Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh |Interviewing Business Experts Nationally & Internationally. Hear the Story behi

Discover key strategies for scaling women-owned enterprises in the debut episode of 'Chatting with the Experts' TV Show. Nanette Thélémaque, a seasoned entrepreneur shares insights and offers strategies for growing female-led businesses. Some topics covered were: entrepreneurial resilience, strategic planning, marketing, financial management, and strategic alliances.

In the world of trauma recovery and women's empowerment, few figures are as inspiring and influential as Dieula Previlon. Born in Haiti, Dieula has used her experiences, faith, and unyielding tenacity to emerge from the depths of personal trauma and become a beacon of hope for other survivors. Dieula Previlon, a fellow Caribbean woman is the founder and executive director of "ElevateHer International Ministries". Dieula is a beacon of empowerment for women, enabling them to heal from trauma and transform their lives.

In this bonus podcast episode of "Chatting with the Experts," host Paula Okonneh interviews Pamela Lue-Hing, a leadership growth expert, speaker, and thought leader. Paula, an immigrant woman herself, typically focuses on the struggles and triumphs of immigrant women from Africa and the Caribbean. However, this bonus episode features a conversation with Pamela, an African-American woman from Charlotte. Pamela shares her background, discussing her 40 years of experience in sales and her previous role as a business development specialist. She talks about a significant turning point in her career when she was tasked with creating a new program for a college after a third-party relationship ended abruptly. Despite her initial doubts, Pamela successfully took on the challenge, showcasing her strong acumen for strategic planning.

Tabitha Liburd is an attorney and conflict management strategist, born in Guyana and now living in Michigan . The CEO of Marshall Duke Consulting, and also a Christian, Tabitha was directed by God to change professions from law to conflict resolution. To hear how this came about is nothing short of a testimony of God's guidance and direction in her life. Tabitha sees her job as a gift “ when God showed me conflict resolution as a profession, I was being pastored by Pastor Miles Monroe. And he was talking about the kingdom and he was talking about leadership, and he was talking about dying empty and serving the world with the gifts. And so I got to a point in time where I felt that my gift was so much larger than law."

Marietta Carter-Narcisse is a beauty entrepreneur or beautypreneur, a 30 plus year veteran celebrity makeup artist, and a department head makeup artist for film and television. As a beauty entrepreneur, she is passionate about teaching others how to succeed in the business of film and television through online educational classes at Marietta's Virtual Make-up Academy. With a Master of Science Degree in Higher Education and current cosmetology licenses in both California and Florida, Marietta likes to point out that what she does is more than a powder puff and a lipstick.Born in Barbados , Marietta and her family immigrated to the USA in 1971 where she attended Junior High and highschool and was set to becoming a doctor when a series of events changed her life. One such event was when her younger brother, Ian Carter asked her to be his assistant wardrobe during The Commodores' 1983 European Tour. Ian at that time was the Commodore's  personal valet and later became their official tour manager. It was on that tour that she met and toured with Natalie Cole. Natalie employed  Marietta  as her image consultant and personal assistant which helped launch her career as one of the most sought-after makeup artists in motion pictures.

Dr. La Toya Luces-Sampson is a physician and an entrepreneur. An extremely dynamic woman, she is the proud owner of 2 businesses. La Toya is the CEO and founder of Buy Default, a curated directory of Black professionals and Black businesses who cater and serve the Black community. She is also the president and CEO of her own OBGYN practice Amina OBGYN Consultants, an independent contracting company that provides hospital based services.

Maggie Jean, CEO of MJ's Coaching and Business Solutions LLC and team member of the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team is a coach " who believes in you every step of the way. A coach who wants you to excel, who wants you to grow, who wants you to perform at a level that you never expected. A coach who will remind you that there is nothing called perfection." Talking with Maggie was a joy. Listen and discover why!

