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

Tierra, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Sure — The intersection of occupation, opposition and opportunity is where the concept of Consult Lemonade was born. I got a call about 9 years ago about some empty chairs, teachers and administrators we concerned about kids not showing up for school. I began to visit the school with a friend, we wanted to support the leaders, but also show presence in the school with the students.

So I found myself serving at a local high school in Baltimore City, and I encountered a young lady who appeared completely disengaged and uninterested. She obviously caught my attention, as I was there to speak to the teens. I was eager to share a message of value and worth and possibilities. I asked her how she was, and her response and body language was so nonchalant I remember it vividly after all of these years. “I don’t care to be here, I only came to school to eat”, she said. I immediately asked about her family dynamics. She shared that her mom (on drugs) and dad (unknown) were not in the picture and her grandmother was responsible for her. When she went home, grandma was not there because she was working two jobs. This young girl had limited if any interaction or even supervision outside of school.

This was heartbreaking. I lost sleep and have not let go of that feeling since 2015. Her grandmother was working two jobs to make ends meet, so school was where she knew she could eat? Are you kidding…It prompted me to do some research. I found that the average household income for a minority household in Baltimore City was $40,000 for four people. That was in 2015 and not much has changed.

In parallel I am a systems engineer working with the Department of Defense and the chairs
at my job are full – full of people making six-figure salaries. They did not have the same problems as the young lady I engaged with at that school.

Well when COVID-19 hit, I got another call. I accepted a job as a program manager and
those same full chairs had became empty. Insert a win-win. There are over 483,000 open tech jobs in
the U.S. as of today. The average salary of a Tech Job in the U.S. is $110,000 a year. That is almost three times that average household income of that same Baltimore City household. And this is not uncommon all across the U.S. This is consistent in brown and black communities across our nation.

So we were divine prompted to do something about this. Hence Consult Lemonade. My husband and i have been active in the community for decade, both individually and together, but this particular issue is a burden I believe we are called to address. We wanted to go beyond tradition of addressing symptoms. It is often what we hate that holds us accountable to doing the necessary work. As much as I love hearing the success stories and seeing the changes in people’s lives. I am more driven by the hate for poverty, systemic oppression, and people just flat out not understanding that they are God’s creation and He wants His very best for us all.

There are other people who contribute to this work, not quite the way we do, but we all play our part. That is the necessity of community. We are concerned about the whole family. That is what makes us different. Kids deserve a role model under their own roof, and parents deserve the support to be that. We are going beyond symptoms of an issues and address the very root of the problem, holistically.

Our model is to engage, empower and employ. We engage and write the whole family out, come out, explore and experience the tech, removing the intimidation barrier and decide that this is something they want to do. We provide and connect them with training, certification, and coaching and help them to get employed, often times connecting them with our partners for hire – and we advocate for them up front for the best options. We believe three pillars play a critical role in career success — social, financial, and emotional wellness. We are intentional about including all three in our proprietary programming.

Are we unique – absolutely, this is God’s work. And as of March 2024, in just two years of our non profit being in existence, we have helped 63 minorities secure that higher paying salary, equating to over $7million dollars in minority communities. We are committed to helping at least 1 million minorities 6 figures.

If you ask us what we do today – it is simple… We are restoring families, one tech job at a time – leveraging tech to bridge the gap. We want our communities to know that when life hands you lemons, you can — Consult Lemonade. Time to make the bitter sweet.

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.

I am naturally a problem solver and a people lover, and I have a desire to grow things big!! I was working in a small business based in Baltimore, and while my position was in business development I was able to support other areas. I was accepted into a program with the DoD and received my clearance and begin working in Quality Assurance, and then receive a few promotions. So fast forward I went from like a helpdesk, to a systems admin role, to configuration management, systems engineering and then project management — and not back to systems engineer. Simply put I looked to serve and followed the curiosity I had in different areas. I would also honor the spaces I enjoyed, and even when larger salary opportunities came, I had to see how this could be a win-win for my family and I as well as the companies I worked with.

I want people to know who I am. I am a loving, authentic, powerful woman. I am a greatness advocate. This is who I am and how I operate every space my feet touch. I pray everyday that God uses me to ignite or fuel a fire inside those that cross my path to be all they are called to be. And that same spirit and intention is in our organization.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Everyone is going to say they will support and that is just not real life. I think just as much as I laugh, because I loved to smile, there is a tear that was sown for that smile. Countless times pulling up to meetings and knowing I am there to be the light, and I am in the car with tears pouring out my eyes. If I had a dollar for every empty promise that we have gotten, even with good intention, we would be funded for years. We depleted our savings for a non-profit, and I know business – that is not the tax write off I was looking for. That is tough!

And that is where I stop myself – I made a commitment to count the good, to say aloud what I am grateful for. For every disappointment there has been a success that feel 10x as better and erases those disappointments. Talk about an amazing team. I have an amazing husband and partner. He doesn’t just operate as a husband, he is my best friend, my partner, my advocate. And our team at Consult Lemonade is the best in the world. How could I not be resilient, with God, my husband, family friends and our team. Our team believes in this mission, our board and supporters. God has never failed me and He won’t. He rewards those that diligently seek Him. So eyes filled with tears or closed from smiling hard – I am diligently seeking Him. This is a God thing. With that He will send the team, supporters and community.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My Co-founder was introduced to me as a business referral for business consulting in 2015, and upon meeting we knew this was more than business that was forever. I married him a year and a half letter – we both knew this was God ordained and we are experience just how God ordained it is each day. My husband is a community advocate, speaking across the nation to youth and young adults – but he started with a men’s ministry to raise up older men to reach back and be the example to the ones coming after them.

This is soooo divine!! We have the same heart different background but same mission to heal families. He came from the very type of community we faithfully serve. I don’t want to share all of his story, just know again this is sooo divine.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.consultlemonade.com
• Instagram: @tierra.lathan and @consultlemonade
• Facebook: Consult Lemonade
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tierra-lathan-“the-corporate-point-guard”-1457bb1ba/
• Youtube: Consult Lemonade

Image Credits
Photos taken by: Deja Smith and Karl Nelson