Balancing Act: How Shaquita Love Manages Nursing and Entrepreneurship

Dylan Silver (01:32)
Hey folks, welcome back to the show. I’m your host Dylan Silver and today on the show I have Shaquita Love, who is a service provider to the real estate space, providing promotional materials with logo legacy promotions. She’s also the owner of Love RX Organics. Shaquita, welcome to the show.

Shaquita Love (01:52)
Thank you. Thanks for having me so much, darling. I’m so thrilled. Thanks.

Dylan Silver (01:59)
Absolutely. ⁓ I always like to start off at the top of the show by asking folks how they got into being an entrepreneur. You know, the path for many isn’t ⁓ super clear. Oftentimes we stumble upon into it. I can say for me, I had to try out many different things before getting to where I’m at today. How did you become a business owner?

Shaquita Love (02:21)
⁓ well, before I became a nurse, I am a nurse, just to let you know. I’m a nurse and two business owners of Logo Legacy Promotions and Love RX Organics. But before I became a nurse, I’m an arts lover. I love the arts. I love everything from theater to dance. I have a background in dance. So I actually have a degree from Columbia College Chicago.

Dylan Silver (02:27)
Okay, very cool.

Shaquita Love (02:46)
So that’s kind of how I got into the entrepreneurial, artistic, creative. You know, like if you are a creative, you’re going to create even if there’s poetry or dance or, you know.

Dylan Silver (02:46)
Very cool.

Shaquita Love (03:01)
beat making or anything like that, so I used to dance. ⁓ I have my degree in Perform Arts Management. I always wanted to manage, you know, so I practiced with managing artists. I practiced with just, you know, just having a good time and just tapping into the creative space, but I always wanted to own something. ⁓ And I read a book, it’s called Think and Grow Rich.

So that really inspired me, you know what saying, to really be like a business person and, you know, just really, you know, go for it. So.

Yeah, that’s kind of how I really got into it, but Logo Legacy Promotions, I got into it 13 years ago. ⁓ I had a small promotional company, was called SFG ⁓ Promotions, with a business partner. His name was Eugene Sparing. ⁓ He was actually my mentor in just everything. ⁓ It was a great introduction into the industry, but now that I have over 10 years in the industry, now it’s time for me to really go and to connect and to just to build.

So that’s how I get to do it and I’m super excited.

Dylan Silver (04:10)
Let’s talk about scaling

a business, Shaquita. when I think about the real estate space, I think about how I started and it was super, super humble beginnings. Like I was working at the time for Nissan. ⁓

in San Antonio and now I’m in Dallas and I had no idea at all how to break into the real estate space but eventually I started networking and I learned, this is something that maybe I could do. I saw people getting in as a wholesaler and then scaling to maybe doing fix and flips. How did you break into ⁓ legacy promotions and you’re now doing it for a decade, right? So there’s continuity there and consistency. What was that first year like for you?

Shaquita Love (04:51)
Okay, so I’m a part of a group, it’s called the Advertising Specialty Institute, ASI. It is one of the top national… ⁓

groups of suppliers as well as distributors. So they teach us comprehensive training. We have yearly conventions. I’m actually going to a convention in Chicago. So they help just us build ourselves as a professional as well as a business owner. They also give us ⁓ our own kind of

guideline blueprint. You know what saying? Like I have all ASI certified suppliers that I work with. So it’s like, you know, it’s just like an easy system that, you know I’m Yes.

Dylan Silver (05:44)
They gave me the blueprint.

So ⁓ being a nurse and also a business owner is tricky. Doing anything and being a business owner is tricky. I can say that for myself specifically. How have you managed to be able to do both?

Shaquita Love (06:03)
⁓ well, when I first started nursing, I was a floor nurse and that was dreadful hours, you know, 12 hour shifts. they always, it was burnout turnover and they always want you to pick up extra shifts, right?

I’m telling you this story because everything kind of goes together. So I lost my job throughout COVID and then I started my like March of 2020. And then I started my company in September 2020, Love Rx Organics. So that was one business. What I did, it was I found a job that was not as demanding.

on my feet or you know just for me to you know have to put into so I became a school nurse.

Dylan Silver (07:42)
Yeah, what a great way to transition there.

