In her own words, Kayla Sloan (known to some as AyoKaySlo), is a trailblazer in the ASC and AUC community. She currently serves as senior class president, president and founder of the NAACP chapter at Agnes, and she formerly held the title of Miss Phi Beta Sigma during the 2015-2016 school year. She is a Business Management major and recently secured a job post-graduation. During this interview, it was greatly shown not only how deeply motivated she is, but also how her genuine and contagiously positive character proves to be her ultimate strength.
HC: Is there anything (e.g., a personal experience, something someone said to you) during your four years at Agnes, that you can remember that had a significant impact on you?
KS: I went to a UNCF (United Negro College Fund) leadership conference this summer in Washington, DC, and there was a guy named Willie Jolley, who is a motivational speaker that travels all over the world, and he basically told us to never be satisfied with where we were. From that point on, it really just stuck out to me to always be on the next level and that’s what I basically feel like I’ve done here during my four years at Agnes Scott and off campus as well. It really just stuck with me as something I’ve already done and something that I need to continue to do.
HC: So you’ve made impacts not only on the ASC campus but also at the AUC (Atlanta University Center). One of the ways you did so was through the pageant you not only entered but won. What made you want to enter into the Phi Beta Sigma scholarship pageant?
KS: Well, Phi Beta Sigma is a greek fraternity and they also have a constitutionally bound sorority which is called Zeta Phi Beta. My family legacy consists of both [members of Phi Beta Sigma and Zeta Phi Beta] with even a few of them being Chi Chapter alumni at Morehouse. I know people that are old heads and, of course, with me being a social butterfly at the AUC, I met some Sigmas that were there during my four years [at Agnes Scott]. So when pageant season came around they were like, “Yo, Kayla, this is our first actual pageant. We think you would be a great contestant. Do you want to do it?” And of course in the end it was just promoting, but I was like, Oh, I don’t know. It’s an AUC pageant and I’m going to be the only off-campus girl doing this. I’m not sure how I feel about it. But then I went to the informational session and I thought, Why not? My friend Cierra from here [Agnes] went with me and even she said, You should just do it! Why not? You don’t have anything to lose. And I was like, You’re right, and I just did it. I stayed confident through the entire thing and it definitely helped having the whole Agnes Scott [community] there the night of the pageant and being the most represented school. They were very surprised by that [my win]! But I think that was a great experience. People counted me out because I wasn’t a student in the AUC but my performance clearly outweighed it all as I won the crown.
HC: How did you balance your school work, social life, and other areas during the two month time frame preparing for the pageant?
KS: It took away so much time. I was SGA COSMO chair and honestly I literally dropped the ball on that and some of my other leadership roles as well. But I definitely saw it as an opportunity for me to grow and for me to be a trailblazer on both campuses. So I said, “Why not do that?” It took a lot of sleep away from me, eating, homework–just everything you could imagine sacrificing, I did. But I am so happy to know that me winning definitely paid off.
HC: You’ve done so many great things while here! You’re Senior Class President, President and Founder of the NAACP chapter, you were COSMO Chair, you won a pageant–but while doing all these great things, you also have a business on the side. Can you tell me a little bit about your business and how the idea for your business came about?
KS: My business is called Made by AyoKaySlo which is basically a marketing creations and consulting business. Basically, I create flyers, websites, logos, and anything that people need regarding marketing to improve their business performance. It came about when I started here [at Agnes] making small flyers for campus organizations. I figured it could become something so much bigger than that. I definitely grew into that marketing aspect of my life this summer at my internship and from that I was like Why not make money off of it?
HC: How do you manage running a business while in school?
KS: Having a business while in school basically means late nights and early mornings every single day for me. It can get kind of crazy at times, especially when my clients are emailing, texting, or calling me while I’m in class. But when I’m not in class I am basically working on my client’s materials and nothing else. I know this is bad to say, but my business even comes before my homework most nights.
HC: We know it’s the middle of the semester and everyone is seriously just trying to push through. I know it may especially be hard for us since we had a two-week break. Do you have any post-spring break advice on how to keep up your self-motivation?
KS: I would say just remember your goals. Don’t find any reason to slack off. For instance, mine is graduation and there’s nothing stopping me whether it be homework assignments, or ten-page papers (which I have coming up). Nothing is stressing me out at this point because I know my ultimate goal is graduation. So whether it be you guys [underclassmen] getting through the semester, getting to Ring Ceremony, just getting to the summer, [etc], just do not lose sight of your goals because it’s life. You only have one life to live. Do not stress over something as temporary as an assignment, missed class period, or bad grade. Achieving the end goal is key, while also doing good work!
That’s definitely some great advice for those of us who may be losing our motivation these last couple of months. It was even better hearing Kayla’s words of inspiration coming across in a meaningful way. With this positive momentum, we decided to move the interview questions to some lighter topics. Here is what she had to say.
HC: Who’s your favorite person?
KS: I would say, Michelle Obama. People tell me I look like her, I feel like I have “First Lady qualities,” and she’s just everything I want to be.
I interrupted the interview for a brief moment to point out Kayla’s other celeb look-a-like. I asked her, “Have I ever told you that you look like…” I couldn’t remember the actress’ name. But even so, Kayla proceeded to ask, “Is it Regina King?” YES.
If you’ve never seen it before, now you do! Now onto the rest of the interview.
HC: Have you listened to Drake’s new album?
KS: I have not! I need to because he’s literally my husband
HC: What does your normal morning routine consist of?
KS: I actually work out around midnight, so I guess that can be considered the start of it. Anyway, I get around 5 or 6 hours of sleep, I wake up, then go to breakfast in Evans. Typically I go back to sleep then rush to class like 5 minutes before. Oh, and I take a shower of course, but that’s basically it.
This last question was one of the more corky ones, but nonetheless, she did not hesitate to respond.
HC: If you had to choose between permanently chopping off your hair or having no eyebrows, which would you choose?
KS: Hair!