We were lucky to catch up with LaWanda Morris recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi LaWanda, thanks for joining us today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

For this question, I will focus on our brand, Black Audacity Magazine. One of the biggest things that Corporate America gets wrong in the media industry, is that it does not spend enough Ad dollars with Black-owned media. Black-owned media is highly under-represented in overall Corporate Ad spend. Even when you look at government media spending, Black-owned media (and Black-owned businesses in general) are extremely under-represented in government contracts. In the past few years, there have been efforts and steps taken by some Corporations to be more inclusive with where they decide to buy ads. Black Audacity Magazine is not only 100 percent Black-owned; we are also 100 percent woman-owned and we welcome all Corporations and government entities to come and advertise with us!

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 a multi-hyphenate entrepreneur and I own multiple businesses, under my parent company, Morris Media & Enterprises, LLC. By trade, I’m a lawyer and I worked within the Federal Government for nearly 10 years. After leaving the Government, I started on my entrepreneurship journey launching several businesses, including one of my most recent ventures, LDEME Luxury Lifestyle. LDEME is a Luxury Lifestyle brand that serves as a One-Stop-Shop to help our customers live their whole, entire best lives (from the inside, out). At LDEME.com, our customers can find everything from healthy protein powder supplements to our new skincare and beauty line that launched on April 26th, called BLK SKN Beauty! I am so excited about this! BLK SKN Beauty is ‘That Black Don’t Crack Kinda Beauty’ and skincare line created by a Black woman for women (and men) who enjoy simple beauty routines that produce extraordinary results! Our Youthful (Skin) Regimen will do just that by giving women a simple, 3-step process to get that beautiful, youthful glow just in time for the summer! Our tagline says it all: That Black Don’t Crack Kinda Beauty.” That is a line that we use a lot in the Black community and culture when we see a beautiful, flawless-skinned Black women aging gracefully. We solve the evasive simple beauty routine that actually works problem that so many women have. Our Youthful Regimen is 3 simple steps, that work. It’s really that simple. But, to add a cherry on top, we go out of the way to use natural ingredients in our products for the health of our customers and the health of the planet. From our products to our minimalist packaging. You can check out our skincare products at BLKSKNBeauty.com.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I mentioned this a little bit in my response to the opening question, but I went from working within the Federal Government for nearly 10 years to being an entrepreneur. The pivot was not easy, and I find myself still, to this day, trying to navigate between the two mindsets. It does take a different mindset to go from working for others to being 100% an entrepreneur. It’s an adjustment that requires you to build certain habits and to break certain habits. The way you get paid changes, what you get paid changes, your responsibilities change of course, and it all falls on you. Whether you succeed or fail, all falls on you. After adjusting my mindset to understand this, I could then adjust my habits. Additionally, believing that I could be successful as an entrepreneur made all the difference.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

One piece of advice that I would give for managing a team and maintaining high morale is simple. Be open to good advice coming from any resource on your team and show appreciation for the good work that your team does. We all want to feel appreciated and like what we do adds value. Letting your team know that new ideas are well and that you are thankful for what each of them brings to the team goes a long way to managing a happy, healthy team that works well together.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.blksknbeauty.com
• Instagram: BLKSKNBeauty
• Facebook: BLKSKNBeauty