We caught up with the brilliant and insightful La Juana Chambers Lawson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, La Juana thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?
I am living my third life (I thank God for life each day). In this life, my motivation to do what I do is purely intrinsic. I established The Global Intrapreneur Network, a network featuring mentorship, industry certification/retention, & intrapreneurial resource matchmaking, for the people who work so hard to optimize operations & produce value for businesses daily. Success doesn’t come to those who think that they can reach the stars on their own. It is honorable to ask for help. It is economically wise to ask for help, even when you think you can do it on your own.
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
As a project management expert, I have executed more than $17 million worth of transactions via bid contracts and grant awards and generated over $32 million of project and program revenue and cash flow during my tenure as President/Founder and CEO of Tacit Growth Strategies. I am proud of the great transformation and enrichment that these dollars have brought to communities near and far. My hope is that the lasting effect of the good that those dollars set forth result in freedom for those being served.
La Juana is the President/Founder and CEO of Tacit Growth Strategies, a global Project Management Office (PMO) and leading management consulting firm that specializes in government contracting and the optimization of financial, operational, and top-down leadership of nonprofit and profit entities.
La Juana Chambers Lawson, known by her friends and colleagues as LJ, has been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine, Entrepreneur, Forbes, VoyageDallas, and several other publications.
La Juana is the published author of “Master Grant Writing: A Project Manager’s Guide” and was recently named a Global Leader & Global Mentor of Change by the esteemed Global Council for the Promotion of International Trade (GCPIT).
La Juana’s favorite quote is:
“I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.” — Audre Lorde
We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.
Keeping in touch with clients is much easier nowadays given the nature of social media and expectation of more frequent communication. As a professional service, I have found that fostering brand loyalty in my line of business involves under promising and over delivering by providing solid referrals for products and/or services that are outside of my area of expertise and incorporating training and professional education into the services that I provide.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
Kickstarting a business requires a great deal of time, effort, social capital, adaptability, community service, and resilience. I was able to establish Tacit Growth Strategies with a couple of business grants in the beginning that I leveraged to establish new streams of income with public and private sector procurements.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://growthistacit.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growthistacit/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/growthistacit/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lajuanachamberslawson/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/hiitslj2
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcEybc4OEMzDIwwwH24j1OA
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/tacit-growth-strategies-llc-san-antonio
- Other: SABJ 40 under 40: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/news/2022/02/09/40-under-40-2021.html GCPIT The Global Leaders/Global Mentor of Change (digital magazine feature): https://gcpit.us/the-great-leaders-vol-1-jan-2022/