“Building from the Ground Up | Lateshia Pearson on Faith, Focus & Breaking Stereotypes”

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Welcome to the CJ Moneyway Show podcast, the podcast show where we unlock potential one dream at a time.

Today we have another guest whose journey is truly worth hearing.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the Moneyway experience.

What's up, my good people? Welcome to the CJ Moneyway Show, and today's guest needs no introduction. Leticia Pearson on the CJ Moneyway Johnson Show, Bail Collective on the OWN Network. She has a nonprofit as well, Women's Brunch Mississippi, out here doing her thing. So we welcome her to the show today, Leticia Pearson. Leticia, how you doing?

Hi, hey, how are you? Thank you so much for having me. It is an honor. Thank you.

Come on now, we had already been back there through backstage. You know I'm honored to have you on, so I appreciate you.

Yes, thank you. And again, I appreciate what you're doing and congratulations.

Oh, thanks a lot. That means a lot. And so, Leticia, let me ask you, you created the force behind Bail Collective. How did this vision come to life for you?

Oh, good question. It's a long story. Myself, along with Jacoby McGee, we pitched the show to Carlos King, the founder, visionary, executive producer of Kingdom Reign Entertainment. And he had his own plugs and he was plugged in with different networks and and he pitched it over to the OWN Network, and here we are. Here we are. The vision just came from a place for me. Everything that I do is in purpose. So I wanted to change the stereotype of what people think Mississippi is or was, and we move forward. So there are women down here really bossed up, women down here who are making things happen, making, as they say, baby, making something from nothing. And I wanted to showcase that, and I wanted women just in the South to be recognized, especially Mississippi, where we're often overlooked., but I always give gratitude and, you know, my thank yous to Carlos King for seeing something in Mississippi that other people overlooked and to the Oprah Winfrey Network for giving us a chance. So basically it was just to just change the stereotype and really provide a space for women to tell their stories and just collaborate. That was the main thing. It was centered for me to show that women can work together, women can create businesses together, women can be real friends, you know, and I wanted to do that.

Yeah, hey, and what a wonderful thing you have done. Uh, Carlos King, that name sound familiar when you said it, right? Because I think I just heard him on the radio station the other day with what's her name, Lisa Yee or something, uh, something like that.

I'm sure he's everywhere. He has his podcast, Reality with King. He is really doing his thing. So yeah, I think he was— he was definitely with her. He was on The Breakfast Club. So he's been doing so many amazing things. Yep, to really just push a space for women, you know, to tell their stories, a safe space. And now with his Reality with the King, he's allowing men to come on as well.

So yeah, yeah, kudos to him because I was hearing him and she said something that she really don't do interviews and, uh, he had her as one and he said, yeah, I know you don't do interviews but I guess they real cool or whatnot. And so it's nice for somebody to get into that space where, you know, they doing their thing But taking the mantle and bringing other people up as well, you know, us as a people, that's what we need in life, you know what I'm saying, to bring each other up. But if I make it, I'm looking at you like, I'm doing my thing, but we building stuff to try to bring each other up, not, you know what I'm saying, leave you where you at or tear you down, man. So I appreciate what he doing out there in his space and what he's done for you in your space. So let me ask you, Leticia, what drove you to create Women's Brunch Mississippi? And how did it grow into a national nonprofit?

Well, Women Brunch Mississippi is actually not a nonprofit organization. We had National Women's Brunch, but that was— again, I want to just focus on the primary thing, get this up off the ground at first. But Women Brunch Mississippi was launched in 2017. For me, everything, like I was telling you, CJ, everything that I do comes from a place of passion and purpose. There's purpose behind it. So I visited, like, other states and other areas, and women were really collaborating. They weren't just saying, hey, take my number. They were really asking each other, how can I help you and how can you help me? And I live in a world of supply and demand and like my hashtag and everything, my slogan on my email, become the change you wish to see. And I believe in that. So I was determined to bring something like this back to my home state, Mississippi. I mean, I didn't know if one person would show up. I didn't know if two, I had no idea. I just knew that we needed this here. This is before brunch became like a big thing here, you know? I was like, you know what? I want to do a brunch like here and to bring women into a space where they can actually showcase their business. They can network, they can get resources that they need, whether that be someone from the IRS giving education, financial literacy. You know, I partner with local banks here to create a space where these Black women can really go in and understand that you, just like the bank needs our money, like we need their money. It's a networking thing. And, you know, I want to change that stereotype as well too, in ourselves, that We're not worthy of getting bank loans. We're not worthy of getting money. You know, we just try to, you know how it is, just try to make it how we can. So I'm like, you know what, I'm going to bring the banks to our house. Yeah, I believe, like, you know what, if we've been told that they're not going to give us a loan, we've been told that they're not going to help us establish credit, then let me bring them to our house where we're more comfortable. So that came about. And then just really the collaboration over competition, just showing like we can work together. We can brunch together. We can create business together. We can be a safe space for each other. We can, you know, that's what it's about. If I share something with a woman, I share something with Tina. Tina, don't go tell Tracy and Tammy and Lorraine. You was my safe space. And that's what it's all about. Just women brunch, we really come together like a sisterhood, really like networking. Yes, we're brunching, we're eating, of course, but at the same time, it's good fellowship and it's positive energy.

