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

LaTonya, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. The first dollar your firm earns is always special. We’d love to hear about how you got your first client that wasn’t a friend or family.

I got my first client because of an ally. In fact, this person saw a video of me on LinkedIn and sent it to the board of directors and said they should hire me to lead their racial equity and DEIB training and planning. Can you believe it? It was the best meeting I had because I did not have to pitch, do a sales call or anything else. They already knew I was aligned for the opportunity. It was a great meeting because as CEO of my company I knew what I could do to support the board of directors. Not only was I able to build the content and audit, but it helped them develop their action plan. It has been a few years and they are still going strong with their action plans. In fact, they won an award for the work they did. The Board of Directors for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Capistrano Valley was one of my first clients that I will always treasure.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

LaTonya Davis is a natural hair influencer and award winning keynote speaker, educator, author, and DEIB leader. LaTonya Davis Consulting, LLC.’s mission is to drive equitable outcomes for Black talent and Black brands using a signature framework.

As a Black Women’s College HBCU graduate and former Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Fellow, LaTonya has been invited to speak, train and consult for NASA, State Department, TravelZoo, Elevate, Eikon, Amazon Pharmacy and more. Her work has led to equitable outcomes in recruiting, professional development, sponsorship, promotion and supplier diversity.

LaTonya hosts I am Black Talent Podcast heard in 5 countries on Amazon Music, Anchor and Spotify, generates 2,200 subscribers with The Equity Source Newsletter, and has had over 400,000 views on LinkedIn because of her thought leadership and insight in driving racial equity.

She is an Autism parent, wrote “What K-12 Autism Parents Need to Know and Do in Schools” on Amazon, enjoys homeschooling and traveling throughout the year.

Visit TonyaDavis.com and follow #iamblacktalent.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

As a Black woman with signature natural hair, I shared strategies of how to lead impact in the field of DEIB with professionals in my field. I have had a consistent track record for working with brands and leaders in companies understand topics that impact the lives of Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, Disabled persons and more. I used videos, posts, newsletters, LinkedIn Lives and podcasts as different forms of storytelling to amplify the message that everyone no matter your role can drive systemic change. As a result, I have had all backgrounds of decision makers connect with me and follow my voice. It is a blessing.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I appreciate social media and I believe that all businesses should use it. I began to build my social media presence on Tik Tok under #iamblacktalent. I joined the platform and began a message about being top Black Talent and a positive message of the week. The first day I generated 1,000 followers and people resonated with not only my message, but my brand backed by natural hair. I wanted to remind people and educate others that Black Hair is professional and they can learn from me how to build their brands. Am I still learning? Yes.

Contact Info:

• Website: TonyaDavis.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamblacktalent/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/-latonyadavis/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamblacktalent