Some entrepreneur stories begin with a product. Others begin with a problem. LaChaska Salmond's began with identity under pressure and the realization that confidence isn't something you wear. It's something you can build, fund, and defend.
LaChaska Salmond, a 2026 SC Women to Watch award recipient, is the CEO/founder of The Prestige Collective, a coaching and branding platform for women – often between the ages of 25 to 45, who want to refine their personal image and strengthen their future. In her view, true prestige is a combination of how you present and how you prepare.
She is in corporate America by day, with a career as a risk advisor. Over time, people kept coming to her for a different kind of advice. "It started with friends and business owners coming to me saying they needed help." Since 2015, she dabbled into the fashion industry and that blend of fashion fluency paired with financial responsibility became The Prestige Collective.
Salmond explained her philosophy as a simple, but powerful framing: most women don't need to become someone else. They need to enhance who they already are.
"The Prestige Collective is for that businesswoman or corporate woman who is looking to reshape her identity," she said. "She's not trying to create something brand new, but is trying to enhance what she already has."
Salmond calls out a common mistake she's seen across professional and personal reinvention cycles: people spending excessive energy trying to recreate themselves instead of leveraging their existing strengths. Identity work becomes practical when it connects to decisions, boundaries, messaging, and long-term planning.
After losing her late husband at the age of 28, Salmond was in a constant state of effort to get through each month with their three children. That experience became the emotional engine behind her mission: women need a blueprint especially when life takes unexpected turns.
"Make sure you have a plan. Make sure you have things in place to help your family if something unexpected happens and create a plan for the future," she said.
Salmond connects life changing experiences to a deeper theme which is that identity shifts can be emotionally destabilizing especially when someone has previously been valued for a specific version of themselves.
The process at The Prestige Collective starts with a free consultation, typically virtual, and structured like a discovery call, allowing the potential client to do most of the talking. "They share who they are, what they do, why they do what they do, their goals, and pain points."
The integration of personal branding and financial readiness comes into play. Instead of treating money as a separate track, she addresses it in the same early discovery call – along with brand goals, social media, and business setup. All of her questions help her build an integrated coaching direction and instill confidence through preparation.
For anyone seeking personal branding along with financial direction, connect with her for support to move toward clarity and purpose. Send her an email to learn more: theprestigecollective24@gmail.com
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