The meaning behind the name
Slayed—far beyond the surface.
Slayed Beyond Beautiful is where every part of Lay’s identity meets: the beauty professional, author, poet, journaler, crocheter, teacher, and woman remembering herself more deeply.
Beauty may be where the story began, but it does not end at the mirror. It continues through the pages we fill, the things our hands create, the truths we tell, and the legacy we leave.
Choose where you would like to go:
I create to leave evidence that I lived, loved, struggled, healed, created, and became.
— Lay
The woman beyond the brand
Writer. Mother. Maker. Beauty professional. Truth-seeker.
Lay is Walayee Ishway—an author, poet, journaler, crocheter, cosmetologist, teacher, and lifelong student of remembering. Slayed Beyond Beautiful brings those identities together where beauty, creativity, and emotional and spiritual healing meet.
Her first poetry collection, Pay Attention, was originally published under the name Walayee C. Whitlock. Today, she creates and shares as Lay.
This is a quiet place for honest reflection, creative truth, and the kind of legacy we leave one page and one stitch at a time.
In Lay’s own words
Read More From Lay
Explore Lay’s writing and existing author destinations.