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I like it, man. I like it. And we need more of it. So I know this is just the beginning of Women Brunch. Hey, Women Brunch Gary is coming next because it's gonna be bigger than just Mississippi. I can already see that.

Let's do it. I would love it. Let's do one. I went to Minnesota and I have it on video And a guy stood up and he asked, like, how can we do this? We need a space like this. And I was like, I'm not opposed to collaborating with someone who's genuinely passionate about seeing other people succeed. Like, I would love to do that. I'm following the purpose. I'm following the calling. I'm following frequency in God. So if you feel in your heart to do one, hey, we can collaborate.

Let's just see. Let me put that together. Think about it. Put a plan together. Come with you with a pitch.

Let's go. You know what I'm saying?

I need to surround some people because I think I got a young lady. Call her my little sister in mind that I think can help me do something like that. And he'll be the keynote speaker. And it'll be big. Matter of fact, he won't even be here. He'll probably be in Chicago. I'm gonna tell you like this, Lateshia. I listened to T.D. Jakes once before, right? And I'm listening to your vision and some of the things that you've done and some of the other stuff that you got going on too. And he said that, you know, when you doing stuff, especially being a creative, that you gotta have pockets, you know, pockets to put an idea here and put an idea there and put things in different pockets. Because if you try to put all of them in the same, you know, like I got an idea, and then I try to put it in something that I'm doing, it may not fit, you know, what I'm trying to do. So we have to learn how to separate stuff. Like, okay, well, this idea fits here, and this idea fits there. And so I see like with the vision that you have, that you have a whole lot of pockets.

We ain't gonna talk about the Juicidor, A lot of pockets, a whole lot of pockets. Like I have a whole lot of pockets, you know, and you have to be open. You know, you have to be open. You have to be open to growing your business, growing your vision. You know, you just can't be in a box. So yeah, I love it when pockets— hey, I've never heard it put that way. Shout out to Bishop TD Jakes. But yeah, that's powerful, actually. A lot of pockets.

A lot of pockets, you know, because once you get one idea, one thing started going, and then it just opened doors for other things. You know, and I tell people this all the time, you have to start preparing before it comes. Because when the door opens, you got to be ready to walk through that door when it opens. But if I'm not ready to walk through the door when it opens, then when the door opens, then I'm still stuck where I was at. Yeah, you know, so we got to be like Leticia, we got to be ready.

You preaching. Yes, you preach. And we already know that we flow in frequency, and we know the type of God that we serve. So once we put it out there, You already know if we take one step, he taking how many? 2, 3, 4. So you have to be prepared. You can't ask God to give you something if you're not willing to move your feet. So you are definitely preaching. You are definitely preaching. That is so true. Be ready. You know that old saying that's been around for a long time? They say, um, what is it? So you don't have to get ready.

Yeah, stay ready so you don't have to get ready. Yeah, something like that. Yeah, old school. Yeah, and that's just how it is, you know. So I want to be ready like my girl Leticia was ready. When Carlos sent that pitch to OWN and Oprah said, "Let's do it," and it's become successful. And I'm proud of you. I'm excited to have you on the show today, if you can't tell. So if the audience can't tell, it is what it is.

It's my honor. I'm glad to be here. Thank you.

So let me ask you, Lateshia, what challenges did you face building your brand from the ground up?

