From Booked & Blessed in Jamaica to Sleeping & Starting Fresh in Dubai

What this episode covers

Babes, How Did You Get Here? | From Jamaica to Dubai: A Beauty Entrepreneur's Leap Into the Unknown – Starting Over, Ego Checks & Building Dreams in a New City What happens when a Jamaican beauty entrepreneur leaves behind a fully booked calendar, a thriving lash and microblading academy, and everything she's built to move to Dubai with $700, no clients, and nobody who knows her name—taking a nine to five job for the first time since college, sleeping through jet lag after years of hustle, navigating the bruised ego of being unknown in a city where she once had authority, experiencing the heartbreak of miscarriage and moving forward, setting high standards for relationships while refusing to settle, discovering that chivalry hits different in different cultures, teaching herself that failure isn't an option because she sold everything at a yard sale, and realizing that sometimes you have to start from scratch to build something even bigger? In this raw, vulnerable, and deeply inspiring episode, host April Jackson sits down with Shafawa Hilton—a Jamaican beauty therapist, lash artist, and founder of the Lash Accessibility Academy who left Jamaica in October with a dream bigger than her island could hold, landed in Dubai without ever visiting, and is now rebuilding her empire one conversation, one client, and one nine to five shift at a time. From growing up sheltered in a home school church routine, to starting her beauty business in college charging students $300 JMD for eyebrows, to learning lashes and microblading on a work and travel program in the US, to becoming one of Jamaica's premium priced lash artists, to hearing a prophecy that confirmed her international calling, to boarding her first ever flight to Dubai, to realizing that $700 doesn't go as far as you think, to taking a hospitality job for stability and visa sponsorship, to experiencing the ego check of being completely unknown, to navigating a miscarriage four years ago and carrying the dream of motherhood, to setting standards for a partner who wants to be a father and a husband, to observing that men hug differently here, to discovering that Phuket isn't Benidorm and Dubai isn't as cheap as Instagram makes it look, to refusing to have a Plan B because she already sold everything—Shafawa's story is one of courage, reinvention, and choosing growth over comfort every single time. In this episode, we discuss: The Decision to Leave: Why Dubai over the US or UK, choosing hot weather over snow, having an aunt already here, and knowing that Jamaica felt too small for her dreams. Landing in Dubai with $700: Arriving in a city she'd never visited, realizing the reality of starting over, and knowing that God didn't bring her here just because it's shiny. Growing Up Sheltered: Home school church life, being told to be quiet, and how that shaped her fearless character today. Starting a Beauty Business in College: Charging students $300 JMD for eyebrows at UTech, learning makeup from YouTube University, and becoming known as the eyebrow girl on campus. Work and Travel Program: Going to the US in 2017, taking lash and microblading courses, spending 10 hours on her first client, and using the money to pay school fees and invest in her business. Building the Lash Accessibility Academy: Starting with five students during COVID, expanding from five days to seven days with internship, being the first in Jamaica to offer that level of training, and realizing that people couldn't afford premium but she wasn't dropping her prices. Knowing Your Worth: Charging premium prices in Jamaica, educating clients on healthy lash practices, and realizing that once you know your value you start to feel the itch to leave. Taking a Nine to Five Job: Getting offered a hospitality job through a friend, praying about it and getting confirmation, realizing it's full circle because hospitality funded her beauty business the first time, and embracing the learning curve. Timestamps: 00:00:00 Introduction: A Jamaican Beauty Entrepreneur's Leap to Dubai 00:00:40 The Decision to Leave: Why Dubai Over Traditional Routes 00:03:18 Growing Up Sheltered: Home, School, and Church 00:04:24 From Eyebrows to Empire: Starting a Beauty Business in College 00:06:50 Work and Travel Program: The Foundation for Growth 00:08:40 Building the Lash Accessibility Academy: Teaching with Value 00:11:35 Knowing Your Worth: When Jamaica Feels Too Small 00:20:59 Starting From Scratch: Taking a Nine to Five Job 00:30:26 Prophecy & Faith #HowDidYouGetHere #AprilJackson #DubaiLiving #JamaicanInDubai #BeautyEntrepreneur #LashArtist #Microblading #LashAcademy #ExpatLife #StartingOver #Reinvention #CourageOverComfort #NoPlanB #EgoCheck #LivingAbroad #JamaicaToDubai #BeautyIndustry #Entrepreneurship #CaribbeanInDubai #BuildingDreams

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