Life Her Podcast CEO, Yvette Lloyd is an Akron, Ohio native and proud advocate for healing and not letting pain define you. She provides what’s needed for people to gain great informative information and exchanged wisdom to become a better version of themselves.

She has her Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education with additional accreditations such as some of the courses she has taken via Harvard Business School Online. Not only does she have a leading podcast featuring celebrities, icons and inspirational people; but she also owns a podcast studio, daycare center, youth program,and a commercial janitorial company. 

Yvette is coming from behind the mic, and from behind the service counter. to attend more public platforms and speak regarding sharing her personal story.

Hello Queen!!! We are so excited about this conversation. — Please share with us where you are from and what life was like for you growing up?

It was peaceful for the most part. I had an amazing mother that raised me and I had a close relationship with my grandparents on my father’s and mother’s side. I was really a grandpa’s girl with both of my grandfathers. They taught me so much. Then, I was blessed with an amazing bonus dad and he is the one that taught me about entrepreneurship and having a business mindset. — I had to read books constantly throughout the year. It was even inspiring to me watching him purchase his first property and having a rental property in the early 90’s. I was just surrounded by greatness and wisdom.

Coming up in urban communities can be tough, and we know the dangers and challenges that come with that. How did you manage to stay safe and stay focused as you grew to becoming a young woman?

My brother & mother made sure I stayed out of harm’s way for the most part. I was blessed with a decent childhood. I never knew my mother’s struggles or anything because she didn’t want me in any adult business. She always didn’t want my innocence taken away or didn’t want me to be too grown. I didn’t experience much hardship as a child but I did as an adult.

When did you know you were destined to serve the people, offer safe spaces, and create platforms for stories to be heard?

I have been an old soul since I was a little girl. I always spoke life into people that were in my circle. If someone was to tell me they want to do or be something in life I would motivate them and push them to do just that. My mom always used to say “No one can’t tell your story better than you. Before anyone think they can say anything about you, make sure you tell it first or tell it yourself.” So, she inspired me to do just that with Life Her Podcast.

I can uplift, inspire, motivate, tell my story and you can hear other stories all in one.

Yvette Lloyd

I know how to respect my guests and let the conversation flow organically to make them feel safe and comfortable talking to me. My best line that I always get is “I never told or said that to anyone, not until now.” I love when my guests say this. It makes me feel good.

Did you always know about the world of entrepreneurship? How did you initially start your first business, what was it, and what sparked your interest in starting another, and another?

Yes, I always knew since I was in elementary school. It became so natural for me and it just came out even more by shadowing my bonus dad once I saw him working a 9 to 5 and starting his Real Estate journey. I started babysitting when I was 25 years old. My mom suggested that I should turn it into a business so I signed up to get my LLC and EIN. I didn’t go to the next step so quickly on actually owning a daycare in my home.

I had started a youth program first in the basement of my home and then once that got established and I saw that my volunteers and young girls had children I pushed to open up an in -home daycare. The process was easy because I worked every position in the childcare field since I was 18 years old. That was all I knew. — Later, my youth program started to grow and we went from building to building because many locations didn’t want us any longer in their facility. So, I ended up at a more permanent location and they had enough space for me to expand my youth program services and open up another daycare location.

Please share with us some of your toughest battles and biggest challenges along the way? – How have you managed to overcome these things?

I never had a mentor.

I was the first in my family to own a business let alone multiple businesses. I honestly can say that I learned a lot along the way and from reading. I had help with my youth program from Tammy Monroe. She had a program called Working In Progress, she became a great friend, and the best non profit mentor I ever had. But, at the daycare I didn’t have any guidance at all.

I went from running a company in my home with 30 kids or less with 3 staff max to owning a daycare center with 60 plus kids and 15 plus staff. I lost my daycare the first year of opening because it didn’t meet the standards of being in compliance. One lesson that I learned from that was never hire nor trust your friends to run your company. I shouldn’t have put all my trust into people at the time and I should’ve gone behind their work vs not doing it at all.

Once I lost my first center, I opened up another one within a week and started all over again. That didn’t work out either. — Another mistake was hiring people you personally know. Also, I was being blackballed as well with people working on the inside. I wasn’t able to move forward and due to me being 3 points over I wasn’t able to obtain my permanent license.

When you grow, you outgrow people. I can’t trust many. Since I parted ways from a lot of people, things have been working better in my favor. Having a good heart is a gift and a curse. But, I learned that I still can’t be a cold hearted person and block my blessings.