Oh my gosh. Ooh, a lot. I mean, when people see entrepreneurship, or they just see the visionary, uh, the vision birth. They don't see like the behind the scenes. Like, you deal with a lot. You deal with, like, like you said, putting things in place, those pockets. You have to plan it out. And for me though, I get in trouble for saying this a lot of times, I'm not a beginning to the end type person. I see the end and I work backwards. Does that make sense? So it's like, for me, a lot of times I experienced even with me brunching. I'm a bail bondsman. I do freelance paralegal, like just becoming an entrepreneurship. For me, leaving that 9 to 5 job and just stepping out, that's a whole different type of fear. But you have to have childlike faith. So I would just say the struggles would just be me being a one-woman show. Like, I didn't have a team. I was everything. I was like, you know, I was like the publicist, the manager, the mail lady. I was literally everything you can think of, sending out emails. I was the assistant, I was the driver. I mean, every single thing. I'm going to these places, you know, the venue, I'm scouting, I'm doing my own contract. So there's a lot of things that I had to just really be disciplined about. And I think when it comes to entrepreneurship, that's very important. Those two words, we, two words that we take for granted, and that's consistency and discipline. Like we, those two, and I struggled a lot with just being consistent because I had so many, it was just me. So it's like, I'm working on this, I'm working on that, I'm trying to make this happen. And it's just like, be consistent. And once I figured that out and I figured out the law of attraction and I understood that I am a magnet and then everything I need is attracted to me if I just stay focused, and then things start to work out. But beforehand, CJ, it was a mess. I was a mess. You couldn't tell, as they say, she out here popping it. Oh, she got another brush. She got this, she got that. I'm like, baby, hold on. And it takes money. This was funded by me, you know, and my husband at the time. So it was like, you know what, my husband during that time, he was like, this is a hobby, you know, it's a hobby. So it takes a lot. There were a lot, a lot of different struggles. But the only time you will find, as they say, you know, uh, success before work is in a dictionary.

So yeah. And I get it, we talked about that behind stage, everything, you know, with people. Uh, CJ, can you educate— I am the team. I was listening to Bishop Bonner and he said, they say, long as you get your website and get this and that, he say, don't nobody gotta know that you doing everything by yourself. But something that you said earlier when we was behind stage, he said, all you got to do is move. God is waiting for you to move and so that he can put everything else behind you. You know what I'm saying? So he just looking for us to move. And like you say, man, people just don't know the internal. So that's like something I want to plan on writing a book in, in 2026 called Miked Up and Locked In: The Makings of a Podcast. Just the different things that you have to do. People may see me and you on the show and, oh, they having a great conversation, or they just chilling like they know each other. And you know, but they don't know what it takes to get into You got to set it up. You know, I had to talk to Michael, whoever came in, you know, was setting it up for me. Then you got to get your show notes, then you got to get them links to record. Everything, you got to put the work in. So, so like you say, you got to be consistent. That's something that I had to learn in this space right here, is being consistent. So I think that was important that you said that whatever you do, you have to be consistent in it, regardless of what it looked like at that time. And keep it moving. And like with my wife, she don't understand a lot of times too. That's why she haven't seen my business W-2s. But uh, we ain't gonna say nothing though.

Wait, you can see your business? Hold on now!

No, no, no, my business W-2s— I get them done, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, because sometimes one thing can hold the other thing back when something don't really understand. How it is, but just let me know.

Oh yeah, absolutely. Oh, I feel that 100%.

Yeah. Oh yeah. So, but she give me my space to do what I do. But you know how it is when it comes to that new life, different, different, different.

Yes. And that's the thing too. And I hear that a lot, especially with like my mentees. You know, you have one person that's an entrepreneur, and then in the marriage or the relationship, and someone else, you know, they're just You know, they're okay, you know, working on a 9 to 5, which is fine. Nothing is wrong with that at all. But they like, wait a second, you're investing into this dream, you invested into this, and just because you can't see money at that time, you know, they like, oh, this is not worth it, this is not this. But that's why it's just— there's a lot of conflicts when it comes to that. And even I've experienced that personally, so definitely I understand it.

Yeah, it is. See, they don't have the vision. That Joseph had in the dungeon, or when he was in the well. See, I got a dream. Let this out of dream. And sometimes you can't let other people kill your dream when you see it because other people can't see it. One thing I learned from this the other day, and I'm gonna let you go on this one, sometimes people hating on you for what you doing, but not knowing that they attached to the dream that you had. So they trying to kill their own dream. They killing their own destination.

Yes, yes, because just— yes, yes, yes. Oh, you just preached the word. Because the blessing— you're tied to me. If you tied to me, you tied to my blessing. You tied to the dream. And that's important. It is very, very important. That's why even in entrepreneurship, even with being a visionary, even with trying to do better, you have to surround yourself around people who gonna not even believe like in you, but believe like with you, you know. Like, I know if you keep moving you know, this is going to manifest into something greater. So don't you give up. I'm proud of you. I love what you're doing. And again, just keep moving because of this. I don't know what your dreams are. I don't know what the vision is. I don't know what you wrote down. But what I will say, just keep moving. You're passionate about what you're doing. You have a podcast voice. You have the personality for it. And don't you give up. You keep believing. It's no one else's responsibility to believe. So don't worry about what they have to say. As long as you don't forget about you, and as long as you don't stop believing in you, don't worry about what nobody else got to say.

