Lutishia Lewis-Turner
Tish Lewis-Turner is the Founder and Principal Business Consultant of TLS Collaborative Solutions, LLC, a Detroit Metropolitan–area project and business planning management consulting firm she established in 2019 following a distinguished 32-year career at General Motors, where she retired in 2018. Her career at GM spanned manufacturing, engineering, finance, project engineering, and HR/Labor Relations, giving her a comprehensive understanding of how business strategy, operational execution, and workforce development intersect. Through her consulting firm, she partners with entrepreneurs, nonprofits, for-profits, and municipalities to build strong organizational foundations, develop strategic business plans, and execute projects that drive sustainable growth. Tish is deeply selective about her work, focusing on projects that align with her purpose of creating meaningful impact.
Her core expertise includes strategic planning, project and program management, business structuring, and financial literacy support for entrepreneurs. She is particularly passionate about supporting women-owned businesses, startups, and minority entrepreneurs who may face barriers to capital, resources, and competitive positioning. Tish believes her greatest strength is her ability to listen deeply and understand the totality of her clients’ needs before developing solutions. She helps clients build scalable and fundable business structures, identify partnerships, and connect to critical resources. In addition to her consulting work, she serves on several boards of directors and mentors underprivileged women entrepreneurs, helping them understand entrepreneurship fundamentals while strengthening their confidence, leadership, and business readiness.
Above all, Tish is driven by her commitment to service and community empowerment. She is passionate about raising women of all backgrounds by providing knowledge, opportunity, and mentorship to help them succeed personally and professionally. Outside of her professional work, Tish enjoys painting, drawing, reading, and planning events. She also values time spent on excursions and travel with a close group of female friends, finding inspiration and balance through shared experiences. Her life and career are centered on collaboration, service to others, and creating pathways that help individuals and organizations reach their highest potential.
• NASDAQ Entrepreneurship Program Graduate
• Central Michigan University - MSA, Business Administration & Management (HR & Finance)
• Oakland University - BA, Business, Management, Marketing & Related Support Services
• Mentoring underprivileged women entrepreneurs
• Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan
• Lighthouse Path Volunteer Pontiac, Michigan
What do you attribute your success to?
I think my success comes from the fact that I genuinely like people. I enjoy them - the good, the bad, and the ugly of it, and the reasoning behind the good, bad, and the ugly. There's always a story, and I get to help them through their difficulties. One of my executives told me that my superpower was the fact that I made people feel like they belong. He said I always make the whole room feel like they belong, and that takes the attention away so we can actually get to the real meat of what needs to be done. I also believe in finding joy in people and finding value in the rooms you're allowed to be in, and seeing what can become of those connections.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I received was from an executive who told me that my superpower was making people feel like they belong. He said that I always make the whole room feel like they belong, and that this takes the attention away so we can actually get to the real meat of what needs to be done. This helped me understand the value of creating an inclusive environment where people feel comfortable, which then allows the real work to happen.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I always tell young women to go in with an open heart to see and receive what you need to receive, and to distance yourself from what is not for you. When you walk into an organization, you need to see who are the kindest people and who are the smartest people. Find out each person's role and how they fit inside of the organization, and then you get to decide which path you need to take. Don't be afraid to switch if you have to - switch around and change who you think you know who they are, because you may not really know them at first. I recently told a group of ladies in a presentation that they need to observe the organization carefully and make informed decisions about their path forward.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The opportunities are still coming because people are realizing that given the current environment, they have to figure out how to leverage their time and leverage their finances. They need to learn how to lean their business processes - how can I lean my business processes so I can get the same result with less output? That's becoming even more important, especially when people have a limited amount of finance and resources. The challenge is that everyone's looking at their bottom line, so instead of getting a 360 service, clients may only come in and say, can you find me this resource? So it's less of an opportunity for me in terms of scope, but that's okay because I'm part-time anyway. I really want them to have the outcome that they're seeking, so I deliver what they're asking for even if it's a smaller engagement.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are honesty, loyalty, and commitment - commitment that you make to a thing, to a person, to a process. I also deeply value making people feel like they belong and being of service to others. Throughout my career, I've focused on helping women entrepreneurs overcome roadblocks and improving financial literacy, because I believe if we can leave the world a little better than the way it is now, that's really the win. If you can leave people with a little kernel of hope and shift their mindset just a tad, that's a win.