LaSonya Roberts-Lopez

I attribute my success to my faith and spiritual grounding. Every day, I said, God, show me today what I'm supposed to do, and I did it. That's how I was able to transition and build everything - from my packaging to my logo, every single solitary thing was guided by asking God what He had for me each day. I also think my personal characteristics set me up to succeed as an entrepreneur - my innovation, because I've always started things, and my attention to detail. I surround myself with a supportive village of wonderful female entrepreneurs, and even though some of them may have been younger than me or didn't have the academic credentials, I came to them as a student. I told them, don't call me Dr. Lopez, just call me LaSonya, I'm here to learn. Being open to learn and try new things, being a lifelong student who can learn from anybody - I think that's why, although I've had some grueling moments, it's been such a beautiful journey for me.

I would really reiterate, take the leap. Make sure that you are anchored, because once you get anchored, you will be able to discern who your support system is, who your village is. That is how I was able to transition - God introduced me to so many wonderful female entrepreneurs, and even though some of them may have been younger than I or they did not have the academic credentials, I came to them and said, I am a baby in this space, don't call me Dr. Lopez, just call me LaSonya, I'm here to learn and be a student. The biggest thing is to take the leap and make sure you surround yourself by a supportive village, because we can never do this walk alone. We are meant to be interdependent - that's biblically, it says that. Just try to be spiritually grounded, and be a lifelong student, because you can always learn from anybody. The biggest message I want to share with women is that change is okay. If something is not aligning in your spirit, or it doesn't feel fruitful, you have to be courageous enough to do something different. And sometimes when you make a decision to do something different, you may not even know what that looks like. And that's where faith comes in.

The biggest challenge and opportunity I see is that there's a big deficit in support for high-achieving professionals who are struggling. Most of us live in the middle - we're not rags to riches stories or the extreme elite - and people don't really look at and honor that. That's not exciting to them. If you were at a table with me and somebody came up and said they were living in their car five years ago and now own a company, people are going to be in tune with that, versus the doctor sitting at the table saying, man, I'm so tired of corporate medicine. They're like, what are you talking about? You make six figures, you operate on people. People don't want to hear that, but the truth is it needs to be heard. People like myself, we need to feel supported, and there's a big deficit in that space. We continue to push through all of that just because we're expected to, but we don't have to. Your impact, you can't get freedom, you can't get a balanced life, you can't make an impact if you are not whole. That's what my brand and ecosystem is about - making yourself whole.

The most important values to me are being spiritually grounded and being a good human. I teach my girls that I don't care if you want to be an artist, or if you want to sell t-shirts, or if you want to operate on somebody - your goal is to be a good human, to have peace and joy, and to make an impact. I also value stewardship - I promise God I am going to steward what He gives me, and I need to make sure that everything is in alignment with what direction I'm trying to go into. Being whole is essential to me - you can't get freedom, you can't get a balanced life, you can't make an impact if you are not whole. And that's what my ecosystem is about, making yourself whole. I value interdependence and community, because we can never do this walk alone. We are meant to be interdependent - that's biblically what it says.