Meet The Team: Shaque'l

D319 read us for filth last week and told us to stop being stingy with all the juicy behind the scene details of how 6 Figure Chick Consulting runs on a daily basis.

So we've decided to start a mini-series to introduce all the baddies that work here, that way you can learn a little bit more about all of us! And obviously (since none of us would be here without our leading lady) we figured we'd start with Shaque'l's story first!

Introduce yourself and your job role for us.

I'm Shaque'l, better known as everyone's favorite 6 Figure Chick. I'm the founder, CEO, and Lead Career Strategist here at 6 Figure Chick Consulting. 

Where are you from?

I'm a Texas girl and southern as hell. I was born in Waco but I moved to Austin seven or eight years ago.

When is your birthday and what's your zodiac sign?

My birthday is April 25th. I'm a Taurus. Do with that info what you will.

Tell us a little bit about your career experience.

I'm a first-gen B.A. grad but before I had my degree I jumped around in different roles and industries, most-notably at Google and TikTok, before 6 Figure Chick Consulting was even born.

I worked in call centers. I worked in retail. I worked at startups. I was out here grinding but no matter where I went it seemed like I was always worth the work but never worth the raise. I was highly effective and hella impactful at one job where I was a manager but when I asked for a $5,000 raise to my base salary they told me no. So I left and never looked back.

I've been poor. Payday loan, no real bank account, car repo'd, poor. I share this story with my clients every time I do a webinar because I want them to know that they aren't alone going through the bullshit. I'm a Black girl from a small town, raised by a single teen mom on section 8, WIC, and payday loans. But that same girl has secured multiple 6 figure offers without being an executive or in a technical position and I want to see them do the same damn thing.

What's a piece of advice you would give someone making a career change or job transition?

Don't take your ass back to school. Black women are the most educated and underpaid demographic in the United States. I promise, you can absolutely land a better paying job without putting yourself into more debt for another piece of paper.

Why did you create 6 Figure Chick Consulting?

I wanted to help people, especially Black people, who are in low, barrier to entry roles that do not have the same tools, language, resume, or mindset of all these cis, het, white men get more. More money, more time, more benefits. Because we fucking deserve all those things just as much they do, hell I'd even say more than they do, and underrepresentation of Black people in high earning roles consistently pisses me off.

Black people not knowing that we can make "this" kind of money without being an engineer or in a high-level C-Suite role grinds my glock because these jobs make money off of keeping us small. So I'm extra loud with all the tips and tricks I've learned over the years. Because if you quit every two years and move into a new role, or even just move to a new company, you'll get $20k - $30k more over that measly 3-5% annual raise and nobody ever tells you that.

Facts. Tell us about how you transitioned from your full-time job into being a full-time entrepreneur.

It all started with Black girl luxury TikTok. I saw a video that was like "how do y'all afford your lifestyle" and I said, "I work in tech". I thought that video went viral (in reality it only got like 1000 views). But I thought I was really doing something so the next day I sat down and recorded a three-minute-long intro video telling my story of how I went from a $68k job to a job paying me more than $150k in 8 months. That video got 300k views.

From there people just wanted to know how I did what I did and if I could help them. I started off just doing resume "reviews" for free. I'd tell folks to connect with me on LinkedIn and DM me. But eventually, we got to the point of having more than 500 DMs at any given time and I was spending more hours a day doing this than doing my full-time job. So I started off charging $15/ resume (which is wild af because it takes so long to redo a resume properly). By the time I was charging $150 a resume I was ready to quit my full-time job to keep up with demand.

How has 6 Figure Chick Consulting changed your mindset/perspective?

It showed me that I can't do it all alone. I'm the only girl with four brothers and I'm the eldest child. So everything you know about first-born daughters applies. I was a one woman show here for more than a year but I started to build my team out, starting with my first career strategist, in April 2023. I got a social media content planner/manager after that and then another career strategist followed.

Learning to rely on my team and let things go after doing it on my own for so long has been hard. My Fractional Director of Operations lovingly told me to fuck off and log out of all the things a couple weeks ago, and then my Operations and Marketing Managers cosigned her in the next breath, because I don't know how to rest. I didn't know I needed it but I was grateful for them all the same. You gotta surround yourself with people who call you on your bullshit. Having an entire team of women to support me and the community is dope as fuck.

How has 6 Figure Chick Consulting impacted your lifestyle?

I've been able to pay off debt and retire my mother from working in the healthcare industry in the heat of the pandemic when her mental health was failing her. And I've been able to support more than 300 clients in landing new opportunities that offer them the 'more' that they deserve. People just like them, just like me, succeeding, being our ancestors wildest dreams. It's something I think about daily.

Whew. Who's cutting onions? Not you about to make us cry.

I get that a lot. My goal is to be approachable but reliable. I want people to think I'm funny and that we're "friends" but to also know that we're about our shit and we really do get stuff done. Working with us will be lucrative and not just a "fun time" and we have hundreds of successful clients to show for it. They have put in the work and achieved their desired outcomes. We don't stop at "well we did our part". We partner with our clients and usher them through this process with kindness and compassion because we've all been there.

Let's answer some fun and fluffy questions to wrap this up. What's your favorite food?

Steak. Let me get my hands on a nicely marbled ribeye and I'm ignoring everything else at the table. Except maybe lobster. I won't ignore a fat ass lobster tail.

Flats or drums?

Baby, there's only one right answer to this question and it's flats.

How do you like to spend your free time?

Free time? What is that? On a serious note, I love music (especially hip hop and R&B) and I love to sing. I made it through three rounds of American Idol when I was 17. I also love good food and whiskey. My Operations Manager and I go way back and we did a whiskey tour together once. It was a really good time.

Last but not least, what do you love/appreciate most about our team?

I love that we're not all the same person. I love that we don't all talk the same way or have the same mannerisms. We all have dope ass, interesting personalities and I'm just really grateful for it.

I love that we all get to be our authentic selves here. I enjoy getting to see and experience y’all for exactly who you are on a daily basis. It’s so beautiful. It's cool to see everybody be so different, but still flourish.

Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. Thanks for sharing your story with us.

Anytime, love. If y'all have read this far and still have any questions, go ahead and drop a comment below. I love hearing from y'all. Also, thank you for being a part of our community. We couldn't do this shit without you!