Inspiring Conversations with Towanna Hogue

Today we’d like to introduce you to Towanna Hogue. This is her story below:

TOWANNA HOGUE, AUTHOR, WRITER, PUBLISHER, & PHILANTHROPIST

Towanna Hogue is the Founder and CEO of Towanna Hogue Publishing. She has over 20 years of experience in marketing, sales, and consumer relations. Her previous job responsibilities were to manage, measure, evaluate, communicate, and improve internal and external development projects. She was responsible for the implementation of marketing plans, including product positioning, campaign strategies, and market strategy insights. She was also responsible for branding, advertising, creating promotional collateral, attending trade shows, red carpet and company events. She was also responsible for revenue generation and meeting sales targets. She established, maintained, and grew relationships with clients and agencies nationwide.

Towanna has over ten years of experience in writing, editing, and publishing. She also planned all the digital media and print publications content according to each publication’s style and editorial policy. She has written several magazine articles on societal issues such as human trafficking, adult vaccines, and pay inequalities. She has also interviewed celebrities, athletes, politicians, activists, business leaders, and more. She was able to utilize the skills she had learned over the years to launch her own publishing company.

Towanna is the Publisher of Empower Atlanta Magazine. The magazine is compelled to inform, inspire, and make a difference. “Knowledge is key, and our goal is to empower each of our readers with phenomenal content and unprecedented financial tools and resources. “Our goal is to break generational curses and to create more generational wealth.”

Towanna decided that she wanted to do even more. She wrote and self-published “Through It All I’m Still Standing.” The subtitle is “Bringing Awareness to Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Emotional Abuse.” “It’s a book about love, mental illness, trials, tribulations, abuse, strength, triumph, and deliverance. It’s about having faith, being patient, and finding inner peace. It’s about taking your power back and knowing your worth.”

Towanna is also a cancer survivor and decided to write a children’s book titled “There’s Something I Have to Tell You…Mommy Has Cancer.” “ When I was first diagnosed with cancer, I could not find a book that my children could relate to or a book that could fully explain what I was going through. I hope that this book is an inspiration to other mothers suffering from cancer. They can use it as a tool to explain to their young children why Mommy is experiencing changes both mentally and physically.” .

Towanna decided to continue her mission to help as many people as possible by starting the Empower Atlanta Foundation. “We plan to give to the less fortunate, help women and children in need, feed the homeless, provide scholarships, lessen the stigmatism involving mental illness, bring awareness to domestic violence, and much more.”

Towanna attended Western Kentucky University and the University of Maryland and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and Marketing. She is currently enrolled at Clayton State University, working to achieve an MBA specializing in Digital Marketing.

She is a volunteer and advocate for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the American Cancer Society. She is a member of the Rockdale-Conyers Chamber of Commerce, Rockdale County Branch NAACP, the Atlanta Press Club, the American Marketing Association, The National Association of Black Journalists, The ATL Chamber of Commerce, and the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Towanna and her family reside in the suburbs of Atlanta. She is the proud mother of three children Jerome and Jada, who are business majors in college, and Justin, a high school sophomore.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, I would not describe challenges as a relatively smooth road. It is actually the exact opposite. Challenges can be very difficult, frustrating, and can sometimes feel hopeless. The key is never to give up. To look at challenges as life lessons and to learn from them.

One of the challenges I deal with on a daily basis is not having enough time during the day to run and balance multiple businesses, my family, and make time for myself. I sometimes have to remind myself that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Just continue to work hard every day and not be so hard on myself.

Another challenge is finding financing for small business owners who are minorities and women. Inflation is rising, but unfortunately, funding is limited and not readily available. So, I am constantly thinking of ways to have multiple streams of income coming in to cover expenses, production costs, etc. I am constantly thinking, and sometimes it is very difficult to shut it off and relax. When I get like this, I stop and start praying. I have learned to let go and let God. I am definitely a work in progress.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Towanna Hogue Publishing is the publishing house for Empower Atlanta Magazine and book titled “Through It All I’m Still Standing…Bringing Awareness to Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Emotional Abuse and a children’s book titled “There’s Something I Have To Tell You All…Mommy Has Cancer. The books are a testimony and to teach people that a peace of mind is priceless and always to know your worth.

Our magazine recognizes the accomplishments of businesses and leaders in key positions that contribute to increasing financial wealth and stability to all people residing in the Atlanta Metropolitan and surrounding areas. We strive to provide our readers with information to assist in the decision-making process of everyday lives. Our topics include education, banking, investing, finance, real estate, health (mental and physical), politics (local and national), arts, culture and tourism, entrepreneurship, and so much more.

