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How I Got Here with Dreena Whitfield
Guest: Tahira Joy Wright, Founder of The Cut Life
In this episode, Dreena sits down with Tahira Joy Wright, the visionary founder of The Cut Life — the digital beauty community celebrating short hair, self-expression, and the women redefining what it means to show up boldly.
From her early days in entertainment PR to building one of the most beloved beauty platforms online, Tahira shares how burnout led to breakthrough — and how a one-week idea grew into a cultural movement rooted in authenticity, community, and faith.
This conversation is a story of faith, flow, and finding purpose in the pivot — a reminder that sometimes, the detour is the destination.
⏱️ Episode Chapters
[00:00] Introduction – Dreena welcomes Tahira Joy Wright and sets up her journey from PR to purpose. [01:20] The Birth of The Cut Life – How burnout from PR led to an Instagram page that became a movement. [03:30] When Passion Meets Purpose – Realizing The Cut Life was more than a hobby — it was a calling. [06:00] From PR Girl to Founder – Lessons from Atlanta’s entertainment industry that shaped Tahira’s business mindset. [11:00] Making the Leap – Leaving the hustle behind to embrace peace, alignment, and entrepreneurship. [14:00] Community Over Algorithms – Why genuine connection, not metrics, fuels longevity. [20:20] Navigating Partnerships and Authenticity – Redefining what brand alignment really looks like. [23:30] Hair, AI, and Human Touch – Tahira on using tech like ChatGPT and Mailchimp AI while keeping her authentic voice. [27:00] Building a Platform for Black Beauty – Centering Black women, culture, and community unapologetically. [31:20] The New Hype Hair – Carrying the spirit of Hype Hair and Black Hair Sophisticates into the digital era. [38:00] What’s Next for The Cut Life – Media projects, stylist directory relaunch, and expanding into TV and film. [42:00] Lessons, Blessings, and Longevity – The power of patience, saving, and sustainable growth. [47:00] Faith and Flow – Tahira’s mantra for staying grounded and trusting the process.
Listen and follow How I Got Here with Dreena Whitfield for more stories of purpose, resilience, and the pivots that shape who we become.
Creators and Guests
Host
Dreena Whitfield
Dreena Whitfield-Brown is the Founder and CEO of WhitPR, an integrated strategic communications agency with 15+ years serving clients in the nonprofit, corporate, and political sectors. Recognized as one of PRWeek's 40 Under 40, a PR News Top Woman in PR, and named to Inc.'s 2025 Female Founders 500 List. She created How I Got Here to have the raw, honest conversations about entrepreneurship that nobody has on the record.
What is How I Got Here with Dreena Whitfield?
How I Got Here with Dreena Whitfield goes beyond the highlight reel with Black women founders, executives, and leaders. Real conversations about the pivots, the setbacks, and the purpose behind the work. From bootstrapping a beauty brand with $500 to leading a professional sports franchise, each episode explores the moments that shaped who they became and the cost of building something meaningful.
Season 4 guests include founders in beauty, natural products, food, wine, interior design, sports leadership, venture capital, civic advocacy, and more.
For women navigating leadership, business ownership, career reinvention, and the cost of ambition. New episodes biweekly on Wednesdays.
Host: Dreena Whitfield
Executive Producer, Writer & Creative Director: Keena Williams / Struxa
howigotherewdreenaw.substack.com
Tahira Joy Wright on The Cut Life, PR Burnout, and Standing 10 Toes Down in Culture
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[00:00:00] Dreena Whitfield: Welcome to How I Got here with Drina Whitfield. Today I am chatting with Tera Joy Wright, founder of The Cut Life. We'll talk about her journey from entertainment PR to building one of the most impactful black care communities on social media.
[00:00:12] Tahira Joy Wright: I've always loved like building brands, but it was just doing it in a different way and they're like, okay, what do you do?
[00:00:18] Tahira Joy Wright: I'm like, content creator some days. Influencer other days, thought leader, entrepreneur, thought leader, entrepreneur. And I'm not going into chat GPT, like how can I talk like a black girl? Like no.
[00:00:33] Dreena Whitfield: So Tira, thank you so much for joining me today. I know we've tried to do this a few times and our schedule's aligned. It's the perfect time, perfect place. So thank you so much for joining me. We are here. We are here
[00:00:45] Tahira Joy Wright: finally. And it's so crazy because we were just talking about this before we started. Yep.
[00:00:50] Tahira Joy Wright: Um, but it's. Seeing people on social media makes you feel like you know them in person. But this is literally our first time meeting in person. I know. It's wild. Which sounds crazy to me. Right,
[00:00:59] Dreena Whitfield: right. [00:01:00] We got each other's cell phone number about your
[00:01:02] Tahira Joy Wright: nephew, you know, countless conversations and bonding. But hey, we're in real life now.
[00:01:07] Tahira Joy Wright: We're here. We're here. I love it.
[00:01:08] Dreena Whitfield: So let me rewind a little bit. Take me back to your journey starting the Cut Life. I read somewhere that you actually started it a week after. After you came up with the idea?
[00:01:19] Tahira Joy Wright: Oh, yes. Talk to me a little bit about
[00:01:21] Dreena Whitfield: what that week was like. Was it filled with excitement? Were you overwhelmed?
[00:01:25] Dreena Whitfield: Like, what was that process like?
[00:01:27] Tahira Joy Wright: Right. So yeah, so I was, um, self-employed, entrepreneur, working in pr, you know, you know, the grind, we see each other, each in the music industry. And it just got really hectic. Mm-hmm. And I think I just needed an outlet. Um, and so style wise, I was wearing my hair short and I just had this random idea like.
[00:01:46] Tahira Joy Wright: I'm gonna get on Instagram and start a page called The Cut Life. So I reached out to my Bestie Maya table at the time, who's a director. Well, she's still my bestie now. I know that she's still the bestie, but I was like, I need a logo. And she's like, [00:02:00] okay, for the cut life, you're gonna do Instagram page on on short, short hair.
[00:02:03] Tahira Joy Wright: She wasn't feeling it. I guess you are my friend, I'm gonna do it. And she tells me years later that she thought I was crazy. But obviously I had some vision there. Um, but I think I didn't have any certain type of like, expectation behind it. Mm-hmm. I wasn't thinking, oh, this is this. A genius, you know, business and brand idea.
[00:02:22] Tahira Joy Wright: It was just like, this could be a creative outlet, it could be something kind of cool, something for me to focus my attention on to kind of escape from my day to day.
[00:02:30] Dreena Whitfield: So it started off as a side hustle, then
[00:02:32] Tahira Joy Wright: not even a hustle, I would just say like a creative, A hobby. Hobby. Hobby, yeah.
[00:02:36] Dreena Whitfield: Wow. Yeah. And it's been able to grow into this.
[00:02:39] Dreena Whitfield: Big, you know, beauty
[00:02:41] Tahira Joy Wright: Empire. It grew out of nowhere. I was not anticipating it. And it took about a year for me starting it to decide to leave PR completely. Um, once I realized, oh, there's brands that actually want to partner with me. There's this huge interest in community that's building. [00:03:00] I could really see like where it was going and I made a choice to exit.
[00:03:05] Tahira Joy Wright: That's exciting. Exit. Yeah.
[00:03:06] Dreena Whitfield: So wait, you started. When Instagram was still like you had to have like a certain sort of login to start up the platform, did you think that it would grow to have the impact that it has today?
[00:03:19] Tahira Joy Wright: Not at all. Um, I started in 20 because you have 1.5
[00:03:21] Dreena Whitfield: million
[00:03:22] Tahira Joy Wright: followers on the, on
[00:03:23] Dreena Whitfield: the cut life.