Don't worry about—

keep doing you. You keep doing you, CJ. Okay, CJ Moneyway. CJ Moneyway. CJ Moneyway. Okay, you keep doing you.

Hey, I appreciate it. I appreciate it, man. Sometimes people don't know when you hear other things from people, especially that have done it, and that it can encourage you You know, it builds you up to say, you know what, I think I can run on, you know what I'm saying? I can move on. And I'm excited about this season. I'm excited about what God is doing, you know. And like I say, we gonna make that pop-up happen. That's gonna be— we're gonna do that. I'm a matter of fact, when I get off this call, I'm gonna text my little sis and I'm gonna run it by her. We gonna do that. Hey, so let's switch gears a little bit, Leticia, man. Let me ask you something. Resilience and health. You've been open about your health journey of PCOS.

Yeah.

How has that shaped your approach to leadership and life?

Mm. Oh my gosh. Do we have— we have an hour?

Hey, we got all the time you need. All the time you need.

When I tell you, it is— you just never know what people are going through. I still live— you treat the janitor just like you treat the CEO. We know that saying. You never know what people are dealing with internally. So even with this, I go through life every single day. People that I meet, you never, ever, ever, ever know. Having PCOS, it was just like, it was a challenge because you struggle with so much. I mean, not only do you just struggle with weight gain, up and down and bloating, you go through mood swings, anxiety. And a person like me, I'm naturally happy. So when I feel things like I don't feel a certain type of way, it really sometimes frustrates me, but I know that I'm having a flare-up. So there are things that I have to do to control my stress, you know, and different things like that. So for me, just looking at life totally different, like, and I just live by, you don't know what people are dealing with. It costs absolutely nothing to be happy for someone. It costs absolutely nothing to smile or be kind. So that is just very, very, um, important to me. And thank you for asking about PCOS, especially this is PCOS Awareness Month, September. So I really appreciate that. And just any woman that may feel like, oh, her hormones are off, you know, we produce, um, more male hormones than we should. You know, that's part of PCOS. We have cysts, anxiety. It's more than weight loss. It's so many things. Facial hair. Some women have to get waxed all the time. Like, it's so much. People just don't really talk about it as much as they should, but it is a real thing. And so many women across the world are dealing with PCOS and trying to figure out ways. And, you know, just think about it. You can eat grass for me all day and I still may bloat. It's just different things that you go through with women who are going through PCOS, and no one understands a sister, C-Y-S-T-E-R-S, because we have cysts on our ovaries. No one understands a sister like another sister. So you just never know who you're talking to, and that's just not even with a health issue. That's just in general. You never know. It costs nothing to be kind. It costs nothing to say, "Hey, is there anything that I can do, anything I can say that can help you be better?" So just life in itself, I look at life, man, we here for a good time, not a long time. So your time here, create memories, be kind when you can. Don't let nobody play with you, but you know, be kind and you know, do what works for you.

A couple things, like you say, the PCOS, I had never heard of it, or if I have, I didn't know what it was because of course I'm not a female and I don't, you know, So I'm glad that you explained that and brought that up or whatnot, that people don't talk about it enough as far as it's being an issue or whatnot. But I saw that on that one, when I saw that you were vocal about it and you know, you an advocate, you know what I'm saying? You a trailblazer. So you out there, you do your thing. So I'm like, you know what, let me go ahead and ask that question to bring awareness. And like, I didn't know that September is the month of that. So this will be trending. Once it come out at that time, you know, I like that on Optimus Clips. It'd be trending. I'd be like, yeah, but it ain't trending nowhere.

But anyway, oh, go ahead.

I'm sorry.

Yes, no, I'm just saying thoughts become things. So everything, anything that you want, you have the power to create it. You have how to create it.

Just know that it say, as a man thinketh So is he. So let me ask you, Leticia, how do you balance personal wellness while leading multiple platforms and initiatives?

Yes, meditation. Meditation and prayer. And just recently I start— I'm doing a book a week. That's my thing. I had to travel to New York here recently, so I was unable to— like, I kind of got off a little bit. So now I'm a week behind, but I'm on the same book. So just really clearing my head, clearing my mind, because if I'm not where I need to be mentally, then how can I inspire someone else? So for me and the ladies that I coach, I have to really work on that hard. Like, that's putting in work. When it comes to balance, I like to say balance is just a word that people like to sound like really, really good. I don't balance, I prioritize. So now I'm prioritizing my mind, I'm prioritizing my body, I'm prioritizing family where I can, but really focusing on my mental. Because if I'm not where I need to be, I'm no good to nobody. Not even you having this call. You know, if I didn't wake up and do my meditation, if I didn't wake up and just speak my affirmations and pray, you know, and just get myself really aligned with the day because I know that my day is going to be amazing, then I wouldn't be good for anybody, you know.

