FXBG Neighbors Podcast
Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
FXBG Neighbors Podcast
EP #30 Sculpting Lives: How Body Thief is Transforming Bodies and Minds
What happens when personal crisis meets entrepreneurial spirit? For Sha’ahn Williams, the answer was Body Thief Body Sculpting – a haven for non-invasive transformation that's changing lives across Northern Virginia.
Founded in a spare bedroom during the height of COVID while navigating an unexpected divorce, Body Thief emerged from Williams' recognition that marginalized communities – including stay-at-home mothers, older women, and LGBTQ+ individuals – lacked safe, judgment-free options for body transformation. Drawing on her expertise as a master aesthetics instructor, she developed proprietary techniques including the "Hayes Freeman method" and her signature "Three Strikes" treatment, which combines three different modalities to permanently alter how the body processes fat.
But Williams' approach extends far beyond aesthetics. "We're healing shame. We're rebuilding confidence," she explains, describing how she's incorporated mental health modalities like rapid transformational therapy and NLP into her practice. Many clients come to Body Thief at pivotal moments in their lives – often women who have spent decades putting everyone else first and are finally choosing themselves. Williams gives each client a Rose of Jericho plant, symbolizing their transformation journey: something that appears lifeless until placed in water, when it unfurls into vibrant greenness within a day.
For those hesitant about body sculpting, Williams offers reassurance: treatments may be uncomfortable but aren't painful, and by training the body to use stored fat for energy, the results can be permanent with proper maintenance. Ready to transform your body and rebuild your confidence? Visit Body Thief on Garrisonville Road in Stafford or connect online at thebodythief.com to begin your journey to loving both your softness and your power.
Sha’ahn Williams
The Body Thief Body Sculpting
347-762-8651
shaahn@thebodythief.com
147 Garrisonville Rd, Suite 4, Stafford, Virginia 22554
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker 2:Welcome to another episode of the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. Today, I'm excited to introduce you to Williams, owner of the Body Thief Body Sculpting. Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 3:Thank you, I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm excited to learn all about your business. So let's start there. Can you share with the listeners a little bit about what you do?
Speaker 3:Sure sure. So Body Thief, Body Sculpting I like to call us Northern Virginia's premier non-invasive body contouring and holistic self-care studio. We specialize in safe, advanced treatments and with non-invasive techniques. So, for instance, I created my own technique for body contouring. I call it the Hayes Freeman method. I also do fascia therapy and services like my signature three strikes. Everything about Body Thief is burglary themed because I feel like snatching fat of like snatching fat. It was pretty catchy to make it like I'm a thief, but yeah, so we do non-invasive fillers, everything that's not surgical we perform, and we also perform post-op care for people who have had surgery and we prepare you for surgery if that is the way you want to go. But mostly we do non-invasive body altering aesthetic treatments.
Speaker 2:Amazing. So I love your branding. That's so creative. I love that and I love that you have signature treatments that you created. So that leads me to my next question. I need to know your background. Tell me about your journey. How did you get into this?
Speaker 3:Well, quite honestly, I started Body Thief during a turning point in my life. I was going through a painful, very unexpected divorce, watching my incomes dwindle. But I also knew that there was a massive gap in the beauty industry for safe, non-invasive options, especially for marginalized communities. I say like stay-at-home moms, older people, women of color, mothers, like I said, our LGBTQ community, trans community. I felt like there was a gap there and a need for safe, non-invasive options and I wanted to give my community a place to heal, to reshape and celebrate. While I was healing and reshaping my own life and my own self, but I want them to celebrate themselves, without needles, risky surgeries and, of course, without judgment. So I bet on myself, my expertise. At the time I was a working master aesthetics instructor and I built Body Thief right from scratch in the middle of COVID.
Speaker 3:So that's how I got started. Literally, my ex-husband said why don't you do something with this space? And Body Thief was born in my house, in my spare bedroom. That's how I got started, wow.
Speaker 2:So that is such an inspiring story and it's very interesting that you kind of healed yourself by healing others. So there's a lot to be said about about that and about about you and your character. So congratulations on one getting through that. I've also been through a terrible divorce and I wouldn't wish that on anyone. So congratulations on turning something negative in your life into then helping others. So I think that's I think that's really remarkable.
Speaker 3:I think one of the things too about that is maybe because of the way I started Body Thief. I do attract people who are ready, they're at that precipice of transformation and a lot of women who I see they have the same type of story. Where is they're like? You know what I'm choosing me now. That's why I'm here. I've raised my children or, um, you know, I'm getting divorced, like I want to do something for me for a change. I hear that so much and it's sad in a way too, because some of my clients are much older and and I'm like, wow, you waited until you were 60 before you started to take something for yourself. But I'm glad that I could facilitate that healing and be that space, that safe space for them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, as women, we tend to put ourselves last, and so I love, I love what you're doing. What would you say is what's you know kind of your most popular treatment?
Speaker 3:I would say our most popular treatment is my signature service, three strikes. And I call it three strikes because I use three modalities in the service. It's a 90 minute service but I'm going to use it through at least three tools to get that fat off or plump you up or firm your skin, whichever reason you're coming to see us.