[00:03:23] Tahira Joy Wright: I don't believe it sometimes. I started 2013. Mm-hmm. And. It just snowballed. Obviously there was a need that needed to be filled and there were certain women that maybe didn't feel seen online that now felt seen. Mm-hmm. And so they just constantly shared it and it just grew and grew and grew. I wanna say, Ooh, how long did it take for us to hit a million?
[00:03:44] Tahira Joy Wright: Um, maybe within the first year. What. Definitely. Yeah. Were you posting
[00:03:50] Dreena Whitfield: like every day? Like, talk to me about that insane amount
[00:03:53] Tahira Joy Wright: of posting in the beginning and, but I think because it was fun initially because it
[00:03:57] Dreena Whitfield: wasn't like, there wasn't like a, like a strategy [00:04:00] behind it. You just post posting. 'cause like, oh, that's cute.
[00:04:02] Dreena Whitfield: Right? I
[00:04:02] Tahira Joy Wright: had no experience in the beauty industry. I didn't come in with this strategy or this like plan. Mm. I had a co-founder that started off with me in the beginning. I brought the idea to her, she would help with the ig. Um, she's now on this. Sports arena now. But yeah, we were just honestly having fun posting and we'll post every day, all day.
[00:04:20] Tahira Joy Wright: And I think maybe just having that genuine interest, it made it naturally grow. 'cause we weren't going in like, oh, how do we monetize this today? Or you know, what's the strategy behind it? It was just like, oh, this is like a fun, cute platform. People like it and we were just ex. Excited. Mm-hmm. Excited to see the follow and grow.
[00:04:37] Tahira Joy Wright: Like, oh, we hit 10,000, oh now we're at 50. And we're like, wait, it's a hundred thousand. Like this is crazy. It just continued to grow and grow.
[00:04:45] Dreena Whitfield: So now do you all post with strategy in mind or is it still an element of like, we just doing this for fun or this is a really flat cut? Like how does it, what's the process now?
[00:04:54] Tahira Joy Wright: So for me it's a mix of both. Um, people are, because I struggle. Yes. With social, I understand. 'cause [00:05:00] it can be overwhelming. I've had my moments. Where I wanted to check out. Um, people may be surprised to know that I still post to the cut life of myself, especially on the Instagram because I'm a little funny about like hacking and people stealing like passwords and that land that real estate is valuable.
[00:05:16] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. So it takes a little bit to kinda let that access go. I've done it in certain ways. But not completely. But honestly, it's still fun for me. Um, and hair and beauty is something that I've always loved personally, but never got to work in it. As a publicist, there's always a new look. There's always something to excite you.
[00:05:33] Tahira Joy Wright: Mm-hmm. In my opinion about beauty. So it's not really hard to organically share, but then yes, there is a strategy as far as having a work life balance and maintaining my piece where it used to be like seven days a week. We're just like posting, posting, posting. I'm cool if a Saturday or Sunday goes by and there's nothing on the platform.
[00:05:51] Tahira Joy Wright: 'cause they'll see me again on Monday. Like they will tune back in. Yeah. And even multiple times a day, like now, it might be two [00:06:00] times a day and I'm really like curating the post or it might be ads, you know, that we're posting. So I'm very conscious of like the flow there. Um, but I don't wanna overwhelm myself.
[00:06:10] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. I realized I didn't have to over index when it came to the audience either. They rock. That's crazy. They've been rocking with us for 12 years now. That's amazing.
[00:06:18] Dreena Whitfield: Yeah, but that's crazy that you're still posting. I know. Yeah. People,
[00:06:22] Tahira Joy Wright: people are like, are you insane? No, I plan. I've worked with different people in different capacities.
[00:06:28] Tahira Joy Wright: I plan to, it's hard bring in like a social media manager to kind of manage, especially all the other platforms that we're on because. We do have significant followings in other places like YouTube, Facebook, um, we're building up TikTok threats is actually popping for us. Okay. Right now. Like 200,000 followers there.
[00:06:47] Tahira Joy Wright: So yeah, trying to like grow in that capacity. Um, but I don't know. Instagram is my baby. That's like, you know, it's the aesthetic for me. Yeah. I'm a Libra. We're very aesthetic driven, so Yeah.
[00:06:57] Dreena Whitfield: Okay. So when I first started with [00:07:00] pr, I remember. Explaining to people it wasn't an easy sell. Mm-hmm. Because I didn't have formal PR experience.
[00:07:05] Dreena Whitfield: I didn't work in an agency. I didn't even have clients or office space. Google was legit my best friend, and I had to sell people on the vision and the plan that I had for me and my company. Do you feel like it was the same thing for you when you started The Cut Life? Did you have to like. Like constantly sell the proof of concept to folks.
[00:07:26] Dreena Whitfield: 'cause I know you mentioned your best friend was like, what is this girl? I'm gonna just do the logo, whatever. 'cause it's te hair. But like beyond that. Mm-hmm. Was it like you had to sell people on the idea?
[00:07:34] Tahira Joy Wright: Actually, no. Mm-hmm. Um, in those initial stages. Um, so I would say we were around. Not even like 5,000 followers definitely under there.
[00:07:45] Tahira Joy Wright: Um, and because of my PR background, I had a lot of relationships in various facets of the industry. So I had a friend, Kimberly Walker, who's now a writer out in Hollywood. I have to give her her props, come
[00:07:57] Speaker 3: on.
[00:07:58] Tahira Joy Wright: Um, but in the back then [00:08:00] she was doing like copywriting, editorial, and all these things within the beauty space.
[00:08:04] Tahira Joy Wright: And so she understood immediately what the platform was. Mm-hmm. And the power that it could have. With the stylist community, which I wasn't even thinking about initially. Um, and for brands needing spaces, um, to promote their products that weren't necessarily completely all like the natural space. Mm-hmm.
[00:08:21] Tahira Joy Wright: Because there was a loss with like the professional products lane and even like relaxers at the time, like all the things right. And so early on, she was the first person to call me to say, Hey, I'm working with this brand. I love what, what you're doing with the Cut Life, just. Purely off of the Instagram, let's sponsor something.
[00:08:40] Tahira Joy Wright: So she came to me and said, come up with something that you wanna do. Love that. So we did a contest online, um, a local giveaway in Atlanta where a girl got a makeover using the products. Mm-hmm. I taught in my personal hairstylist, who's still my hairstylist to this day. Yeah. And it just, it just worked out.
[00:08:57] Tahira Joy Wright: And so from there. I think once [00:09:00] other brands saw that, oh, this page is not just like this fun page, but they're doing brand partnerships. The call started coming in. Mm-hmm. Like Cream of Nature. I was featured in a campaign with them. I mean, countless brands, especially black haircare brands, um, because they just started calling.
[00:09:16] Tahira Joy Wright: They saw the market. Yeah. Yeah. So a lot of it was more so a learning curve on my end to figure out how I wanted to show up in these spaces because. Obviously influencers still are a heavy, you know, market. And so they had to figure out how to handle me and I had to figure out how I want it to be handled.
[00:09:34] Tahira Joy Wright: So, for instance, coming in the door, they're like, oh, so you have a beauty page, like let's pay you to do your hair on screen. And you know, it's. I'm not that influencer. Like I'm not, I'm not that talent. Yeah. The girl that's gonna be like, let me record myself doing my hair and makeup. I will hire somebody to do my hair and makeup and listen kudos to the girls that have the talent to do it, but that just wasn't me.
