Shayla McCallum will tell you that she has ‘no special talents’ she is ‘only passionately curious’ about life and love. She was born in Jamaica and raised in Jamaica and the United States by her Afro-Jamaican and Italian-Venezuelan parents and her English-Jamaican grandparents. she has 6 sisters, 3 nieces and 1 nephew. She currently resides in Phoenix, AZ where although far away from family and many loved ones she is grateful to be surrounded by a wonderful and supportive group of friends.
Shayla grew up loving all things art and began to fall in love with design as a young child when her grandmother took an interior design course. She is a self professed design nerd and she's recently ventured into what she calls the "art of doodling" and will forever be honored and amazed that anyone other than herself has any appreciation for her drawings.
Shayla is a well studied Graphic Artist and holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Ottawa University. Throughout the years she has worked for a varity of companies from real estate to non-profit and has held an eclectic array of jobs, such as bartender, retail manager, yoga instructor and marketing director. She has been fortunate to have been given many great opportunities that sadly she admits she often took for granted. But we live and learn... and boy has she learned!
She credits the innovative Kevin Roberts as her number one inspiration in marketing and keeps his books on the visionary principles of lovemarks close at hand at all times.
In the winter of 2007, while enrolled in her second yoga teacher training she began working as the studio's Marketing & Events Coordinator and it was not long before she began to realize the need for a marketing company who understood both professional marketing standards as well as the unique aspects of the yoga business... and as winter turned into spring, Shivaya Group was born. Since it's inception, Shivaya Group has turned into much more than a "yoga marketing company"; it is a holistic marketing company not because of it's clients but because of Shayla's holistic approach to marketing.
Shayla's many years living a deeply spiritual and holistic lifestyle, combined with her passion for design, psychology, philosophy, theology, business and marketing makes her approch to just about everything she does, just a little bit unique. She recognizes that any "gifts" or "talents" she may have, come from God and she works daily to remain humble to his Grace. She approaches everything she does with one primary goal in mind... find a way to reflect the beauty of the inner human spirit.
She is continually inspired by the world in which we live, most especially the deep emotions that this life seems to just love to stir up in us. She finds teachers in the brilliant minds of men and women of all walks of life, faiths and cultures but she attributes much of her understanding about what it means to be a Christian to 3 men, Rob Bell, C.S. Lewis and a personal friend.
she is still learning...
***Photo by: Christopher Kee LaFreniere
