Shauna Greene - Let Me Testify

Shauna Greene - Let MeTestify

By Monica Montgomery

Photos Provided by Still Shots Photography

If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times. Without the test, there is no testimony.

Shauna Greene’s life is a testament to what happens when you live a life of obedience and sacrifice. At 41, Shauna is a successful entrepreneur and social media personality. Born and raised in Tampa, Florida, she was transplanted to Greensboro, North Carolina, when the Lord told her it was time for a change.

In 2007, she visited North Carolina on a ministry trip. Shauna’s mime ministry, Silent Praize, was well known and afforded her many opportunities to travel and spread the gospel through praise dancing. “During my visit in North Carolina, the Lord spoke to me and said, ‘Smooth transition.’ I asked Him what that meant. God told me, ‘This is where I’m going to bless you.’ So, I went home and told my parents what the Lord said. My daughter and I moved to Greensboro a year later,” Shauna explained. It’s been sixteen years since he spoke His promise to Shauna, and despite tests and trials, Shauna has bloomed where she was planted. But her “yes” came at a cost.

When she first moved to Greensboro as a single mother to a young daughter, Shauna was starting over. She had no family and few friends, but she knew it was the right move.

“Moving gave my daughter and I a much-needed fresh start,” Shauna explains. “Until I visited Greensboro, I hadn’t thought about relocating. That visit helped me see that the world was much bigger than Tampa. So, trusting God, I took that leap of faith. I have no regrets.”

After moving to Greensboro, Shauna faced a few challenges, but God provided exactly what she needed. “When I first moved here, I worked in a call center. The shifts weren’t single-parent friendly,” Shauna shared. “Thankfully, I’d become close to one of the members of the church I’d ministered at when I first visited. I was blessed with a village that helped me with my daughter. It was essential to have people I trusted who were willing to help with after-school pick-ups and things like that. It wasn’t always easy, but it wasn’t as hard as it could have been.”

With all the challenges that come with starting over, Shauna wondered if she had heard God correctly. “The biggest challenge I faced was going from making $65,000.00 a year to $12.00 an hour,” Shauna sighed. “I questioned God and asked, ‘Did you really send me here?’ I cried and cried because I couldn’t believe that God would strip me of everything.”

Losing everything she thought was important was a shock to Shauna’s system. “I went from being able to care for myself and my daughter while buying everything I wanted to struggling. That was a painful process, but it gave me perspective. God had a plan to rebuild me in ways and areas I couldn’t understand then, but I am grateful for now.”

In 2011, Shauna shifted gears and decided to follow another career path. “I started at Parkwest Barber School in Greensboro. After I graduated in 2013, I started working at Five Points Barbershop in High Point, NC. Then, in 2018, I opened my own shop, Anointed Cutz Barbershop. Anointed Cutz has been open for seven years and is still growing.

Anointed Cutz Barbershop is located in High Point. It is a nine-chair, owner-operated barbershop and the only female-owned barbershop in the area. Shauna says, “The goal was always to own a barbershop. I graduated in 2013, and in 2015, I bought shop chairs and stored them in my garage. While working at Five Points Barbershop, I built my clientele to the point where I knew I had enough repeat business to support opening my own shop.”

Shauna is making more than twice what she lost when she moved to North Carolina; however, what she wants to share about her process is that her “yes” came at a cost. “When people judge me based on what they see now, I tell them, you don’t know the cost of my yes,” Shauna explains. “I’ve gone through hell and back. I don’t know if I would have survived without my faith in God and trusting His plan for my life.”

Shauna’s strong work ethic and charisma made her popular and a well-sought-after barber. In 2016, she married a local minister. With her career on track and settling into married life, Shauna believed she was reaping the promise God made to her when she moved. But she found that there was another season she needed to endure. “I was married in 2016. I caught him cheating in 2018. We went to counseling, and I forgave him, but he was caught again in 2020, and we had to part ways. I was devastated,” Shauna explains. “That was the most humiliating experience of my life. Even then, I was a well-known social media personality. Silent Praize had over twenty thousand followers. There, I was married to a preacher, then found out he was cheating. Some people already knew, and those who didn’t found out because I was exposed to the world. It was a hard season, and there were times when I thought I would lose my mind. But God was rebuilding me for better.”

Shauna sought professional help so she could deal with the trauma she experienced surrounding the breakdown of her marriage. “I had to get help because I was wounded,” Shauna shared. “It took a lot to survive the hurt and betrayal, not to mention the embarrassment I endured on a public stage, but it had to happen. God showed me that what he had in store for me couldn’t happen while married to my ex-husband. While I was married, I was making six figures easily. Now that’s doubled. I couldn’t receive all God had for me while in that relationship. I don’t just mean monetarily either.”

