We were lucky to catch up with Tomika Jackson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Tomika thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success has everything to do with how you personally see it which entails you taking inventory of what you believe you were created to accomplish in life. I believe in order to be successful one must first take some time to discover who they authentically are, what they are good at and what their true calling is. When I speak of calling, I’m referring to the work they believe they were created to do to advance society and contribute to mankind in their own way. You must also identify your unique gift or skills that you offer to the world and be willing to invest in and develop those skills. Once you develop those skills to a level that sets you apart from the average person in your industry, you have to be very intentional about your choices and living life by “staying in your lane”. If you consistently work hard and add value to people’s lives “in your lane”, then I believe success is inevitable. Unfortunately, not everyone understands this concept of being in their “lane.” Too many are trying to be something they are not or to live out a script that is not their own, and life to them is ONE GRAND EXPERIMENT that leads to a life filled with nothing but detours. From this day forward, start majoring in majors and you set the standard for success.

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

I graduated with a degree in Broadcast Communications and immediately started a career in Broadcast Television as a Morning Show Producer in 2001. Since then I have worked for all 4 Top Networks NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox as a Morning Show producer & Noon Reporter. In 2007 I moved to Atlanta, GA and started my own Media Company & Outlet. Starting my own company has created many opportunities for me to utilize my experience and expertise in Media & Entertainment as a Freelance Producer, Creative Director, On-Air Host, Correspondent, and Media Professional. The name of my business is “Go Girl Go” and I have a companion tv series “Go Girls Rock” that airs on CBS Local The CW Atlanta in Atlanta, GA. My business is a Creative Media and Brand Agency that was created to help Women of Faith complete tasks that will help bring “life” to their businesses, creative projects, and personal brands. My business is a Faith-based business, meaning I integrate my faith into my business practices. I encounter a lot of women who have great visions, ideas, and dreams but they have no idea how to “make it happen”. That’s where the word “Go” comes into play. One of the last instructions that Jesus gave to the disciples was simply “Go”. A “Go Girl” is one who understands her assignment to put action to her Faith, and if she does not know how to do that, that’s where I step in. I help her “make it happen”. I wanted to create a “safe space” for women who have a value system derived from a biblical worldview to incorporate their faith on their journey to seeing their dreams manifest. I wanted them to be able to trust me with their visions and dreams as it relates to helping them build brands and businesses that reflect their faith. In other words, it’s ok to freely talk about God in a “Go Girl” business meeting. Meaning, nobody is being judged when they say “No weapon formed against my business will prosper” or if they want to “pray” about how we should move forward concerning a project. Yes, sis! We can pray right now. This is what makes my business stand out. My Faith has played a BIG part in my successes in life and there were many times that people who I worked with didn’t understand why I didn’t want to go in a certain direction with my project or vision because they could not relate to my reasoning. Because of that, I had to do a lot of my work alone to protect the integrity of my brand. I love serving women and plan to expand Go Girl Media into new markets in 2023.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Back in 2005, I decided that working in TV News was really impacting my relationship with my daughters. At the time, I was working as a morning show producer and noon reporter, so my schedule was 4AM to 12Noon. This is typical in news but for a mom with 4-year-old and 9-year-old daughters, in my opinion, it was not good. I wasn’t able to get them dressed for school and drop them off. When they came home from school, I was too tired to help with homework. I was also missing so many extra-curricular activities that they were a part of. I remember having a conversation with myself one day about what mattered most to me at the time, my dream of becoming the next biggest anchor on NBC Nightly News or being present for some of the most important years in my children’s life. While my dream was important, it didn’t outweigh my desire to build that bond with my daughters, so I made a decision to leave the tv industry for a season. I left the industry and decided to start doing freelance producer work when my schedule would allow, and I went on to work in the criminal justice and education industries for a season to sustain me while I was trying to stay above water as a freelancer. This strategy really paid off for me because my freelance work helped me stay connected to the industry and grow as a professional, and working traditional 9 to 5 job schedules, worked perfectly for me as a mom, who now had more flexibility with my schedule, so I was there for my daughters. At the time I had no idea how it would turn out, but I’m sure that I would not have the business success that I have today or the relationship that I have with my daughters if I had not made that pivot.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I have always been a very creative person and I love to craft. I also love to inspire people through writing. So, when I initially sat down to plan how I would fund my business one of the things that I knew that I didn’t want to do was get a business loan so I started thinking of ways that I could generate money to support it. I knew that creating products that align with my niche could help me do that and I designed a faith-based product line that I believed the women that I would potentially serve would invest in. I created over 10 t shirt designs, a prayer journal, a planner, inspirational hats, dresses, and other novelty items and launched an e commerce store that turned out to be a success. It is still in place today and continues to fund my business debt free. It has allowed for me to purchase all of the equipment, studio space, and supplies that I need to continuously provide excellent service to my clients. It was the perfect way to raise that initial capital.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.gogirlnow.com
• Instagram: @iamjusttomika
• Facebook: Tomika Jackson
• Linkedin: Tomika Jackson
• Twitter: @iamjusttomika
• Youtube: @gogirlsrocktv

Image Credits
Image 1: Rhayna C Photography Images 2–3: “The Man Behind The Camera”: Director of Photography| Bray Stevenson Images: 4-5: Courtesy of “Go Girls Rock” Season 1 The CW Atlanta CBS Local