Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Lakeshia Williams of South Fulton

We recently had the chance to connect with Lakeshia Williams and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lakeshia, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
I’m being called to speak boldly, show up visibly, and take up space in rooms where youth voices and futures are being decided, especially in education. For a long time, I downplayed my ideas or played it safe. Now? I’m leaning fully into my role as the creator of The First Time Adult, bringing real-world readiness into schools and nonprofits so teens feel seen, prepared, and powerful.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Lakeshia Williams, the author and founder of The First Time Adult, a teen-to-adult life-readiness social enterprise equipping teens with the tools and mindset to navigate adulthood with confidence.

My work is rooted in lived experience. I know what it’s like to leave high school unprepared, to learn everything the hard way, and to feel like the world expects you to figure it out without support. I created The First Time Adult to change that narrative, for my own children, and for the thousands of teens who deserve a better start.

What makes TFTA special is that it’s not just another book or lecture. It’s a scenario-based, plug-and-play curriculum designed for schools and youth-based nonprofits to easily implement without needing to build a program from scratch. It’s youth-centered, culturally aware, and grounded in emotional intelligence. And it’s built for real life, not just tests and theory.

Right now, I’m focused on licensing the course across the U.S., supporting educators with ready-to-use tools, and building an ecosystem of content, merch, and community that speaks directly to youth and the adults who support them.

This isn’t just a brand, but a movement. It’s a blueprint for teens preparing for life after graduation to stop surviving and start thriving.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Before the world told me who I had to be, I was imaginative, intuitive, and expressive. I loved creating things, asking questions, and helping people. But early on, I learned to shrink, to play it safe, stay quiet, follow rules, and not take up too much space. It’s taken me years to peel back those layers and return to that version of me. The one who leads with heart, speaks boldly, and builds from a place of truth. The First Time Adult is really just my younger self finally being heard.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
The fear of being fully seen. Not just for what I do, but for who I am, has held me back more than anything else.

I’ve always had big ideas, strong opinions, and a heart for helping people. But for most of my life, I felt like I had to shrink it. I was afraid of being judged, misunderstood, too loud, not polished enough, too Black, too soft, too direct, all of it. So I became a master at editing myself to feel safe in rooms that were never built for me.

That fear showed up in my writing, in my business, in my relationships. It kept me in survival mode even after I was no longer in crisis. It made me over-explain, overdeliver, and overthink every move. And it almost made me bury The First Time Adult before it ever had a chance to live.

I’ll admit, I’m still working through it. Every post I share, every lesson I teach, every time I speak publicly, it’s a choice to push past that fear. And I do it not because I’m fearless, but because my mission is bigger than my comfort zone. I owe it to the teens I serve to model what it looks like to show up anyway.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a belief you used to hold tightly but now think was naive or wrong?
I used to believe success had to follow a specific script: go to college right after high school, get a good job, stay there for 20 years, retire, and then finally enjoy life. If I didn’t follow that path, I thought I was failing.

That belief wasn’t mind. It was survival messaging passed down through generations. It kept me chasing validation instead of creating a life that was truly mine. I thought struggle was a requirement, not a warning sign.

That same lie still exists in how we approach education and youth work. We praise “grit” and “resilience”, but rarely stop to ask why kids have to be so strong in the first place. We tell them to work harder instead of preparing them smarter.

What shifted everything for me was realizing that success is self-defined. It can look like designing your own life blueprint, honoring your healing, walking away from systems that don’t serve you, and creating solutions, like The First Time Adult, that fill the gaps we weren’t supposed to fall through in the first place.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What light inside you have you been dimming?
The light I’ve dimmed the most is my voice.

Not the talking part. I’ve always been able to speak. But I mean my true voice, the one that disrupts outdated systems, challenges norms, and stands firm in what I believe, even if it makes people uncomfortable.

I dimmed that light for years because I was afraid of being labeled, angry, too deep, too loud, too ambitious, too much. I made myself small to stay safe, especially in professional and educational spaces where being a Black woman with something to say wasn’t always welcomed.

But now? I’m done dimming.

That voice is the foundation of The First Time Adult. It’s the voice that writes for teens who’ve been overlooked. It’s the voice that tells the truth in rooms where no one else will. And it’s the voice I want to leave behind long after I’m gone. Not as a whisper, but as a movement.

I was never too much. I was just too quiet for too long.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thefirsttimeadult.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefirsttimeadult101/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mslakeshiawilliams/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thefirsttimeadult101
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mslakeshiawilliams
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@thefirsttimeadult101
  https://thefirsttimeadult.substack.com/