Community Highlights: Meet LaTonya Washington

Today we’d like to introduce you to LaTonya Washington.

LaTonya, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started out in the medical field of nursing, always wanting to make others better. As time went on, the “business ownership bug” bit me and I began to increase my studies in public relations through UCLA’s extension program, got my DBA, business license, filled out all that other paperwork, and then, one Monday morning, sat in front of my computer asking myself…”what do you do next, LaTonya?” I wanted it so bad that I began to create my own destiny by putting on business workshops, making myself more visible on social media and now today, it’s all history and still, history in the making.

What I found myself doing was surrounding myself with successful business owners who challenged me, as I constantly put myself out in the marketplace. I studied the social behavior of people and as time went on, there were organizations, small businesses, and entrepreneurs who began reaching out to me and expressed interest in what I provided in the way of guiding them through the process of developing more improved employee and customer relations, along with understanding the journey that people take in a sales process.

I found myself being known for what I did and I never stopped. Trust me, there were many valleys and days I looked back. I continued to do personal growth and even found myself going back to school and obtaining a degree in Business Administration.

Here I am today, doing what I love, helping companies develop the best practices of engaging with their employees and customers, understanding what motivates them and what pains them, so they can have lifelong profitability through retained employee and customer retention.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Let me tell you, if anyone in business tells you it is smooth sailing, you better “run.” There were days when I missed the mark, days of no income, and became downright depressed! The crazy thing about that was, I still battled through. There was a saying I heard, “it costs to be the boss,” which is so true. There was always money needed for something just to run a business, including payroll.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
The Customer Culture is a minority-owned business that specializes in guiding companies in developing best practices to accommodate the needs of their customers. It trains in the development of skill sets for patience, attentiveness, communication, crises, customer journey mapping, and diversity.

Our operations model is hands-on so trainees have the opportunity to work through the process of learning. It builds internal teamwork, strong leadership, and collaborative efforts.

Being in the customer/people-oriented business for over 30 plus years gives us an edge on understanding the nature of people, including their emotions, personality, and diverse backgrounds. We consistently are in training for ourselves, as well, to keep up with social behavior and technology to better service our clientele.

I am most proud of the fact that we operate with a customer-focused initiative. This pandemic has caused a lot of new types of emotions to surface, including things such as brain fog associated with those who contracted Covid, and sometimes employees or fellow associates do not realize that such a thing exists. So, we also have added a session regarding post-Covid relations.

Our target markets are the Fortune 500 companies and small businesses with employees who are connecting to clients on a daily basis, either via telephone, video chat, and/or in person. Our target audience are those in HR such as managers and directors, even the entrepreneur who has clientele. We all have something to learn from developing best practices for developing customer relations.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was told I was a quiet kid and just stared at people. I chuckle a bit because that is far from where I am now. I am such an extrovert! I love conversing with people and have a personality that “pulls” people in and makes them feel comfortable talking to me.

A lot of people do not know this, but I played classic piano in my younger years, I also played basketball and my coach gave me the name “speedy.” LOL! As I become older, I enjoyed hanging out with friends and enjoying a good meal over great conversation.

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