Sharon Carter is a wealth management professional who focuses on life insurance, disability and annuities. She says we need to look at life insurance, disability and annuities as vehicles and tools that we can access and use when needed. Life Insurance - is not just about leaving a lump sum of money for your loved ones when you pass. A person can use their life insurance when they are alive and if they're going through a life challenge. For example, if they're diagnosed with an illness, they can accelerate some of their face amount - the cash value, and use the policy. Disability is a way of protecting your income. Individuals need to ask themselves “ How long can I survive if I'm out of work for 6 weeks or more. How long can I pay the mortgage? How long can I buy food?”. Depending on the insurance carrier you may be able to access your disability right away or it may kick in 7 to 14 days afterwards. Annuities are a great tool for protecting your money. Sharon advises that if you are over 50 you should look into annuities as a means of having steady income for the rest of your life after you've retired from your job and after the annuity has been in place for 10 years. You can also access up to 10% of that money if you need to.

Social Media Specialist Turiya Hodge says that social media is a serving tool. She says that even though business owners are encouraged to position products and services on the web they should look at social media as a way to serve customers and not just a means to sell to them. Turiya says “ You might put out a message, you might do a post, you might drop a video. And you're looking at social media and you might see your stats, you know. You might not have a like, or you might not have a comment, or your engagement might not be where you want it to be or where you think it should be. And then all of a sudden out of the blue, you go to a networking event, you go out into your community, or someone reaches out to you on a platform and says, "you know what? I've been listening, I've been following you". You said X, Y, Z, and this is how this has had an impact on my life. These are the things that I've been able to do since you've shared that message. And it's just that thing. It's the thing with social media, we have the ability to create these amazing experiences, you know, for our audience. And a lot of times we don't know that these things are happening, that this is the impact that we're having on people until someone, you know, shows up and shares and says, this is how, what you've shared has impacted me. And so that's one of my joys with social media. And that's why I encourage all of my clients, my audience is to never stop, you know, doing what you're doing, never stop serving. “

Doreen Lettsome Reid is a certified business coach to confident Christian women coaches from all around the world. She coaches high performing Christian coaches 40 years and over, and teaches and coaches them on how to develop a business blueprint, to gain clarity of their specific mission message mandate to lay a firm foundation with their business structure services, products, and policies. These procedures build the business framework and construction so that they can work together to overcome fear, shatter misconceptions and increase confidence and profits by faith in all things business. Doreen is the daughter of an immigrant from the British Virgin Islands

Precious Nyarambi moved from Zimbabwe to South Africa because she believed that the economic growth in Zimbabwe was not supportive of young people. She is now a a Social Entrepreneur, International Speaker, Coach, Mentor and Author. She is now the founder of Vessels of Virtue and the Managing Director for Elohay Cleaners & Prember Holdings. Moving to Zimbabwe was extremely difficult and she found herself on the verge of being homeless . However, she believes those challenges are still making her to be a better person, a better woman with the intention of empowering more and more women , which she is doing through Elohay Cleaners.

Marie McKenzie is a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, a highly accomplished Registered Nurse and #1 Amazon Bestseller. Her book, “Things That Keep Me Up At Night” was based on her personal trauma as a childhood sexual victim and her journey of healing and thriving. Born in Jamaica her dream was to become a nurse like her aunt. It took her years to achieve this but as an Emergency Room Nurse assisting physicians in caring for many victims of sexual violence , Marie found her purpose. She was able to comfort and reassure many sexual assault victims because of her childhood sexual trauma. Her memoir, “Things That Keep Me Up At Night” has been used as a resource in group counseling sessions by medical professionals for helping survivors.

No matter where you are from there is always an opportunity for you to grow says Christelle Mombo-Zigah. Born and raised in France by Congolese parents, Christelle moved to the USA 12 years ago with a master's degree in International Economics from La Sorbonne University. A lifelong learner , she recently graduated with an executive MBA (Stanford LEAD) at Stanford GSB and her dream is to become an executive in her tech company . She speaks French, English, and Spanish learned Swedish and Arabic in college and is now learning Portuguese.

College Bound Determination Founder Carol Ben-Davies, is a first generation American born to Sierra Leonean parents who arrived in the US in the 70's. Carol talks about her college experience and how it was instrumental in her career decisions and subsequently her business. When Carol was 14 years old her parents moved to a small town in North Carolina and she struggled with being a first generation American with African parents. However once she went to college that changed. For her, it was the embracing of other students who were born in Africa or whose parents were born in Africa and they were first gen, were in this space together learning and growing , trying to figure life out. It was there that she really begun to embrace her identity. “ I think we forget that aspect of college life. We think solely about the academic piece . We think a lot about the social aspect too but the lifelong learning and growing that you do there is so profound! “ Carol Ben-Davies She says that the realities of college are such that parents need to be aware that the college journey doesn't end when their child is admitted into college but actually begins in middle school and ends when their child leaves college.