Mm-hmm. And I get it. And I'm glad you brought that up because You know, you say reading, because I talked to somebody a couple of weeks ago, and he brought up this book and we started talking about it called A Purpose Driven Life.

Uh-huh.

So I got that book, you know, I know, I told him, I said, I read that book. And so he said, so, you know, we talked about it or whatever. And so a couple of days later, I went upstairs and I checked my bookshelf. I'm like, I think I got that, still got that book. So I did, of course I did. And so I started going back I read it first in 2006 because I was signing it, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, I signed it. I read it again in 2016. That was the year after my father passed, the year after I wrote my book. So 2016, now it's 2025, I'm back reading it again. I'm like, so why about every 10 years, as you said, I have to be refilled with something? Although I can read the Bible throughout the year, saying whatever, but sometimes you be missing something in you and you need recharge. Because like you say, if I don't have nothing in me, what can I give to somebody else?

There you go.

There you go. So I gotta recharge too, because even Jesus said that when she touched the hem of his garment—

but I know I'm with you. I'm totally with you. No, I'm totally with you. Yeah, I love that for you. And I love to hear that you're reading. I love that for you.

Oh, I love reading. I love reading, you know what I'm saying? Like, I like— I, I read I can't eat without reading, you know what I'm saying? Whether it's stuff that's going on in the world, you got to know what's going on out here, you know what I'm saying? Because you got to be able to prepare yourself, and not just yourself but for your family. Because a lot of things that we do, it's not even for you. Yeah, it's for those that's coming behind you or those that's connected to you, you know what I'm saying? So we are like the front runners, you know. Sometimes he will put you ahead of— like we was talking about, like with Joseph He sent Joseph ahead. And even with Joseph, Joseph said that God sent me first for a time such as this because he knew that it was going to be a famine in the land, that they was going— and that he was going to be the one to have to bring them in. See, sometimes we don't understand why he sent us first, you know, like, oh, I'm better than you. No, I'm not better. I'm not better than nobody. It's just God knew what he put in me.

Oh, you better come on. Yes. Yes, yes, when you're chosen. Oh, not when you choose yourself, but when you are chosen. God always say God will move you from the back of the line to the front of the line. It ain't even about you.

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Not me. What is the purpose here? And exalt you, you know what I'm saying? So that is so powerful. He knows. He built us. He created us. So he knew, still know, You know, he's still— so at the end, I love that. It is so, so powerful, you know, so powerful. We all have, as you know, purpose, God-given purpose. We all have it. But if you touched by God, you anointed by God, don't be fearful of nothing. Yeah, you may stop a little bit, but you know, you know who with you, you know, you know who ordained you to do whatever it is that you're supposed to be doing. So I love to hear that. I love it. I love what you're doing. You're very intelligent. Very smart, and God has something for you, man. Don't give up.

Don't give up. Don't give up in the kid. Don't give up.

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So let me ask you all of this: purposeful reality TV and representation. And we talked about this backstage, so let's get into the nitty-gritty. Belle's Collection stands out for being authentic. How do you ensure that your platform empowers women instead of exploit?

Oh, that's a good question. So for me, let me just take this back real quick. So although I pitched Belle Collective, I didn't pitch myself to be a castmate. Carlos King was able to see something in me that I didn't even see in myself. Him, he allowed God to move through him, and here I am, right? So I more into, um, wanting to be behind the scenes, like maybe a production assistant or something to help. But he was like, no, no, you got it. And I will always be, um, appreciative of him. And let me just say this before I answer your question. Your question— it is very important that to know that when you move in good intentions and you're, you're serving someone else, again, God gonna move you from the back of the line to the front of the line. That was not set out. I just wanted to highlight other women, but God had another a plan for me. So when you ask, how is it that you can stay authentic and how is it that you feel as if you're not being exploited? Well, for me, because it wasn't on my vision board, I was able to show up as my authentic self, which some people gonna love it, some people may not. I'm not everyone's cup of tea and I don't want everybody sipping me. So that's okay. You know what I'm saying? That's okay. So for me, I never look at it as that. It's like, hey, you have someone, we're doing reality TV. Not La'Ala Lee TV. So it's like, you get me in my rawest form because this was something that was not on my vision board. I didn't sit here and pray over that and sit here and try to write out scenes. This is me. So a lot of times if you watch the seasons, you're going to see me on a roller coaster. This is what it is in my life, you know, right now. And when you look at— I think the reason why so many people relate to me is because they like, dang, this girl just wake up and her— like, it's me, you know, it's me in my rawest transformed. When you guys see me dealing with my marriage, when you guys see me moving back home, I'm moving back undecided, going through emotions, building businesses, they didn't work, this didn't work. Like, it's just, that's me. So I wouldn't look at it as I'm being exploited. I look at it as this is an opportunity to inspire other people. When I go into the airport and I'm traveling, and women— one lady came and just started crying all in my chest and makeup was all on my shirt. It's okay. It was okay. I went through the airport with makeup on, but just to hear her fall into my chest and cry and say, "Your story inspired me. You know, what you're going through with your marriage, I felt like this way because I thought I was supposed to move this way and do this to please everybody else." So for me, I look at it as, okay, God, you got me here because God put me here. I know that without a doubt. God placed me here. So God, you placed me here. He said, "I need you to show up in the image that I created you in." That's as authentic authentic as you can be and just keep moving forward. And it's been an amazing journey. And I'm very grateful for it.