[00:09:57] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. I'm a former PR girl. I'm more [00:10:00] business focused. I'm more in like the founder bag, so it took, I mean, several. Conversations. I feel like each brand I worked with, they still ended up, up working with me, but they had to figure out like how to work with me. Mm. And then they would end up getting creative.
[00:10:14] Tahira Joy Wright: Like, shout out Quida, Holly. I'm sure you know. Oh, AKTA. That's one of my favorite PR balls. Yes. She's doing the
[00:10:20] Dreena Whitfield: thing.
[00:10:20] Tahira Joy Wright: Yes. No, I love Quida. She gave me, um, my first like major red carpet hosting opportunity. Um, oh my God. I don't wanna call out Oh. Brands. 'cause I don't wanna mess it up. Yeah. But yeah, so I think it was African Pride and then I worked.
[00:10:34] Tahira Joy Wright: With Cream of Nature Soul Train Awards. Um, I hosted red carpet twice for those brands, and so I was able to see, oh, okay. I guess because I was behind the scenes watching so many clients in my PR days do interviews on TV, radio, like countless, you know, mediums. I kind of was in school and didn't know it.
[00:10:54] Tahira Joy Wright: Mm. It was like a masterclass. So when I got opportunities to come in front of the camera, I [00:11:00] realized the talent that I didn't even know I had, or I was able to eloquently speak. I could be off the cuff, I could be entertaining, and I'm like, oh, there's something here. And so it opened up. It was just a huge learning curve during that time to know like how I even wanted to show up, and honestly still is.
[00:11:17] Tahira Joy Wright: Mm-hmm. I've had to navigate like. You know, having so much shared content, having this huge network of stylists and inspiration brands are still like in that space of like, okay, I know how to partner with this particular girl and the page is all about her. And I know she has curly hair and so we're gonna give her the curly hair products for her to do her makeover and sell these products.
[00:11:40] Tahira Joy Wright: But for me it's like, okay. How do I wanna show up? And I, and I'm learning that more and more. I'm sure you get into it, but, but I'm learning more and more like how I think the cut life can continue to show up and benefit, but it's really just been a learning curve. But I have been blessed to have people come to me to wanna partner and I've had to pitch as [00:12:00] well, trust and believe everyone doesn't always get it.
[00:12:02] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. Even when I think they should. Yeah.
[00:12:04] Dreena Whitfield: We talked about that before.
[00:12:05] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We've had our, we've had offline conversations, but I understand it. Yeah, because I think that. People that are partnering with you have to understand how, and so I had to define that how, and I think even after 12 years and.
[00:12:19] Tahira Joy Wright: Kind of being reactive, now I'm being more proactive. Mm-hmm. And I understand like how I want to show up and what the future of the brand is for me.
[00:12:26] Dreena Whitfield: You talked a little bit about, uh, coming from the PR industry, um, being behind the scenes. Mm-hmm. And then now you're in front of the camera. I wanna talk to you about your PR work.
[00:12:37] Dreena Whitfield: Yes. We did offline a little bit. We have similar experiences. We both started. Not knowing what the hell we were doing. Right. And have rightfully in our own, you know, lanes done our thing. Mm-hmm. Talk to me a little bit about how long you, you did pr, what that was like.
[00:12:52] Tahira Joy Wright: I, I love talking about the PR days because I won't lie, I had fun.
[00:12:56] Tahira Joy Wright: Um, my journey started, I went to Georgia State University, [00:13:00] go Panthers. Gotta shout that out. Um, but I started as an intern, um, very traditional, um, interned in radio hot 1 0 7 9 in Atlanta. I interned with Little John's record label, BME recordings at the height of the crunk movement. I'm probably aging myself, but we own it.
[00:13:18] Tahira Joy Wright: I don't even care. But yes, so I saw artists like Little Scrappy and Crime, mob and Trill come in Birthday Bash is a huge concert, like a Summer Jam for Atlanta. Mm-hmm. And they needed, um, a publicist for it. My friend Latoya Dixon, who was the promotions director at the time, come on, gave me a shot and it was like the best shot of my life.
[00:13:39] Tahira Joy Wright: Because being in that arena, which was Phillips Arena at the time now State Farm Arena, um, every media outlet in the city wants to cover birthday badge. So I had a chance to basically meet everyone in the city I at one time. And so things kind of picked up quickly where you start getting known as. PR [00:14:00] music girl, you tend to, you start becoming the plug when it comes to events.
[00:14:04] Tahira Joy Wright: Another pivotal moment, um, was during Hurricane Katrina. There was a huge, um, heal of the Hood concert. So, so many artists donated their time to perform again, another huge media play. Yeah. And so I was just like building these relationships and kind of navigating how to push through that. I always have to say that ludicrous.
[00:14:27] Tahira Joy Wright: Is my absolute favorite to work with. Aw. Um, I always have to give him his flowers. I've done like seven Luda day weekends with him. Oh, wow. He's a client that's not on time. He's early. Just super personable. Yes, he's great and the success that he has is not by. He works really hard and so I had like a super positive experience with him.
[00:14:50] Tahira Joy Wright: He's actually, um, I don't even know if he remembers this, but he's one of the people that really pushed me to spend my energy on the Cut life. I think at that time I had [00:15:00] maybe a hundred thousand or so followers and I was still doing pr. It was Luta Day weekend. We're at a radio station. And I'm like, lemme just show Chris the page.
[00:15:09] Tahira Joy Wright: No, I actually wasn't even showing him. I was showing Miss Ika, who's a radio personality on streets 9, 4, 5. You know, I shout my people. But anyway, um, I was showing her the page and she was like, I love the cut Life. It's so dope, da da da. And he was being be like,
[00:15:22] Dreena Whitfield: what is that
[00:15:22] Tahira Joy Wright: ear Hu was, so what is this? And I'm like, oh, I started this hair page.
[00:15:26] Tahira Joy Wright: And he was like, it has a hundred thousand followers. I'm like, yeah. He's like. Um, so there's no like celebrity pushing this, like it's just you and organic, like following. He, I was like, yeah. He was like, yeah, you have to do something with that. And it just stuck with me. Wow. It just stuck with me. He was like, yeah, that's, that's something, because he knows the power of influence.
[00:15:48] Tahira Joy Wright: And so I always credit him, but I've worked with like young Jock, gorilla, Zoe, the whole block entertainment crew. I think I will say, um, 'cause in light of some of the stories we hear now [00:16:00] about the industry in years past and situations that, you know, women and even men have been in that may have been compromising.
[00:16:06] Tahira Joy Wright: Mm-hmm. I was. Blessed to not have those situations. Um, every internship I had, I had like big brothers that would always look out for me and kept me protected. So like Orlando McGee, that was head of marketing at BME recordings at the time, um, Motown Lee, who was managing eight Ball and MJGI was his assistant at one point in time.
[00:16:26] Tahira Joy Wright: I love that. And they just always kept me protected. Shaka Zulu, who manages Ludacris, um, and then I've. Also work with a lot of great women in the industry that are behind some of these men, like Aisha Ey who manages me, who's also um, Shaka Zulu and Jeff Dixon's sister. Um, and they all manage ludicrous. So, you know, I've had like really great influences and I think like having that tribe.
[00:16:49] Tahira Joy Wright: Wait,
[00:16:50] Dreena Whitfield: Aisha?
[00:16:51] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah, yeah. Aisha Oba family.
[00:16:52] Dreena Whitfield: She also, also, sorry, sorry. No, that's fine. She also works with, um, Tupac sister.
