What it's like to be an entrepreneur in your 20s. In today's interview style episode, I am meeting
with my assistant Nya Carpenter. She's not only my assistant, she's a successful entrepreneur.
I've mentored her. She's literally moved to Florida to be near me and help with my business.
And I've helped her with hers. So today, we're going to have a candid interview where I asked
her some real questions about her, her business and how she got started. Being
in your early 20s is difficult enough, but to be an entrepreneur is even more amazing.
But it has some amazing benefits as well. So we're going to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly from
Nya. And we're going to hear all about what it's like to be an entrepreneur in your 20s. Let's go.
I am so excited to be here today with you Nya Carpenter, because you are just such an
inspiration. I feel like you're young, you're beautiful, and you're an entrepreneur. So that,
to me is just like the ultimate goal that a person would have. And, you know,
I'm a little jealous that I started so late in my entrepreneurial journey. You know, I was like,
33 before I really got into it. And now the know that you were able to start at 20 is just such an
inspiration. And I'm so excited to have you answer these questions because I know the audience is
going to be super interested in someone that is as young as you and as successful as you are in
your own business. So let's get right to it. So why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?
Well, first off, let me say thank you for having me here. I'm super excited. Well,
I just knew that a nine to five wasn't going to be you know, my permanent lifestyle. I just knew
that I deserved more and wanted more for my life. I knew that I'm very talented. I can do multiple
things. I love doing hair. I love just everything real estate, as well as my real estate license.
And I just knew that my life- I wanted more for my life. Yeah, just the average, you know, waking up,
9 in the morning, getting home, late traffic, you know, I just didn't want that. So that's why
it kind of pushed me to just become a better person for myself and entrepreneur.
I love it. I love it. So let's kind of go back though, because like I said,
I know you. I've known you since you were three years old. Obviously, you're you know,
I've shared you're my best friend's daughter. So I've just always known you and thought you
were just the cutest little thing. But to see you now as an adult and to have made
this choice to be entrepreneur. Take everybody back. Where did you start? Like how did this
even become the idea that you were going to pursue? Where did you start? So I'm
originally from Atlanta, born and raised. And I went to college. I graduated high school,
and I went to college and just honestly did not like it. It wasn't my- that wasn't me.
Why is that? It was because honestly, it was instilled in me to as I was growing up, go to
college, and a degree is what you want and this is what you should be doing. In all honesty in
the world that we live in. Now in my generation, we can do so much more. Technology has you know,
upgraded advanced if we could just do anything to social media to you know, makeup to hair. You can
build a business off of just passion and things that you love. So I just knew that I can do more
in a college degree, you know, not knocking anybody and kudos to you if you do have a
college degree, but I just knew that wasn't for me. And not that I can't go back but you know,
I'm balling right now with everything I got going on. And, you know, I just knew that my
life was just going to be better with me becoming my own entrepreneur and boss. Yeah,
and making my own time. And now that I do on my own time, I just see now that I'm much
happier as well. In college, I just wasn't you know, flourishing as much as I thought I would.
And I had to tell my mom look, I'm spreading my wings, and I gotta go. So talk about
that conversation because obviously I have a college degree but you know my story. so I was
going to college, I dropped out and then when I lost everything, I had to go back to my parents
basement and they said go to college, you know what I mean? So what was that conversation like
with your mom to say I don't want to finish college. I want to start my own business.
It was super hard. But she supports me with everything that I do and that's all I ever
asked and she was just like yes, sure. Drop out of college. I'll give you all the tea and she was
definitely like oh my gosh, no, you need to stay in school. Don't do that. And honestly I had to
tell her like I'm not happy and I want to you know no longer be depressed and no longer be around
people I do not like. I'm only have a few like real friends out of college but I just want it to be
away from the nest. My college was only 20 minutes away from my mom's and like I still feel like
I'm home and I'm like I want to go somewhere where I flourish and I you know new scenery.
So that's when I moved to Orlando for I've been here for about a year so... Okay, so talk about
how you got to Orlando since people probably already know but how did-
how did that come to be because that was for both of us, I think.
Right, so my dad was here in Orlando, Florida, and I decided to come out here and live with him
and rekindle our relationship. Not that it was broken or bad or anything, but I did want us to
have a stronger bond. And I knew that, you know, in the beginning, when I was a baby, of course,
we had a good bond. But now I want as an adult, to further and you know, rekindle that bond. So
I came out here, and I got into real estate, and I loved it. Actually, the weather out here is great.
