We recently connected with Lori Knight and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lori, thanks for joining us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

I hope my legacy will be that I made an impact in the lives of many. That I made people feel seen, heard and appreciated. That I was able to help with giving people the tools that they need to help with mental health,health in general and that that info is passed down to others struggling. I want to help people live the life of their dreams.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Hi! My name is Lori Knight. I was somewhat thrown into entrepreneurship 3 years ago after having my last child. I was on maternity leave and had every intention of returning. Unfortunately, they shifted our entire sales team under new leadership, cut our commissions in half (even contracts I had already sold would be 50% less) and I would have to have overnight travel which was not required previously. I was relieved I didn’t have to leave my new baby, but also freaking out wondering what I could do to bring in an income!? I had always worked ever since I was 16. I was helping different friends with styling and one of them mentioned I should be a personal stylist. I looked into starting my own boutique and it took off quicker than I ever anticipated! I was nominated for Best Boutique in the Best of Memphis among some heavy hitters in the industry. I was blown away! It was fun but it was tiring.‘I was working around the clock. My anxiety had been awful after having my child and then more lack of sleep with the boutique and stress was really doing a number on me. My husband and I ended up starting our own wellness brand and partnering with a company out of Irvine, California. We have since made several other partnerships, helping give people the tools they need to live a healthy life. I have also taken on some consulting roles. Helping a company start an affiliate program and assisting another lady grow her new membership program called The Elevate Experience where people learn energetic cheat codes to attract their dream life. I’m also going to be starting as assistant teacher at a local church. I have always had it in my heart to be a teacher for younger children and the opportunity came about with a perfect schedule and the ability to bring my daughter in as well. I definitely have my hands full, but I love having control and flexibility on what projects I want to take on. Making an impact in this world is so very important to me and to my husband!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Absolutely. My entire life, I had to PIVOT to make ends meet.  Especially, when I lost my job years ago, while in my first marriage, due to one of my kids continuing to get sick and missing work; I had to PIVOT.
I went from being the bread winner to delivering pizzas at Pizza Hut.
I did that for about a week until I landed my job with Cellular South selling cell phones. That job ultimately led me to future sales roles.
I am sure many people over the years have commented on how many different career moves I have made.
But what nobody knew or saw was a painfully emotional divorce, almost losing my house, my car; trying to hold my sanity, my mental health and my life together for my children and myself. Every move I made was to better my situation for my family.
Most people don’t know our stories and our hardships. We easily judge someone for the little bit we think we know about them and their life.

If you have ever been in my shoes, don’t ever give up. You do what you need to do for you and for your family. PIVOT if you must, but just don’t ever give up.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My partner and husband met when we were around 15 years old. He crashed a pool party I was at. I thought he was so cute. We “dated” for a bit. My mom would pick him up and take him to church with me or he would come to some of my games. Those were the only times I really saw him since we didn’t attend the same school. I eventually broke up with him and went back to my old boyfriend. (He never is going to let me live that down, either! Ha) Years and years go by and we connect on Facebook. He was living in California and I was married with 3 kids. After I got divorced and was dating someone else, he had also been in a long relationship. Over the span of about a year and half or so, we kept seeing the other person out but never knowing it until later. He held the door for me and my boyfriend at the time as we were leaving a restaurant/bar and I had no idea. I saw him on Valentine’s Day at dinner with his girlfriend at the time and friends and almost went to say hi to him, but there were so many people, I decided not to.
We were at the same brunch spot a week before I ran back into him. It was pretty wild! It’s like the universe was trying to steer us towards each other.
One night, a coworker had asked me out to dinner.‘I was having a rough time and really didn’t want to go but did anyway. We ended up going to my now husband, Brandon’s , art bar that he had just opened. I walked in and saw him and all those old feelings of seeing him at the pool party when we were kids came flooding back. We stayed out super late talking and hanging out. I was his date to a wedding the next day and we have been together ever since. We named our daughter we had together Madison after Madison ave where that art bar is located.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lnk.bio/TheFueledLife
• Instagram: @life_withLori
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FueledlifewithLori
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCenN1Ig8JpyR2j8L60ROd4g

Image Credits
Becca Grabinski