[00:16:58] Tahira Joy Wright: Yes, yes, yes. Yeah. [00:17:00]
[00:17:00] Dreena Whitfield: Okay. Yeah, I remember such, yeah. Yeah. Set? Yep, yep, yep. Okay. Yep. It's all, it's all connected. Yeah. That's why I was like, wait. Yeah. That's
[00:17:07] Tahira Joy Wright: what I love about Atlanta. I always have to say that when it comes to the industry specifically, like the music and entertainment industry has been good to me here, and it's very much like a.
[00:17:16] Tahira Joy Wright: Family. Um, even if you don't work for people directly, people will still speak your name in rooms and support each other. Even when I exited the PR game, people will still invite me to stuff that they have going on. And so yeah, my po my experience overall was positive in regards to the people that I worked with.
[00:17:34] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah.
[00:17:35] Dreena Whitfield: But you said you felt burnt out.
[00:17:37] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. So I did get to a point where, you know that pr, the PR life is a hustle. Mm-hmm. And there is a difference between having your own, um. Business versus working for a major agency or even working for like a record label in house. Yeah. A lot of times I am the addition to the team.
[00:17:55] Tahira Joy Wright: So they may have the label publicist mm-hmm. Or the agency that's [00:18:00] working with them, but I'm the extra check that they have to give and you gotta really work for that check. You know, they want, they'll be wanting to give that check up. No, they don't wanna give that check up. They wanna see results. Um, sometimes.
[00:18:11] Tahira Joy Wright: You know, it's, it's a lot of grow with me, help me, you know? Mm-hmm. And I've had like, you know, both ends of the spectrum, but I knew it just wasn't sustainable long term. And then also, you know, wanting a different work life balance. Sometimes you can feel like you're chasing behind people and that can get a little overwhelming.
[00:18:30] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. I've always loved like building brands, but it was just a doing it in a different way for me. Mm-hmm. So I feel like now I kind of get to do it for so many people and not be overwhelmed by it.
[00:18:41] Dreena Whitfield: I love that. Yeah. So do you feel like a, your PR experience. And like a lot of the skills that you picked up during your time in that industry were transferrable to how you've been able to grow the cut light
[00:18:53] Tahira Joy Wright: 100,000 persons.
[00:18:55] Tahira Joy Wright: I think that it definitely gave me an advantage. Mm-hmm. [00:19:00] Because, um, and this is no shade and no, people say no shade, and then the shade comes, then it comes, and then she's like, the shade is follow immediately following. But no, I just had a different experience. Like I didn't start with. Someone that was just, you know, at home, put up a camera.
[00:19:15] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. And you know, started doing my makeup and hair online and then built a following. I had like life experience working in a whole other industry with a certain set of skills as Liam Neeson would say. Like a certain set of skills. So even when it comes down to being able to. Have conversations with brand partners.
[00:19:34] Tahira Joy Wright: Mm-hmm. And knowing like what deliverables and the scope of work, like what that even means, like how to show up in these conversations. Right. And in these spaces, how to execute properly, how to negotiate for what I want. Mm-hmm. You know, and deserve like a lot of these skills. I mean, just even like copy, like you're talking about captions.
[00:19:53] Tahira Joy Wright: Something as simple as a caption can drive engagement or decrease your engagement. Mm-hmm. Like knowing how to communicate to your audience. [00:20:00] Like what is your audience? What is the voice of the audience or voice of the brand, and how does that translate to the audience? So all those things were PR skills.
[00:20:09] Tahira Joy Wright: I mean, planning countless events, dealing with sponsors, events. Now I'm just able to translate that from multiple clients to my own brand. Mm-hmm. But I think that. The sustainability of the platform wouldn't be what it was if I didn't have that experience.
[00:20:26] Dreena Whitfield: Speaking of copy and caption writing. Yes. Um, with the uptick of like AI being like a mainstay in our day to day, especially in the digital space.
[00:20:37] Dreena Whitfield: One, are you utilizing AI at all to help, you know, create content across these various platforms that you have, but also do you feel like. I, I love your insight on like, your thoughts on how it's gonna impact the industry. Mm-hmm. Pr, you know, digital marketing, you just moving forward.
[00:20:56] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. I think with the technology and the advancements, any tool [00:21:00] has two sides to it.
[00:21:01] Tahira Joy Wright: It can be helpful to push your business and brand forward, um, but then you also don't wanna. Necessarily get too obsessed and use it as a crutch either where you're not thinking for yourself, because you still need creative minds and AI can only duplicate so much of the human mind, um, and your perspectives.
[00:21:20] Tahira Joy Wright: But do I use it? I actually have started using some of it in my day to day, but it'll be more so like say for my newsletter, um, I use MailChimp. They need to give me a check for this. MailChimp, ichi. You like MailChimp though? I, I, I mean, I'm open to options, but you know, if they wanna pay me for my subscription that I'm paying for every month, that's cool too.
[00:21:40] Tahira Joy Wright: But within there they have like AI generated, um, newsletters where they can kind of craft it to look like your brand. Um, yes. Really? Yes. They'll completely go in there and design it, and then it'll let the audience know. So if they get a newsletter from me, it's still my copy. Yeah. But I can, yeah. I can say, oh, I want it to sound more exciting, or I want it to [00:22:00] push sales, or I want it to do what have you.
[00:22:02] Tahira Joy Wright: And it'll edit that for me. And then the look of it also. Wow. And then it'll let the audience know when they get the email, there is AI generated content included in this email. Ah, okay. Which I appreciate because trans. Parent see is important to me. Um, when it comes to my captions though, that's all me.
[00:22:18] Tahira Joy Wright: Okay. That is my wit my energy. Like, listen, I'm not going into chat GPT, like how can I talk like a black girl? Like no, we are not People do it though. Yes. You know, every day I heard people are writing full scripts in there, which is a whole other story, but. No, I think you can use it like even chat GPTI.
[00:22:39] Tahira Joy Wright: I'll use that as a guide because say if I'm stuck on a question Yeah. And I don't have an associate that I can immediately call, like maybe Drina has like 20 client meetings today and I need this question answered like now. So I might really specifically put in like, oh, this is the direction I'm thinking.
[00:22:56] Tahira Joy Wright: Mm-hmm. For this particular pitch, da da da da da. And it might give me [00:23:00] feedback to maybe guide some of my thinking. Okay. But not necessarily like copy paste. Send. And so I, I think it is helpful in that way. I think the way that, um, it kind of scares me is when it comes to like entertainment spaces. And
[00:23:15] Dreena Whitfield: did you see that video?
[00:23:17] Tahira Joy Wright: And I don't know. Yeah. Did you
[00:23:19] Dreena Whitfield: see that video that was AI generated with, it was LeBron James, uh, responding to Stephen A. Smith and it wasn't really him. I did not see it. It scary, but I heard about their
[00:23:28] Tahira Joy Wright: beef.
[00:23:28] Dreena Whitfield: It's. Well, there's an AI generated video of LeBron responding to Stephen A. Smith. It looks just like him.
[00:23:36] Dreena Whitfield: It's, it's scary. Yeah. And
[00:23:37] Tahira Joy Wright: I think that, you know, we don't know behind the scenes how long it's been developing. Yeah. And so for it to be really close to accurate now imagine how much more advanced it's gonna be. And that could be very dangerous in the wrong hands. Mm-hmm. And so that does concern me. Um, and I think though, as long as.
[00:23:56] Tahira Joy Wright: Transparency is there. There has to be something, even [00:24:00] when people are posting content and using it. I need to see AI generated on there because I think it's. A fair ass to know, but listen, time will tell.
[00:24:10] Dreena Whitfield: Yeah, yeah. Time will tell, especially in these times.
