We caught up with the brilliant and insightful La’Tara Jackson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

La’Tara, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Let’s talk about it! We can start here. Something about working for others has never felt right to me.

As God counseled me and I drew near, I understood I’d have to start from the ground up, but what I didn’t know was that I’d have to lose it all, to gain it back. Without this understanding, I was obedient. I released control of my wellness brand to sit in the passenger seat. God was now in control.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Well, my name is La’Tara but they may know that by now. A fun fact is my name literally means “star” or “the star.” Go figure! I’ve always felt I was destined for greatness. From childhood I knew I was different. Now fast forward to how I got where I am today. Ha! Well, they say when a woman cuts her hair, she is about to change her life. I cut my hair in 2011, and my reality drastically shifted shortly after. Transformation doesn’t happen overnight, but change can. I was transforming, and I couldn’t control it. At that time, my life reflected the status quo. I was married with two beautiful boys living in a white house without the picket fence. I’d been working for the same company for some time. My relationships were long-standing. We were blessed with a great community of friends and family. It seemed like my life was ideal. The truth was my soul was ready to evolve and expand. I felt a calling drawing me to write. The blogs were on the rise then, and I was intrigued. I figured it was what I was supposed to do. Being a blogger would mean being your own boss, which sounds great, but we all know there is more to the story. It can be an unstable source of income. As a working mom with an entrepreneur for a husband, I saw firsthand the risks that come with signing your own checks. Still, I was adamant. Entrepreneurship was starting to sound like my destiny. Fast forward to 2015, I was a single working mom who’d given up on my dream of writing but I still had this burning desire for entrepreneurship. Something about working for someone else has never sat right with me. I recall one day asking God to help me win the lottery, but instead he kept sending me the same sign. I was seeing ‘MMM” everywhere. I thought He was reiterating millions, lol. Then one day I googled MMM and found multilevel marketing. Shortly after I took to instagram and searched the hashtag. It was as if God was saying, Behold, Herbalife, lol. I began looking for someone who looked like me, thinking maybe this is it. Maybe this is the lottery ticket. I became a distributor in August 2015 and started a free community fitcamp in 2016, and things began to skyrocket. I had 1 person my first camp and by the fifth, I was looking at close to 20+ women. Although the camp was free, I needed them just as much as they needed me. I was new to fitness and they were keeping me accountable. As my influence began to increase, I assumed my income would to, but I’d later learn this business isn’t about instant success, nor is it a get rich quick scheme. You have to put in work and more importantly, you must have and practice a great deal of self love. Without it, you will not feel worthy of the success that comes with hard work. No matter how hard you work. Self-love is the foundation on which you must build your business. At that time, I didn’t have much of that. Today, I am a certified personal trainer, and yoga instructor, a writer and published author amongst other things. My first book, Ground Up Self-love Workbook, is available now on Amazon. I wrote it for other Trail Blazers and those working to break generational curses. See, what I called healing all these years was purpose. I did not realize in 2011 or 2012, God was calling me to break the cycle of oppression for my family lineage. Ground Up reflects all God has brought me through and the tools He gave me to overcome. In addition to the book, I have a wellness blog, Pretty Beast Fit VIP, a women’s based fit community and monthly membership, and I offer 1 on 1 coaching programs. You can check it out on my website.

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

While writing Ground Up Self-Love Workbook God put me into isolation. I was restricted from family, friends, and even my business. Everything I knew and all that I’d become began to crumble. For 7 months straight, I spent 95% of my time in a room with little to no contact with the outside world. I’d built my business around social media and I couldn’t even show up there. God made it really clear. He wanted my undivided attention. This was a season for only He and I. During this process, I’d go on to lose a significant amount of weight due to fasting. God was helping me to break through limited beliefs but some days I cried from the excruciating pain of sitting down because I was bone on bone. All the while, I’m creating the gift, Ground Up Self-love Workbook, with the gifter, that is the Holy Spirit. I knew the only way I was surviving was by the Holy Spirit. God revealed to me, we are far more than our physical body’s. Our spiritual nature is what houses our untapped wealth. We are more capable than we think we are and we do not need as much as we think we do.

Have you ever had to pivot?

At the brink of my isolation, I knew I was being led to pivot. My nutrition and fitness business seemed to be stagnant and if I’m honest, it didn’t feel authentic to me and my sales reflected that. I knew God wanted me to write the book that we’d discussed in 2020 but I didn’t quite understand why the timing was now ( August 2022 ). This seemed to be way off course from my wellness brand, but I obeyed the call. I’d later learn exactly why God called me to rebrand. I was missing the foundation and that’s exactly what was revealed to me in Ground Up Self-Love Workbook. What I thought was a pivot was actually alignment.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.groundupselflove.com
• Instagram: @prettybeastfit
• Facebook: PrettyBeast Fitness & Lifestyle, La’Tara Jackson
• Linkedin: La’tara Jackson
• Twitter: @bonita_lala
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@prettybeastfit
• Other: TikTok- @Lataraantreis