I am proud of each published edition of the magazine. Promoting people and their businesses, bringing awareness to societal issues, health, and financial dispensaries, educating our readers, and putting forth an effort to bring change in a positive and uplifting light means everything to me. We were happy to have had my soror and the 26th President and CEO of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc Beverly Smith, Businessman and Philanthropist Arthur Blanks, and Quality Control Music Founders Kevin Lee and Pierre Thomas to grace our covers. We have so much more in store for our readers.

Through It All I’m Still Standing…Bringing Awareness To Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Emotional Abuse is a story about experiencing love, abuse, loss, strength, endurance, faith, and deliverance. It is about feeling like all hope is lost but remembering to have faith because there is a God that will cover you and see you through. I pray my book will help someone that is dealing with divorce, loss, hopelessness, depression, anxiety, PTSD, illness, or abuse. I want to help those who have dealt with these issues and are possibly still stuck in a bad place. Everyone has a story. I want you to know there is hope, happiness, and prosperity after it all! There is life to live after it all! I experienced all of this and more. By the grace of God, Through It All I’m Still Standing! You will too!

The yellow lotus flower on the book cover is symbolic of my personal growth. The flower grows in deep mud, far away from the sun. But eventually, it reaches the light becoming the most beautiful flower ever. The flower is seen in different cultures as a symbol of purity, enlightenment, and rebirth. I felt this flower was truly a representation of myself! I’ve been dragged through the dirtiest and muddiest of all waters (life), but through it all, it made me a better, selfless, strong, and beautiful woman who stands tall in every sense of the word.

There’s Something I Need To Tell You All… Mommy Has Cancer is a story about a woman in her early thirties diagnosed with cancer. She is married with three children who suddenly felt like her world had just turned upside down. How does she explain to her children that she has cancer? How does she explain why she is too tired to play and have fun like they used to? How does she explain why her appearance has changed? Prayer gave her the strength to push through and to continue having faith that everything would be ok. Through it all, she ends up feeling blessed, highly favored, and a SURVIVOR in more ways than one.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
When Covid-19 started, I had just launched Empower Atlanta Magazine. The business was at a standstill. It was the first time I was able to sit still. I decided to use this time to start writing. I first wrote the children’s book “There’s Something I Have To Tell You All…Mommy Has Cancer.” I had gone to the doctor a couple of months beforehand and was told I was healthy. How could I be healthy but have cancer? I was told I could no longer have children but gave birth a couple of years later to a healthy baby boy. A testimony of when doctors say no, God can say yes.

This book opened up a lot of emotional trauma that I needed to deal with. So, I started writing “Through It All…I’m Still Standing…Bringing Awareness to Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Emotional Abuse.” Mental health and abuse are not always discussed and are frowned upon in many cultures. I decided to start these difficult conversations and bring awareness to this and so many other societal issues.

During this time, I learned that it’s ok to sit still. I also learned to make time for self-care and to pour love back into me. You are no good to anyone else if you are emotionally drained. I started investing in myself and making a career doing something I love and can help others during the process. It is emotionally rewarding, feeling like I am making a difference one life at a time.

I also learned that tomorrow is promised to no one. I lost my grandmother this time last year and was devastated. She resided in a nursing home, and during this time, no one was allowed inside besides staff. I never got a chance to touch or hug her before she passed away. I only saw her through her window. I would shout, letting her know I loved her and was there. I never wanted her to feel alone. She would smile and tell me she loved me too. Losing family during this time was extremely hard, to say the least. Money will come and go, but time is lost forever. I value family time, and I place my children over any and everything.

The pandemic also inspired me to launch the Empower Atlanta Foundation and start helping other families in need, especially women facing similar challenges that I have personally experienced myself. We also assist seniors, especially those left in nursing homes with no families who can love on them or provide items needed daily. I am thankful for all of my blessings. I plan to continue working hard and assist in making this world a better place one day at a time.

Pricing:

• Through It All I’m Still Standing Hardcover Book $25
• Through It All…Paperback $15
• There’s Something I Have to Tell You All…Hardcover $18.99
• There’s Something I Have…Paperback $12.99
• The cost of the printed magazine is $9.99 plus shipping
• Digital magazine .99

Contact Info:

• Email: info@empoweratlantamagazine.com
• Website: www.empoweratlantamagazine.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/empoweratlmag
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/empoweratlmag
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/empoweratlmag
• Other: www.towannahogue.com