WBE Feature – Women’s Health Awareness: Stay Well Leola

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios. It’s time for Women in Motion, brought to you by WBEC West. Join forces. Succeed together. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:27] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Women in Motion and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor. WBEC West. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Women in Motion, we have Leola Williams and Annette Davis Jackson with Stay Well Leola. Welcome ladies.

Leola Williams: [00:00:48] Thank you.

Annette Davis Jackson: [00:00:49] Thank you so much.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:50] Well, I’m so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about stay well. Leola, how are you serving folks?

Leola Williams: [00:00:57] Well, this is Leola, and I like to say hello to everyone. And I like to begin with saying that my calling was calling me. I am a nurse of 30 plus years. And I worked for a federal government facility, and during a time when there was Covid, nurses did not have masks. And so being in that space, I said I should step up and do something about that. And so I donated 1500 masks to the VA hospital, serving my fellow veteran nurses and doctors. And the rest is history.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:47] So where did you get the masks?

Annette Davis Jackson: [00:01:50] China. China. We had a good friend out of Georgia where I went to school. I went to Spelman College and connected, uh, Leola. And his name is D.G.. Uh, his last name is Gordon, and he had a connection to China. And at that time, during Covid, everybody was boxing out the smaller companies that were medical supply companies. And so we just happened to know somebody who had a connection. And I don’t care what anybody said, there is preferential treatment and there is connections that you can use. You just have to be connected and you have to have a relationship. And so that’s how we got the that’s how we got the mask. That’s how we got the glove. That’s how we got some of our supplies, thermometers, uh, you know, um, oximeters because, you know, some people will have to test their oxygen. So we were very excited to be able to, to, to get those supplies, but we were locked out as a small company for, for a while, too. And of course, China’s, uh, went up on the shipping because the US companies were also the big corporations. They were buying up all the supplies, too. So it was everybody was getting into health care.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:06] So now you, um, this this kind of spurred you into an entrepreneurial adventure. Um, having this connection, having the ability to kind of help the people in your local community get the supplies they needed. This kind of was the aha moment of, maybe we have a business here. Is that how it started?

Annette Davis Jackson: [00:03:26] Absolutely.

Leola Williams: [00:03:27] Absolutely. And, um, being in being in the space of, of the medical profession myself as being a nurse, of course, I’m looking at standard of care, quality of care, equality and safety, you know, for the community. And the big piece of this is education. And so having. The opportunity to come along with the supplies that was needed at this particular time. Man, they was just overjoyed at the VA when I came with the mask.

Annette Davis Jackson: [00:04:09] Or as as we should say, we came bearing gifts and not just year one, year two. And the Leola decided, hey, you know, I’m going to be this nurse entrepreneur and I’m going to even tap in to there is a group called the Nurses Club because the stable was concerned that nurses were leaving the field, and we need more nurses not to leave the field the same way we need doctors to stay in the field too. So we just kept being those community servants. And of course, I’m a former college coach in golf and tennis, so I had I’m on the other spectrum of how to rule your health, and that’s one of our taglines. And of course, you know, this trademarked. And then we have a philanthropy called Heroes of Health. And what we decided during this volatile time of public crisis called the era of Covid, that what we would do is just like Leola said, that we would go out and we would educate and we would convince people they have to drink more water. They have to they because we were finding out that people were dehydrated and they weren’t exercising.

Annette Davis Jackson: [00:05:18] And because Leola is a marine, she’s a veteran. So we’ve been going to veterans meetings to convince, convince veterans that given their conditions, preexisting conditions for them when they were in the military, that these are the things that they have to rid themselves of, of these toxins. So we became involved in, in, in patient safety for, you know, all of medicine. And we’ve had really good success. So we started on the ground level. And Leola and I have been knowing each other for over 35 years. And I believe that that’s the connection which which is the greatest impetus in the community because we’ve known each other. And when, you know, um, each other and who’s best at what and how to get things done, it makes a partnership just amazing. And that’s why we’re telling everybody, you got to stay well and you have to rule your health. And it’s very important to when you go to the hospital to also have an advanced care directive, because they weren’t letting family members in the hospital during the pandemic times. And even now, some family members cannot get in these hospitals.

Leola Williams: [00:06:32] This let me add one one word that is so important and that is commitment. We were committed and we still are committed. The keeping people.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:46] Well, now, can we go back to the beginning times where you have this idea that I’m going to, uh, find a way to supply these important supplies to the people that are in my community. I reach out, you reach out to somebody in another state across the country, and and you figure out, hey, we have this great connection that we’re able to get access to a supply that maybe other people don’t because of the strength of our relationship. How did this how did you two begin talking and saying, you know what, let’s join forces here. Let’s kind of combine our strengths so that we can maybe formalize this relationship into a business so we can really kind of leverage both of our strengths so we can help the community more.

