Meet Lashon Turnipseed

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lashon Turnipseed. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Lashon, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

Honestly, my creativity isn’t something I “keep alive” — it’s something I have to learn to wrangle. My brain is pretty much a nonstop airport runway for ideas: some are landing, some are taking off, some are circling overhead waiting for clearance. I’ve just learned to build systems, routines, and habits that help me catch the ones worth developing before they fly away.

A lot of my creativity comes from how I live. I pay attention. I notice problems in everyday life, especially in spaces like logistics, events, tech, and aviation — and my mind immediately starts engineering solutions. I’ll be sitting in class at AIM, or walking through a mall, or ordering food at an airport, and suddenly I’m sketching out an app, a business model, a workflow, or a whole ecosystem. Creativity shows up for me because I give it room to show up anywhere.

But the real key is this: I stay curious. Borderline annoyingly curious. I let myself explore weird ideas, ugly ideas, half-baked ideas — because some of my best projects started as “this probably makes no sense, but…” I don’t shut the door on inspiration just because it comes at an inconvenient time or in an unconventional form.

And most importantly, I never force myself into one identity. I let all the parts of me — the logistics brain, the spiritual side, the tech builder, the storyteller, the student, the entrepreneur, the mom — collide and cross-pollinate. That’s where my creativity multiplies. Every project I build is a mashup of my experiences, my curiosity, and my willingness to try something that doesn’t exist yet.

So I don’t “protect” my creativity. I feed it with new experiences, new challenges, and new perspectives. That’s why there’s always another idea waiting for me. It’s part of who I am.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Professionally, I’m building something that didn’t exist before: a way for everyday business owners, vendors, creators, and event hosts to participate in events without being limited by geography, time, or traditional barriers. My flagship platform, RevoVend Eco LLC (DBA RevoVend), is basically the bridge between opportunity and access. If an event is happening in another city — or even another state — my system allows a brand to still show up, sell their products, and expand their reach through trained contractors and trusted hosts. No flights, no babysitters, no lost PTO. Just pure opportunity.

What makes my work exciting is that it’s not just a business — it’s an ecosystem that keeps expanding. Every time I notice a gap in a market or a struggle people just “deal with,” I build a solution around it. That’s how RevoVend grew from a simple idea into a multi-layer platform that supports event organizers, small businesses, contractors, students, and local communities all at the same time.

And I’m not stopping there. I’m currently investing in several branches of the RevoVend vision — including RevoVend EDU, which will partner with schools and colleges to help students earn income, build entrepreneurial skills, and even pay toward tuition or books through vendor events. I’m also developing creative side projects like Oddservances, Spirit Animal Guide Cards, and a growing library of micro-SaaS tools. My mind never sits still, so my brand refuses to be one-dimensional.

What’s new? A lot.
We’re onboarding more events across the country, introducing vendorless participation options, expanding contractor opportunities, and making it easier for hosts to fill tables with no risk and no upfront costs. RevoVend is scaling — fast — and my goal is to make it a household name in the event industry.

At the end of the day, everything I build serves one purpose: to make opportunity accessible, flexible, and fair for everybody.

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?

Looking back, the three qualities that shaped my journey the most were resourcefulness, resilience, and systems thinking.

1. Resourcefulness
I’ve always been the type of person who can walk into chaos, look around, and instantly start connecting dots that other people didn’t even see. That’s my retail and logistics brain mixed with my entrepreneurial heart — I naturally build solutions. Whether it’s fixing broken processes, creating tools people didn’t ask for yet, or finding a way to help someone earn income from across the country, resourcefulness has always been my edge.
Advice: Don’t wait for perfect conditions. Use what you have now. Creativity is multiplied when you stop looking for permission and start looking for possibilities.

2. Resilience
Entrepreneurship requires a special kind of stubbornness — the kind where you get knocked down, brushed off, misunderstood, doubted, and you still wake up the next day ready to move the needle. I’ve had to rebuild, rethink, restart, and reinvest in myself many times. That resilience is why RevoVend exists today.
Advice: Don’t take failure personal — take it as data. Adjust, refine, and keep going. Your consistency will outlast your obstacles.

3. Systems Thinking
Because of my background in aviation, retail, and hotel management, I naturally see the world in operational workflows. That’s why I’m able to build platforms like RevoVend — I don’t just see a problem, I see the entire infrastructure behind it. This ability to break chaos into steps, roles, and processes is one of the biggest reasons my ideas scale.
Advice: Learn how things work, not just how they look. Study processes. Study patterns. When you understand systems, you can fix anything, build anything, and automate your way into freedom.

For anyone early in their journey, start small: develop your curiosity, stay hungry, and take the time to understand how things function at the root. You don’t need all the answers — you just need the courage to start, the discipline to keep going, and the wisdom to see opportunity where others see inconvenience.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Absolutely — collaboration is the heartbeat of everything I build. And before anything else, I have to say this: I wouldn’t be this far without my husband. He is my partner in every sense — the grounding force behind my big ideas, the person who sees the vision with me, and the one who supports me when I’m juggling school, entrepreneurship, and a whole ecosystem of projects. His belief in me has made room for me to build boldly.

As far as new collaborations, RevoVend is entering a season of expansion, and we’re looking for the right people to help us scale. We’re open to connecting with:

• Investors who understand the power of remote vending, logistics innovation, and marketplace ecosystems — and who want to get in before we hit our next growth milestones.
• Technically savvy co-founders or partners who can help advance our current architecture, streamline operations, and bring fresh engineering perspective as we build toward a national — and eventually global — footprint.
• A marketing expert or strategist who’s ready to lock arms with us, shape the brand’s presence, and possibly take a small equity stake in exchange for helping us amplify RevoVend to the world.

We’re building something that changes how businesses, hosts, and contractors connect — and we want partners who see the magnitude of that and are ready to help move it forward.

If you’re reading this and feel aligned with the mission, reach out. We’re always open to connecting with people who think big, work smart, and believe in the power of creating opportunity for everyone.

Contact Info:

• Website: Https://revovendapp.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lashonpsmith?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_android

Image Credits

All images are courtesy of RevoVend Eco and or LaShon Turnipseed some photos are ai generated