We were lucky to catch up with LaToya “Toi” Powell recently and have shared our conversation below.
LaToya “Toi”, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
Over the course of my life, I have developed a particular set of skills that has allowed me to move between fields and industries. Because of this, I operate at a high capacity and level that outshines many of my peers who have only worked in one field. Many may read this and think, “Wow, that’s a pretty bold statement!” But this question is about confidence and self-esteem. I have had to battle many types of personalities who made it their life’s purpose to question my intelligence and my combination of skills, which they themselves did not possess. That included my ability to connect with others and also to get the job done successfully on time and on budget. It’s not a horrible statement to make if you acknowledge your own historical background. That is why I am able to speak with confidence, and my self-esteem has grown over the years because of this.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’ve always seen myself as a builder—someone who creates ideas, develops teams, and designs experiences that have a meaningful impact on people. My professional background is in marketing operations and program and project leadership, and over the past 20 + years, I’ve led creative work at scale by aligning cross-functional teams, building systems that keep work moving, and turning strategy into clear, measurable execution across multiple brands.
That combination of structure and creativity is a big part of what makes The TOI House, LLC unique. I originally created The TOI House in 2010 as a multidisciplinary creative space where innovation and artistry could come together, and later established it as an official business. “TOI” stands for Take On Innovation, and it is also my nickname, which makes the brand deeply personal to me.
Today, The TOI House helps entrepreneurs, brands, and artists build a cohesive presence through strong storytelling, compelling visuals, and sustainable strategies for growth and consistency. We also specialize in musical healing and corporate retreats, creating intentional experiences that help individuals and teams reconnect, restore, and move forward with clarity. I’m also passionate about the responsible use of AI as a creative support tool—something that can enhance efficiency and sharpen ideas without replacing human originality.
Beyond brand development, I’m continuing to grow The TOI House as a platform for wellness, creativity, and community impact. That includes expanding my wellness line, Dreama’s Wellness™, which features bath salts made with ancient minerals, herbs, and 100% natural essential oils, along with partnerships that align with that mission. I also teach 4-week classes and am developing a community choir and garden at my local YMCA to create safe, supportive spaces where people can explore their creativity, build confidence, and feel connected.
At the heart of my work is a whole-person approach—one that considers the mind, body, heart, soul, and spirit. My faith has shaped that perspective and strengthened my commitment to helping people heal and move forward, especially through grief, trauma, or seasons of uncertainty. While I’m not a therapist, I do incorporate creative practices, such as art-based reflection, as supportive tools for self-care, self-discovery, and personal growth within a broader coaching framework and through the team of coaches at The TOI House.
Ultimately, my story is about integration—bringing together operational excellence, storytelling, wellness, musical healing, retreats, and community-building into one ecosystem that helps people create with purpose and live in alignment.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Looking back, I would say the three qualities that have had the greatest impact on my journey are creativity, discipline, and adaptability. Each of them has shaped not only the work I do, but also the way I move through life and continue to grow.
Creativity has been one of the strongest foundations of my path. My ability to approach storytelling and art from a unique, multidimensional perspective has opened many doors for me over the years. From receiving a Congressional Art Award at a young age to later blending visual art, music, technology, and strategy into my work, creativity has allowed me to build experiences that are immersive, meaningful, and engaging. For anyone early in their journey, my advice is to protect and develop your creativity intentionally. Give yourself room to experiment, explore different mediums, and take creative risks. Growth often happens when you step beyond what feels familiar and allow curiosity to lead you.
Discipline has been just as important. Creative vision is powerful, but discipline is what helps turn vision into something real. My years in project management and digital advertising taught me how important it is to carry an idea all the way from concept to completion. Whether I was leading professional projects, writing, producing music, or building new creative platforms, discipline helped me stay focused, organized, and committed to the process. For those just starting out, I would say: build habits that support your goals. Set clear intentions, create structure for yourself, respect deadlines, and learn how to be accountable. Treat your gifts seriously and with consistency, because discipline is what gives creativity staying power.
Adaptability has also been essential to my journey. The worlds of art, business, technology, and storytelling are always changing, and being willing to evolve has helped me remain innovative and open to new possibilities. I have continued to stretch myself by learning new tools, incorporating emerging technology into my work, and staying open to experiences that challenge me creatively and personally. My advice to others is to remain teachable. Invest in learning, stay open to collaboration, and do not be afraid of change. Adaptability helps you stay relevant, but more importantly, it helps you keep growing into who you are meant to become.