Mm-hmm. People do get inspired by other people. A lot of times we don't even know that. And so that's why it's absolutely imperative to come as your authentic self and tell your story. What did you go through? The things, the challenges that you had to face, the trials and tribulations that you had to go through, because some people feel as though if they're going through it, that they the only ones that went through that. Now let me tell you, like, what you went through is minor. Let me give you a story of CJ.

You talking about that? Oh, okay. I'm going through way worse. You talking about what? Like, yeah, you're right.

Like, how you still standing, bro? Because, man, it ain't by me, you know what I'm saying? I was living a life where it say having a form of godliness but denying the powers thereof. I was living out of my means. I wasn't living up to what God had created me to be. I wanted to be everything else, but I was being a fool, you know what I'm saying? I was just being ignorant out there, being, you know, doing what you do. But man, when he started shaping things up, now I can sit here and talk to young me. I can mentor young men. I can talk to young ladies, you know what I'm saying, young women. And without having sexual desires, I can say, oh yeah, that's my little sis. I put her in the little sis box, you know what I'm saying? Because I've done so much in my lifetime that a lot of that stuff don't even—

yes, I understand. And you take accountability and being authentic, that is beautiful. That's why you're going to go far, you know, you're going to go far. God didn't take his hands off of you, so I'm just proud of you and I love it. I can feel the vulnerability, I can feel the authenticity, you know, and everything that you've gone through. And now you're using what you've gone through to inspire other people. That's what it's all about. We go gone through things to say, okay, what you want me to teach? Yeah, this hurts, this may be embarrassing, this may be frustrating, this may be this, but what is the lesson? You know what I mean? What is the lesson? And some people will take the lesson and run with it, and some people say, you know what, I don't even want to share my story. So with you taking whatever you've learned, the things that you've gone through, to inspire other people, say, hey, I don't want you to be like me, I want you to be better than me, then hey. And I live by— let's start— if you could just change one If you could just inspire one, I mean, job well done.

You know what, you know what, LaTisha, whose podcast is this? Is this mine or yours? Because you encouraging me.

It's yours. This is what's called reciprocity. We are encouraging each other and I love it.

I love it. I love it. I love it. You know, because you said something too that made me think. I was just telling a young lady at work the other day, you know, we real cool. And you know, we talk. And I just told her something that I rarely tell anybody. I said, man, I was going through a situation before I got the job that I had. I lost, you know, my license was suspended and I needed the license, not knowing at the time I needed the license for this job that I got. But I had to go through some things and I said, man, I ain't got this type of money to do this and that. And I called my wife and It was like crickets or whatever. So I was like, I said, man, I had a 2015 Buick LeSabre. Oh, that mug was clean and nice too.

I see your eyes start to light up.

Oh boy, like new money, you know. Yeah, I had to sell it. I had to sell it, you know what I'm saying. And so it's things like that where people don't know certain things, like what you had to do to get to, like, but if I hadn't sold it and by the grace of God had something else, the job that I got that's paying the bills to do what I'm doing, I wouldn't have been able to get the job. But he knew what I had to do. And I say that to say this: I had to lose a car to gang too. I'm not gonna— I had to lose a car to gang too. Yes, that is what it is, you know what I'm saying? But I want to be like my dad.

I get what you're saying. I feel you.

