Today we’d like to introduce you to La’Shay Douglas.
Hi La’Shay, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstories.
Hello, my name is La’Shay Douglas. I am a Saint Louis native and a serial entrepreneur. I always knew I would own at least one business because I dislike working for others. My mom used to prepare tax returns part-time and started showing me the ropes at age 16. And while I was in high school, a friend of mine had an aunt in real estate who began to show us the benefits of being an agent; she was willing to train us and pay for our licensing to become agents ourselves. However, I became a single mom at the age of 19 and felt this was not the best path at that time. I began working for T-Mobile as well as part-time in home healthcare. I was financially stable but spent much time away from my daughter. I knew I needed to figure something out fast to not only be able to provide financially for her but be present as well. I started by pursuing my insurance license, but being under local brokers, I was unfairly paid and still spent much time absent from my daughter. I still loved real estate and decided that was a license I needed to obtain. I got my license in 2019 and started real estate part-time. It opened my eyes to the endless possibilities and convenience of being your boss and controlling your time. I quickly incorporated my knowledge of the tax industry to provide an additional service to my clients who needed help understanding the credits of being a homeowner and how falling behind or misrepresenting taxes could affect the home-owning process. Things came to a slight standstill when the pandemic hit, and there wasn’t much growth for me in either industry, so I decided to become an insurance broker myself and help educate and assist people on the importance of having an IUL or life policy in place. Many people’s 401k took a huge hit during the pandemic, whereas if they had an IUL, their investments would’ve been safe, and they could’ve pulled from it with no penalties to help them get through the rough times. As the pandemic slowed down, real estate and taxes picked up, my three different professions intertwined, and I created my business La’Shay Of All Trades, to serve as a one-stop shop for my clients.
In 2022 I opened my home health care agency T&L Personal Care LLC, to provide a better experience for consumers/senior citizens and caregivers than I witnessed working for other companies. I am helping my clients out on showings or at my daughter’s dance recitals. This road has been tough, but I can say now my beautiful daughter has her mom full-time and has the financial stability to support her throughout her journey as she starts an early career as a competitive dancer.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been smooth?
There are off-seasons to each of my entities, as is with any other industry. It has not been smooth, but nothing worth having comes easy. There are many different variables to growing a business, especially service/sales-based business. Providing a service or what we feel people need is tough sometimes to get them to realize it themselves or even get them to make it a priority to move forward. There’s also the time management piece; from being a full-time single mom, especially an active kid who rehearsals 4 plus times a week, to completing daily business tasks to ensure no client is left unheard, it’s working 20 jobs at once. All while still making sure to take care of yourself.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
I am set aside from others because I am versatile in different industries that all work together to enhance anyone’s life. LaShay of all trades is a one-stop shop where you can gain knowledge and services that will help you, whether real estate, tax, or insurance based. I take my time to complete a full scope of appointments to make sure all of my client’s needs are met no matter what. When I am approached to help someone buy a home, I educate them on how to cover that home in the unfortunate event that they can not cover the payments through insurance. And when a client wants to file their tax return and want to know the steps of buying a home or investing their tax proceeds so that it can grow, I can walk them through the home-buying journey and even help them set up a tax-free retirement account. I can give knowledge and hope.
T&L Personal Care is not your average home health agency that only opened because it was “easy to do” we pride ourselves on matching the right caregivers with the best consumers who depend on their care and vice versa. We all will age or have something happen to us one day where we need a little extra assistance, but that does not mean we should just be put into an entity instead of remaining in our homes. It makes me proud to say someone’s loved one can remain in the home they raised their children and their children’s children in because I was able to provide them with care and security.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important thing I have learned is that you must consistently water your grass and have the patience to grow. I used to want to give up every other week because I could work 40 hours a week on my business and not make a check. I had to get out of the mentality that when you work 40 hours, you get a check automatically as you did at someone else business because those people have already put in 100-hour weeks, and that is why we were all working under them. I had to remember to build. Sometimes it takes more than 40 hours a week. Giving up is not an option because I have a little girl looking up to me; failure is not an option.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.homesbylashay.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lashay_stlrealtor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaShayofAllTrades
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088341459668
