Today we’d like to introduce you to Tequia Lester.
Hi Tequia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story hasn’t been a straight line… it’s been a journey of becoming. I became a mother young, learning responsibility and survival early. I moved through different seasons of my life doing what I needed to do to provide for my family, including working in the strip club. That chapter taught me confidence, resilience, and how to stand on my own in a world that isn’t always gentle.
Later, I stepped into corporate America because that was the “right” thing to do. I climbed, I performed, I adapted. But deep down, I knew I wasn’t truly living, I was just functioning. When I was laid off, it felt like everything stopped. But now I know it was God redirecting me into my purpose.
That moment pushed me into entrepreneurship, where I created It’s All About You Birthdays & Events and Mobile Hibachi Atlanta. Both businesses grew quickly because they were built with heart…I wasn’t just creating events, I was creating experiences. I loved watching people come together, laugh, celebrate, and forget the weight of life for a moment.
But even in the success, I felt something shifting in me. I didn’t fall apart… I just outgrew who I had been. My spirit was asking for more alignment, more purpose, more meaning. So I listened. I slowed down. I looked inward. I let God do the refining. And that inner transformation became the foundation of TequiaSpeaks.
Now, I help people break out of survival mode and remember who they were before life told them who to be. I help them step out of their comfort zones and step into their calling with confidence. Not because I read it in a book but because I had to walk through my own fire to find myself again.
My life is proof that you don’t have to have it all figured out to begin again.
You just have to be willing to answer when your spirit says, “It’s time.”
And if my story shows anything… it’s that change is possible, growth is real, and you are never too far from the life you were created for.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road definitely wasn’t smooth, but every challenge shaped me.
When I started in event planning, there was no blueprint. I didn’t have someone showing me “this is how it’s done.” I had to figure out everything from the type of clients I wanted, to the experience I wanted them to feel, to how to price, hire, train, and keep a team. I had to learn how to lead, how to deliver excellence, and how to make my brand feel different. Not just an event… an experience.
The same was true with Mobile Hibachi Atlanta. There were other hibachi companies, but none that reflected my energy. I wanted joy, laughter, interaction, connection…something unforgettable. So again, I was building something I had never seen. And with that comes trial and error: learning how to delegate, how to pay fairly, how to build loyalty, how to create a culture where people are proud to show up.
The challenge has always been the same,
creating what didn’t exist before I created it.
Now, stepping into TequiaSpeaks, the challenge looks different. There are thousands of voices in the motivational and inspirational space… speakers, therapists, coaches, podcasts, YouTubers, everyone sharing their message. But instead of trying to compete or “stand out,” I had to learn to do the opposite:
Be still. Listen. Stay aligned.
My only job is to stay close to God so I can speak from the place He called me to, not from comparison or pressure. When I stay in alignment, I don’t have to force my way into rooms, I get invited. I don’t have to chase opportunities now they recognize me.
So today, my “challenge” is really about trust.
Trusting the timing. trusting the calling, trusting that I don’t have to strive & I just have to walk in who I am.
The lesson has been the road isn’t smooth, but it is purposeful. Every stretch prepared me for this season of clarity, intention, and impact.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In my work through TequiaSpeaks, I specialize in helping people break out of survival mode and return to the most authentic version of themselves. I guide individuals through the process of looking inward, facing the hard truths, and realigning their lives with who God created them to be. It’s less about motivation and more about transformation real, lifelong shift.
What I am most proud of is becoming aligned with my own purpose first. For a long time, I was doing, building, and achieving but I didn’t always feel connected to what I was doing. Now, I am operating from clarity, calling, and intention. I am no longer searching for “the thing” that makes me happy or fulfilled… I am walking in it. And because of that, I am able to pour into others from a place of wholeness and truth.
What sets me apart is my raw and real delivery. I don’t speak to the version of you that’s pretending everything is okay. I speak to the part of you that’s tired of being strong, tired of performing, tired of carrying silent burdens. We live in a world where many people are just getting by staying busy, staying numb, staying in situations that don’t fit anymore because the alternative would mean facing themselves.
A lot of people don’t want to sit with their emotions, confront old wounds, leave relationships that have expired, or admit that the life they built no longer feels aligned. I understand that because I’ve lived it. But I also know what it looks like to come out on the other side.
My gift is helping people feel safe enough to be honest with themselves, to look in the mirror without judgment, and to finally choose themselves. I help them see that they are not failures, disappointments, or “behind” they are simply in transformation.
I don’t just want people to exist..I want them to live. Not just survive, but thrive, not just cope, but become. I stand with them as they do.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Something people may be surprised to learn about me is that, beneath my strength and confidence, I am incredibly soft-hearted. I’ve always had a strong exterior & I show up as the leader, the one who gets things done, the one who can carry a lot and still stand tall. And while that is very much who I am, there is another side that most people don’t get to see unless they are close to me.
I care deeply. I truly want to see people win, heal, and become who they are called to be. I give, I pour, I encourage but I’m also very intentional about who I allow into my inner world. It’s not a wall… it’s wisdom. It’s knowing that the softest parts of me deserve to be handled with care.
People often see the motivator, the strategist, the woman who overcomes. But I’m also the woman who loves hard, who feels deeply, who prays for others in silence, who roots for people even when they don’t know I’m rooting.
So yes, I’m strong. But I’m also extremely tender. I’m resilient. But I’m also gentle.
And I’ve learned that both can exist at the same time.
Contact Info:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tequia.lester.3
- TikTok: @tequiaspeaks
