We caught up with the brilliant and insightful LaFarris L. Risby, CFLE a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

LaFarris L., appreciate you joining us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

Business owners of all sizes experienced challenges that were exacerbated during the pandemic.

For many small business owners, however, the pandemic brought their operations to a sudden halt, forcing them to find new ways to reach customers and generate revenue or face temporary or permanent closure.
My childcare business was no different but was uniquely challenged because it served as an essential and much-needed service for our community.

During the height of the pandemic, we experienced closures. With that came the need to remain connected to our families and continue our mission of providing quality early education for children. We offered online resources, interactive reading sessions, and other family-focused at-home activities that were easy to complete and fun for all members of the household. I am also proud that we continued to pay our staff fully during and after the pandemic due to organized planning and quick action for grant applications.

In my coaching business, I also faced challenges when budgets for many entrepreneurs became tighter. However, I was able to pivot and get creative in the digital space by offering interactive and collaborative Zoom sessions. This has now turned into new courses I plan to launch this year.

My commitment to staying connected with my clients, families, and staff was the key to overcoming these challenges. I regularly communicated updates, offered support, and adapted to the changing circumstances as needed. I also knew when to ask for support and to outsource tasks to others who were experts in their field.

In my case, hardship and challenges paved the way for innovation and creativity. Sometimes, the unexpected can lead to better opportunities, even if we don’t see it initially.

LaFarris L., before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

LaFarris L. Risby, CFLE is an award-winning business strategist, author, international speaker, philanthropist, childcare and parenting expert, executive coach, community leader, and founder of Loving Arms Enterprises, the largest African American woman-owned business in Junction City, Kansas. She excels at guiding women to take their entrepreneurial dreams from concept to reality by using her personal and professional expertise.

LaFarris is an overcomer who rose from the depths of abuse to become an entrepreneur and a beacon of hope for others. After enduring years of emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her first husband, she moved to Kansas with nothing more than $50 in her pocket and her two young children in tow. With no money, no place to live, and a need to provide her children with a safe, loving, and stable environment, LaFarris soon opened a small in-home daycare where she truly began to flourish.

LaFarris has since turned her in-home daycare into Loving Arms Childcare and Preschool, the largest commercial childcare facility in her area. She has also established three additional entities, including Loving Arms University, an online educational platform with resources and tools for educators and parents, MGB, a real estate company that will provide housing for domestic abuse survivors, and her personal brand, LaFarris Risby, which serves as a training and intellectual development company. All four businesses are proud conglomerates of her multi-million dollar company, Loving Arms Enterprises.

LaFarris is also the author of “Dare to Dream,” is recognized as a sought-after keynote speaker, and has presented at several conferences and seminars, including Coca-Cola’s Global Supplier Diversity Curriculum, Dare 2 Dream, Kansas Association for the Education of Young Children.

In 2018, LaFarris was the first in her region to graduate from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program, a prestigious and exclusive small business development program offered to select business owners globally. In 2021 LaFarris graduated from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

LaFarris has received awards and accolades throughout her illustrious career and has been recognized worldwide for her outstanding leadership and commitment to serving others, including Enterprising Women Magazine 2020 Enterprising Women of the Year; Remarkable Women of Kansas (nomination); Today’s Purpose Woman Magazine March/April 2020 Issue; IAOTP Top Business Strategist of the Year for 2021; and currently serves as the Captain of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Voices representing Kansas. In 2022, She received The Shine Award and The Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award and became a part of the BOW Collective as a Sister Business Owner.

Through her work, LaFarris solves several problems that help to re-stabilize her community. These include:

-offering reliable early childhood education
-providing a quality early childhood education
-assisting new entrepreneurs in establishing their business
-assisting mid-level entrepreneurs in up-leveling their business
-assisting long-term entrepreneurs in scaling their business
-teaching domestic violence overcomers to leverage their God-given gifts to achieve success in their next chapter of life

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My mother died when I was five. So when I became a mother at 15, I wished with all my heart that she was there to help guide me as a new mother, especially when I gave birth to a premature baby who was so tiny that I could hold her in one hand.

Life didn’t get easier for me when I married my daughter’s father. He became emotionally and physically abusive and ended up leaving our two children and me for another woman and her family. So there I was in Kansas with no more than $50 in my pocket, no place to live, and no plan.

By the grace of God, I found an apartment and a job at Burger King. But I hated that job because it took me away from my children. As I left for my shift as I always did, my son threw up his arms to me, crying and begging me not to go.

That was it. I quit that job with no plan and nothing else in place.

That night, I prayed, and God told me to draw a cross and write down what I was good at, what I wasn’t good at, what I enjoyed, and what I didn’t enjoy. Today, we call that a SWOT analysis. By the night’s end, I knew it was my calling to open a daycare.

After calling the state and taking all the necessary steps to become a licensed, in-home provider, I put up flyers all over town to advertise for openings.

And wouldn’t you believe it? My first client was a premature baby, just like my own all those years ago.

My journey wasn’t easy, but I stayed the course. I showed resiliency by staying true to myself, my children, and my dreams. This is why I live by daring to dream now, forever, and always.

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

LaFarris, Inc. is but one business that falls under Loving Arms Enterprises. While I currently offer several income streams within that business, including book sales, speaking events, 1:1 coaching, and others, I have ventured into a new space and will launch online business courses this year.

The reason for this is twofold. First, doing so provides passive income for my business which frees up my most valuable resource – my time. Secondly, these courses offer an affordable educational opportunity for those who fall below the 1:1 coaching price point. This aligns with my domestic violence initiatives, as often, those overcomers start over financially or do not have enough stability to commit to individual coaching.

No matter their income level, time commitment ability, or any other barrier, I believe all established and aspiring entrepreneurs should have access to a quality education regarding success in life and business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lafarris.com
• Instagram: @lafarrisrisby
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaFarrisRisby
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lafarrisrisby/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/LaFarrisRisby
• Other: www.lovingarmsenterprises.com

Image Credits
Thumbnail – Sarah Wight