Bongai Mhloyi Is the CEO and Founder of End Child Marriages. Her mission is to eradicate child marriages by giving girls - in some parts of Zimbabwe, an alternative to child marriages - through education. Educating these girls and providing better options for them is her passion. Bongai grew up in Zimbabwe and migrated to the US in 1985 in pursuit of a better education and a better life. Working as a social worker in PA she started the American and African Youth Leadership Foundation to help in girls in underserved communities in PA and in her native country Zimbabwe. Her motto is "Touching Tomorrow's Leaders Today" . She also believes that an Empowered Woman can create an Empowered Generation.

Nwanneka Tesy moved from Nigeria to Texas with her parents and siblings when she was 7. It was a difficult move. Immigrating was hard! The first 12 years were extremely difficult but what started to help her was when she tapped into her creativity and artistic side. That allowed her to escape the pain of being so far from her original home. Nwanneka speaks from the heart about the complexities of being parented by Nigerian parents in the US and advises anyone planning to relocate to be patient with their children and / or their spouses.

Leigh Huxley grew up in South Africa. She started out in the beauty industry and was the owner of her own skin care business inDurban, South Africa for thirteen and a half years where she was passionate about helping women embrace and enhance their outer beauty. She has now come full circle and is passionate about helping women learn to love and accept themselves by helping them find their personal identity and empowering them to transform their relationship with themselves through unconditional love and acceptance.

Rahel Mwitula Williams is the lead designer at ILAVA which means “It Can Be Done”. Ilava is a socially responsible lifestyle brand using fashion- mainly African fashion, to empower women and create change globally. ILAVA is a registered non profit and has enabled Rahel to impact women and leaders across the world.

Ida Blake moved from  Monseratt to the UK at the tender age of 17. Listen to how she discovered that she was now in a new system where race and class mattered  but how when she renewed her relationship with God she was able to change her mindset. 

Jacquel Tucker born in Jamaica talks candidly about the company My Purpose on Fire. Tune in to hear her journey on how she created a nonprofit and a for-profit company to serve people in her home country and in her community in Georgia.

Fellow AFRICAN sister Lucie Matsouaka is a Senior Professional Career Coach, a Youth Leadership Coach, an Author and Speaker . Born in Cameroon, she schooled in Benin, Burkina Faso and migrated to the US 18 years ago. She now lives and works in Cary, North Carolina and has a passion for the youth

I'm humbled and grateful to all my guests on Chatting with the Experts. You all knocked me off my feet when I reached out to you and you said “yes”. I have been overjoyed by the success of the podcast . I could not have done it without you. I know that the year hasn't ended yet but I can not forget the journey it took to get me here and why I do what I do . I also did not want my thank you to get lost in the new year festivities

Wishing a very Happy Holiday and Merry Christmas to all my guests on Chatting with the Experts. I want to thank each of you for setting aside some time to be a guest on my podcast . I enjoyed each and every one of you. You were so special in your different ways and I really appreciated the fact that you hung out with me. I of course wanted you to be a guest on my show because you've all done such interesting and marvelous and different things in your lives and I feel that when I or anyone else listens to my show they can learn something new from you.

Edie Clarke was born in New York but raised on the island of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. She returned to New York to attend college after graduating from high school in St Thomas but opted to attend a technical school for video production instead.  Today Edie Clarke is a self-taught remote video creator and YouTube channel manager. For the past 6 years she has used video to build her business and other entrepreneurs businesses by providing them with easy to use tools and teaching them the right strategies to success.

Podcasting, Coaching and Immigrant Women's stories is what Paula Okonneh host of Chatting With the Experts focuses on in this episode. Her journey into podcasting, podcast coaching and why she decided to highlight the success stories of immigrant women from Africa and the Caribbean is worth listening to.