Annette Davis Jackson: [00:07:33] Well. You’re good. I’m telling you, you’re good. You’re you’re really good. You want me to tell you how we did it? Yeah. Um, I’ve lived in Georgia for 43 years, so Leela, Leela and I have always kept in touch. And finally, when she was going to retire, I said, let me join forces with you. Not only was I a former college coach, but I also was a candidate for United States Senate. So I knew the lay of the land and the medicine world, and she knew the lay of the land in Los Angeles, California. And we said, whoa, what better way for Georgia and California and push it in both spheres? And that’s really how it happened. I’m going to tell you, it was just meant to be, you know, some things you can’t push some things when you work hard at research, they just happen. And our research component with Heroes of Health and pushing our plan by being a part of WebRTC, um, that helped greatly because we start doing the seminars, you know, we thrive. Um, yeah, reading Gino Wickman traction. And so we just stuck it in what we liked. And of course it catapulted and, you know, all of our leverage into these different industries. And because of all of these different industries, we found out that there’s a health component in every single industry. And that’s when we came up with our philanthropy model called Heroes of Health, that we give out Heroes of Health awards to various people in different industries who we believe that they’re practicing health. Let me give you an example. And and viola can take over. Um, we gave her heroes a health award to a lady that has a chest setter. So she’s not only teaching adults how to play chess, but she’s teaching children. And some of the children play the adults. And we figured that that was healthy for a community because we wanted better veterans to get into that mold, too, that there are other things that they can do to support a community. But that’s part of a healthy community, too, having something to do and feeling good about it.

Leola Williams: [00:09:41] And let me just add to that is getting into this space. Definitely there was barriers. The barriers, uh, to getting supplies came up and we had to move through that. And that was where, um, dealing with the person in Atlanta who would become our supplier, reaching out to China, because during that time, everybody was in, uh, the business. And everybody was looking for masks, and there was so much going on that people was getting, uh, fraud. Even the government was was fraud with mask and everything. But we came together, um, as a component to work out a system that we would be able to get the supplies, uh, that we needed so that we can move into the community and, and try to help everyone that we possibly could.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:48] Now, after the masks and the initial kind of onslaught, I’m sure, of all the supplies. How did you kind of pivot and expand your services to, you know, like you mentioned, doctors, nurses and kind of a variety of constituents within that industry.

Annette Davis Jackson: [00:11:07] Oh that’s good. We just start giving. You can give it. Sometimes when you have a service and you have if you’re in an industry like we are with medical supplies as well as the health and wellness component, you know, we just are giving things away. And once we gave it away, people said, wow, we’re going to need you in another in another sphere. And so that’s really what happened. Uh, into the medical industry. And then we went to the community and we started telling the community that they must be healthy. So Leela started a magazine called Stay Healthy, and we started just becoming those public speakers to let everybody know this is something that you have to do. Um, my mother was a smoker and she couldn’t breathe. One day, thank God I was in California and rushed her to. She said, uh, and that I called the paramedics, rushed her. They were going to give her, uh, put her on a ventilator. I said, no, what you do is you do breathing treatments. And I believe that if they were to put on a ventilator, I wouldn’t have seen my mother today. Um, and so we go also go to various caregivers, and we look and we say, okay, can we see the nature of how you’re taking care? Uh, one, uh, Korean War vet, we went over to his house and we just cleaned the kitchen. We got everything decluttered and everything, and we showed the caregiver how you have to feed. Uh, this gentleman, uh, of, you know, morning, noon and night is from what the old school used to say. And so she started doing that, and it started making a difference, uh, within his health. And then also the rehabilitation. We talked about how people have to walk, they have to exercise, they have to swim, and we’re pushing everybody, hey, anybody who’s over 55, they have silver sneakers. So you can join LA Fitness Equinox, um, any of these, uh, fitness centers for free. So that’s how we start doing it in the era of Covid. Um, I want.

Leola Williams: [00:13:14] To add, too, is that we are organizing, uh, and joining the movement with other, uh, organizations and one organization that I like to mention, um, it’s called the uh Sankofa Elders Project. And that is the main word with them is that it’s a village without elders. It’s like a whale without water, which is an African proverb. And so we are now, uh, joining in with this organization, uh, to promote health equity, uh, in the communities.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:55] Now, you’ve mentioned throughout this conversation the importance of relationships and how relationships in a variety of ways have really taken your company to new levels. Do you have any advice for other entrepreneurs on how to really get the most out of relationships? And maybe it’s creating joint ventures. Maybe it’s partnering in a lot of ways, but how do you how would you advise another entrepreneur when it comes to really leaning into their network and really nurturing some of the relationships that they may already have?