[00:24:12] Tahira Joy Wright: Yes.
[00:24:13] Dreena Whitfield: I wanna talk a little bit about the growth of the Cut Life and just because it's a platform that stylists, salons, even individual like influencers that are clamoring to get featured on the page.
[00:24:28] Dreena Whitfield: Talk to me about how you were able to build that demand. There are times I'll go to you and like, do you know a stylist who worked dah, dah, dah? And you're like, oh yeah, I know so and so, yeah. How you've been able to build up your stylist network or directory, I wanna say. Mm-hmm. And then just what's the process for, um, a salon or an individual stylist that is a fan of the page has grown with you over these last 12 years?
[00:24:51] Dreena Whitfield: Mm-hmm. Like, how can I, how can I get featured on the site?
[00:24:53] Tahira Joy Wright: Yes. Yes. So when it comes to the cut life, when I first started, it was purely about the hair inspiration. To be [00:25:00] honest. You would think I was going into it thinking about the stylist, but I initially wasn't. Yeah. Said that. Yeah, yeah. It was just like, oh, she looks fly.
[00:25:08] Tahira Joy Wright: She looks fly. But naturally, because it was a lot of shared content and I wanna give credit where it's due, I would just tag the stylist, especially if I was able to find who did the look. Mm-hmm. So that could be a salon stylist, it could be a celebrity stylist. But because of that, I didn't realize the power in the platform and people saying like, this exposure has really done something for my business.
[00:25:30] Tahira Joy Wright: I've had salon owners and stylists tell me, I used to welcome walk-ins. Now I'm appointment only because of your posts. Wow. And people coming and the demand has. Grown and like Yeah, I see. I'm like, how does that feel? And it's giving me a little emotional life because that's impactful. Yeah, no it is. And I think
[00:25:48] Dreena Whitfield: that
[00:25:48] Tahira Joy Wright: because
[00:25:48] Dreena Whitfield: this was something that you just did for fun.
[00:25:50] Tahira Joy Wright: Exactly. And I think that those reminders when I feel maybe frustrated or trying to like get to the next level in the business, and sometimes you're like, should I still be [00:26:00] doing this? Those are the things that really push me forward. Yeah. And I'm like, okay, it's bigger than me. It's. Really helping a lot of entrepreneurs.
[00:26:08] Tahira Joy Wright: 'cause they're creatives, they're artists, they're professionals and entrepreneurs that look like us. Yep. To have these opportunities. So that's like the cherry on top, like for real. And so, yeah, tapping into the stylists. So there are certain. There's certain content that I might post randomly, um, just because I like it and I think it's does well on the feed, but that does attract styles that wanna advertise.
[00:26:32] Tahira Joy Wright: And so, um, they can listen. I'm not one of those that's like, if you're not eating, don't DM me if you're not even, I'm like, no. If you got some money to advertise, you can DM. You can email info at the cut life com. If you got a bird call, you can, you know, bird call. Whatever you wanna do. I'm not mad at it, but No, seriously, but I am conscious of vetting who I post on there.
[00:26:57] Tahira Joy Wright: Okay. So I, so, and I think people appreciate that because they know when they [00:27:00] come to the cut life that's curious, there's a certain level of quality and curation. Yes. That's behind it. So you can request to advertise, but I will still ask you to send me your socials and I review it myself to make sure that the work is going to be something that is going to be enticing to the viewer.
[00:27:16] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. Because I want it to be beneficial not only to me, but to you as well. I don't want you to be on my platform. And get like negative comments. Yeah. Or, you know, get attacked and then it's not helpful for your business at all. Mm-hmm. You've got exposure that's negative and, um, I will offer feedback.
[00:27:35] Tahira Joy Wright: Like I'll ask them if they want it. Like sometimes I'll let them know. Now there's certain things like sometimes the work is good, but maybe it's just the. Quality, like you need to just clean off your iPhone. It's a little blurry. Maybe it's like, hey, you should get your, these transitions a little quicker.
[00:27:51] Tahira Joy Wright: Lighting tips like that. Are you
[00:27:53] Dreena Whitfield: giving that for free? Do you give that information for free? Well, it
[00:27:55] Tahira Joy Wright: just depends. It not to everyone. Okay. But it depends. If I see that there's potential, [00:28:00] but I feel like the content is not up to par to post on the page, then I'll give that feedback. 'cause I'm like, Hey, I want them to fix it and come back and advertise and that's happened.
[00:28:08] Tahira Joy Wright: Mm-hmm. But then there's also situations that I can't. Um, control and if the work level, based on my eye. Now this is opinion based. That's another thing. I'm not a professional hairstylist, but clearly I have a good eye and 1.5 million on Instagram. Agree. You'll, they agree with my eye. So if, if it doesn't, if I don't feel like it's gonna be a fit and it's more of, okay, this is just their work and their point of view, but it doesn't necessarily match with mine, then I'll refuse.
[00:28:38] Tahira Joy Wright: The opportunity to advertise and you know, it just is what it is. But I try to look at. The consumer, the, the supporters, I don't like to say followers, but the supporters of the platform and the community and what they're really into. And so I take that into consideration
[00:28:55] Dreena Whitfield: with the growth of social media.
[00:28:58] Dreena Whitfield: Um, and I'm sure there's been like [00:29:00] pages that have tried to emulate the cut life. There's a couple
[00:29:03] Tahira Joy Wright: copycats out there that have like. There's still all my posts, but, but you know what, that's
[00:29:06] Dreena Whitfield: how you know, you're, you're doing it, you know? Right. You know,
[00:29:09] Tahira Joy Wright: imitation is the highest form of flattery. Exactly. Or something.
[00:29:12] Dreena Whitfield: Um, what would you say is the contri like the most contributing factor to the success? Like how do you find, like when this moment's like that? 'cause I know you are probably all right. I'm tired of this. Mm-hmm. I wanna wrap it up. Mm-hmm. What has been like the driving force behind it? Let me keep going.
[00:29:30] Tahira Joy Wright: The one word community.
[00:29:32] Dreena Whitfield: Mm-hmm.
[00:29:33] Tahira Joy Wright: That's it, because you know. Algorithms have affected not just, yeah, affected me too. Even at 1.5, certain things might not, you know, engage just high or then it's like one day this post got a hundred thousand likes and then the next day it's like 1000. And so it's like if you get. Caught up in like those numbers and all that, then you will can get frustrated at times.
[00:29:56] Tahira Joy Wright: But community is really what keeps me going. 'cause [00:30:00] people really are fans of the Cut Life. Like I will get dms like, oh, I screenshot this look and send it to my stylist. Oh wow. And they're like. Tagging girls are doing their mirror selfies tagging me, and I'm happily reposting in the story. Like, go girl, you look cute.
[00:30:15] Tahira Joy Wright: And so it, it is the community. Yeah. I think that's the driving force behind it. And people feel that. They know that the cut life is a safe space. I've even had celebrities, like I ran into Monica at an event, um, black Excellence Brunch in Atlanta and just, you know, said hey to her. She was just like, you know, I love the cut life.
[00:30:33] Tahira Joy Wright: I know that when my content is there, that it's a safe space, it's positive. And we don't necessarily have a lot of outlets like that online. A lot of it is gossip centered. And that's true though, you know, negative. And so she was just like thanking me in that moment for maintaining the integrity of it.
[00:30:51] Tahira Joy Wright: And you know, it just all relates back to the community and how I wanna show up in the community.
