Inspiring Conversations with Latesha Isbell Howard of Savvy Diva Enterprises

Today we’d like to introduce you to Latesha Isbell Howard.

Hi Latesha, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
We moved around a lot as a child (my father was a navy man) and eventually settled in Birmingham, Alabama. Not long thereafter, my father was unfortunately murdered in a robbery gone wrong. That moment forever changed our family. My mother never remarried and we really struggled to make ends meet. After graduating from high school with honors, I went on to college and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Master of Business Administration (MBA). Although I have a tenured career as a sales and marketing professional in Fortune 500 companies, I have always been an entrepreneur at heart. For the past 15 years, my husband and I have pursued a number of business ventures… But it wasn’t until five years ago that I truly found my passion as an entrepreneur in the financial services and real estate investing industries. Coming from a family where financial challenges were a regular part of life, I was determined to learn everything that I could about money. Success leaves clues, and I decided to “reverse engineer” what the wealthy did to acquire wealth and pass it on from generation to generation. I love sharing this knowledge with others who would otherwise never be privy to this life-changing information. Stay tuned for the launch of Finesse Your Fear Entrepreneurship Academy!!

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?
As the saying goes “nothing worth having ever comes easy.” There have definitely been bumps in the road. The biggest challenge came in the form of a stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis right before Christmas in 2016. Keep in mind that, at this point, my husband had lost four aunts to cancer…so, in his mind “when you get cancer, you die.” With two daughters (a high school freshman and a second grader), I made up my mind that would NOT be me! I put on my armor and prepared to fight. The next year and a half consisted of 8 rounds of chemo, a mastectomy, 20 rounds of radiation, and reconstructive surgery. But to God be the glory, I am 3 years cancer-free! There were so many lessons that I learned from that experience…most importantly, that I am much stronger than I thought I was. I embodied the mentality of “faith over fear” and have shared this message as a speaker at several breast cancer awareness events.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Savvy Diva Enterprises?
Years ago, my husband and I had gone through a rough patch financially and like so many others, our credit started to suffer. It was then that I learned about credit repair. After successfully completing the credit repair process and joining the coveted “700 club,” I found that so many others also needed a fresh start. It was then that Savvy Diva Enterprises was born. What I learned throughout this journey is that the knowledge that we need to truly control our finances is not taught in schools, even for someone with 2 degrees, including one in Finance! Rarely are people in “our community” equipped to attain the prosperity that we desire, and I was determined to change that. Our “credit optimization” services have helped hundreds of clients to purchase homes, cars and ultimately change the trajectory of their financial future.

Over time, I came to the realization that there was another huge unserved need. Many of our personal credit clients were asking about building business credit. Having successfully built business credit and obtained funding for two of our businesses, I knew that we could help a lot of entrepreneurs to do the same, so we added business credit and funding to our service offerings. The business program has quickly become our “flagship” service. The response has been phenomenal! Being that we are also real estate investors, we attract a lot of clients in that industry. To meet their needs, we also offer real estate investment funding in the form of “hard money loans” and transactional funding. What sets Savvy Diva Enterprises apart is the fact that we are truly a one-stop shop for those looking to make smart money moves. I am passionate about empowering our communities through financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and real estate investments. I genuinely want to see all of us win!

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Although I don’t have a crystal ball, there is no question that the economic impact of the pandemic will be felt across both the financial services and real estate industries. Millions of people have lost their jobs, are behind on their mortgage, or facing eviction when the moratoriums and forbearances end. It’s the start of an unfortunate spiral….unemployment leads to cash flow issues, which creates excessive debt and negatively impacts their credit. With bad credit, people pay higher interest rates for purchases which further compounds the problem. If they have an eviction, foreclosure, or bankruptcy on their credit…well, you get the gist. The bottom line is that there will be a LOT of people that will need a fresh start with regards to their credit. From a business perspective, many small businesses will not survive this crisis because they are not “fundable.” To become fundable, it’s critical that you properly structure your business and build a strong business credit profile. You can always leverage good personal credit to obtain business funding, but that is not ideal because you will be personally liable for the debt. That’s why we coach our clients to build business credit the right way, without a personal guarantee.

Again, the trend here is that there will be tremendous opportunity for us to help a lot of businesses. With regard to the real estate investing industry, I’ve already eluded to a potential housing crisis. This will create the opportunity for investors to help homeowners that are facing foreclosure or a tax sale on their property. We give them an opportunity to make a fresh start by purchasing their property as-is. We often pay for two months rent in their new place, moving expenses, and even offer free credit repair if they need it. Another impact that is sometimes overlooked is the fact that there are many landlords with rentals where the tenants are not paying rent right now. Can you imagine having to pay a mortgage on the property but not able to collect rent? We are seeing a growing number of landlords that want to sell for this reason.

Contact Info:

• Email: admin@thesavvydiva.com
• Website: https://thesavvydiva.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_savvy_diva/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SavvyDivaEnterprises/
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/TheSavvyDiva
• Other: Clubhouse: @thesavvydiva

Image Credits
Photos by D Jerome Smedley Photography (Birmingham, AL)