And it's just, you know, as a kid, I came out here for vacations, and never in a million years would
have thought that I would be living out here. So it's a great opportunity. I'm super blessed.
And of course, you're in my life as my mentor. So I'm super grateful and super excited about all
that I have accomplished and more than I will accomplish. Yeah, super awesome. I love it. I
love it. Okay, so let's get to the next point. Because I think this is an important part for you.
Because like I said, you're an entrepreneur, and you're only 21 years old. So you decide,
okay, you're in college in Atlanta, that's not working out. You come to
Orlando to be with your dad and then you say, I want to get into
real estate. And then what? So how did how did the entrepreneurship start for you?
Honestly, it started even when I was working a couple of nine to five,
honestly, like I was doing retail, I came out here and was doing some other jobs. Like I know,
people I've heard have been spot. Oh, my God, I hated it. It was hard, right? It just and
I didn't have any control over my time. And honestly, I wanted to spend more time, you know,
learning myself in my early 20s. And also spending time with my friends when they came out here.
And I didn't have those opportunities working at those types of places. So I said, you know what,
let me just start getting into entrepreneurship. And your videos popped up on my YouTube page,
just like everybody else. Everybody's like, click Noelle and that's what I did. And I seen about
credit, personal credit, getting your LLC, and I honestly didn't know much about it, to be honest,
until I watched your videos. And it was super awesome to see like, oh, she can do it. I can too.
And so you kind of gave me that push as well. But I kind of just had to get in my brain like stop
feeling sorry for yourself as well and just you know, gain confidence and just go for it. Yeah,
yeah. So I love that, I do. I love that. So you have a business. Okay, so obviously, we're not
going to talk about the real estate, you know, I really have real estate license
and you're my assistant. But let's talk about your actual business because people don't know.
You don't just work for me, you have your own business and that's what is exciting.
Tell us about your business because it has nothing to do a real estate.
So I'm a shopaholic. I will shop till I drop, y'all. Okay so I decided why not to just
put that into my business. So I do have a business called Luxury Works
Wonders. It's a retail and I specialize in swimsuits as of right now, I plan to expand,
but it's super awesome. I talk to my vendors about maybe twice a week.
And you know, see their catalogs and choose, you know which ones I want to pick for, you know,
my catalog as summer, winter, whatever, spring and I know people vacation all the
time. That's why I pick swimsuits, and for thicker women and curvier women as myself.
So wait a minute, because you said something there that is amazing that I had to talk to you
about I think you're gonna skip over this part, a niche having a niche and I see he a niche,
however you want to say having a niche and your business. You said you wanted to do swimsuits
and swimsuits for curvy women. Yeah. Okay.
So the thing is, when it was because of you that I realized I needed a niche. At first I was
like I was specialized to everybody. But you know, starting off, that's not how it works, right? And
if you could just pick somebody and then you know, pick a category of women, men, whatever,
and go from there. It just flows and it works. So that's what I did. I was like thicker,
curvier women and you know, feel good about your pooch, you know, big, thick arms
and things like that, feel more confident, because that is something that I lacked
in my teenage years. And even sometimes in my adult years, I've been putting on some clothes and
like, oh, my gosh, but then I realized love yourself and there's nothing wrong with you. So
yeah, that's what I did. Honestly, it was a great choice. And I love it. And my business
is flourishing, making six figures. And I'm super excited because I've never touch as much money and
I'm like, oh my gosh, it's super exciting. And so to see myself flourish and grow, I'm super-
I love it. I love it. I love it. Like I said, you're such an inspiration. So I don't want
to make it seem like it's all positive and strawberries and sun shines every day. So
tell us some of the challenges you've had as a young entrepreneur.
Well, at first, it starts with doubt. When you doubt yourself, and you're trying to compare
yourself to other people like oh, I see them doing this and I see them doing that. I'm like,
I had to quit comparing myself to other people. That's one thing. It's a big one.
Finding vendors actually is super hard. You don't want to get scammed.
