Meet Rev. Dr. Latonya Rainwater | Reverend & C0-Founder of I Am U Ministries, Inc

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rev. Dr. Latonya Rainwater and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rev. Dr. Latonya, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
This is a great question that we feel has many layers. The first thing that runs through every business owners mind is that their idea is brilliant, they will make a lot of money and have success. No one ever stops to think what happens if bumps show up along the way. Before determining whether to give up, we believe that you must first thoroughly examine what is not working in your business, what is your business connected to that needs to go, and is there something that you can do to draw attention and support to your business. If you have answered these questions and made several attempts to fix them; its definitely time to give up or get professional assistance. The decision to keep going to us is determined based on several questions for example, Is the founder/owner’s heart is still invested in the business? Does the owner/owners still love what they are doing? Are there other avenues that can be taken to reach success? Is success enough? When these questions are answered and there is still the thought that ‘I or We can make this work’ you are not ready to give up. Ultimately, we believe that you will know whether to keep going by your own will to continue and how important you feel your work is and you will know to give up when your business is causing you debt, a decrease in value, you have exhausted all avenues in making it work or you do not want to keep working on your invested business.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
What sets us a part from others is that we are determined to make a difference and find a way to get involved with the community and to find ways to give back even if it takes time. We look for opportunities to connect with organizations to reach individuals in our community and worldwide. We are most proud about the connections that we have made and the opportunities that we can now offer. We are excited about the time that we have placed into our nonprofit organization, the changes that we have made along the way and the plans that we have for 2025. We are excited that we have an institute that individuals can receive an education in ministry earning a certificate and if he or she wants to continue after earning a certificate, they can earn a degree in ministry. We also offer our services as public speakers where we aim to encourage and uplift all ages groups by way of storytelling and sharing real-life experiences.

Business-wise we got where we are today because we have a heart for education and helping people. In having these two passions we sought out organizations that we could offer our skills to and become involved with before creating our own nonprofit organization. What we found in seeking organizations to get involved with is that our hearts are so big and our ideas are big as well and some were not ready to be open to new things or to allow us to introduce new programs or even to join in. When you offer your time and skills and they are not received or wanted, that can be a clear sign that you should start working towards fulfilling your own dreams and start finding ways that you can make a difference in your community on your own. This is something that we decided to do because we feel strongly that we have something great to offer and sometimes you have to take a chance on yourself. So, business-wise a combination of rejection and acceptance got us to where we are today, which truly is a good thing. Why? Rejection is good because not every opportunity is a good opportunity and a door closed is not the end, which in turn leads to acceptance in the paths that you are meant to travel or go. If everyone accepted you, we believe that there would be no room for growth.

No it was not easy to get where we are today. We overcame the challenges by approaching them one by one and discovering what was best for our company. One major lesson that we learned is to not give our time to something that does not align with our vision for the nonprofit organization. Second, don’t try to accomplish multiple things at a time; take your time so that things are successfully completed.

We want the world to know that we are dedicated to presenting our best in our skills, talents and everything that we offer at our institute and for our services and, getting involved with the community and working hard to find ways to give back. Our brand is one of a kind and we find it to be special and we hope that everyone that supports us or gets to know us and our nonprofit will grow to love ‘I Am U Ministries, Inc’ too.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Usually, if someone is visiting out of town, we always mention some of our favorite foods to eat and where to go, but most visitors love a home-cooked meal and we love to cook so its always pleasure to host our visitors. We are very good cooks and everything is always homemade from the drinks to the desserts to the main dish. If there was a visiting friend or family member and they wanted to try some food places that we like our recommendation would be the following in no particular order:

1. Kin No Tori Ramen Bar Alpharetta

2. Four 41 South BBQ Co.

3. Porterhouse Grill

For entertainment we are more laid back and like to relax and have fun, so bowling, going for a nice walk, painting or pottery where we can catch up and have a conversation, visiting an ice cream place, or a nice cafe would be something that we like to do. We are truly adventurous so we always try something new and keep the places that we like in mind, but mostly we find it fun to just find new places that have a different atmosphere. We meet people along the way that live in different places that we have traveled to or even met when going out to try a new food place. If anyone is in Tulsa Oklahoma going to live plays are our recommendation because they give you excitement and an environment filled with new people, a different scenery, and the chance to experience a new activity. Mostly, we are reverends and business women, so we have to plan things out and it’s always fun to step out of our comfort zone.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Sadly, we were not met with encouragement and love from organizations or a group. Our biggest support came from ourselves as the founders pushing one another and identifying what our strong skills and qualities are as a team and as individuals and our wonderful parents. Our parents have always believed in us and showed support in any way that they can, so we definitely appreciate and love them and they are a part of our story.

Website: https://www.iamuministries.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamuministries_/

Twitter: https://x.com/IAmUMinistries

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IAmUMinistries

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@IAmUMinistries_

Image Credits
All credit for the images belong to Rev. Dr. Latonya Rainwater and Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Rainwater.