Shaquita Love (07:45)
So now I have a fixed schedule. off with the kids on, you know, weekends and holidays and things like that. And I’m also able to work on my businesses remotely on my ⁓ computer.

you know everything intertwines, intermingles and I’m able to still fulfill the passion of working with creatives, know helping them design creative campaigns and yeah, everything kind of works out. Now I have another hurdle. I am a mother now. I’m a mother to a six month old baby boy.

Dylan Silver (08:22)
So now you have three jobs going on.

Shaquita Love (08:24)
I have three jobs going on. So if you hear my baby right now, he’s just rolling around. Sorry

Dylan Silver (08:31)
That’s okay, I live

on a ranch here in DFW and in Dallas-Fort Worth area and we have lots of animals out here and they’ve been known to make audible appearances on the show so sometimes there’ll be a large farm animal making some type of noise in the background and I say, oh look there’s… that’s one of our animals here.

Shaquita Love (08:49)
Yeah, but like me like the promotional industry is something that I’m extremely passionate about I’ve worked in the industry as a Business owner, but also as a promotional model. So I work with tons of different companies. So I kind of know what they’re looking for, you know,

You know, I know market analysis, I know different types of strategies you can use with products. So, you know, I feel like I have the best of the both worlds. It’s like, how can you not, you know, want to enhance your company?

Dylan Silver (09:18)
I would say you do.

Is there

a specific market or industry that you have interfaced the most with that you’ve seen a majority of your clients or many of your clients come from?

Shaquita Love (09:34)
⁓ So, medicals like hotels, as well as cannabis brands. know, since I have my own CED company, Love Rx Organics, one of the top promotional products, like industry is like sustainable products. So, know, hemp is really big, know, so intertwining, you know.

Dylan Silver (09:43)
Okay.

Shaquita Love (10:01)
eco-friendly promotional products, know what saying, to really upsell, you know, like CBD or a hemp. It’s a win-win, you know what I’m saying, for the consumer and for the supplier. like, CBD, yeah, yeah, so it’s like I really wanna, I kinda use my background, you know, I’m a nurse, so I target hospitals and clinics and things like that, as well as, you know,

Dylan Silver (10:14)
Yeah.

Shaquita Love (10:30)
cannabis faces.

Dylan Silver (10:32)
Shaquita, where would you say is the product that a lot of these businesses are purchasing? So you talked about multiple industries. They’re going to have different needs, right? I’m in the real estate space, so we oftentimes will have these bandit signs which will drop onto the ground, like, hey, I buy houses or we have a house for sale here. Is there a specific product ⁓ that you’ve seen that has been across industries in high demand or is it very industry specific?

Shaquita Love (10:35)
Thank you.

Mm-hmm.

So like for real estate or for you know industries like that like I Know in general like these backpacks, you know, like the backpacks. It’s like Nike backpacks If you have your logo on that it’s very Like you’re a tough anything in it as well as toe bags. So like those little Nike I’m so sorry my baby Like deals those little Nike

Dylan Silver (11:06)
In general. Yeah, in general, across industry.

Mmm. Yeah, that’s very cool.

That’s okay.

Shaquita Love (11:30)
Say hey Preston.

Dylan Silver (11:32)
⁓ we got a guess in the show. We a second guess in the show.

Shaquita Love (11:34)
Yeah,

he is a future entrepreneur in the making ⁓ so like tote bags ⁓ the ones that kind of you know

Dylan Silver (11:39)
You turn entrepreneur in the making right there.

Shaquita Love (11:50)
⁓ Emulate the Nike bags. Those are really big tote bags Because everyone goes grocery shopping or you know, everyone’s in the eco-friendly you want to save on not using plastic You know, that’s across all boards. So if you have your logo on it, you know, you’re

Dylan Silver (11:51)
Yeah, open and close. Sure. Yeah.

Shaquita Love (12:08)
Your logo is being seen, it’s visibly, you know, every time you see a logo, it stays into your mind psyche. you know, like if you’re thinking about something or if you get a taste for something, you know, your mind starts to ⁓ salver over a steak that you hear, you know, you might think of, you know, Gibson steakhouse. Huh?

