Meet Dr. April J. Lisbon

Dr. April J., we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
My level of resilience comes from my lived experiences. Having experienced domestic violence and being sexually assaulted, I’ve learned how to not be a victim of my circumstances but to claim my victory. I had to learn not to blame myself for those incidents because I was trying to help someone I truly loved and cared about. However, this person was in a place of unhealed trauma and took his pain out on me. It was in finally letting him go that I began to heal and take control of my life once again. Was it easy? Absolutely not as the shame and ‘what ifs’ plagued me for years. Once I realized that my life was more valuable than the ish of those incidents, I was then able to live my life as the champion that I was born to be.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m a PR strategist and personal media coach. I help 6 and 7 figure income earners to confidently expand their personal brands using media and feel powerful doing it based on my Own It method. I’m also a TV personality and the host of Own Your Ish with Doc April on the Mogul TV Global Network. We’re on Roku and Amazon Fire.

What I love most about what I do in my brand is that I help people to show up boldly and authentically in their brands. I help people realize that they are not a product of their past and that their lives are a true testament of overcoming. I help people see that they no longer must apologize for what didn’t go right in their lives. Instead, they focus on the now so that they can change the narrative of their life stories.

I have a lot of amazing things happening including the 2023 BET Awards, some reality TV opportunities, as well as helping my client, Jabari G.T. Taylor to launch his podcast series, Invisible Wars: Truth over Tradition. Jabari and I also have a book coming out October 2023 that will be a part of the SpringerBriefs in Offending Populations and Correctional Psychotherapy, which will tell his story of being a veteran who experienced mental health issues, homelessness, and being a part of the penal system before and after he left the military. I’m always moving and shaking as I just love helping individuals to create top personal brands.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three most important qualities that continue to impact my journey are: self-love, expressing oneself authentically, and learning to leave things/people behind who no longer add value to my life. In the past I was a people pleaser. I found value in how others valued my time and skill sets. I learned the hard way that the energy that I give others is not the same. Hard lessons to learn but it was necessary for me in order to believe in myself and my skill sets.

I’d tell others to trust your gut. Even if it hurts, trust your gut as your instincts see things before you see them. Be okay with telling people NO if they’re not valuing your time and respecting your energy. Your purpose depends on you being the best version of self that you can be.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
I wouldn’t say it’s a challenge but it’s a hard pill as a mother to swallow. For the last 17 years, I have been the ‘voice’ of my Autistic son. I have championed him to live his life as the brilliant scholar he was created to be. I’ve fought every battle on his behalf– from school bullying to psychiatric hospitalizations. You name it, we’ve been through it.

Now that he is heading to college this year, I realize that he must have his own voice. Although he’s been prepared for this moment, I’m not ready to see my baby grow up into an independent young adult. Can he do it? Absolutely. However, there is still that part of me that’s not ready to give up ‘control’ as I still struggle with trusting that people will do right by him because he is on the spectrum.