Understanding that there was more God wanted her to do, Shauna pushed forward. She admits that her experience gave her a different outlook on organized religion. “I will be honest and say it shook me, but it didn’t stop me. I still serve in the church. I am the minister of music and praise leader. But I wear jeans and tennis shoes. I tell people it’s not about what you wear. It’s about your heart. My heart is full of worship because, despite everything, God is still good.”

I tell people it’s not about what you wear. It’s about your heart. My heart is full of worship because, despite everything, God is still good.

Recovery was a process, but Shauna is moving full steam ahead. Using her creativity and talent for social media content, she has gained more followers across several platforms and is becoming a household name. Despite all she suffered, Shauna still has a passion and compassion for people and helps wherever possible.

“Ronald White is a long-time customer who lost his mother tragically when he was very young. After the loss of his mother, his grandmother took him in. One day, Ronald came into the shop and asked for a job because he wanted to help his grandmother pay bills. I was so moved that I wanted to help him.” So Shauna did what she does so well. She used her social media platform to help Ronald.

“I posted about Ronald on Facebook, and the response was overwhelming. People donated, liked, and shared the post. When other things came up and Ronald needed help, I posted them, and the Facebook community came through. It became a movement. That’s when I realized there were more Ronalds’ out there.”

Driven to see more kids like Ronald get the help and support they need, Shauna started Ronald’s Village, a not-for-profit youth group. Shauna no longer has to crowdsource funding, but the foundation exists based on donations from private sponsors. Ronald’s Village helps youth in the community by providing basic necessities and allowing them to be children. “Through Ronald’s Village, we host ‘Christmas in the Barbershop’ for young people who lost a parent that year. We have a tutoring program where we feed the kids dinner, and they have sessions with qualified and certified teachers to provide academic support. We also take the kids on field trips and to special events.”

Continuing to use her powerful social personality presence in the metaverse, Shauna has made someone else in her family a household name. Have you heard of Bishop Ace, The Dog of God? “Bishop Ace is actually my daughter’s dog. I have never been a pet person, but my daughter wanted a dog. I told her no, but she got one, and it was at a friend’s house. All of this happened after my ex-husband and I separated, and my daughter was hurting. The Holy Spirit told me to allow the dog in the house. So, when she cleaned her room, I told her the dog could stay. She kept her end of the bargain, and the dog has been here ever since,” Shauna explained. “I still wasn’t a dog person, so I didn’t want to have anything to do with it. But every day, Ace would come into my room and bother me. He would steal a shoe and run out or hop up on the bed to try and get my attention. So, one day, I started recording him. I posted his silliness on social media, and he became an instant sensation.”

Known on TikTok as Bishop Ace, Ace has been featured on the CBS morning show and booked for parties and other events. He can often be seen in the company of his partner in crime, Papi Jay, Shauna’s seventeen-month-old godson. Who she believes God sent to complete the promise. “While I was married, my husband and I tried desperately for a child. I still have the little outfit I planned to bring my “son” home in. But it wasn’t in the plan. My disappointment was palpable. As much as I trusted God, it still hurt that I was never able to have another child. Then he blessed me with Papi Jay,” Shauna explained.

Continuing to honor God through her disappointment, Shauna received a blessing she didn’t see coming. “There was a seventeen-year-old young man named Ashton who, like Ronald, had lost his mom. I have such a heart for young people, and I wanted to encourage him. So, I told him I would buy him some new tennis shoes and other things if he graduated high school. Two months later, Ashton came into the shop with his diploma, a picture, and a young girl. He advised me that he had a child on the way and wanted me to be the godmother.” What closed the deal was the couple had chosen Jaylen, the same name and spelling she had chosen for the son she wasn’t able to have.

“It hit me in the chest. I knew then it was the final piece of the promise falling into place. I couldn’t love Jay more if he were my own flesh and blood.” Today, Shauna Greene is a successful entrepreneur, runs a community based non-profit, is a minister and a musician, and is a social media star with over 40,000 Instagram followers, 120,000 Facebook followers, and 540,000 TikTok followers. And she still finds time to go fishing regularly. “As difficult as the things I went through were, I wouldn’t change a thing,” Shauna shares. “It was all for my good. God knew what it would take to get and keep me here. Through it all. God is still good!”