Losing both daycares cost me thousands of dollars. It put me in depression really bad even though my mother told me I wasn’t ready and I didn’t listen. Hiring, firing, boundaries, keeping friends and family out of your business ventures, are some of my biggest lessons on what to do better next time. — Also, promoting your company differently. You have a farther reach outside of your personal Facebook and Instagram. Then, it depends on what type of business it is. I realized that it’s best to not always put a face on it.

I now own a successful Janitorial Company, Podcast, Podcast Studio “Coming Soon”, and I still own my in-home daycare center 14 years later. I also learned that by owning an in-home daycare, I can bring in more income vs owning a center (building). It is also a lot more peaceful for me.

Can you tell us about the bond you shared with your mother and your husband before they passed? What are some ways you cope with grief, and transform your pain to positive energy?

My mother was such a loving and supportive mother. She used to take my brother and I to see the parade of homes when we were younger and told us that we could live in big beautiful homes like this one day. Every weekend she made sure she showed us how our lives could be if we did things to create a better life for ourselves. Just having that vision made me push as a young girl. — Once my mind was set on something I would go full force and accomplish it. My mother taught me self love, mental health, positivity, how to speak life into self, and how to utilize your tongue to receive things and how to not block your blessings.

My mother didn’t know how to read well so she taught me what she knew. One of the greatest teachings was common sense, without it I wouldn’t be much of who I am today either. Lastly, she taught me what love felt like from a parent. She didn’t miss not one bit of it even when I was given a whooping (laughing). She was the best hands on, active mother ever.

My husband was a special man. He taught me what love was supposed to feel like from a man. Our marriage was so peaceful and our bond was like never before. He made love to me mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I felt safe and secure regardless of what was going on in the world. He was an intelligent man that had the same drive and passion as I did. It’s rare to have someone that is equally yoked with you. He taught me so much about myself as a woman that encouraged me to grow up mentally. Everything about our marriage was pure and with love. 

I still deal with grief a lot. I just learned different ways to cope. Music & nature are the two things that calm me down. I am spiritually connected with my mother and husband. it’s what keeps me going. I hear and feel their presence all the time and it’ll transition my mindset. It took a lot of discipline for me to have this type of mindset after losing them both.

One of the things I implemented in my life was setting boundaries and removing myself from people that triggered me. I make sure my circle is what I want it to be so that negativity won’t be a part of my life. I also learned to not take things personal because people just don’t know any better. I just know better to not let myself fall into the trap.

How do you feel about the success behind the work you’re doing with your podcast, your daycare center, your cleaning company and your real estate growth?

I honestly don’t feel anything besides I am doing what I am supposed to do for myself. As long as I am inspiring people, being transparent with my life and shortcomings I know that I am helping someone daily to beat depressions, being in a dark place, or feeling suicidal, or don’t feel like they are able to do whatever God-given gift they have. I just want to continue to make an impact as much as possible. That’s what makes me feel good and successful at the end of the day.

Who have been some of your biggest inspirations along your journey and if you had the chance to work with anyone in business, who would some of those people be?

50 Cent, Jay Z, and hometown Akron 330 LeBron James. Just to have a business mindset conversation with them it would be amazing. Seeing how they started is so inspirational. 50 cent losing his mother motivates him alot and it turned him into a different man that most wouldn’t even understand. Jay Z started out with so many friends surrounding him and he chose himself and understood where he needed to be if he wanted something greater in life. LeBron coming from Akron and knowing how hard he worked to get where he is today. — Man! It’s inspiring even when some people in your own City go against you, he still pushed through and doing amazing things here.

If you had the chance to share ONE KEY MESSAGE with the world, what would that message be? And why is that so significant to you?

Focusing on yourself takes a lot of discipline… I found myself putting my all into things and people that really didn’t care or appreciate what I was doing. You will be hated regardless.

The closest ones to you always got first bids on disliking you. But, what I learned is to still help others but not forget about myself. I forgot about Yvette and it took a lot of tears, hurt, pain, depression and therapy to get her back. Don’t fall too deep from losing your identity and self growth. At the end of the day you will only have self on those dark moments.

Please let us know what you have coming up or what we can look forward to from the LifeHER brand in the upcoming season! How can we best connect and support what you’re doing?

I am opening up a Podcast Studio Life Her Studio.. This will give other creators/podcasters a space to be creative. I am really excited about it because it is definitely going to be a vibe and help you grow your brand. Please subscribe to Life Her Podcast YouTube Channel, and Subscribe to our Audio Podcast on all major platforms. I have a supportive group that I will be starting soon where we can support each other and build each other up daily. You can check it out more on Life Her Podcast Website under “Join Our Community,” and I will be seeking journalists for our blogging site so that we can put out more positivity and history.