Early Accountability

Todd Parker of Parker Education & Development LLC joins us on this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast to discuss using personality mining to build up the climate and culture of schools and small businesses. In a very practical sense, teachers and other professionals cannot do their best work and affect the most change in their students or clients if they do not first understand themselves. By going through a strengths-based assessment and “personality mining” process, individuals gain valuable self-awareness and understanding of their mind, body and spirit needs and motivations. These individuals have the opportunity to influence how they interact with each other, with their leaders, and with their students or clients by leading by example and experience. A few of the entrepreneurship lessons that Todd has learned in the past several years are: • If you put in the work, you can do what you may not have expected • Make sure you grow from obstacles and failures, rather than being discouraged by th

Our guest on this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast is Lyris Green, a DJ in the Atlanta area. Early on, her dad instilled and encouraged in her a love for music that has remained a passion throughout her life, even when it was not her profession. After her father’s passing, Lyris grew in her relationship with God and she felt that it was time for her to leave her job in public service to be a DJ full-time, grounded in her faith. She now knows that she is exactly where she needs to be, and she constantly speaks affirmations to herself in the midst of the ups and downs of life. By cultivating her God-given gift in the area of music, Lyris is able to give that gift to the world and be confident in her role as a female in the industry. She urges others to pursue their passions with confident faith and make the best decisions for themselves, trusting that they can do anything they set their minds to. Topics Covered in this Episode: • Having the courage to pursue your passions • Following the leading of

On this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast, we are joined by LaShonda Brown, a serial entrepreneur and marketing guru. LaShonda has created and runs Life Focus Pictures which helps local businesses tell their stories, About 90 Marketing which is a marketing consulting firm, and Eye for Ebony which is on a mission to increase the quality and quantity of stock images available that feature people of color. In order to manage these brands day-to-day, LaShonda has established tried-and-true systems that allow her to integrate her clients and their needs into her workflow and then provide them with her expertise and guidance throughout their process. When it comes to content creation, she believes that everyone can use their strengths and personality traits to determine how they want to communicate and share their message in the optimal space. Despite what people think, businesses do not need to have a presence on every social media platform, but would in fact be more effective targeting their efforts to

Lakrisha Davis, a career coach, speaker, and success mentor, is our guest on this episode of the Early Accountability podcast. Coming from a Human Resources and Recruiting background, Lakrisha is strategically equipped to help the job seeker and entrepreneur align their true passion to their desire and need to make money. Lakrisha has always been told that she has a gift in the areas of motivating, challenging, encouraging, and mentoring others, and she has found a way to monetize these gifts. She wants to help others find their niche as well. By taking advantage of networking on and off of LinkedIn, she has found great success in meeting the right people, curating opportunities, and making and receiving referrals and references. She encourages job seekers and entrepreneurs to join the conversation in whatever online or offline community appeals to them and assists them in reaching their goals by consistently talking about your passion and sharing your struggles as well as your successes. It may not seem lik

Our guest on this episode of the Early Accountability podcast is Bianca Jackson, LinkedIn guru and founder of Jax Digital, LLC. By being intentional with her digital brand, Bianca has found a sweet spot of telling relatable and encouraging stories from her everyday life and gaining credibility through this authenticity. She helps small businesses, job seekers, and freelancers seeking clients push past their frustrations associated with work to achieve their performance and success objectives. When it comes to social media, connecting with and commenting on the posts of people who inspire you will provide you not only with networking for your mutual benefit but with a platform to potentially help your acquaintances and clients with future job opportunities. By being seen as an expert in your industry, you can build up a tribe of people who listen to what you have to say and want to be involved with whatever you put out there. Your expertise and authenticity in interactions will make all of the sales you need.

On this episode of the Early Accountability podcast, our guest is Debraca Russell of the Agape Career Counseling Group. Drawing upon her experiences in retail management going through the interviewing and hiring process, Debraca coaches her clients through resume creation, job searches, and the interview process. Whether you think you know what career you want to pursue or not, she recommends that everyone take a personality assessment that will help align your personality traits to the potential careers in which you could have the most success. You should be happy at work, not continually unfulfilled or uncomfortable. If you are looking to change careers or pursue a promotion, be sure that you find out what the hiring managers are looking for and work hard to genuinely portray those attributes. When it comes to resumes, Debraca’s crucial advice is to be consistent, be honest, and be grammatically correct. If you did not complete your degree or certification, do not list it on your resume. Additionally, if

Our guest on this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast is Maya Tyler, who was suddenly and tragically widowed when her children were very young. When her husband died in a freak accident, Maya desperately searched for resources that could help her know what she was supposed to do next, but there was nothing out there that fit her situation. As she found her way, she dedicated herself to helping other people in her situation find their own road maps to healing. Despite the stigma in the African-American community around mental health and the expectation that women “hold their own”, no matter the circumstances, she sought help through therapy. Maya’s outlook on life changed completely when her therapist said “You know who you are now. Who do you want to be next?” At the time, she had no idea who she wanted to be or how to get there, but now she provides resources for other women to accept their situation, assess themselves and their environment, and create an action plan to become who they want to be.

