that's supposed to raise my kid. If she was supposed to raise my kid, God would allow her to have it, not me. I believe in order, and my kids came first. I do what I have to do to keep everything balanced out, to keep all the businesses afloat, keep home afloat, keep family afloat.