Speaker 2:I got you.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I love that. I love that. Okay, so clearly you've worked really hard building this business from scratch, so I need to know when you're not working really hard building this business from scratch.
Speaker 3:So I need to know when you're not working, what are you doing for fun? For fun, when I'm not snatching waist or filling lips, I actually like to think. I know that's just a strange thing to say is my favorite pastime, but I like meditating, I like thinking, I like reading and my favorite thing if anyone is a follower of me on my social media page I travel. I am a travel nut. I went to seven countries last year so I'm big on spiritual self-care. Deep thinking, quiet time recharges me so I can pour back into my clients 100%. But traveling that is my jam. I love traveling.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. It's nice to get away from the business and recharge, and you're better for your clients when you get back. I love it.
Speaker 3:And I like to travel to learn like new techniques like Thailand for like console massage, texas for the fascia therapy. So sometimes my travel is double, like I'll do two things at once I may learn something and vacation too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's the best vacation.
Speaker 3:I love it.
Speaker 2:I love it. So I have a question If you risk, if, if you could give your your former self some advice when you first started your business, or if you could give some advice to, uh, a new entrepreneur who's thinking about starting a business, what advice would you give them?
Speaker 3:Um, I'll do both. I'll answer both. Um advice to myself, my former self. Before starting this business, I would say, girl, don't be so impulsive. Like yes, it's okay to like jump when you get an idea, but do a little more research. I can be super impulsive and I've wasted tons of money by just not investigating the offer as much as I should have and the advice I would share with a new entrepreneur. Something that I wish I had done not known because I did know, but something that I wish I had done is, um, get a business coach. I think that I recently got a business coach and I majored in dance and theater arts.
Speaker 3:Like I am, I wasn't a business person. This business was born out of a necessity for myself and what I felt was a need in the community. But if I had to do it over, I definitely would take more time learning actual business. But at the same time, I still would advise people to start before you're ready and just be prepared to pivot, because nothing will ever feel perfect. So I don't want the listeners or the watchers to get what I'm saying wrong, because I don't want to say just wait until things are perfect, because things will never probably be perfect, but trust your gut, get started and learn like, just learn as you're growing, and hire those professionals if you can, or take free classes, but do business, take a business class and get a business coach if possible, because it will help you. And be sure to document, document, yeah, document everything and protect, protect to protect yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what I would say Really good advice. So many people have this great hobby or they're in a trade and they're really good at it, and they go out on their own to start a business and they're really good at what they do, but they're missing the business side and they get themselves in trouble. That's really good advice. I love it. So what is something that you wish the listeners knew about your business?
Speaker 3:I'd like the listeners to know that Body Thief is not just aesthetics. This is a safe space for transformation from inside out. Like I know we're changing bodies but we're also healing shame. We're rebuilding confidence. I'm teaching, helping teach people to love their bodies, love their softness and their power. At the same time, like there's a vibe here. I even I wish I had one with me, but I care about my clients so much.
Speaker 3:Like I've taken rapid transformational therapy, I've taken NLP, like just so I can kind of get to the mindset, because sometimes excessive weight gain has a mental health connection. It's not necessarily, oh, I'm eating poorly or I'm not exercising, and I really want to connect with my clients and really help them change permanently. So I had this plant it's called a Rose of Jericho and I would give it to clients. Sometimes I feel like you're in such a transformational space. Here's this plant that represents transformation and reinvigoration and change. It looks dead. All you do is put it in water. That thing turns green, it unfurls, it is beautiful within a day. And I like to give gifts to my clients a lot. So I think that is one thing I would like the listeners to know that it's more than the body that we're changing here. We're transforming your insides too, and the other thing I want them to know is it doesn't really hurt.
Speaker 3:People really think that this might be painful. I promise it's not surgery. It may be uncomfortable, but it won't be painful. So I want people to know that you're okay, it won't hurt and it's not surgery. It may be uncomfortable, but it won't be painful. So I want people to know that you're okay, it won't hurt and it's permanent. So that was three things I want them to know. But it is permanent. This isn't a temporary fix. We literally alter your brain into using your stored fat for energy. That's a keto state. You can keep that keto state up. So what do we do? Is it permanent as surgery? And you'll take that with a grain of salt, because we all know people who've had surgery and may have regained the weight or whatever your body needs fat but what?
Speaker 3:we do is permanent. It can be permanent.
Speaker 2:Interesting, interesting. Thank you for sharing that. It's good. It's good. We all needed to know that. So thank you for that. If the listeners want to learn more from you, if they want to connect with you, where can they find you?
Speaker 3:Well, you can come visit us right in Stafford. We are on Garrisonville Road, which is Route 610, right next to Wendy's. You can go to our website, thebodythief. com. You can check our socials on Facebook, we're the Body Thief Body Sculpting, and on Instagram, we're the underscore body underscore thief. So we're everywhere and you can also check out this podcast to hear about us.
Speaker 2:Wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing the Body Thief with us. I appreciate you being my guest today.
Speaker 3:I appreciate being on. Thank you so much for giving me this platform to share, of course.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to fxbgneighborspodcast. com. That's fxbgneighborspodcast. com, or call 540-534-4618.