![\"\"](\"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Kazia-Scotland-2-642x428.png\")
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Note: HYP<\/strong> (Hard-working Young Professionals) is a group of young professionals with the aim of creating networks that will develop the country. Each HYP highlight<\/strong> will recognize at least one such professional and describe their accomplishments, successes\u00a0<\/em>and aspirations.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n HYP Highlight<\/strong> \u201cBeing successful is a state of mind\u201d<\/p>\n At the age of 22, Kazia Shillingford – Scotland has accomplished what many individuals lack the courage to pursue. Locally known as the \u201cDancehall Queen\u201d, Kazia is no stranger to entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n Whilst most of other high schoolers were busy trying to coax money out of their parents to buy meat pies or top-up, Kazia was busy earning an income. With an excess of school supplies at home, she decided, that the best way to get rid of them, was to sell them to her peers. Her mother had suggested that she give them away but Kazia\u2019s mind was on the money. She supported her enterprise with an extensive advertising campaign at school and diversified her range of services to include stationary rental. \u201cI opened an account at the school and saved the money that I made from the sales of my school supplies in that account.\u201d Being in such a small environment, word spread and soon enough the teachers found out about \u2018Kazia’s School Supplies\u2019 and her entrepreneurship spirit got her suspended.<\/p>\n Surviving as an entrepreneur requires unbridled passion, enthusiasm\u00a0and a certain naivete\u00a0in the face of many unknowns, and this trailblazing young lady was not done yet. Though she received a lot of discouragement from many family and friends Kazia decided that she wanted to start a business. With the support from her parents and advice from her mother, she began small and started selling waist trainers and hair extensions from home. The demand for her product began to grow to the point where customers came to her place of employment to pick up their orders. The rapid growth of her business eventually caught the attention of her manager and Kazia was advised that she should establish a physical location.<\/p>\n Using the profits that she made from her sales at home in addition to assistance that she received from the NDFD she officially opened her store in 2015. \u00a0Kazia changed the game and the way hair was sold. Her personality, popularity and personal fashion is the driving force behind her success. Since the launch of \u2018Toujour Haute Couture\u2019 the number of competitors in her field has been growing steadily. Dominican women have started investing in human and coloured hair. It can be said with confidence that Kazia has started and impacted some trends when it comes to hair, though many may not want to concede to that.<\/p>\n Opening the store, \u201cI started from scratch, with nothing and I actually had to borrow a showcase.\u201d She gradually added things as she went along determined not to lose focus or to get discouraged but to take every mistake as a lesson. Along the way \u201c I have learned to manage my money, knowing who is for me and, who are the right people to have around, and that nothing needs to be rushed because everything will happen on its own time, once you have God.\u201d<\/p>\n The entrepreneurship path is strewn with aspiring entrepreneurs who give up at the first tough challenge, are quick to make excuses\u00a0or burn themselves out in stubborn desperation on a broken objective, and this resilience to recover quickly from a setback, pivot\u00a0and charge ahead is invaluable for an entrepreneur. \u201cThere were times when things were hard. Nothing prepares you for running a business. Erika hit me hard after my first four months of opening the store and I lost $10 000 worth of products at the airport.\u201d Kazia shared. That experience taught her to limit the number of products she orders in bulk and to take necessary precaution during the hurricane season. The passing of Hurricane Maria also taught her to safeguard her physical location. When asked how she deals with the negativity, her method is simple. \u201cI block it out and make it a practice to shut down conversations that contain negativity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBeing a boss is about constantly improving, adding, and maintaining your business.\u201d Says Kazia. With that mindset, her goal is to eventually become a business mogul and help other young entrepreneurs along the way.<\/p>\n Some may say she will never do it, or that her goals are too big, but after having a sit down with this amazing young lady I think she\u2019s halfway there. Kazia shows no sign of slowing down as she is about to launch another store \u201cHaute Queens\u201d in St. Maarten. In addition, she is working towards having an outlet in every Caribbean island and also wants to widen her service offerings to include hair installation.<\/p>\n At this point in her life, by every measure of success, Kazia is successful.\u00a0 She likes to believe that \u2018success is a state of mind\u2019 and doesn\u2019t consider herself successful yet. She thinks that she is growing more comfortable as she progresses, and time passes.\u00a0 In the spirit of constant self-improvement, it is in her plan to go to college and get a degree in Cosmetology.\u00a0 At this present moment though, she is doing courses on putting frontals and closures as she plans to expand her business.<\/p>\n Many people already have a preconceived idea of who Kazia is. This she attributes to her prominent public profile. She has been met with negativity, but the outpouring of support overpowers the noise of the \u2018haters\u2019. Whilst speaking to her I only see an outgoing, friendly, open-minded hustler, in the pursuit of success. In the words of Kazia \u2018don\u2019t expect a caterpillar to understand the dream of a butterfly\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Note: HYP (Hard-working Young Professionals) is a group of young professionals with the aim of creating networks that will develop the country. Each HYP highlight will recognize at least one such professional and describe their accomplishments, successes\u00a0and aspirations. HYP…","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":196637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-life"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n