Annette Davis Jackson: [00:14:30] Oh, you.

Leola Williams: [00:14:31] Just nailed it. You just. You said relationships. Building relationships is the most important thing. You know, reaching out, stepping out. Uh, when you want to be in a space where people feel that they are comfortable and working with you or working with others. Starting out with building that relationship is so important. Would you like to add something in it? Yes.

Annette Davis Jackson: [00:14:58] And what we did, we had to, um, as a part of WebEx, we had to really develop our core competencies. And so we really took time to strengthen our infrastructure. So we moved into the digital literacy. We moved into the education of self care. We moved into workforce health, we moved and workforce health was really critical for us because we find in the workforce that people are fighting against each other for position, and they don’t have to fight for each other for position. They just have to open up to how you can have a healthy workforce. Then we went into technology innovation to find out what’s the best technology. Give an example. You know, with my mother. So she had to get an oximeter. So she had to, you know, put her hand in the oximeter so she could she could test. And now she is amazing. Um, then we had to go to medical supply companies and find out, hey, and let them know that we’re a supplier of, uh, mass nitrite, nitrate, nitrite, gloves, thermal thermometers, pulse oximeters, gowns, you know, face shields. And then we had to realize is health is for every industry. And we began to push that soundbite into the atmosphere and people started to like it. But what we’re really proud of in 2022, what we did, we did the 11th American Health Care, Nursing and Patient Safety Summit in Sacramento, and there were doctors from all over the world. And our presentation was, uh, called closing. And triclosan was a pesticide that’s in a lot of laundry detergents, soaps. The FDA banned some soaps, but not all soaps that’s in your food. And so we start building our journal resume. And so we’re shortly we’re going to be in certain journals talking about these pesticides. And of course, now, you know, uh, my, my good friend and business partner, uh, Leona Williams, uh, she was in Camp Lejeune. Just amazing. And it would happen to do with the water. And so we’re telling people about this to close in how it’s also in your water. So you need to test your water. So we are sounding the alarm of education.

Leola Williams: [00:17:12] And may I add, one thing is to to have a vision. You know, having a vision is so, so important. And some people have vision boards. We have our own vision board. We also, uh, come together and meet on a continuous basis. And we get together and we discuss, you know, all our barriers, the things that we’ve done well and the things that we need to do, uh, for the future.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:42] Now, Leela, can you share a little bit about this new entrepreneurial venture? It’s a lot different than, you know, maybe the previous chapter in your career, but can you share something, maybe a lesson learned from going from working as a nurse to now being an entrepreneur, still serving that same, similar community. But, um, is there something you’d like to share when it comes to, uh, this transition?

Leola Williams: [00:18:10] Yes. What I’d like to share is that. It was my calling in the beginning that placed me in the position of being a nurse, uh, caring about others. But because I was in. The business. Of caring for others, which is a business from the very start, is that I was able to care for veterans. I was able to, um, promote, uh, equity, uh, in the workplace, uh, by being, um, a representative of the doctors and the nurses. So once I retired. I felt that I need to continue. Retirement was just not an option. And so entrepreneurship. Really, really stood out for me. And going back to supplying those nurses with those masks, that was the jump start to becoming a nurse entrepreneur, and I do not regret it until this day.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:25] Now, um, it was important for you to become part of Webrequest. Is there something that you can share, maybe to other female entrepreneurs out there about, uh, what can they expect from joining Webrequest? And how would you recommend they get the most out of their membership?

Annette Davis Jackson: [00:19:46] You know, I can I can say that that we have a we’ve been working with a lot of women businesses and first we have to see their infrastructure, what the infrastructure looks like. Because what we have shared with them that we backed West is no joke as far as getting certified. And so we want more women being certified, but we have to let them know that it’s a paperwork game, you have to do the paperwork and you have to have all your paperwork in order. So we would say just starting from the beginning of getting your EIA number, establishing, you know, your target population, what product or service are you going to provide, developing a mission statement, getting a website because people have to find you. Um, a lot of people are working from home, but we suggest, uh, having a co-working space so that you can branch out also in relationships. But we do the how to, uh, to to how to, to how to really get in the game to develop your infrastructure. And it’s not overnight. Sometimes it takes six months a year. Some people have taken five years, you know, because they were dreaming.

