We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Colette Lawrence. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Colette below.

Colette, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

I want to build a legacy of faith in God, which stems from my core values. The foundation for this legacy must first be laid in my own home by how I demonstrate my faith and values. My children must see and experience this so they can follow suit and build on this foundation to create their own legacy for their families.

During the most challenging periods of my life and entrepreneurial journey, my children and my community must be able to clearly see that my faith has been the one constant that kept me when I felt like giving up, when I failed, faced disappointment, and wanted to walk away from serving others.

My core values of faith, commitment, authenticity, honesty, integrity, and passion are the motivation and empowerment that fuels my drive to keep going, show up, and do all that I was created to. My behavior and choices should model to my children a mindset of faith; that faith comes first, and everything flows from this spring, including the core values which will determine how they serve others.

I hope they will say that Colette was a woman of faith; she stood for what she believed and served with humility. Despite whatever obstacles were in her way, she persevered and did not allow failure to keep her down or define her. I hope they will also say I had a great sense of humor (smile).

Hopefully, I will be remembered as a woman who served from a place of genuine belief that we were all created to do something that fulfills our life’s purpose; that I encouraged greatness in others, left no one behind but used my gifts to empower and motivate people to pursue dreams and live purposefully.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

For approximately 20 years, I served in administration in various capacities, which led to leadership opportunities within the organizations where I worked or served. For the most part, I loved those roles. Motivating, empowering, and encouraging others always came naturally to me. I found the greatest joy when an opportunity presented itself to help someone feel better about themselves and do better, whether speaking to an audience of one or 100.

In 2018, I started feeling the urge that there was something else for me to do, but I needed to find out what that was. I updated my resume and started sending out applications, but crickets. I spoke to my then-supervisor, who was aware of my internal struggles. She provided support so that I could make the best decision. Then, one night, I heard distinctly that it was time to step out of the boat and into the water, knee-deep. That thought kept playing in my mind, and I realized it was time to leave the comfort I had cherished over the years and try something new. The problem was that I didn’t know what that new thing was. In December 2019, I stepped away from the people and place I loved, unsure of the next step but determined to find out.

At my first session with coach Shirley King, she said, “You are called to serve women, and these are how you serve: through motivation, empowerment, and encouragement.” In 2020, at the height of COVID-19, I enrolled in the John Maxwell Leadership program (Maxwell Leadership) to be trained as a coach, speaker, and trainer.

I earned my certification and founded the MEE Movement LLC, where I provide life/confidence coaching, personal growth, development training, and motivational speaking; these services are geared to women who struggle with confidence, voice erosion, and living their life’s purpose. I have subsequently written two books and am working on my third with my mom.

The same struggles I had are in the areas where I now serve women. The ability to identify with my clients and create a tailored service, not a cookie-cutter or one-size-fits-all program, is vital to me. They are never short-changed and will always be served from a place where you can do it, and I am here to support you.

When a woman is confident, her voice is powerful, not because there aren’t moments when her confidence level may be low, but because despite the internal noise, she pushes past them and does the work that needs to be done. That’s why, for me, identifying what stole her confidence and eroded her voice in the first place is very critical to rebuilding not only her belief in herself and the abilities that God has given her, but also how she sees herself and how she uses her voice to advocate and speak up for herself and others.

My proudest moments come from my clients’ transformation. When they recognize they are bold and confident, they have value, and their voices matter, they decide to do what it takes to assume new roles and responsibilities and understand their value and the difference they make in their families and communities. That’s a big win for both of us. These are the highest compliments I can ever receive. Making a difference is important to me, and my core values are uppermost in my thoughts as I serve.

When a client books any of my services, I am humbled because although they could have selected someone else, they chose me. Past clients have relayed how I made them feel; I offered a judgement-free zone, was always open, honest, careful to listen, and added value to them.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When things that I thought would have succeeded didn’t or a plan didn’t work out as I thought it would, giving up and running away was my default setting. Nevertheless, when I started the MeeMovement in 2020, I had great expectations. I envisioned a steady stream of clients and funds coming in to take care of my responsibilities and make a difference in my clients; it didn’t happen quite like that.

This was new territory for me, and while I knew it would take time to build, I can safely say I was unprepared. As I watched the bills come in and savings dwindled, the default, aka safety settings, came on and said it was time to go back to full-time employment and leave this alone. My children were my greatest encouragers, and I had to dig deep into my faith not to walk away. And no, I didn’t suddenly have clients streaming in, but what I did was change my mindset. The vision and the dream stayed the same, but I had to change my way of thinking and not constantly search for the safety switch or exit door.

As I realized giving up was not an option, persevering despite the odds has served me well. I looked back at past examples of other challenges and saw that despite failures, I never gave up. I pushed, and sometimes, I stayed down far too long, but each time I fell, I got back up, with a resolve to try again. I wanted to succeed not only for myself but also for the others who knew the journey and the story and were watching from the sidelines, cheering me on.

Despite life’s difficulties, giving up is not always an option, and that is what kept me from walking away. It’s 2024, and I am still here.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Referrals have been the most effective strategy for me. Having others who use my services, attend a workshop or one of my conferences share my name with others or read one of my books has been best for me.

It’s unpaid advertising that has helped to open other doors that I wouldn’t otherwise have access to and placed me in the path of others that I wouldn’t have been able to meet before.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.themeemovementllc.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themeemovementllc/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MEEMovementLLC
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colettelawrence/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHvTleA7oJ_pa-MjgTgIJ0g