Meet Lucy Cannon of LEJ Behavioral Health Services in East of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lucy Cannon.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was born and raised in Monticello, Florida. I am the 7th of nine children. My parents were hardworking farming folks who taught us the value of hard work and honesty. I grew up in a small town where there was very few opportunities for African Americans. I became the first African American waitress at the Braham Restaurant in Monticello thanks to two Caucasian female twins school mates who advocated for me to get this position. After I worked this job for a year and with hard work, I was very instrumental in getting other African American girls like myself to become waitress and primarily serve Caucasian people and other people of color at this restaurant. The 1960’s and early 1970’s had a great deal of racial discrimination and this minor accomplishment I believe in some way made a difference in my small home town. Many African Americans high school students primarily attended college at Florida A.M. University, an Historically Black College (HBCU) in Tallahassee, Florida. I wanted to be different and decided I wanted to go to Florida State University (FSU) because of the excellent academic fields of study and I wanted to attend a school where various people of color attended all around the world. I wanted to broaden my knowledge and understanding of people from diverse backgrounds and therefore Florida State University was my opportunity to do so.

Unfortunately I did not score well on my SAT Exam (college entry exam), and was not accepted into Florida State University except has a remedial student. That was not good enough for me because I took college prep classes and did fairly well in high school. I simply was not a good test taker. So I decided to go to a small community college, North Florida Community College in Madison, Florida to obtain my Associates in Art Degree in General Studies. I also decided that I would then reapply to Florida State University after I obtained my Associates in Arts Degree. I was the only child in my family to  pursue a degree and I wanted to go to Florida State University because there were very few African Americans there and I wanted a different kind of exposure to learning. So I finished my Associates Degree and got accepted into Florida State University . I was so proud of this accomplishment. This school was indeed a great school, but overwhelming at first because I wanted to be an Interior Designer and had not really investigated my rationale for wanting to be in this profession. I did not do well with this major field of study and was becoming very concern that I am now a Junior in college with no Major field of concentration. So I decided to declare another major this time in Accounting. The accounting classes were boring and I made “C’s” in my course work.  I did not feel very excited about this field of study, nor did I demonstrate any exceptional skills in accounting. My academic advisor recommended that I take a battery of test to determine what my areas of interest were. He also recommended that I take the course, “An Introduction to Social Work ” based on the results of the various academic test I took. I simply loved this course and finally found my passion…Social Work.

Needless to say I did fairly well in the course work in the field of social work and I truly found my passion. I finished my Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work at Florida State University and my family and especially my parents, siblings, and friends were so proud of me. Unfortunately I was unable to locate a job and within a few months I moved to Indianapolis, Indiana with my sister and family. I became a leasing agent and continued to struggle with locating a job in Social Work. I decided to go back to school to work on a Masters Degree in Social Work at Indiana University. After finishing my Masters Degree, I landed my first job in Social Work as a Counselor/Coordinator of a New Home Maker Program with Flanner House Inc.in Indianapolis. My former professor at Indiana University hired me. I went on to become the Director of the Home Maker Program at this very old and reputable community based organization. I married my husband after two years of working in this position. My husband, Elijah was in the Army and traveled a great deal. We had a daughter after we got stationed in Huntsville, Alabama. My husband received orders to be stationed in Camp Zama, Japan shortly after our daughter’s birth. We moved to Japan when our daughter was 9 months old. I had never traveled or lived outside of the United States. This was indeed an initially difficult experience, but I gradually made friends and started to do volunteer work at the Army Counseling Center working with adolescents and their families with substance abuse problems. I was eventually hired to be the Counselor for this program after my predecessor left the company, SAIC (Science Application International Corporation). S.A.I.C. had a military contract to provide prevention and counseling services to active duty military families in Hawaii, Asia, and Europe. I really enjoyed working with adolescents and their families. I won several military awards to include the General Winning Circle Award for outstanding services to military families in Camp Zama, Japan.

On this amazing journey, I worked in various inpatient and outpatient hospitals, mental health and substance abuse settings as a social worker, manager, and directors in the states of Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas, and Georgia. I went on to get my licenses as a social worker in the states of Georgia and Alabama, a Co-Occurring Disorders Diplomat (CCDP-D) Certification and Medication Assisted Treatment Specialists Certification (MATS). I went back to school to complete a Doctorate in Education with a Concentration in Counseling Psychology at Argosy University in 2001. I completed the Ed.D doctorate degree in 2006. I went on to become an Auditor/Trainer for the State of Georgia Medicaid Division (APS Healthcare Services) and a part-time College Professor at Devry University and Adjunct Professor at Clark Atlanta University. After getting laid off at Lutheran Services of Georgia in 2013, I decided to start my own company after many years of struggling with this decision.