Excellence surpasses everything was a key lesson Suzan Hart learned from a very early age after being singled out by her teacher and bullied in school. Suzan, her mom and her sister migrated to Canada when Suzan was only 4 years old. As a result of those experiences, Suzan says “If you are good at something, it doesn't matter the color, of your skin, or whatever it is, excellence surpasses everything. Excellence gets doors opens, excellence gives you access. And so, as long as I pursued excellence, there was access.”

Marguerite Orane immigrated to Canada in 2009 and says that there is a lesson for immigrant women. " When we come to a new country, especially North America, the established diaspora - we are told, or we feel the need to assimilate, but I think it's very important to remain and stay true to who we are and the culture that we grew up with and to not hide that light under a bushel. Be proud of being Jamaican , proud of being Nigerian, proud of being Grenadian, Trinidadian, whatever it is, Ghanaian and whatever it is when we come over here because there is a lot that we do have to be proud about. "

Guyanese Immigrant Renate Moore is an author ,speaker, entrepreneur who went from writing children's books to creating a cafe then moved on to the health and wellness part with a cookbook. She grew that into online cooking classes when COVID started and has developed that into a line of healthy herbs and spices . She also has been a speaker at many health and wellness conferences.

Monique Russell is of Bahamian and Nigerian heritage and now lives in the US. She is the CEO of Clear Communication Solutions, a podcaster , a coach of immigrant women and a first time author. Her mission is to bridge the gap between black cultures by having open and honest conversations. In her first year in College Monique was very active in the African Students Association (ASA) and Council of African American Students (CAS) and quickly learned that the differences in cultures were due to misinformation on all sides. She recalled being asked if she wore clothes in the Bahamas and sees this as one of the reasons why she needs to focus on diversity and inclusion among black cultures - black Americans, black Caribbean and black Africans.

When asked why she left Jamaica, Marva Riley says " We came to the United States for economic opportunities, not because we didn't love or beautiful island and the weather and everything that Jamaica has to offer, but for the economic opportunities" Marva Riley is also the author of the book " Eat! Sleep! Meditate! A Nurse's Guide to Health" - Marva Riley. It's a holistic health and wellness book and a memoir.

In this episode I speak with Corine La Font who emigrated from Trinidad to Jamaica. She is a PR and Communications Consultant, Podcaster, Speaker, Author and Online Business Coach. Check out what she offers at her website: https://www.lafontandassociates.com/

Alicia Couri  can be described as an audacious and confident woman. She didn't start out this way and says confidence is something she struggled with a whole life. She related it back to growing up in Australia where she and her sister were the only children in her school with dark complexions. She spoke of leaving Trinidad for Australia with a strong sense of self but returning with very low self-esteem. It took her a long time to recognize what was going on and then to de-program herself from all  that negativity. Alicia's mission when she talks about confidence is for people to help people so that they can become what she is today. Alicia is the Founder and CEO of Alicia Couri Inc - a boutique consulting firm that specializes in helping leaders create audaciously proactive teams that take 100% ownership at every level.    She is the Founder/Executive Producer & Host of Red Carpet CEO a platform focusing on media and personal branding and the founder and head stylist of AC Beauty which provides professional on-site hair makeup and wardrobe styling to clients across the United States.   She concludes by saying “ my journey to confidence really started with my journey to get to know myself through Christ you know. God was a huge, huge factor in all of this and understanding myself through Christ first was really a big, big part of my journey, and I didn't want to leave that out. “  

Nanette Thelemaque's paternal grandmother was from Negril Jamaica while her paternal grandfather was from St. Barts also known as Saint Barthélemy. Her maternal grandfather immigrated to the US from Mexico and is an indigenous Mexican while her maternal grandmother is a mixture of African American, Native American and German ancestry. We talk about the interesting culture found in the household of immigrants and what it felt like being a 2nd or 3rd generation American. Nanette is the owner of InEssence Virtual Assistance and established her company in 2013 with a desire to flex her skill sets and give much needed support to business owners, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and busy professionals.

Alexandra Zion, a young Nigerian woman came to the US as a student in 2018 to continue her education, pursue a master's degree in research in Afrofuturism , post-colonialism, to build relationships with students within and outside the classroom while also preparing to be an educator someday. She considers herself to be a success! Find out why.

