Kendra Shantrel

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Kendra Shantrel aka (Shan), is a 28-year old Salisbury native who serves as the CEO of Kendhi & Company. 

 

At Kendhi & Company they specialize in handcrafted accessories for all. 

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During the pandemic, Kendra and her friend Selena,  would sit in her living room and write down business plans. They would talk about the visions they had and where they wanted to see themselves in the years to come. Plotting and planning was a daily task for the two. Kendra told her that she wanted to start a business dedicated to all sizes. Kendra is a strong believer that “everybody deserves to feel & look good” that’s when they came up with the idea of selling waist beads.  Kendra decided to order some in bulk from Amazon and the next day she began promoting them. 

 

After that, Kendra became a full blown sales woman. Promoting, engaging, communicating and studying on how to project more sales. One day she brought the products to her Grandmother and asked what could she do better and she simply replied “make them yourself”. At first Kendra was so against it. Just thinking about the time it would take to make the product, promote the product, and sell the product, but her Grandmother kept insisting that she make waist-beads by hand and put her own creative touch to it. So from there she no longer bought in bulk. They would stay up all hours of the night creating beautiful pieces. 

 

The girls in town went crazy! They had waist beads for everybody.  Kendra started selling pieces at pop-up shops, flea markets, Facebook market, and sometimes out the trunk of her car! Her grandma really forced her to tap into my creative side. Something she never experienced. 

 

Going into 2021, Kendra knew she needed to tap into the marketing side more. She began working with professional photographers like Quentin Long of QCK photography and Yeddi Lino of Lino Visuals. These photographers took her visions and made them reality. She began working with beautiful models who never hesitated to experiment her ideas and has supported her business every step of the way. 

Yeddi Lino became a co-partner by marketing, rebranding and giving Kendhi & Company its name. He also assisted with creating more masculine pieces to broaden the Kendhi customer base & connecting Kendhi & Company to the community. 

 

As of now, Kendhi & Company has sold over 5,000 waist beads, bracelets, suga links, and anklets and have participated in over 25 local pop-up shops & events. 

They are located inside of Mohagany’s Beauti Hair Studio in Salisbury, NC. A website is currently in progress.

 

Never in a millions years would Kendra have thought that she would have a business. She never thought she would see people and they know who she is just from having a business, She never thought any of this would be possible. Kendra is thankful to have a strong support group. Her friends, family, soul siblings, customers and everyone that makes Kendhi & Company what it is.

 

"To future business owners, A business can be hard to manage sometimes. You’re going to be tired, stressed, broke even, BUT when something is meant to be, trust me it’ll all work out. Pray about it, then grind for it. Never give up on yourself. Keep going. Keep growing. " - Kendra

 

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