Dr. Shawanda, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When you were first starting out, did you join a firm or start your own?
When I first started Royal Financial Services, it was done with my business partner (my son), Shaun Moore. He helped me invest in the start of our company when I was unemployed and working toward the completion of my Ph.D. At first, I didn’t want to accept any money from my son because I felt that he should not have to give his mother any of the money he has been saving from working over the years. However, after having a heart to heart with Shaun, he stated that it would be an investment for a family business, and I can always pay him back later. So, I accepted the money and was able to pay him back and gave him a percentage of the company within the first year.
I was eagered to start the company to help those in the community with free to affordable tax preparation services and financial literacy coaching depending on their circumstances. For example: Senior citizens, homeless individuals, and college students without dependents are the populations of clients that greatly benefits from the discounts. They usually don’t receive large refunds because there are not many credits available to them.
I do believe that starting my company was a great decision because we started provided many services to the community such as Thanksgiving Give-A-Ways, Christmas Toy Drives, Scholarship Funding, School Supply Give-A-Ways, Stop the Violence Rallies, and more. We want to always ensure that we are involved with helping those that are in need.
Shortly after starting Royal Financial Services my business partner (son), Shaun Moore was murdered in broad daylight outside a neighborhood pharmacy as he is picking up his prescription. He was just discharged from the hospital due to flu like symptoms and needed his prescriptions filled. That tragic incident is still the most painful experience of my life because losing a child is something parents never expect. Therefore, it shook my life in the midst of being a business owner because my partner (son) was no longer with me. However, two employees Malika Batiste and Shante Williams stepped up and ran the company while I dealt with the pain of grieving in 2020 and 2021.
During the tax year of 2022, I was able to be more involved in the company and lead it to the most successful year thus far. We grossed over 2 million dollars during that tax season.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am Dr. Shawanda Moore the CEO/Owner of Royal Financial Service. I am also an author, speaker, educator, and financial coach. I enjoy helping others and giving back to the community. I decided to start my own company due to being a single mother of 8 children and wanted to provide positivity and inspiration to my children. I wanted them to witness the power of God and recognize that with God there is no challenge or obstacle that can stand in your way.
I choose the financial business to help educate individuals on financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and understanding taxes. I provide free seminars on those three topics, and I have written children and adults books on them as well.
The community service and affordable service that we provide sets us apart from others. We go above and beyond to ensure we are always giving back to help brighten someone’s day and be impactful to the lives of others.
I am most proud of the support we have received from individuals within the United States as we have clients and partners within several states. They help with the growth of our company and our ability to provide more services in the communities.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
The resilience in my journey definitely involves the loss of my son, Shaun Moore. It was very difficult to focus on operating a business after losing a child who 21 years old and striving to secure a solid future for his son Shaun Moore, Jr. who was only 1 years old at the time. I had many struggles with depression and anxiety because I was lost without my son. So being able to make decisions during the 1st year was hard for me to do. Eventually, I built strength in the memories when my son expressed so much excitement and joy of being a part of the family business and helping me start it. So, those memories helped me realize how important the business was to him and that motivated me to do more to keep his memories alive. I have been actively involved in the growth of the company and has honored my son as CEO of our company.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I believe that the community services and outreach that we provide help build our reputation. There are many individuals who struggles financially and being able to help them during the holiday seasons is very meaningful to them. Most of them remain in contact with us for years as we help them locate jobs, receive assistance, and gain financial literacy.
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