Whatsapp and Alibaba, sometimes they have scammers on there. Yeah. So it was super
hard to decipher whether people had good intentions for me and wanted to help my
business or was just trying to play me and keep my money and I absolutely did not. So
did you fall into any scams? No,
but I heard so much about it and I just made decisions. So I got samples, I will
order samples and make sure that they were, you know, good material. And I didn't want to sell my
customers anything that I wouldn't wear, right. So that's important. So I got my vendors, and that's,
you know, all well and good. Another thing was just making sure are organized and spend my money
wisely. So I didn't want to over order, you know, orders and things like that. So I made sure that,
you know, I had my money correct, and also getting credit lines from regions and Chase. And
okay, so let's talk about that because that is so fun. And I think people are going to absolutely
love this part. So, of course, you know, so much more. I think that's why I'm always excited,
you know, so much more than I knew at your age that I'm like, so excited, like,
she's 21. And she's building business credit, oh, my god. So tell people about building business
credit, getting business funding, business checking accounts, and all of that stuff.
Oh, my gosh, at first, I thought it was mind blowing, learning that
I could possibly potentially at my age, get business credit. And, you know, lines of credit,
I just did not think that was possible. But I went to regions and I was like, you know,
I'm starting on my business. This is how much. It makes you make an appointment, they want you to
come in because they really want to know and understand your business. So I come in, they
asked me a couple questions, and they want to get to know me, I tell them my name. And my EIN number
is definitely something that you do need. And I got about 1000 line of credit for regions and is super
excited. Yes. And I was just like, awesome. And so you know, I'm looking at it. I'm like, definitely
buying swimsuits now and I'm like, ready, and I'm having a photoshoot coming up soon, actually
in July. So that's super exciting. So I can, you know, open and launch and rebrand my line.
Absolutely love it. I absolutely cannot wait to come to that launch party. We're gonna do
something really big. So okay, now, because I have one last question before we wrap this up,
because you just share so much great information. So you talked about some challenges. What's next
for you? What's your next idea or venture or thing that you're working on?
So my next- that's a good question. Honestly, Noelle. Well, I have so many ideas. I'm passionate about
a lot of things, honestly. And one of them happens to be dogs. So this is crazy. There's nothing like
me dog like oh. So I was thinking about opening my own dog boarding school along those lines.
It's just something that I'm passionate about and I always wanted to become a veterinarian at
one point in time, I was like seven years old, no thanks. Like being adopted, right. So I was just
like, why not, you know, get an LLC for it. I'm thinking of a name. And you know, finding somebody
who's leasing a building, you know, looking to get rid of their restaurant or something, and
renovating it and turning it into a dog boarding school where people can drop their dogs off,
I see that it's very popular when they're going to work so they don't destroy their houses or go,
if they're too busy going on vacation, they need somebody to watch them and family members can't.
I can. I love dogs. So I also plan on partnering with somebody who wants to open their own grooming
shop as well. So I decided that they could have their little special spot in my building. We can
just partner and you know, split the money 50-50 or however it goes. And that's just something that
I'm excited about. So I'll let you know more about it. But that is something that is on the list.
I absolutely love it. I love it. There's another thing that you said that I have to
just touch on because it seems like you're so young and now that you have all of these ideas
and you know that you can actually implement them. What does that mean for you because that
you just seem so different as a 21 year old, I know you're different than when I was 21.
Right. So moving here, it just opened my eyes to everything. So knowing that just being passionate
about something and being able to implement it and have money come from it, you know,
like just as much as people who make wigs or people who sell lip glosses and things like
that, just doing stuff that you love and I'm so thankful that I am young, and being able to start
now that I can build generational wealth on down the line. Yeah and so super excited to know that
by 23, I could be a millionaire or billionaire, even now. So it's just super exciting and seeing
that the world is in your palms and in your hands. Yeah, it's just all about what you do with it.
So I absolutely love it. Like I said I think you're such a great inspiration. I love that you have
all these business ideas and more than anything, I love that you are able to implement them so kudos
to you, Nya. Okay, so this has been an amazing episode. I'm so excited to have introduced you
to Nya Carpenter, she is my assistant and she is an amazing entrepreneur that is in her 20s At the
time of this recording, she was just 21 years old. So this is a beautiful, talented entrepreneur that
we have here and I'm so excited to spotlight people like this and show you real people
doing extraordinary things because this is possible. I want you guys to all know that
you can come to my events and meet me in person if you want to. Go to noellerandallevents.com,
That's Noelle and n-o-e-l-l-e, Randall, r-a-n-d-a-l-l events, e-v-e-n-t-s. noellerandallevents.com
I would love to see you in person or teach you virtually. I have so much to share, so many other
amazing entrepreneurs that can teach you and show you all that we do here and make this
possible for you as well. I just want to make sure that you have all of the resources, all of
the tools and all of the knowledge that you need to be successful. This is Noelle, to your success.