We recently connected with Zaniya Johnson and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Zaniya, great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.
What you may call taking risk, I call stepping out on faith. I come from a very spiritual household, every decision I make or risk I take, I pray about it first, ask God to guide me, then I just do it. I know when and when not to, he always gives me the answer, whether it’s in a dream, from a relative or a complete stranger, that tells me all I need to know to take that risk.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m a full time Pharmacy Technician, anytime someone asks me what I do for a living I say “I sell drugs” the looks on their faces is HILARIOUS, but really that basically what I do. I love my job, but do I see myself doing this forever? Absolutely not. I love the freeness of my job, knowing I’m the one to determine if someone lives or dies though is a little nerve racking. One small mistake can be the worst. But after my 9 to 5, I’m an artist, Diamond Sets! I started this business on my own. I LOVE doing nails, I started all the way from scratch 3 years ago, and I’ve made some amazing friends along the way, when I’m doing nails, nothing else matters, I love when my clients give me full creative control! I’m like yep… I’m about to eat this UP lol. I have so much planned for Diamond sets, I have a photo shoot coming up really soon, I’m still looking for hand models. Eventually I want to move out of my home and get my own shop, so I’m looking forward to that, but for now, my nail room is the most tranquil place in my house.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Believe it or not symmetry is SUPER important, i hard to learn that the hard way. I also learned that there is no certain way you should do nails, whichever way (not including saftey wise) you feel most comfort to do it, is the correct way. If you are early on in your journey, DO NOT give up! I don’t care if you only have one client in 6 months, DO.NOT.STOP. Continuously practice and perfect your work, you can only get better.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
The number one obstacle I’m dealing with right now is juggling, my job & my business, I feel like I’m afraid to succeed, and which is really weird, I have all the tools and the knowledge to succeed… but I’m afraid? So I’m still trying to work through that at the moment, I know what I need to do, God has already given me what I needed, I just gotta step out and do it! I just want to be able to have something to fall back on if it doesn’t work… I’m getting epiphanies saying this right now, wow lol. I have “Faith” tattooed on my wrist but I’m not living up to that right now clearly.
Contact Info:
- Website: Diamondsetz.as.me
- Instagram: @Diamonssetz
- Youtube: Zaniya Paige
Image Credits
Zaniya Johnson