On this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast, we are joined by Anitra Durand Allen, a family and relationships coach and a parenting and lifestyle content creator. A gifted child herself in the areas of academics, athletics, and performing arts, Anitra recognized the need for content aimed at the parents of high-achieving children when she struggled to find it. Anitra came from an engineering and project management background in corporate America, and when she realized the benefit that these skills could be when applied to her household, she decided to use her newfound affinity for the online community to transfer her knowledge to other families seeking advice on life with gifted children. Oftentimes, high-achieving children are very advanced in capacity and intellect, but they need some guidance to develop socially and emotionally. By meeting them where they are and following a process that will help them understand and cultivate their behavior, families can communicate with love and effectiveness.

Kimi Walker's guest on this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast is Jas Thomas, a community leader who has started the Girls with Goals Movement to make positive images of women of color more prominent in society. Jas takes a very hands-on approach to this movement, often hosting “empowerment events” that include a social aspect as well as a panel discussion with professionals in the fields of physical health, mental health, and financial wellbeing. She has also recently started a program to help women achieve goal clarity and be provided with the motivation and accountability they need to succeed. Jas has found that there is a barrier between interacting with an online community and actually meeting with those same people in person. She has built her network with relationships cultivated individually both online and in person, and her advice is to reach out to those people you know you can touch or could impact you. Online, you can easily engage with the social media posts of those people who interest

On this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast, Kimi is joined by LaDeia Joyce, who found out on September 29, 2016, that she had HIV. She took the next year to document her journey and dwell on Psalm 23 while only a handful of people knew about her diagnosis, and on September 29, 2017, she held an event during which she publicly disclosed her status for the first time. LaDeia has experienced first-hand the stigmas and misconceptions about HIV since her diagnosis, and her goal is to provide resources and support through her blog, videos, and events to others who may be going through the same journey. In the early days and weeks after learning her status, LaDeia searched for resources to help her process and cope, but she found that if she wanted an African-American woman’s perspective, she would have to be the one to give it a voice. Over the past nearly two years, LaDeia has found great comfort in her relationship with God and through consistent therapy sessions. She encourages everyone to get tested

Ebonee Monique Thompson, owner and founder of The Persona Agency, joins us on this episode of the Early Accountability Podcast. Ebonee is a published author and social media and content expert who began consulting in response to the number of requests she received after the publication of her second book. She got her start by winning the Elevator Pitch contest through Black Enterprise with her idea for Momma I Want To Write, a ghostwriting company that would help people without the time or talent to write their own stories. Momma I Want To Write evolved into The Persona Agency when Ebonee saw the need for content writing and strategy and social media management in addition to ghostwriting, and The Persona Agency now exists to help businesses tell their stories. Ebonee’s advice to those who want to start writing is: •Write something every single day •Grow comfortable with being authentic and transparent •Don’t be discouraged by your areas of weakness – find someone who can do those things for you Ebonee’s ad

EAP 26: Perfecting Your Digital Marketing + Visual Strategy by Kimi Walker

On this episode of the Early Accountability podcast, we are joined by Justice J. Wali, an urban motivator and life coach. Growing up an only child in the South side of Chicago, Justice was easily influenced by the gang and drug cultures around him, even becoming a gang member before changing his ways. He began spending considerable time with his grandmother at home and at church, which he believes saved him from making more negative life decisions. In 2005, he moved to Minnesota, where he found opportunities and possibilities that had not been available to him in Chicago. He decided to use the underutilized skills of listening and finding solutions in the context of urban living to encourage and coach others who find themselves in negative situations like he grew up in. He is now the father to 3 intelligent sons, who follow examples over advice, and in 2015, he began public speaking engagements to share his acquired wisdom. Justice’s advice to others considering public speaking is to believe that your voice i

On this episode of the Early Accountability podcast, our guest is Dr. Melissa Chester, CEO of Black Educators Rock, Inc. Dr. Chester and one of her former students founded Black Educators Rock as a Facebook group which quickly gained traction and engagement, amassing 1,000 group members within 24 hours and 100,000 within 90 days. The Facebook group has now been segmented into geographic subgroups, which are moderated by volunteers, and has even resulted in the establishment of some local chapters across the country and the world. In 2015, Black Educators Rock, Inc. became a 501(c)3 organization focused on instructional strategies, professional knowledge, and advocacy and empowerment. The largest product of Dr. Chester’s efforts is the annual Rock Conference held every summer to encourage and enrich participants and prepare them for the upcoming school year. This year, they have sessions on youth mental health first aid, active shooter training, advocacy and empowerment, and even homeownership 101. Dr. Chest

