Meet Latoya Lashae

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Latoya Lashae a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Latoya, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
– For as far back as I can remember, I always liked fashion and the way celebrities put together their Interview styles specifically. Now could I afford them – absolutely not, but I like looking at them. Then came the plus size models like Ashley Graham, Tabria Majors, and of course the well-known Toccara Jones. Being a plus size girl and now grown woman it was fascinating to see women that look like me rocking the styles that I would like to rock. This gave me a huge confidence boost that I was on the right track. Started working and immediately started buying clothes.

– People always ask me “hey where did you get your top?…. Your bathing suit… Your blazer” the list goes on. I don’t believe in gatekeeping so I would always give the deets to whoever asked. I was an influencer before I even knew the term influencer was a thing.

– About a year ago, I finally started to take myself more seriously and began doing try-on clothing hauls, creating weekly lifestyle vlogs, etc. Always being in-front of the camera definitely help boost, self-esteem, and confidence while giving valuable information and fashion tips to all of my followers.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My name is Latoya Lashae, I’m more notably, known as the owner of Kerry’s Kakes, a, freelance cake design studio in Atlanta, GA. Although I am still making designer cakes for all occasions, I have shifted my main focus to my one true loves- fashion, and travel. About two years ago I slowly began creating digital curvy fashion content, showcasing my outfit ideas or recent purchase hauls for YouTube and my socials. I also started my own luxury, comfort apparel line called Plush Tingz Apparel. Right now, the brand is in its infancy stage. I created a website and Instagram page and I’m making sales slowly but surely. My five year plan is to be the most sought after brand like others in the industry.

In addition, I’ve had a love for international travel since getting a passport back 2014 so after watching other travel influencers on YouTube I decided to purchase a vlogging camera and record my solo travels all around the world. Over the past few years, I’ve been to at least 12 different countries. It’s so exciting when you free yourself to do what you love and not care who’s watching. People can be so judgmental when you have a camera in your face and you’re talking to it when others are around. I post my adventures on YouTube, and in January of 2024 I created a TikTok page “Latoya Lashae Travels” that is solely dedicated to providing valuable travel tips and tricks, along with quick snippets into my vacations.

I’m so excited to see how far a year’s worth of consistency will get me this year.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1: Learning customer service and organizational skills through my corporate career and education. I have a MBA and have worked many jobs in the business sector.. These skills allowed me to always know my audience and how to speak to them. Knowing how to address customer concerns, is very vital to having a successful business. Being organized helps you stay on track and know what works or steps need to be completed next.

2: Resilience- Growing up I experienced a very unfavorable childhood until my late teen years. Knowing what it was like to be homeless, live in shelters, not having food to eat or clean clothes to wear to school really taught me survival skills. My upbringing is a constant reminder of a time I not only never want to endure again, but also is a testament to how far I have come. This gives me reassurance that I can get through anything, God willing.

3: Knowing the importance of research. With the Internet, YouTube, and now most popular TikTok information is at your fingertips. Anything you want to know is Google-able. There is millions of videos on any topic one can think of. My suggestion to anyone is a simply start searching. I learned how to negotiate car buying, start a business, build a website, even how to create high-quality content all from the Internet.

My advice to anyone starting their journey is to never compare yourself to others. God’s journey for you is just for you! You will get to where you want to be just when the time is right. In order to increase your customer service skills, think about the way you would like to be treated if you were the customer. Is that simple. Lastly, never forget that anything you wanna learn is simply on the Internet. If you like books, I’m sure they’re books on the same topics too.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
Travel Collaborations: I want to collaborate with hotels and travel boards all across the world. I’m ready to take my digital content to new heights for all the world to see and experience. My goal is to create visually breathtaking content for hotels and vacation destinations to use for their own marketing purposes. I aspire to collaborate with Boutique hotels looking for creative content marketing, and major brands like Hilton, Marriott, and Delta vacations just to name a few.

Fashion and Lifestyle Collaborations: I would like to partner with brands that embrace inclusivity when it comes to their offerings and sizes. Brands like Savage Fenty, Lane Bryant, Torrid (again), Yitty, Fenty Beauty, NARS Makeup, and so many more.

I have so many examples of the types of content I can create in each of the sectors on my YouTube (Latoya Lashae) or on my social media pages (Latoya.Lashae & LatoyaLashaeTravels). If anyone is looking to collaborate with me I can be reached via email at: [email protected]

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Latoya Lashae ThankYouChris2

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