Check Out Shakira Arikah Nash Baly’s Story

Image credit: Mystical Inspirations Photography

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shakira Arikah Nash Baly.

Hi Shakira Arikah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
The cliché goes, “ever since I was a little girl..” but it’s true – I used to tell people, with my wide eyes that I was a mermaid and not from this world because I didn’t understand them. I reasoned, I was born on an island, I had long hair and could only swim underwater at the time. I held onto this until I was 15 years old….Life convinced me and silenced me from continuing believing and saying it, coupled with seeing the movie, Splash on tv – which confused me.

Skip ahead to 2018; a newly divorced (but great co-parenting relationship with him) mother of a 6-years old little girl. I was looking to hire a mermaid for my biracial daughter’s birthday but didn’t see any that represented her. We did end up going to the Aquarium Restaurant to see the Mystical Mermaids there and although none represented her, the look of glee in her eye when she saw the mermaid representing Ariel was priceless. From there, I decided to learn how to be a mermaid to show my daughter she could be anything she set her mind to, so I searched for mermaid classes. (I became distracted doing my search and found circus classes and remembered I wanted to join the circus so I enrolled in Lyra and Aerial Silks and forgot about the mermaid classes.)

In 2019, I was reminded to go back to seeking mermaid classes when I saw the racist hashtags circulate against Disney’s casting of the new (and black) live action, The Little Mermaid. I found a school, signed on as a licensee and thought to myself, “problem solved! Next!” I’d never worn a man-made tail and fin before and didn’t consider myself as the strongest swimmer since having an encounter in the ocean as a child one day on the island, but I did it to be a representation of welcoming any and everybody, desiring to experience their own childhood dream. From there, it became more sacred as I discovered it also allowed others to face fears, mental health issues, and body insecurities.

I was met with A LOT of obstacles – from where I’d least expect it and for reasons that were based around my ignorance of who I was professionally connected with and their shady, unethical practices. When I opened my own mermaid school, Mer-cademy last year during the quarantine and cut ties with these low-vibrational sea creatures, it later became about “how dare her” and “who does she think she is?” a few times for my race, from both blacks and whites. I’ve even been called the devil and accused of being of demonic practices of seduction and witchcraft. And then finally, I discovered I was even low-balling myself on what I charged for my services!

But all that has only made my journey with my company, Mer-Cademy, more sacred. I ab-shellute-ly pray that my heart and spirit, The Sacred Holy Spirit, is evident with every interaction I encounter. I love teaching the healing cleansing power of water – renewal and refreshing in my Airbnb Nashville Experiences, Release Your Inner Siren Classes. I love when my massage therapy students open their minds to the flow of the body in my NCBTMB Aqua Massage Certification Course. And the look of joy on people’s faces when they discover they are experiencing their dream to be a mermaid/merfolk – young and old/black/white and every skin tone – is humbly exhilarating for me. They can do it! They did it!

And whether they are a strong swimmer or not, this act encourages them to take basic swim lessons for water safety. I discovered last year that many people, especially blacks in this land-locked region, are terrified of swimming, which dates back, I discovered, to the segregation at the Nashville pools during the Civil Rights Era and even later in years. Whites were said to be scared more due to how they were taught to learn – thrown in the water and told to swim! And apparently these weren’t rumors!