Our guest on this episode of the Early Accountability podcast is Renotta Burke, owner of Renotta Burke Signatures event planning and design company. Unhappy with her job at the time, Renotta decided to quit at the end of 2011 and use her life savings to purchase the linens that would be used by her events company. Now several years into this endeavor, Renotta and her team have found great success and fulfillment through planning and designing weddings and other events for their clients in Georgia and beyond. Renotta recently embraced the art of delegation and prioritizing her areas of strength in the company, recognizing that other members of her team are better at various other aspects, and they have found great synergy in this work structure. Renotta highly recommends that people use an event planner if they are even remotely considering it. Having an event planner handle your event takes away the stress of having to handle every detail on your own and allows you to actually enjoy the final product. She re

Joining us on this episode of the Early Accountability podcast is Leonardo Cavalli: an actor, singer, author, motivational speaker, and love and life coach based in New York City. Much of Leonardo’s wisdom comes from the lessons he learned from his marriage at the age of 23 that ended in divorce the next year. This is the subject of his book, entitled 24 and Divorced, as well as the album that he wrote to accompany the book, entitled Wounded, and through his motivational speaking and love coaching, he hopes to equip people with the tools they need to make their love last. His advice to people at the beginning of a relationship is to make sure to carve out some time to yourself, to really think about and become established in your goals, your love language, and your core values and then as the relationship progresses, to make sure that you are staying true to yourself. If you find yourself being pushed to depart from your core values or leave everything else in life that you love or enjoy to meet the other pe

On this episode of the Early Accountability podcast, our guest is Maurice Wilson of Wilson Wealth (http://wilsonwealth.com/), which specializes in investment management and a little bit of financial planning. During his education, Maurice’s goal was to learn something that other people didn’t know, which led him down the path of engineering. He started working at Daimler-Chrysler after college and realized that investment management was really where he wanted to be, so he started taking steps to get there. To the individual looking to invest, Maurice recommends starting with contributing the maximum percentage that their employer will match into their retirement and then putting in the maximum amount allowed into their Roth IRA as well. If the individual still has funds they want to invest – such as a tax refund – the stock market is the best place for long-term returns. If you find yourself living paycheck to paycheck without the ability to save or invest at all, Maurice’s advice is to find a creative way t

Our guest on this episode of the Early Accountability podcast is James Luter, a Navy veteran, military spouse and father, and life coach. James takes his clients through a three-step process focused on personal development during their coaching sessions with him: (1) unlocking their purpose, (2) developing personal goals, and (3) setting up accountability measures to help them reach their goals. During his 18 years of coaching, James has found that when people are not living in their purpose, they are often frustrated and discontent with their personal or professional lives. Discovering that what you are doing is not a good fit is actually a great place to be, even though it would be easy to feel discouraged by any wasted time or energy invested. James helps his clients through the process of mapping out their exit strategy based on their personal goals and reasonable timelines, which provides very tangible steps for the individual to take as they develop a clear vision of their future. He emphasizes the imp

On this episode of the Early Accountability podcast, we are joined by Dr. Sharice Bradford, a life coach with a background in pastoral care/counseling and healthcare administration. She also edits and contributes to Life Coach Network magazine and maintains a lifestyle blog (https://thissinglesole.org/). Dr. Sharice has a passion for helping people, and coaching provides flexibility in methods and scheduling that traditional counseling often does not. Dr. Sharice shares that the most important thing to keep in mind as you are maneuvering through the different aspects of your life is where you want to end up, and then you will be able to figure out the best route to reach that goal – short-term or long-term. None of us can see the birds-eye view of our route to our goal, so we must give ourselves grace and space when we encounter bumps in the road or unexpected setbacks. The key to staying on course (even when the course is different or more difficult than we expected) is to adjust your strategy and continue

Our guest on this episode of the Early Accountability podcast is marketing and public relations specialist Sheree Oats, who is also the founder of the group “Not Built to Break”. Sheree started this group to create a safe space to discuss mental health issues among women of color, a subject that has often been viewed as taboo, but is so important to talk about. During Sheree’s own transition from college to her professional life, she experienced depression for which she was prescribed medication. She talked with her parents about her depression, but they were not equipped to know how to respond or provide her with the support she needed, and due to the tendency within her community to not admit or discuss mental health issues, she did not know who to turn to. So in 2016, she simply asked her Facebook community if they would be interested in joining an online support group focused on mental health, to which she received an overwhelming response. From that point on, the “Not Built to Break” Facebook group has