We recently connected with LaTonya Renee and have shared our conversation below.
LaTonya, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
I got tired of the way I felt others viewed me. See, I’m a serial entrepreneur but it various industries. One day, I had my friend on zoom with me and I was standing in front of a white board. We prayed and asked God to show us the vision of what He has for me and make sense to include all the things that I’m passionate about. Immediately, He told me to write down all my credentials and all the things I like to do. I then organized it into categories. Then I began to write out my “target audience.” Once everything was on the board the acronym jumped out to me, F.A.C.E. – Female African American Christian Entrepreneurs. We were like whoah…that’s the name of the company. Then I was like, well what am I supposed to do. Then I looked at all the things I organized, and another acronym jumped out to me, H.E.L.P. – Health, Economics, Leadership, Passion. Then we were like whooahhh again. I would literally help Black women with their H.E.L.P. Once I began planning the first workshop, it was revealed to me that F.A.C.E.™ would become a brand later in the future. But right now, I would use/teach the H.E.L.P.™ model under a non-profit. I then came up with True F.A.C.E. Foundation™ So there you have it…a business and a non-profit were birthed all because I ask God to make it make sense to me. What am I to do with all my accolades and my desire to help people.
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?
I am LaTonya Renee, mother of 3 (and a bonus adult son), wife of 1, serial entrepreneur and most importantly, God’s child. For this article’s purpose, I will focus on the non-profit I founded. True F.A.C.E. Foundation™ came to light because I simply asked God questions and He answered. Our mission is to architect holistic livelihoods by developing, advocating, and funding those endeavors of female African American Christian entrepreneurs. We meet monthly under the H.E.L.P™ (Health, Economics, Leadership, Passion) curriculum and networking opportunities to help each other to become more successful. “More American women die from heart disease than any other cause, but the disease exacts a bigger toll on Black American women.” (Columbia University Irving Medical Center Feb. 2022) We want to not only educate but to provide solutions to start changing this statistic. “Even though Black women are founding start-ups at a rapid clip — nearly doubling from 2014 to 2019, according to a report commissioned by American Express, they, along with Hispanic female business owners, received only 0.43% of the $166 billion in venture capital funding given out in 2020, according to ProjectDiane.” (Yahoo Money Feb. 2022) These are just two examples of some of things we are to help overcome. I believe that if a Black woman get control of her health, economics, leadership, and passion, she will become unstoppable.
How did you build your audience on social media?
First off, let me just say that social media is forever changing. Make sure to keep up to date on the new changes by attending free or low-cost workshops. Currently, I have a LinkedIn, FB and Instagram account for the non-profit. My best advice would be to focus on 1 then branch out. I made the mistake of starting them at the same time and stretched myself too thin. Each platform has a different algorithm and a difference audience – which requires different responses. I’ve been successful on the private group on FB – mainly because that is where I’m most active.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Being consistent! We meet every month at the same time, rather we have 3 people or 20. We have an agenda, and it only lasts 1 hour.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.iamaface.com
- Instagram: @truefacefoundation
- Facebook: @truefacefoundation
- Linkedin: True FACE Foundation
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCLZczPZokQ&t=1177s
- Other: private FB group @f.a.c.e.