[00:30:57] Dreena Whitfield: Do you feel like the cut life is. [00:31:00] Hmm. How do I answer phrase this? Do you feel like the cut life is like the new, let's get down to it girl, and like y'all are like the new hype pair and Woo. You, you remember the mic isn, you remember, but you remember that what we used to have growing up and I feel sophisticated.
[00:31:15] Dreena Whitfield: Hype pair. Hype
[00:31:16] Tahira Joy Wright: pair. We actually follow each other on Instagram, so Yeah. So I, I do, I do,
[00:31:20] Dreena Whitfield: but they're not as big as they were when we were growing up. Right, right, right. So, and I feel like, you know. A lot of the, what is it, Genzer? Mm-hmm. Young millennials. They don't even know about those, those magazines.
[00:31:32] Dreena Whitfield: Right, right. And like they're historical in terms of black culture. So do you feel like the Cut Life is the next iteration of that?
[00:31:39] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. You know, I do. I feel like. We're a blend of a few things. It's like we offer that nostalgia of a hype hair or a black hair sophisticates. But then I also look at, you know, these outlets like Vogue or Harper's Bazaar or Allure, and.
[00:31:57] Tahira Joy Wright: That's like, to me, the next step for me in [00:32:00] getting into those spaces as media where you can come on the cut life and really see us behind the scenes. I love that. With Tiana Heller getting ready for the Met Gala and it's focusing on showing, um, not just her, but these. Beauty professionals of color or even diverse backgrounds that are creating these looks that don't often get the shine on other platforms.
[00:32:21] Tahira Joy Wright: I've had Ursula Steven say we need the cut life on the red carpet so that we can get, you know, promote the looks that we've created. 'cause a lot of times the credit there is missed and so I definitely feel that. And I, and I'm like one of those like a nineties era lover when it comes to the music. Yeah.
[00:32:39] Tahira Joy Wright: When it comes to the fits, when it comes to everything. And so I think a lot of that shines through the platform. Yeah, for sure. So it does give people that feeling of those, um, magazines that we love, um, and that I would still wanna see amplified. Yep. You know what I mean? And. Maybe even partner with one day.
[00:32:56] Tahira Joy Wright: 'cause I think that's still important. And that's how I grew up in the [00:33:00] salon. I was literal, literally sitting in the chair waiting, flipping through those magazines, fold a little corner with the, okay color, I want this one. Lemme get this French roll with this hook and the swoop. And you know, so it's, it's a part of our culture.
[00:33:14] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. And they all always should be celebrated. And that's sometimes, like when we talked about the pros and cons of like the digital age and technology, you know, we, we lose those things. Like I was just thinking about Honey Magazine. Yes. Or even Suede, like some of the OGs people. I love those magazines.
[00:33:30] Tahira Joy Wright: You know, I miss
[00:33:31] Dreena Whitfield: them. 'cause we don't really, we don't really have that mix of. Publications that cater to us anymore. Exactly. Exactly.
[00:33:39] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. And so I don't know if like editorial in that sense is necessarily like a direction for me. I could see it though. I mean, and I love that For you, I've been, and I think you should do it maybe a quarterly.
[00:33:50] Tahira Joy Wright: Okay. Maybe a quarterly suede type time. Okay. Okay. Like, let's put a lot in one, let's get some funding. Anyone listening? Yes, you can get it. Get some funding, what your deck look like. [00:34:00] Let's look at this process deck. I'm have to talk Tona offline so we can go ahead and secure this bag. Bag together. Yes. No, for sure.
[00:34:06] Tahira Joy Wright: And you know, at least for now. My focus is like amplifying unique content, um, across social media. 'cause a lot of it has been shared content over the years, which has been great to build the platform. Yeah. But to get to the next level, people have to really see more of the Cut Life's POV and see more of the relationships.
[00:34:25] Tahira Joy Wright: Like I'm looking and sometimes I'm like, okay, Gabrielle Union is following, Nia Long, is following Savannah, James is following. And it's like people. Don't even realize that that's going on. And it's like, I need to bring this to the forefront so they can really see like what the Cut Life is giving. It's almost like a hidden gem for 1.5 million people.
[00:34:46] Tahira Joy Wright: For real. I mean, that's
[00:34:47] Dreena Whitfield: ridiculous though. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. We gonna talk 'cause ire is, I was like just thinking now, like even like the COVID tour. Mm-hmm. Like remember how they used to do inner closet? It was very. Focus on beauty, lifestyle, fashion. I feel [00:35:00] like,
[00:35:00] Tahira Joy Wright: well, let's have a podcast case study right now.
[00:35:01] Tahira Joy Wright: Know can do that. You know, it's brainstorm and the
[00:35:03] Dreena Whitfield: Met gala's like theme this year. You should definitely be on that carpet.
[00:35:07] Tahira Joy Wright: Listen, listen, listen.
[00:35:09] Dreena Whitfield: Yeah, you should definitely be on that. Listen I to call
[00:35:10] Tahira Joy Wright: Kayla Walker, like know Kayla is the Met Gala girl. We love her. If you know, you know. Yes, yes. Look up Kayla Walker.
[00:35:17] Tahira Joy Wright: That's my girl. But yeah, no, seriously, and I think that the time is coming. I'm a person that understands that. You know, the time preparation meets opportunity, so it's all going to align. That's you
[00:35:31] Dreena Whitfield: when your PR back, because that's what I explain all the time. It's all about timing, opportunity. Yes.
[00:35:36] Tahira Joy Wright: Yes.
[00:35:36] Tahira Joy Wright: And then listen, they're looking and lurking trust. Like a lot of these major media outlets, they're familiar, they see what's going on, and they're kind of like. Probably waiting to see what's gonna happen, but I'm all about collaboration. Not really. Yeah. Competition, so to speak. I, you know, and I'm very heavily focused on my lane.
[00:35:55] Tahira Joy Wright: I'm one of those people that preaches niche, niche, niche, niche, niche because mm-hmm. It just [00:36:00] helps me stay focused on my goal. It's like, okay, if I know like hair and beauty is my thing, then I can partner with like Claire SORs at Fashion Bomb Daily. 'cause fashion is her thing. Yeah. Now I might tag like.
[00:36:11] Tahira Joy Wright: Um, Quinta Brunson at the SAG awards and lists who her wardrobe stylist is. But am I digging deep into who the designer is and all of that? Not necessarily. And a part of that is kind of out of respect, to be honest. I've never said that publicly, but I'm conscious of other people that I have relationships with that are in the same space.
[00:36:30] Tahira Joy Wright: So I'm like, I'm not really. Step on Claire's toes. Love she not stepping. I love that because everybody don't do that. Everybody don't do that. Yeah. It's like, it's more of like, let's have comradery. Yeah. She's also a fellow at LAN Center for those who don't know. And I've even featured Claire when she's gotten her pixie cut and you know, Bob looks and she's like, she's advertised with me with her for her personal branding looks so people don't even know things like that behind the scenes.
[00:36:53] Tahira Joy Wright: But I like to shout people out that are really like. Girls. Girls, yeah. Are supportive and really wanna see [00:37:00] each other win. And so, yeah. You know, I'm, I'm excited about the future.
[00:37:05] Dreena Whitfield: Quick question. As you were growing the brand, right? You know, like once you come up with the concept and then like you're seeing them some, there's some men momentum behind it, and you're like, should I broaden my market to touch other audiences that I wasn't solely focused on initially because.
[00:37:23] Dreena Whitfield: You might be able to increase your bag, you might be able to increase your influence. Have you ever thought about that? I did slightly, like
[00:37:31] Tahira Joy Wright: prior to this recent election, I was like, oh, put women of color to try to be safe and open up, and then. I'll be quite frank after this election and then we roll into this DEI stuff and everything that's going on, and it's different in opinions.