Mer-Cademy is a mobile service, operating various aquatic services, therapy, or courses all year round in different parts of the country (including USVI), with an upcoming virtual project (pending) in the Fall, MERch retail line selling apparel and custom Mermaid Magic Bath Salts, testing the waters as Resident Mermaid at the hip, stylish, and fun The Dive Motel Swim Club (21+up) on Sundays, providing mermaid entertainment and mini lessons for its guests. Mermaid children’s parties include mini-lessons, with me and my daughter, Carmen, who goes by Mermaid Sunny (because she says she’s always happy!) We occasionally hire and contract talent to perform, and have received 5-star reviews with private pools listed on Swimply. We will continue to expand to ensure love and healing pours out to all land-dwellers, regardless of hue.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Though I had the honor of having volunteers from the local mermaid community train with me for my new school, others within the community questioned, competed, and almost mocked my lack of experience as a mermaid and even questioned my ethics and morals due to my being connected with the original school I was tied with (which I jokingly and lovingly now refer to as “mermaid shade!”; resources – in terms of finding suitable pool facilities, being snubbed by the high end prospects and journalists, funding for my vision of the school, balancing being a homeschooling single-mother and making enough funds to run and operate my business, my ignorance in poor business management, little sleep, interacting with those that took advantage of my naivety or ignorance of this mermaiding field; and then, starting off without ever having worn a tail – so teaching myself and learning from others; members of my staff leaving disgruntled, being targeted in a mermaid facebook group (warning against scammers and “merverts”) that I was going against child labor laws by booking (my daughter) in her first corporate gig, and even posted her picture in the group thinking I would never find out; rejection from my parents and having to cut communication with them to maintain peace and continue forward, making bricks from straw, by having a bank account not matching my expenses – all while caring for the emotional needs of my daughter as an eight year old.

And oh yeah, I guess you can add the quarantine and secondary effects of COVID in there -people fearing being at pools, or close proximity, to jab or not to jab, or who were on tight budgets or jobless so they couldn’t afford to come, or facilities not allowing fin and tail lessons, and lifeguards refusing to allow the mermaid classes at their pools. Luckily, that problem is solved by booking private pools from the website, Swimply, which I have a 5-star rating with pool owners!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Wow. I have a few acting credits here in Nashville as my stage name, Arikah Nash and (archived in Los Angeles under my name Shakira Baly, including being registered in the Writer’s Guild). I did professional wrestling and singing there. I came to Nashville in 2006 as a songwriter and singer and later became a licensed massage therapist, as entertainment jobs were not as easy for me to acquire here.

That lead to submitting a few inventions to the patent office, research papers submitted in the National Institute of Health (I double majored in Biology/Pre-med, though I dropped out of college and moved to Phoenix and later LA for acting.) I got married, had our daughter, had a few side jobs while being a new mama, including creating a Mama Bearoji App on iTunes and being an online wingwoman for an online/offline matchmaking service I created, until my divorce in 2018.

With everything I do, I am a spiritualist and my work, regardless of what it is, always goes back to healing

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I am a risk taker… Hopefully, from the past entries I wrote in detail about, you can pull from there!

A risk taker who needs the risk to be organized or have some sense of balance when I dive in.

Pricing:

• Starts at $525 – Mermaid parties and mini classes (Contact for more details)
• $99 – $145 per person- Release your Inner Siren Meditation Classes; $829 group parties of 6-10 ppl – https://bit.ly/3kaWthhor Click link — > Airbnb Nashville Experiences
• $99 Mermaid class (age specific) 1/2 price for extra per guest; or monthly package classes of (4) 75-minute at $329
• $1145 Aqua Massage Certification offered 3 times per year (3 day courses in cabins); or 2 day course in Summer in Nashville – $729
• Starts from $450 – $929 – Mermaid Modeling, Ambiance, Performance (with up to 2 additional merperformers

* Fin and tail Rentals – Starting at $70

• MERch Apparel (Men, Women, and children) and Custom made Mermaid Bath Salts –  Contact directly for password protected VIP store Access

 Company Contact Information :  Mer-Cademy

•    Email: [email protected]  Phone (text or voicemail is best): 615-422-5079 
• Website: mer-cademy.com
• Instagram: @arikahnash and @mer_cademy
• Facebook: @mercademytn
• Other: MERch online shop: Shopify – (Contact directly for VIP Password Access) – https://mer-cademy-alchemy-yours.myshopify.com
•     Nashville Airbnb Experience – https://bit.ly/3kaWthh

Image Credits
Left box to right – 1.) (Release Inner Siren Group), and The Dive Swim Club with Bambi Blue Moon 2.) Staff/ guest at The Dive Motel , and Carmen (Mermaid Sunny) with underwater photographer, Ron Anglin 3.) Mermaid Party in Evansville, IN with Haden Winokur and Tina Veda and in one of the guest rooms in The Dive Motel 4.) LMT, Alli Watts and Carmen with Nora Long 5.) with Kylie and twin friend