Struggle to Triumph is how Tomide Awe, the senior revenue strategy and operations manager at Twitter, founder of Olori - an African fashion brand that celebrates African culture & heritage whilst empowering women and fellow podcaster describes her life’s journey . On today’s  episode, she shares  her  educational and professional journey from  living in Nigeria, immigrating to the UK for college and now living and working in the US. If you believe success is a series of never failing - then you will be bowled over by her story.

My guest Lisa Santiago McNeill is a third generation Latin American, Puerto Rican, and Bahamian who thought for many years that she was Dominican and Bahamian! Listen to her fascinating story as she weaves through the different cultures.

Aisha Martin was born in the United States but was taken by her parents to Germany and lived the first 17 or 18 years of her life abroad. She immigrated to the United States which was essentially her country of birth but felt like an immigrant here.

Adessa  Barker is an attorney, a speaker and a wellness practitioner. Born in the twin island country of  Trinidad and Tobago, Adessa moved to the US in her teens with her younger brother to live with her father so that they could have a better life. The transition was rough.   As we listen to her story about how difficult life became after migrating to America, we learn about the power that hope  and forgiveness brings and  see how it changed her life.  

Carolina Aponte migrated From Margarita Island to Miami when 13 , left and returned when 20 . Her amazing story on how she became an successful accountant is worth your listen.

British born with Jamaican parents is how Angela Spence, CEO, Kensington and Chelsea Social Council describes herself .The youngest of seven children , Angela talks candidly about how her life differed from those of her older siblings and gives tips on how to excel as the child of Jamaican immigrants in England.

Tesse Akpeki dreams, believes and achieves as an immigrant woman in the UK. Her story on how she was able to achieve success and become the CEO of Tesse Akpeki Associates Limited makes a compelling listen.

Chinwe Ohajuruka is an award-winning architect, a social entrepreneur and the team leader of Comprehensive Design Services or CDS Housing. She considers herself a citizen of the world as she was born in Nigeria but lived and schooled in England, Nigeria and Scotland.

The Grow Your Business Coach, Kalani Thomas, works with small businesses to give them the confidence to make decisions that help them grow their business. He does that through anything that has to do with finding, acquiring and keeping revenue. Kalani Thomas has been in sales since 2 days after he turned 14. He has since sold over 150 Million dollars of products and services to businesses all over the country.

Eugenia Cheng is a mathematician and concert pianist. Showcasing Math in Unexpected places is one of her passions as she believes that Math should be a fun project and NOT a Math problem. Transitioning from a "standard academic professor career path" to a "DIY portfolio career” Eugenia is proud of building a freelance career for herself that has no blueprint. She is Scientist In Residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and won tenure at the University of Sheffield, UK having previously taught at the universities of Cambridge, Chicago and Nice. Eugenia holds a PhD in pure mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Her first popular maths book "How to Bake Pi" was featured on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and "Beyond Infinity" was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2017.

As a professional style coach, LaShanda Millner- Murphy helps thousands of men and women in the eastern region understand the importance of image and appearance. She helps create their best polished presence. She answers 3 of her frequently asked questions.

Nora D. Richardson, Brand Strategist of Spot-On Branding, operates a successful business where she has been mentioned by the New York Times, worked with big corporations like Kahlua and Northwest Airlines and helps clients daily achieve 6-figure wins.   This wasn’t always easy for Nora Richardson. After reaching her American dream by graduating college, she realized that the 9-5 grind was not for her and started her own business.

Helping other business owners to avoid business failure is  what my guest Stacey Brown Randall focuses on. She knows all about this – having had her first business fail. This has made all all the difference with her current business’ success and she is sharing all of her secrets by answering 3 of her frequently asked questions.

JJ DiGeronimo, president of Tech Savvy Women, is a thought leader for Women in Tech and Girls in STEM. She is now a featured columnist for Smart Business Magazine, where she shares her technology, leadership, inclusion, and retention expertise.

Clutter Consultant Lianne Hofer shares the top 3 ways to declutter an office, a home or a room.

Joining me today is Steve Gatter Mastermind Group Leader for B2B Solopreneurs who answers 3 frequently asked questions about efficient niche marketing strategies for Solopreneurs.

Petra Mayer joins me to talk about the secrets to creating successful eLearning Projects.