[00:37:48] Tahira Joy Wright: I'm not gonna get into all of that. Yeah. But I was like, you know what? I just feel like standing on business. This is a platform that celebrate on business, black hair and beauty. Now, mind you, there are professionals behind the scenes [00:38:00] of diverse backgrounds that are well versed in black hair. Yeah. I featured Holly Berry's stylist.
[00:38:06] Tahira Joy Wright: And she's a white woman. Wardrobe ha. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. So I featured people that are allies, you know? But for sure I'm like, no. I want you to know what you're looking at when you come to this page. I love that. And I feel like I just didn't want to compromise to play it safe to get a bag. It's like you need to know where you're investing.
[00:38:25] Tahira Joy Wright: Hopefully I made it easier for you. Because they have their deliverables. They know what demos they're going after. Yeah. And we spend, especially in beauty, black women spend the most money in beauty than any other demo. That's crazy. So why not say, Hey, these, this is where the black girls are at. Yeah. Come over here.
[00:38:42] Tahira Joy Wright: So yeah. I'm, I'm 10 toes down.
[00:38:44] Dreena Whitfield: Yeah. Because I think that's something I struggled with too over the years. Mm-hmm. Like just trying to figure out should I. Should I not say like we're culture champions or like we're for like black, like standing 10 toes down. Mm-hmm. And ultimately it always came back to like, girl,
[00:38:59] Tahira Joy Wright: yeah,
[00:38:59] Dreena Whitfield: [00:39:00] no, this is where you live.
[00:39:01] Dreena Whitfield: This is who you are. This is what you love. So why not?
[00:39:04] Tahira Joy Wright: And quite frank, they love the vibes over here. They do. They do. They want us to come up, show up in our fits in our hair. They do. You know, talking that talk and the swag. 'cause they happy we're the trendsetters. Yep. They love, they love it. They live for us.
[00:39:19] Tahira Joy Wright: So why not? They live for us. I mean, I'm just saying they live, they live. They might wanna admit it, but they live for us. Like we, that's real. We are the drivers of culture. So why not let them know like this? And I want people to know that it's a safe space. Mm-hmm. And you're welcome. To come and support and I'll show love.
[00:39:40] Tahira Joy Wright: But yeah, you gonna see some black hair up in here? We gonna have some black captions and black. It's gonna be blinky. Black. Black. Okay. Like come on Issa.
[00:39:52] Dreena Whitfield: I'm really Okay. Listen. So what's next for the cut Life?
[00:39:56] Tahira Joy Wright: Who, so what's next is definitely getting our [00:40:00] directory relaunched. Okay. Okay. Um. I've had a couple iterations of it, but I'm working with, um, my girl Ashley Champ behind the scenes.
[00:40:08] Tahira Joy Wright: Hey Ashley? Yes. Ashley is great. She works in the brand space. She has a, um, brand called Tunnel that Yeah. You know, out, we know, you know, um, yes. But any who, like, we're working together to get the directory relaunch. I'm still trying to figure out like, 'cause you know, it's that, it's that, um. One side of it is the curated side.
[00:40:29] Tahira Joy Wright: 'cause I know when people come to the cut life, they're like, I know y'all know the stylists that are popping. Yeah. And then there's the monetization side where it's like, should everybody be able to subscribe to this directory? And then you figure out if that person is right for you. So still figuring out like what that means, what that's gonna look like.
[00:40:47] Tahira Joy Wright: Um, but ultimately it has to feel good to me. I'll figure out like what decisions. So that's one end. Um. 10 Xing the unique content. Mm-hmm. Showing up as media partners in different [00:41:00] spaces and places, even putting myself out there more as the founder so people can know who's behind the brand. I recently launched Ask the Expert on YouTube live every Monday at 7:00 PM Eastern.
[00:41:11] Tahira Joy Wright: So I have stylists and brand founders, um, on there talking about a variety. Of subjects from, uh, how to work in Feet TV and film. Mm-hmm. How to launch a brand, how to retain green flag clients, like all sorts of things. Green flag. Yeah. With the Cut Life studio, I definitely would love to get behind producing unique projects.
[00:41:31] Tahira Joy Wright: Whether it's documentaries, it doesn't necessarily have to be related to the, um, beauty space. Yeah. But probably adjacent. Mm-hmm. At least beauty and entertainment. Um, and getting more into like the TV and film space. That's what one of the loves that I had. Initially, even before working in the music industry, it's just the music industry grabbed me first.
[00:41:49] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. So I would love to circle back to that. Okay. And figure out how I could use this platform to like, listen. 'cause you know, these TV and film clients, they want somewhere to promote [00:42:00] these projects. Mm-hmm. So it's like, let's get into a bag together mm-hmm. And figure out how to create some projects, um, moving forward.
[00:42:06] Tahira Joy Wright: So yeah, digital media. Platform celebrating black hair and beauty, the possibilities I standing on being the authority, you know? Oh, and then personally, I would love to show up more, um, as a beauty expert, host and commentator. Okay. Um, whether it's guesting on daytime TV or hitting red carpet, you better hit up your
[00:42:27] Dreena Whitfield: producer contacts that you know.
[00:42:29] Dreena Whitfield: Yes,
[00:42:30] Tahira Joy Wright: yes, yes. And then even having my own, um, regular series on YouTube, I mean, hey, I'm here for it. Use your platform. So
[00:42:37] Dreena Whitfield: I'm here for it. For the creator that is hoping to build a similar platform, or just like in terms of the impact that you've had on your specific industry, for the creator that's looking to do something similar in their own lane.
[00:42:52] Dreena Whitfield: Mm-hmm. What's the, what's one piece of advice you would give them?
[00:42:56] Tahira Joy Wright: I would say go after something that you're interested in and actually [00:43:00] passionate about and not just what you think will make money. Mm-hmm. Because you'll get burnt out. 'cause it's a long game that's to be played. And just because you have a lot of followers doesn't mean you're out here like taking like money baths, you know what I mean?
[00:43:13] Tahira Joy Wright: It is still a grind, it is still, you know, consistency and dedication. So I'm like, don't just randomly. Pick something. 'cause you're like, oh, well she's successful, so let me do something like that. No. What? What do you have? Because there's an audience for everything. Literally everything. You could just love hamburgers and post about going to every hamburger spot in the country seriously.
[00:43:37] Tahira Joy Wright: And have every hamburger imaginable and rate them and view them. And you might have. 10 million followers looking at you eating hamburgers. So you have to like really, really be passionate about it. I always say niche down, be specific about. What your brand is. Mm-hmm. Who your audience is, who are you speaking to?
[00:43:55] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. Are you solving a problem? Like, I didn't initially know I was solving a problem, but [00:44:00] it's, I think it's had its longevity because I'm able to help you find a stylist. Mm-hmm. I'm able to help inspire you for your next look, next style. Yep. So what are you actually giving and not just worrying about what you're getting.
[00:44:11] Dreena Whitfield: Mm.
[00:44:12] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah,
[00:44:13] Dreena Whitfield: everyone always sees like the highlight reels and the success at the end of, you know, especially in this new digital world, people like to show that, right? Mm-hmm. No one really talks about the bumps along the journey mm-hmm. To get to that place. Um, what's something that you look back on now?
[00:44:29] Dreena Whitfield: That was like a bumpy moment for you in your journey that has really contributed to the success of the Cut Life and where you are today, because the fact that this was like something you started for fun. Mm-hmm. And now you're, this is your full-time, you know, opportunity and role. I'm sure you've hit some roadblocks.