Dylan Silver (12:30)
Do do apparel as well?

Do you do apparel as well, clothing?

Shaquita Love (12:37)
⁓ yes, I do have apparel

Dylan Silver (12:40)
Okay, so if someone wanted to get an embroidered logo or I don’t know the different types. I know there’s a sublimation and then embroidery. If someone wanted to get something like that, could they come to you in your promotions business?

Shaquita Love (13:28)
Absolutely, what we can do is I can actually take your logo, can customize the presentation of like the top three of five ⁓ shirts or know apparel, apparels that you’re looking for. I can find products within your price point so it’s not always just trying to upsell. I kind of want to customize and tailor to your, you know, to your needs. ⁓ Yeah, absolutely, that’s no problem.

And you can do it through like a consultation with me or you could upload your logo on my website You know I’m saying check out some goodies. It does mock-ups. So yeah It’s a it’s a one-two-three system. It’s very easy

Dylan Silver (13:55)
Okay, very cool.

Very cool.

There’s

lots of, I think, people who are seeking this type of solution, but oftentimes finding a business specifically locally that can do that type of work is tricky. ⁓ I know that when I was living in San Antonio, there was one guy, and we had a mall, was South Park Mall. It wasn’t an upscale mall. ⁓ And honestly, it was a little bit of a distressed mall. If you’re talking about real estate, was probably, you would consider it some level of distress in the mall there. But this guy would embroider,

and he would do the logos and that was like the guy that people went to for everything. And so finding a business that would do that, it was rather tricky. Like if you searched in logos, other things might come up. And so I’m curious to get your perspective, Shaquita, as someone in this space, where do you see the industry growing to in general? I think it’s ripe for innovation. I think there’s lots of people that can come in and make a big difference.

Shaquita Love (15:08)
think it’s booming, like you can tell just in the sales, it is growing. By 2034, like it’s gonna reach within like 80 billion, you know what saying, like industry. Like this is like a market in demand. One of the top favorite items that a consumer would want that was probably in the USA is a promotional item, you know what I’m saying? So.

Dylan Silver (15:19)
Wow.

Shaquita Love (15:37)
You know, we don’t want a flyer, you know what I’m saying? We want like where water bottles are oversaturated. I would tell people to stay away from water bottles because I have a closet full of water bottles.

Dylan Silver (15:42)
the brand.

Yeah, me too.

Shaquita Love (15:52)
So

you understand what saying? So that is like ⁓ a product that I would say kind of stay away from because it’s super over-saturated. You always want to find a product that everyone is always going to use. ⁓ Other products that is really big, and this is across all countries, all industries, is tech items. So if you have ⁓ a small portable charger, you could smack your logo on it. Think about that.

Dylan Silver (16:16)
Mmm.

Shaquita Love (16:19)
And that goes across all industries. who all, like everyone always needs to charge their phone up. Everyone.

Dylan Silver (16:27)
Yeah.

Are you finding, Shaquita, that when people are reaching out to you, ⁓ that they’re coming to you with a lot of the kind of concerns that I raised about like, I was trying to find this and I really couldn’t figure out exactly where to go. And like, I’m so grateful that I ran into you because I really wouldn’t know how else to do this.

Shaquita Love (17:31)
⁓ Absolutely. I offer solutions and I offer solutions just as a person. feel like anything that you’re doing with job related or what you’re doing extracurricular is you’re really aligned with purpose. So like me, I love to help people.

You know, so in this logo legacy promotions industry, I’m actually helping you. So sometimes people come to me and they know exactly what they want, you know, and that’s perfect. But if you don’t, we’re going to sit there and we’re going to customize and we’re going to really, you know, I’m going to get to know you and see how we can really expand on your brand so people can really keep that legacy of you alive, you know, after they’ve seen it.

Dylan Silver (18:13)
Yeah, I

can’t tell you how much it’s done for me personally. I had, I really need to get more of this, but I had shorts, I had gym shorts that were branded with my company logo. And then I also had a shirt that was like a business casual shirt that I had branded with my company logo. And that was able to do so much for me just as far as establishing credibility. And then also just I felt great wearing it. Like it really makes a huge difference.

Shaquita Love (18:26)
Mm-hmm.

