Nourished by Latonza is her brand, and after our discussion (which I wanted so much more of in the moment) I felt the magic behind her heart and her brand. I found Latonza through a mutual friend and some fun Vegas activities (the good kind) and maintained connection through social media. I have watched her since then and had to get her on the blog….here is what she had to say.
Who is Latonza? Who are you? Where did you start?
“Nourished by Latonza is my self brand. I believe as individuals we are all branded in our own way. There is something rememberable and remarkable about each person so I decided to brand myself with things that I like”
Latonza is a program manager from Gary Indiana with a strong background in operations that leads a group of consultants in multiple countries. In 2019, she dove into passion products, had consultations, indulged in everything that made her happy and that started with a cuticle oil pen. She worked on the formula for 2 years and now she’s running a successful business with so much more to come.
How do you balance life and business?
“I go by wife, mom, and business owner and I love them all equally. These are all of the things in my life that I lead my life with. Any titles that I don’t love, I don’t take on.”
I especially loved her perspective on leading with LOVE and intention whether it is random or structured. She explained to me that the balancing act is all about organization. She explained to me how maintaining organization through a strict calendar method was essential with the many hats and roles she has to take on in her life.
“I try to stay as organized as possible. I lead my life by calendar. That’s how I am able to keep commitments. I schedule everything and if it’s not on my calendar, I don’t have time for it. It creates respect for my time and yours too so I can give you my undivided attention.”
Latonza then went into her view on affirmations as a way to maintain balance, which was a prelude to questions I had later in the interview about the power of words.
“Another thing is affirmations and incorporating them with my values. I tell myself each and every morning you know I can do anything. Looking within and saying I can fix those things that I don’t like about myself is important.”
Is this something you have always had or is it something you had to develop over time?
“I have always had it, but it was a very immature sense of it. The things you tell yourself is what you believe. If you tell yourself you can’t do it, soon enough you can’t do it.”
Her last means of balance was through use of community. She explained to me how she has to implement open and direct communication with her husband when she needs help whether verbal or through action. She also had a no nonsense view on the expectations she holds for her immediate circles.
“The question to my friends is how can they support me? Sometimes a phone call is not supporting me, sometimes I need you here with me. Give me constructive criticism. Tell me I have been distance or that I am off in certain areas. I don’t have yes men around me, I have people around me that challenge me every single day. So that gives me firm balance.”
“Sometimes when you’re not meeting goals I need to evaluate who’s around me. Its nothing against them and I believe in loving people from a distance. However, you’re not adding to me right now and if I am looking for that add I don’t need a neutral.
What is your morning routine?
“I try to stick to the 5 am club because it gives me 2-3 hours in the morning. They are filled with so much enjoyment because I start of my day choosing exactly what that self time looks like.”
The break down of her day looked like….
- Wake up
- Ginger coffee, turmeric shots,
- Gym
- Shower/Dress
- Work
- Dinner prep
- Helping the Hubby and Kid
Weekend routine was all about skincare and she mentioned a future girl date Skin by Chi (Stay tuned) Juicing. Prepping. Cleaning. Cooking. Lists. Order and routine was the theme!
Why do we need to spend more time on our skin?
“Our body tells us what’s going on. When I massage and touch my face I notice the texture of my skin. I can tell when I am dehydrated. Experiencing a breakout. Etc.”
She shared with me the importance of knowing your body, your skin, and moving accordingly.
If I did not have….I would go crazy
“If I did not have my experiences in life I would go crazy. My experiences have made me who I am in every aspect of my life. I believe that someone else can tell you how it worked out for them but it will not be the same for you.”
What does women empowerment means to you? How has it helped you in business?
“Women are strong and resilient.”
We dove into the conversation of expectations on women to maintain and exude strength and the negative connotation that sometimes comes with the territory. She grew up in a single parent household with 4 siblings in Indiana. Latonza didn’t quite grasp the concept of breaks and balance because she didn’t see it often. However, it also taught her lessons at a very young age that “life will not wait for you and no one is going to come save you or give you anything so you have to work.”
“I believe you can pray about it, but prayer with no work is dead. Your hopes don’t manifest they’re just ideas. My mom was all about the action. If it didn’t look like you said, she would challenge us on it. Now I can take very direct feedback….she empowered me to be able to accept good bad ugly and indifferent. You have to be ready for the hard so she helped me a lot with that.”
She discussed the rawness of growing up in Indiana and the lessons it taught her with relationships and communities and ultimately how community is extremely important to her in her adult life now due to her experience.
What made you decide on starting a business?
Latonza worked in corporate and reached a point of less fulfillment despite enjoying her job. She tapped into her creativity and after motivation from her circle and dreams, it started to all come together. She always carried around cuticle oil and one day while she was traveling on a long flight to California, a bottle of the oil bursted and ruined a favorite bag of hers. She was “distraught” and determined from that point that there was a solution. She closed her eyes and saw the pen, took out her phone and started creating. Formulas, oils, scents, designs….ideas all flowed from there.
“I wanted to take an idea of having something all natural. For the next year or two I made different batches. I tested it for 6-8 months with my friends and they all loved it.
Once the pen was in motion something incredible happened while Latonza was at an Erykah Badu concert….
“I always carry material products with me. Sure enough, we were on the floor of the concert and my husband went to the stage and she [Erykah Badu] finally came to the left of the stage and handed it to her. She stopped the concert and said..”This man just gave me a cuticle oil pen”
Way too cool. Latonza finished by talking to me about how she grew from that point on…
“Learn how to be approachable. I try to stay as transparent as possible. I have gotten so many amazing results just by being open. I got a partnership just for saying hello.”
What do you say to someone that wants to quit?
“Pause. Sounds like you’re overwhelmed and you want out of something. You have to be still to find out why because you didn’t want to quit when you started. We wanted to finish. Is this an emotional decision?
She emphasized the importance of “having the discussion”, thinking about it, evaluating if it’s actually bad for you and then finding the tools that we can give to help.
What does love mean to you?
“Love means caring for your heart by your own definition. Whatever that love language is….”
Give us your Mantras….
“I am loved”
“I am respected”
“I am a force”
The mic kinda dropped after that….
Thank you for your time and inspiration Mrs. Strickland and we can wait for more from Nourished by Latonza. Please follow her social media (See QR code below) and visit her website and we will all be making a future purchase for our life and our cuticles for sure.
And Let me just drop a definition before I exit because maybe you didn’t know but we need our cuticles to be right. The cuticle is a layer of clear skin located along the bottom edge of your finger or toe. This area is known as the nail bed. The cuticle function is to protect new nails from bacteria when they grow out from the nail root. Like the cuticle boss said it’s so important to know our bodies and take care of ourselves. Self care is always the best care. Go get you some from our Girl Date. Thank you for reading.
LOVE Charlotte