[00:44:47] Dreena Whitfield: Absolutely. And bumps along. That journey.
[00:44:49] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. I mean, you know when you have a brand that happens to you mm-hmm. Versus a brand that you kind of plan for, it's like you're catching up to creating [00:45:00] strategy. Yeah. So you're gonna make mistakes. And I've had situations where I'm like. Maybe I should start this membership group fails.
[00:45:07] Tahira Joy Wright: Nobody cared. And, and again, I go back to that, just because you have a lot of followers doesn't mean people are gonna buy into everything that you do. Mm-hmm. You have to figure out what they're really interested in. How are they engaging with you? Um, definitely business partnerships. Going back to my PR days.
[00:45:24] Tahira Joy Wright: Partnering with people maybe prematurely. And I tend to be a very like open, welcoming, warm person. And so sometimes bringing people in and elevating their position sooner than I should have. Girl and learning. Oh, not you looked at notes in that.
[00:45:42] Tahira Joy Wright: What does country Wayne say? It sizzled in your spirit? Sizzle sizzled in your spirit?
[00:45:47] Speaker 3: Yeah, so I had
[00:45:48] Tahira Joy Wright: to learn a lot about that. And you know, nobody likes how a failure feels in the moment, but it's really not a fail. It's like a lesson. You just learn from it and keep growing financially, like making [00:46:00] sure you saving.
[00:46:01] Tahira Joy Wright: Your money planning for retirement, and I would say start earlier, like I would start thinking about it in my thirties, but I'm like, listen, especially with so many people getting into the content creator space. Yeah. And potentially making a lot of money quickly, like say for a rainy day, say for when these platforms may.
[00:46:20] Tahira Joy Wright: Disappear, right? I mean, you just never know. Also, diversifying your content. Like I spent a lot of time on Instagram and now it's like I have a good following on like YouTube and other platforms, but I'm like, man, if I was really dedicated to making sure those play spaces were active, have I could have a million on all the platforms now.
[00:46:39] Tahira Joy Wright: Mm-hmm. And so I would say diversifying your content, really finding like where your audience is. It doesn't have to be necessarily completely different content, but maybe different. Um. Edits and interpretations of that content on different platforms. Mm-hmm. Because TikTok, they don't vibe the same way as YouTube does.
[00:46:55] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. YouTube doesn't vibe the same way as Instagram does. Yeah. So like, learning how [00:47:00] social media works if you want to get into this space, for sure. Mm-hmm. Um, but yeah, it's been a lot of, listen, it's been lessons and blessings. Okay. Come on. Every
[00:47:08] Dreena Whitfield: lesson is a blessing at the end of the day.
[00:47:10] Tahira Joy Wright: Yes.
[00:47:11] Dreena Whitfield: Um, any last words of advice or anything that you wanna share for our listeners?
[00:47:15] Dreena Whitfield: I viewers, um. That are fans of the Cut Life, you know? No, you say supporters. Supporters of the Cut Life and And to hear Joy. Right.
[00:47:25] Tahira Joy Wright: Listen, just stay the course. Stay the course. Stay the course. I mean, I'll keep it really simple. Um, you're gonna be hit with a lot, especially as an entrepreneur in any space.
[00:47:34] Tahira Joy Wright: Yeah. There's always gonna be challenges. Personally, you know, keeping God first, keeping my faith in check because that guides my decisions and it guides how I react to disappointments and how I bounce back from him. We didn't even go into all of that. Okay, listen, you know, Jesus is the reason for the season.
[00:47:50] Tahira Joy Wright: Okay? Yeah, I would say that and. Just not be afraid to pivot. Yeah. I've pivoted a few times in my career, like you said, [00:48:00] PR to, I don't even know what to call myself now. I'm like, founder of the Cut Life. And they're like, okay, what do you do? I'm like, content creator. Some days, influencer, other days thought leader, entrepreneur, thought leader, entrepreneur.
[00:48:10] Tahira Joy Wright: It's it, it is, you know, it's a whole bag of things. Mm-hmm. Um. But you know, just being open to the pivots because they will happen. Yeah. And, and it doesn't necessarily mean leaving what you're doing for something else in the way that I did, but I mean, even within my business, I'm pivoting. Mm-hmm. And having to redirect.
[00:48:27] Tahira Joy Wright: So being open to that flow.
[00:48:28] Dreena Whitfield: Okay. Yep. Thank you for that. Yeah. So now we're gonna do our quick, quick fire, uh, questions. I'm ready. I'm ready. You, I just want you to say the first thing that comes to mind,
[00:48:38] Tahira Joy Wright: Mr. You wanna ask me? Do you have a boo yes or no? I gotta answer it real fast. So we not
[00:48:41] Dreena Whitfield: doing all, I'm not, I'm not doing all that.
[00:48:42] Dreena Whitfield: No. You gotta think about it in case someone looks at this. You know
[00:48:46] Tahira Joy Wright: what, what's the answer? Okay.
[00:48:47] Dreena Whitfield: So what's your favorite app that you use daily other than Instagram?
[00:48:52] Tahira Joy Wright: YouTube. I love YouTube. Okay. YouTube shorts. Specifically is the vibe and that's the cheat code. If you don't have long form content on there [00:49:00] and you're trying to increase your subscribers, 'cause you have to get to 1000 subscribers to monetize, repurpose reels and tiktoks and put them on shorts, your engagement will go up and you can get to that 1000 subscribers pretty fast.
[00:49:12] Dreena Whitfield: Okay. That wasn't a quickfire answer, but Okay. I am gonna take that tip. I'm just saying, and I'm sure the people will appreciate it, get
[00:49:17] Tahira Joy Wright: the. Free consultation here. I should be charging Lincoln Biota. Um,
[00:49:23] Dreena Whitfield: um, what's your all time favorite short hairstyle?
[00:49:26] Tahira Joy Wright: Ooh. Okay. So let's give it to anything Rihanna like.
[00:49:30] Tahira Joy Wright: That's the quick fire. I, all of my cuts have been inspired by her. Okay. Period. She's the muse for the cut life. God Yes. Oh yes. You know I'm saying that everywhere because Rihanna and I and Fancy Hair Ursula, we're gonna collab on something. I know that's right.
[00:49:42] Dreena Whitfield: Matt Gala. Yes. Um, what's a must have tool for anyone with short hair?
[00:49:47] Tahira Joy Wright: Ooh, you definitely need some good Nairobi foam boo. Um, to mold because the cut the mold is the important part of the cut. Okay. Everything else fails if the mold is not right. Okay. You gotta mold that thing [00:50:00] down. Put those strips on, sit under the dryer. If that's not right, girl, that cut is gonna be, it's not gonna be right.
[00:50:05] Tahira Joy Wright: No,
[00:50:05] Dreena Whitfield: it's not gonna
[00:50:06] Tahira Joy Wright: give
[00:50:07] Dreena Whitfield: any words of wisdom or mantra. That's always in your back pocket.
[00:50:10] Tahira Joy Wright: Ooh. That's always in my back pocket. And this is supposed to be a quick fire. Mm-hmm. Faith without works is dead. Mm.
[00:50:17] Dreena Whitfield: There you go. That's it. Mic drop, period. Well, tehir, thank you so much for joining me today. I truly, truly appreciate it.
[00:50:24] Dreena Whitfield: As I shared, you know, I'm always here to help support and amplify you and your work. So looking forward to seeing what's next for you. Thank you,
[00:50:31] Tahira Joy Wright: Dr. You my boo. You know, I appreciate.
[00:50:48] Speaker 3: I.