I lunched LEJ Behavioral Health Services, LLC in the fall of 2013. I am the owner and CEO of this training and consulting company. I work with some amazing companies as a consultant and trainer. I have 3 part-time/as needed staff who help me run my company. I also serve on various boards of directors and advisory councils in Metropolitan Georgia. I mentor and provide clinical supervision to students and professionals in the mental health field. I do pro-bono church counseling in my community and I now call myself the “Helper” to those in my field of study and in my church community. I am the proud parent of two children and 4 grandchildren and they call me “Gigi”. I believe spirituality and a sense of community is necessary when one gives of self and I try to do this as much as I can. I recently published an article in Success Magazine about our military families and the many contributions and sacrifices they make for our country.

It has indeed been an amazing career and I am so blessed and fortunate to be in the field of Social Work. My legacy if any, would be like the great Mahalia Jackson, Gospel Singer who once stated in her lyrics, ”If can help somebody, as I pass along, then my living shall not be in vain.” My journey is about helping people who are in need of healthcare and spiritual services, and mentoring individuals in the counseling field. I am so proud to serve our military and people who are in need of mental health and substance abuse services. A special thanks to my sisters and family and special friends for all of their support, belief, encouragement, and faith in me. I am also especially thankful to my husband, children, and my religious convictions that has carried me through the storms and rewarding experiences in my life.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Some of the obstacles on my journey involved ending up on academic probation for a semester while I was a student at Florida State University due to a personal trauma that contributed to my failing grades. The good news is, I worked through this obstacle and got back on track and I graduated on time with my Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work. I also lost a significant family member that was murdered shortly after I finished my Bachelor’s Degree. During my first year in my doctoral program my father died. I did a special tribute to my dad in my dissertation. The death of these individuals were very difficult to overcome, but with faith and determination I got through it and I continue to keep these special people in my heart today.

I also had some obstacles that delayed me finishing my doctoral work research and dissertation. My institution review board had approved my dissertation, but the obstacles related to the agency and population I was scheduled to do the research with. They simply did not follow through with the agreement for me to do the research with their organization. A special thanks to my daughter, Jasmine’s wisdom and advice at age 20 and her profound statement to me as I struggled with what I was going to do. She told me…”Mom I have seen you overcome so many obstacles in your life and I know you will find a way to get your research done.” I took her advice seriously and did some self-examination and realized the importance of always having more than one plan to accomplish goals. My brother, Lewis also gave me some good advice and he simply stated.. “this obstacle is nothing but a step for a stepper.” I appreciate and continue to use my daughter and brother wisdom they imparted to me when I take on obstacles today.  I had to locate another organization to do my research and I continue to be appreciative of the Inner Harbor Staff for allowing me to do my research with their clients and family members. I successfully finished my dissertation. I am also grateful for the great chairpersons who was always supportive of me and willing to advise me throughout my dissertation.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the LEJ Behavioral Health Services story. Tell us more about the business.
I started my company, LEJ Behavioral Health Services, LLC in 2013. This company is a training and consulting company that is located in Metropolitan Atlanta. LEJ Behavorial Health Services, LLC offer a variety of services to meet organizations needs from program development and implementation, utilization management and compliance, auditing, training, and how to increase programs revenue. We provide the following services to healthcare organizations (mental health and substance abuse agencies and military services); legal compliance around auditing medical records for compliance based on funding sources, training, and development, business processes, program development, audit analysis, Human Resources support, and other services around funding and revenue generation.

We are mainly known for providing outstanding training (s) to various healthcare organizations and utilization management for outcome measures. I am proud of the expansion of contracts in training and development for major federal (military-Department of the Navy), state, and local agencies in Georgia. We are starting to do training for mental health and substance abuse professionals and paraprofessionals in the healthcare fields in  the following states; Tennessee, Florida, Louisiana, Philadelphia, and Kentucky. We have started to do some expansion with hiring a part-time administrative staff person and sub-contractors to assist with major trainings here in Georgia. I believe we are set apart from other companies  because of the strong clinical skills and experiences our staff have and continue to have in the field, a strong Human Resource element, and a great IT person who helps keep us relevant in the business and healthcare fields. We add a personal and friendly touch to the work that we do. We are dependable and offer best practice training (s) and mental health services to our clients.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t necessarily believe in “luck.” I believe hard work, integrity, and doing what you say you are going to do for your clients is what makes a business successful. I also believe sometimes your best… may lead to negative consequences… but it is necessary to learn from mistakes, get the right people at the table and around you to help you grow and strive to be better. It is important to own your mistakes, get additional training, and keep moving toward the next project. I also really believe getting evaluations from the people you serve about your services is critical and necessary. I also try not to take myself so seriously and keep striving for excellence with a great deal of faith in the products we are selling at LEJ Behavioral Health Services, LLC.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lejbhs.com
• Phone: 4044333740
• Email: cannoe1@bellsouth.net
• Facebook: lejbhs@yahoo.com
• Twitter: lejbhs@yahoo.com
• Other: Linked In account

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