Annette Davis Jackson: [00:20:57] And finally they ran across somebody who just told them what to do. So we’re working, um, with two women, uh, who’s really been the impetus of mentors for us, a lady named Rhonda Jackson, um, who has her own paint company in downtown California. And so she’s about to, uh, reinstate her process. But we went to her a lot of a lot of her fun, slow growth, uh, processes. And it’s just been amazing. And another lady has the chess academy, but she’s also a bail bondsman, so we’re working to get her into the process. So everybody we meet, we talk to them about the process and what it means to be certified, because certified catapults this level all over the country if they will connect. And of course, we connected by also being in the Women of Influence in Health care for the Los Angeles Business Journal. So we’ve been writing to so it’s not only selling somebody something we’ve been writing to and telling them that sometimes you might have to give your services away, you know, for a minute to, to get into these emerging markets and these capital markets.

Leola Williams: [00:22:08] And let me add, this is something that is is put, uh, into writing. And I’m just going to quote this because I think this is so important that we back with the next a women business enterprises to procurement opportunities with corporations and government entities through education, strategic networking events and certification. I love it.

Annette Davis Jackson: [00:22:38] Biggest. So there’s so much that we can do. We’re just tapping into people’s, um, passion. And we believe that when you tap into people’s passion, like, you know, our passion is, look, we want to keep nurses into the field. We want them to love what they do. You know, because that’s, you know, the safety of a patient. We want more doctors to come into the field because we find out that particularly when it comes to to people of color, uh, as far as doctors, um, I think the statistic is like 5% and we find out that medical boards are taking away some licenses of doctors because they have a computerized system. So we try to tell people that, you know what, make sure that your paperwork is good on paper, because sometimes these computerized systems, their algorithms might not be right and you might be listening to the wrong statistics. So you have to vet everything. So we’ve, uh, tapped in to, uh, amazing companies who helps us to vet people before we can tell other people this is what you have to do, and we’re loving it.

Lee Kantor: [00:23:44] So what’s next? Uh, what do you need? And how can we help you?

Annette Davis Jackson: [00:23:49] Well, the next thing that that that I can say that that, that we need is we are, um, close to, um, putting our journal entry for to close because we want people to know that you might be buying the wrong product. And so we care about morbidity, we care about you prolonging your life. And so that’s how a wayback can help that, that we want to do a survey out there that says how are you protecting your health. Because some people have a heart attack and they’ve had, um, you know, uh, Parkinson’s, they’ve had heart disease, they’ve had, um, high blood pressure. And a lot of times we don’t know it until somebody gets sick and we want to prevent that. So we want to just put out some information about, uh, um, prevention because prevention is worth what does it say, a pound of good pound, a ounce of good. It prevented prevention is key. And, uh, and people have to exercise. And I tell you, if more people got into the swimming pool non-evasive where they can feel like they’re working out, but they’re doing something for the quality and not only the quality of life, but. When your mind is sharp and you feel good about yourself, that helps your health too. So we want everybody to also laugh too, because laugh is like a medicine too. So we’re trying to get everybody to laugh more. And, you know, I’ll end with this. Leo and I like to sing karaoke. And so that’s a part of the, the, the sphere that we’re in, too, because then we get to introduce our business as well by doing nontraditional things instead of just being stuck in one box. So let me go ahead.

Leola Williams: [00:25:42] Let me finally add this part. I’d like to go back to the focus that I talked about at the very beginning is the standard of care, the quality of care, the equality. That’s a big one right there. The equality, the safety which. I would like to also bring forth, um, for promoting health and wellness in the community by adding, uh, stay well products. And I don’t focus that much on those products. And then again, I do. But I think when you are caring about someone and they realize that you do care, the products just add itself, you know, to the, uh, to the condition, to the matrix.

Annette Davis Jackson: [00:26:29] And some things are people think that they’re hard, but they’re easy. Um, we took a Pilates ring to one of the veterans meetings. Next thing you know, all these veterans start taking the pallotti ring away from each other, wanting to use the Pilates ring. Just a simple something like a Pilates ring can help with muscles. And we find that. It’s really important that we work on elders because we find that elders are falling all the time, and that’s the key. We just knew a veteran 99. He was headed for his 99th birthday, end up falling, and two days later he wasn’t with us anymore. So we care about that preventive measure that that doesn’t produce that doesn’t produce the loss of life anymore. It produces the, the, the life of life.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:19] So if somebody wants to learn more, is there a website?

Leola Williams: [00:27:24] Yes it is. It’s w-w-w-what day. Well, Leela com s t a y w e l l l e o l a.com.

Lee Kantor: [00:27:41] Well, thank you both for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Annette Davis Jackson: [00:27:47] Well. Thank you. Thank you. Well, we hope that you’re ruling your health. And we hope Ella’s ruling her health, too. And. Yes, and Ella drink a whole lot of water. But more importantly, the old school used to have apple cider vinegar. Just put a little apple cider vinegar in your water and get all the toxins out of your body.

Lee Kantor: [00:28:06] Well, thank you all. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Women in Motion.

Leola Williams: [00:28:12] Thank you. Lee. Bye bye.