You gotta take an L sometimes. That's just life, you know. It don't feel good, you know, or whatever. It's in some situations it's embarrassing, it's hurtful, but those are things that we have to go through in order to take it to the next level. Like I'm telling you, I'm reading this book and it say that we have to be trusted over the small things first before he bless us with spiritual blessings. We have to be thankful every day, no matter what I'm going through or what it is. I was talking to somebody not too long ago. We bring the energy, our energy. We control our energy. How you show up to your job every day is on you. It ain't on nobody else. You know, like I told you, I work a rotating shift. I work in the steel mill. I work rotating. Every week my schedule change. I say, but I'm not a day person, but whether I'm working days, 2 to 10, or midnights, which I go back in midnights tonight. I'm the same person when I walk in there every day. That's me, no matter what shift I'm on, because that's just me, you know what I'm saying? So you just have to be yourself and don't let nobody change who you are.

That's true.

So, so let me ask you, hey, we here to talk. We buddies now. We're gonna do it.

Say so, Leticia.

Let me ask you, what does representation mean to you? And how do you see your role in continuing inspiring the next generation of Black women entrepreneurs?

Representation is like everything. Representation definitely matters. And for me, coming on to showcase Women Branch Mississippi and really just showing that women can collaborate, you know, you can be from a small town, you can be a no-name, nobody, some may want to say, you know, and to really come out and showcase your talents, to really come out and see women on a national platform on the Oprah Winfrey Network, who Oprah was born, you know, from Mississippi. So that's an inspiration in itself. And I also feel like representation is being your authentic self. So if you show up as you every single day and you don't inspire, that's okay. We'll go back to, that's not my tribe. That's not. But just to be mindful, and just being a good person. Because if you are a good person and you have good intentions, representation going to speak for yourself. You know, not being perfect, not showing that, you know, because a lot of people can get discouraged. We go back to social media. People say, oh, you just see everybody out here popping, but you don't see the struggle, like we talked about earlier. So representation is a big thing, not to be fake, but to be your authentic self. So when we talk about representation, we're talking about authenticity. We're talking about who are you when we're not on a television show. This is me. Because if you get me to Gary— Indiana up there and you see somebody totally different, then what is that? How am I inspiring? How am I using my platform to, you know, inspire other people? Now, of course, we on reality TV, that's drama. You're gonna have that all the time. And that's when you put women in a room together. But what I love about Belle Collective and what I love about the producers at Kingdom Reign is that they showcase what women go through. That's what sisters— if you have sisters at a house or you grew up together But at the same time, we bring it back in, like, what's the resolve? You know what I mean? What's happening here? And that's just in general. You know, that's just in general. That's in families. I mean, my sister, what, 12 years younger than me? I still argue with her today, but I love her, you know? And I just think that, yeah, representation definitely matters, but also authenticity. And I think that if you just be your authentic self, that is, you know, your representation. No one wants to be looked at in a bad light, but things happen. Things will happen throughout life. And I tell my son all the time, you be be a good person, but don't go around trying to prove you're a good person. And you treat people right, but don't let nobody play with you, because if you let people play with you, then they gonna think they can keep doing it, keep doing it. So you have to stand up for yourself, and you know, that's just what it is.

Yeah, I feel you. See, I'm from the old school, it's just with that, you know, I'm from Scarface, I ain't the one, you know what I'm saying? Hey, playing, let your yays be yays, let your nays be nays, you know. But, um, you said something earlier that made me think about it. You said that women, you know, you get into it or whatnot, but y'all got a space where y'all can come back and pull it in together. And I think that's a knock, as me and my wife always talk all the time, that's a knock on women sometimes. Because once sometimes women get into it, it's hard to come back from that because we gonna stay catty, or, you know, you keep your attitude But men, we tend to— like, if I got a friend and we get into it or we have a disagreement over something, you know, we may agree to disagree today, but then we'll see each other again. We shaking hands, dapping it up, having a beer or something, you know, and like, ain't nothing happened because we can just get over certain things sometimes. It's not that. But so I'm glad y'all creating a space that's showing where, like, look, it takes time.

But we on the same shows, but it takes time, you know, not because y'all— it takes time. And I applaud me, and I wish we could do that. But no, women, we emotional. Y'all know this. We're very— we're gonna be dramatic, like, you got me messed up. And then on our show, they're more alpha. We're all alpha females. We're all strong. We're all opinionated. We all got our stuff together. We're not taking no junk from, you know. So it's just different. So it's like, no, I need an apology, you know what I mean? It's just different stuff. You know how women are, you know, with your wife, you know. We like that.

Yeah, like, yeah, I get all Italian. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I see how y'all are. I was watching something, Latisha. I do. I was telling you backstage, I didn't say why I saw that or what it was. Y'all was doing a show, 4 or 5 of y'all out there, and the girl says something like, well, you didn't invite me, this and that. And you said, I was gonna invite you, but now you're not invited. I said, whoa, look at what I think that was.

That was me and Dr. Marie Monroe.

That was funny. She said, now you not invited no more to this and that.

