In the latest episode of the Empowerography Podcast, my guest is Siloam Lackey. Siloam is the owner/founder of CEO In Her. In this episode we discuss responsibility, being fearless, support systems, adapting and overcoming obstacles.

Siloam Lackey was born in 1983 on the west side of Chicago. At the time her mother was married to her father who later passed away from cancer when Siloam was 2 years old.

She grew up in a single parent Christian household, but her mother struggled to financially support Siloam and her three sisters and brother. Her mother remarried in 1986, the family moved to the east side of Chicago, where Siloam attended Brynmaur Elementary and later transferred to Mcclellan Elementary on the south side of Chicago. A few years after her mother's marriage the relationship ended in divorced due to a violent relationship. They lived in the projects of Chicago's Robert Taylor homes from 1993 to 1996. To escape much of the violence in the projects Siloam and her siblings attended a catholic school ( St. Elizabeth) but eventually ended up going to public school at Hartigan Elementary school. The family then moved to the Englewood area where Siloam graduated 8th grade and participated in a summer job at her elementary school, Fulton Elementary to help support her family.

To escape the violence Siloam would entertain herself with celebrity life tv. Growing up listening to church music and inspirational artists like Mariah Carey who also overcame poverty and dealt with racial issues, Siloam was determined to become more than her surroundings. She began writing poems, stories and music at the age of 8 and quickly learned how to create and control her own environment by dreaming big.

By time she reached High School the family moved to the suburbs of Chicago on section 8. The environment was very different and added to Siloam's creative mind and perseverance. The new environment gave her a different outlook on life and family.

Determined to graduate high school coming from an area where the high school dropout rate was at a high rate, Siloam ended up pregnant her junior year of high school. However, she worked hard and graduated high school early and went straight to college. Siloam had already been working since 8the grade to help support her mother and siblings and knew how to balance the life of her new son while attending school and work. The family pulled together to support each other. While Siloam remained the breadwinner her mother helped with babysitting until she fell ill after the loss of Siloam's grandmother.

Siloam would later become the power of attorney for her mom who suffered depression after the death of her grandmother. At the time Siloam's son was only four years old. Taking all the lemons life threw at her Siloam continued to make lemonade. She later became a licensed Insurance agent providing herself with stable income, and quickly moved to another major company where she earned far beyond what most were used to. Working as a top sales agent by 2011 Siloam was earning an average of 8,000 a month.

Realizing where she came from, the struggle that she and her family faced and the transparency of triumph she read about in magazines from other successful women Siloam decided that it was time to create an outlet where women, and men could be entertained and educated by growth, resilience, and prosperity. Along with conversation with her close friend, the CEO in Her was created. The media platform would share inspiring stories of women who built their dreams from scratch with a spotlight of press for diverse areas of careers and business by women.

Website - http://www.ceoinher.com/

Instagram CEO IN HER https://www.instagram.com/ceoinher/

Instagram Siloam Lackey https://ww w.instagram.com/siloam_official/

Facebook CEO In HER https://www.facebook.com/CEO-IN-HER-1469071109860136/

Facebook Siloam Lackey https://www.facebook.com/siloam.nash.7

Siloam Lackey Episode