Dylan Silver (18:42)
And so for me, I know I don’t have a contact up here in Dallas. I moved up here last year. And so to have the opportunity to network with people like yourself who can add value to my business and I can patronize you, it’s a win-win. And I think we need more of it.

Shaquita Love (18:55)
Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Dylan Silver (19:00)
Nikita, nurse, right? ⁓ You have the promotions business, you have the CBD business. ⁓ What’s your advice to folks who are potentially an aspiring business owner, they’re looking to start, but they’re not sure exactly where to start? What’s your general advice to them?

Shaquita Love (19:04)
Yes.

⁓ you know, like networking is the most powerful tool. You know, it’s not about having money. It’s all about relationships. So I would say try to, you know, get yourself in rooms that, you know, you probably want to inquire more about.

Get around smarter people ⁓ than you, and make sure you find a mentor. So if you want anything in the industry, find it. That’s how I got into Logo Legacy Promotions. 13 years ago, I had a bit of a friend. He was a photographer. So don’t know, insurance. But we ended up cultivating such an amazing friendship. ⁓ He passed a few years ago.

He was more like a family member, know, so relationships. Relationships will get you farther than anything and just be true to yourself.

Dylan Silver (20:12)
I agree completely. Networking is the biggest component of the growth path, I would say, in an aspiring entrepreneur, and even a seasoned entrepreneur who’s trying to grow their business substantially. Until you’ve reached the top of the top where you know everybody, then the fastest way for someone to progress without having to effectively overcome every obstacle themselves is learn from someone who’s already done it.

Go to someone who’s already experienced those types of obstacles or setbacks, and then you can almost time travel through their experience. Rather than you having to go through 15 years of growth, you can distill it. You might have to pay for it, but you can distill it and then overcome those obstacles within a matter of weeks or a month versus having to just figure it out with trial and error.

Shaquita Love (20:41)
Yep.

Yeah. ⁓

Yeah, absolutely. But you know what is crazy about it, and I know we don’t have lots of time, but when I hopped into the CBD space, also being a nurse, this was an area that wasn’t fully tapped in. So I really started to be a part of the innovators and the trailblazer of this cannabis movement in Illinois and the Midwest. I’m a part of the American Cannabis Nurse Association. So I’m really big in research and development.

Dylan Silver (21:20)
Yeah.

Shaquita Love (21:35)
and just advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion. ⁓

Dylan Silver (21:42)
Mm-hmm.

Shaquita Love (21:45)
I would say that with the cannabis face, I didn’t have a mentor, you know? It’s like we’re all kind of learning together. You know, so it’s crazy, but this has been such a crazy, wild ride. I’ve been a CBB business owner for five years. So, I mean, like it’s been amazing, know, ups and downs, but it’s well worth it. And I’m just so grateful.

Dylan Silver (21:51)
Yeah, learning. Oftentimes,

Oftentimes, I’ve seen that folks who have a business where there’s not like an established ⁓ group or industry, right, just by networking with each other, it’s like people are leveling each other up all the time. And oftentimes, we see that specifically in spaces like the CBD space, or I can say in my experience, I saw it ⁓ networking in Texas as a wholesaler.

Shaquita Love (22:15)
But yeah, sorry.

Dylan Silver (22:45)
I felt like there was national groups that were dedicated to it, but I didn’t feel like there was groups on a micro level dedicated to wholesale. so I finally found the groups that I wanted to be a part of here in Texas, and it really had a life-changing impact on me, not just because I could learn from them, but because I was able to see what other people are doing and be like, okay, I’m not alone in this, so to speak. ⁓ Shaquita, we are coming up on time here though. Where can folks go to get ahold of you?

Shaquita Love (23:06)
Nope.

Yep.

You can follow me on Instagram at Logo Legacy Promotions. That’s for that. You can also follow my personal page, official Shakweeta Love. ⁓ You could go on my website. is logolegacypromotions.espwebsites.com. ⁓ Yeah, I’m on Facebook. I’m on Instagram. I’m on TikTok.

Dylan Silver (23:46)
Very cool. Shaquita, thank you so much for coming on the show here today.

Shaquita Love (23:50)
Thank you. It was awesome. Thank you for having me.