No, no, no, no, no, no. I can't remember. I don't know. That sound like something that me and my girl would say. Maybe I was inviting her to a brunch, or I think once she told me she wasn't attending anymore, like she was over me and over the brunches or something.

So that was funny.

I was just like, whatever.

Yeah, that was funny. Then you went on the— it was a guy, you was on his, uh, podcast or whatever, on his TV show. And he brought it up, and you say, which show had the most reruns? And then he's like, such. So you like, yeah, I'm like, oh, this is who I'm dealing with right here.

I said, I don't want no smoke. Give me the disclaimer. When I first came here, I don't want no smoke, Leticia. I'm like, what are you talking about?

I don't want no smoke. I see how you get down. Smoke.

I never create the smoke. I like, you know, I don't create the fire, but I'll put it out now. But I don't. This is positive, loving life.

Hey, loving life. I hear you.

We may not, you know, we may have some issues, but yeah, yeah, yeah, I feel you.

I love it, I love it, I love it. So let's just— I know I took up a lot of your time or whatnot, man. I just got a couple more questions to ask you. I'll let you Future Vision. Let's just get to the Future Vision. Tell us a little bit about the Drew Sidor's live show.

Oh, that had passed and they had a conflict with filming, so we didn't do that. So, okay, a new date may be put in place. They were talking about it, but I don't have anything on that right now, so that is passed.

Okay, so tell us about you. What— first off, what can we find you on social media? I just followed you on everything. LinkedIn, so you see me. Accept your boy LinkedIn, Instagram, all that. So where can we find you at? What can we, you know, what time your shows come on? How many seats? Give us all that in detail before we get out of here.

First of all, we can find everything by name. I'm not hard to find at all. Leticia Pearson everywhere. Instagram, LeticiaPearson_. Just put my name and I'm literally not hard to find. Also coming up October 3rd, that's season 6, that's our premiere of Belle Collective. So be sure to tune in on Open Women for Network. It's 8, uh, 7 Central. It's 7 Central. So be sure to tune in and yeah, just check out our season. We're going to have an amazing season. The season is going to be so amazing. I'm so excited about this season. And if you guys watch the trailer, I've been getting so many, so much feedback about our trailer because our trailer is absolutely fire as always. The bells are definitely ringing and it's just going to be great. So be sure to check us out October 3rd. Me, Leticia Pearson, if you want, I'm opening a 6-month mentorship program back up. I do it every 6 months, so I'm going to open that up. So if you want any type of mentorship, just shoot me an email. My information is out there. My website is leticiapierson.com. So I'm not hard to find at all.

I like that. So whatever you do as far as the mentorship program, this and that, send me the links. Have your people send me the links and I'll be sure to put them in the show notes and everything for all that you're doing, because what you're doing is great. So let me ask you, Latesh, before we get out of here, give us one last nugget, one thing that's on your heart that you would like to share with the audience before we leave.

Oh, hmm. I would like to say this, that we are all, um, born with God-given talents, and if you are not operating in your God-given talent or making preparation to birth that, then you are being selfish. Now is the time to start moving in your purpose. Now is the time to remove fear, doubt, confusion, and anything that's surrounding you that's not benefiting to your greater good and just move, move in purpose. Let go of fear, let go of doubt. Don't worry about what's in your bank account. Your job is to take those steps. Put in preparation and understand that you are a magnet. And every morning you wake up, you tell yourself, I'm a magnet and I attract everything that's needed to manifest whatever it is that I want to do. No harm, hurt, or danger will enter in my life today. I am protected. You know, I give my vision to God because God gave it to me. And, you know, bless it and just move forward. And if— and you know that famous just do it?

Just do it. Just do it. I like it.

Yeah. And, you know, just get up, always try again. Just don't ever give up. Just don't ever give up.

Don't ever give up and realize that you are the magnet that draws all good things.

Yes.

Hey, I can't praise that any better. Hey, Natasha, thank you for being a beacon of hope, being authentic, and bringing your leadership and your high energy to the CJ Moneyway Show. Your journey reminds us that success is built brick by brick, even without a blueprint. Hey, if you want to follow Tisha, like she said, she ain't hard to find. You can find her on Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and check out the new season of Belle Collective October 3rd, which is the month of my birthday, October 6th. So I'll be tuning in. And if this conversation motivated you, share this episode and subscribe to the CJ Moneyway Show. Show for more voices that empower, inspire, and transform. Until the next time, y'all gonna catch us in Gary, Indiana. Women's Brunch be hosted by your boy CJ Moneyway Johnson. Leticia in the house. We gonna make that happen coming soon. Until next time, it's your boy CJ and my girl Leticia Johnson. We out of here.

Peace.

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