Meet LaWanda Morris | CEO & Multi-Hyphenate

We had the good fortune of connecting with LaWanda Morris and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi LaWanda, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?

I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit and knew that I would own multiple businesses for as long as I can recall. My thought process behind starting my businesses always involves many considerations. Considerations that include a passion, a purpose, and two questions that I ask myself: 1-who can I help and 2-how can I be of service? I have always wanted to help people and to put goodness into the world. To help push the culture forward and provide opportunities for others. Before I put any product or service out, I first make sure that it is something I would use and benefit from. Whenever I love what I produce, without fail, others love it too. Therefore, staying authentic and true to myself is also a large part of my process. For example, when I started my magazine, Black Audacity Magazine, I knew it had to be something that I would want to read and that I love. When I started creating my products for my first skincare line, BLK SKN Beauty, I came up with a list of things that I wanted for myself in a skincare line. It had to be easy to use, simple steps that produce great results, it had to be something light that wouldn’t make my face sweat, etc. I found the right U.S. Manufacturer that helped me create just that (and so much more) in our new 3-step BLK SKN Beauty ‘Youthful’ Skin Regimen that launched on April 26th.

What should our readers know about your business?

I have multiple businesses, so I’ll tell you about two of them. The first is Black Audacity Magazine or BAM for short. BAM is a luxury lifestyle magazine that goes direct mail to about 80 thousand readers in the Atlanta, GA area. We tell the stories of the people on the ground, doing the work, in the communities that they love. We celebrate Black excellence and culture in all of its beautiful forms. We also tell the stories of and celebrate our allies as they support our mission and vision. Those are just some of the things that sets BAM apart. I am most proud of, though it was not easy, the fact that I started BAM independently and it is still 100% Black-woman owned today. The second business that I’ll tell you about is BLK SKN Beauty (BSB for short), which is my first skincare line that launched on April 26th. I am extremely excited about BSB because I’ve always had a love for all things beauty, including make-up and skincare. It was a challenge to find a U.S. based Manufacturer that could give me everything I wanted at an affordable cost for me and thus for the customer. During this process, I learned that it is never an option to cut corners or to lower your standards. If you are feeling like you need to do either, you might need to go back to the drawing board.

For this first skincare line, I wanted to give women a simple, 3-step regimen that would produce for them ‘that black don’t crack kinda beauty.’ That is something that we say in the Black community when we give a woman a compliment about how wonderful her skin looks. I want every woman to get that type of compliment and to feel beautiful. I think they can when they use our 3-step ‘Youthful’ Skin Regimen by BLK SKN Beauty! This is what I want the world to know about BLK SKN Beauty and why it was created for them.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

Most of my best friends read my magazine, BAM. Each month, we include a calendar section that tells our readers about events going on in Atlanta for the month. We also feature popular Atlanta restaurants, museums, and other cool spots and things to do in the ATL. So, if I were to hang out with one of them who visited Atlanta, I would center an itinerary around things they have read in the magazine so they can experience what they’ve read. That might include taking them to an ATL sporting event (Atlanta has several professional sporting teams, it would just depend on what time of year they visited). We would visit the Black Art in America museum and the Trap Music Museum. We’d eat at STK Steakhouse one night and Little Alley Steak another night. My friends and I love to eat, so we would also hit up spots like Jamaican Jerk Biz, Slutty Vegan, and The Varsity. We ‘d round out the visit with a show – so we would go see Usher or Chris Brown perform at the State Farm Arena.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

I want to dedicate this shoutout to my mom, Katherine M. Pitts. My mom is an inspiration and she inspires me to work hard everyday. She is the strongest woman I know, and that inspires me as well. She helps me even when I don’t know that I need help. My mommy is amazing and I want to say that I love you and thank you to her.

Website: www.BlackAudacityMagazine.com | www.BLKSKNBeauty.com

Instagram: @BlackAudacityMagazine | @BLKSKNBeauty

Linkedin: @BlackAudacityMagazine

Twitter: @BlackAudacityMg

Facebook: @BlackAudacitymagazine | @BLKSKNBeauty

Youtube: @BlackAudacityMagazine

Image Credits
Black Audacity Magazine and BLK SKN Beauty