We caught up with the brilliant and insightful LaKesha Womack a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

LaKesha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Attaining success requires a combination of factors, including preparation, determination, and, most importantly, decision. I believe the decision is the most important factor because our society has many definitions of success, but deciding what success looks like in your life is essential. When I was growing up, success was defined as attending college and getting a “good” job. However, as a professional woman, there was the additional layer of finding a husband and starting a family. For many women, it can seem overwhelming and somewhat impossible. However, I have noticed that the women who decide what is most important to them and pursue those goals, whether they align with society’s definition of success or not, feel successful and satisfied. Once you decide what success will look like in your life, preparing for the path ahead is important. Success should not be seen as something that randomly happens to you but something that you prepare to happen for you. As you prepare and pursue success, you must also be determined to work through the obstacles that will arise. There is no path to success without some trials and tribulations. Remembering why this path is important will help you persevere even when the road feels impossible. I have defined success as having a great relationship with my now teenage son, working with clients who share my passions, and making time to enjoy my passions. This path has often required me to say no to some opportunities that others would have considered ideal, but recognizing that they did not align with my vision of success in my life allowed me to have peace with my decision.

LaKesha, 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?

I established my business, Womack Consulting Group, in 2005 so that I could help business owners turn their ideas into reality while also being a full-time mom. I did not want to choose between motherhood and my career, so I developed a strategy to do both. Over the years, I have provided business development, marketing, branding, and political strategy to clients worldwide, but I have found that my superpower is working with newly formed teams and fractured teams to develop strategies for their work to align with the organization’s goals. I love sharing information through workshops, podcasts, or books because knowledge is power. As we know more, we should be compelled to do more. As we know better, we should seek to become better. At this career stage, I consult with CEOs to help them develop strong teams capable of implementing their organization’s vision.
I also mentor professionals at all career stages, especially those seeking to follow a path that does not exist. I work with them to envision the future they want to create and to develop a plan to achieve their vision.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the lessons that I have had to unlearn when helping clients write their business plans is the standard process of writing the plan narrative, completing the financial statements, and then writing the executive summary. In too many instances, we would write the narrative and then start working on the budget only to realize the business did not have the cash flow to achieve the goals outlined in the business plan, nor did they have the means to secure the needed capital. I now work with clients to understand their numbers by completing the business plan’s financial section first and then the narrative. This may seem simple, but as a former financial advisor, I have realized that most people have low levels of financial literacy, especially about their business. Helping business owners to understand their budget and to set realistic goals for the success of their business is critical to helping them write a narrative that can be immediately implemented. This knowledge has been instrumental in my work with a local CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) that provides minority business owners access to capital and the technical assistance they need to run successful businesses. Business financial literacy is one of the biggest hurdles to success, so my consulting has focused primarily on financial training, operations, and marketing.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I lived in a small, rural town with dial-up internet when I began building my brand. I did not have an extensive network, but I was passionate about sharing knowledge. Using my website as a blog to highlight professionals I didn’t think were getting the attention they deserved and inviting people I admired to be guests on my BlogTalkRadio show, I tapped into their networks because they would share their features and interviews with their networks. This strategy allowed my brand to grow with my audience and my peers. I continue to have friendships with people who started their businesses and brands when I was getting started. Some people in my community have followed my work for almost 20 years. Many people want to take shortcuts to reach a million followers, but I am more focused on building an engaged community with like-minded interests. It is important to curate content that your audience is interested in commenting on and sharing with others so that you are exposed to an exponential number of people interested in what you want to be considered a subject matter expert in. Most importantly, you should allow people to get to know what you are passionate about and provide ways for them to support you – subscribe, register, comment, buy, share – so that you are growing a community and generating revenue.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.womackcg.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/lakeshawomack
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/lakeshawomack
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/womackcg
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lakeshawomack
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLVje6tfVbMy8DT7wNPWskw