Beyond those three qualities, I also have to acknowledge that faith has been one of the most impactful areas of knowledge in my life. I cannot speak about my growth, my resilience, or the good in my journey without first recognizing how great God has been in my life. My faith has shaped my overall well-being, grounded me in humility, and reminded me that every gift I have comes from Him. Prayer has been a source of healing, restoration, and strength for me, especially in seasons when life could have easily caused me to lose sight of who I am. There are many things in this world that can distort our identity, but God has a way of revealing our true selves and reminding us who we are in Him and who we are called to be.
Accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior has had a profound impact on my journey. My relationship with God has opened doors I could not have planned for myself and has also protected me through doors that were closed. I believe God has the final say, and I am deeply honored and humbled to serve Him in this lifetime. That understanding has not only influenced my personal life, but it has also shaped the way I lead, create, and pour into others.
So, when I reflect on what has impacted me most, I think of creativity, discipline, adaptability, and the faith that has sustained all of it. For those early in their journey, my advice is this: keep developing your gifts, stay committed to the work, remain open to growth, and stay grounded in what gives your life meaning. Skills can take you far, but character, humility, and spiritual grounding are what help you endure and thrive.
How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?
If I only had a decade of life left, I would live it to the fullest by following God’s will, of course. My time here on Earth may be limited, but with Him, I will be with Him for eternity. I want to make sure that what I do here on this planet in my final days is what He would want me to do, so that I can help bring more people into the Kingdom of God.
Not many people think this way because, in our minds, we live in the present, believing that we may endure this life forever. But the reality is that we are like blades of grass and flowers in the wind. We are only here for a short period of time, and I want to make sure that I make my Father proud with the life He has given me.
Not only am I later on in my years as I answer these interview questions, but I am also so far behind in my faith walk that I feel I am playing catch-up to become the bright and shining star that God ordained for my life. I know we say that everything happens in God’s timing, which is true, but there is also truth in the fact that we can procrastinate with the enemy, convincing ourselves that we are doing what we should be doing when, in fact, we are not.
This is where my life was before I surrendered myself fully to God in a way I never had before. Because I am neurodivergent, I have special and powerful gifts that once confused and frightened me. Dreams turned into visions, and visions became so real that I could no longer dismiss them as coincidences. They became so frequent that I thought I was going crazy. Not understanding my spiritual gifts, and being sent to doctors and psychiatric hospitals, led me to have suicidal ideations because no one understood what I was talking about, even though my experiences were very real.
It was not until I experienced spiritual warfare right before my eyes that I began to understand, even in the smallest way, that I was witnessing the supernatural in real time. No one else seemed to realize they were under attack from the enemy, and I had no spiritual weapons of my own to protect myself. What weapons are those, you may ask? Scripture. I did not know where I was, who I was with, why I was there, or how long I had been in the psychiatric hospital. But God came to me that day, and He spared my life. He spoke to me and asked me to believe and trust in Him always. I had never heard God’s voice that clearly before, and I was afraid. I turned my back to the sound of it because I knew the enemy was very real, but I had no experience seeing God or hearing God in my life in such a way that I could understand who was speaking to me.
Doctors call these kinds of voices schizophrenia, but I had never been diagnosed with schizophrenia. I was unable to determine whether I was psychotic or being called. That was the true hell I was in—hearing God and denying Him at the same time. How many of us do that on a day-to-day basis?
I share this because I went through so much while I was in the hospital, and God kept sending me sign after sign, day and night, for seven days. I had nowhere else to go but remain in that small space with people who were also suffering from mental health emergencies. But when I spoke to them while I was covered with the anointing, though I did not yet know it, people came to me sharing Bible verses, bringing me Bibles in Spanish, asking me to pray for them while holding a Bible, and even asking me if I was the Holy Spirit. This is my testimony, not a fictional story that I write in my books. This is real. I could not deny that God was alive in me and helping me through such a painful and uncertain time. I was in a place of deep uncertainty, but one thing was real: I had someone helping me in the spiritual realm, and His name is Jesus Christ. Our Father, God, gave me the assignment to help others come to Him so that He can save as many of us as possible. This I know to be true.
So, what would I do with the last decade of my life? I would bring as many people to God, by way of Jesus Christ, through my stories, my books, music, coaching, wellness retreats, design, film, and much more. My heart belongs to God Almighty, and that is where I will remain in the last days of my life: serving Him.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thetoihouse.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetoihouse/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheToiHouse/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/latoya-powell-pm/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ToiPowell
Image Credits
LaToya ‘Toi’ Powell
The TOI House Studios
The TOI House LLC
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