On this episode, Jamya Luckett is in studio to share her inspiring journey of overcoming childhood challenges and pursuing her dreams at Lansing Community College. She reflects on the role of resilience, faith, and personal growth in shaping her identity while navigating entrepreneurship. Now exploring her passion for becoming a makeup artist, Maya’s story highlights the power of perseverance, gratitude, and staying committed to the goals that inspire us.

Website: Academic Success Coaching at LCC

Welcome to Student Success Stories, hosted by.

Lansing Community College's academic success Coaching team.

We believe in working with students to help them identify and utilize their strengths.

We empower them to succeed at LCC.

And accomplish their academic goals.

On Success Stories, we dive deeper into the backgrounds and the stories of LCC students and learn how they turn challenges to triumphs.

All right, welcome back to another episode of the Student Success Stories podcast, the show where we get to know LCC students and hear a little bit more about their story and their background.

I'm your co host, Last Lane and with me is my co host, Dominique Vaughn.

All right, today's guest, Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois.

I probably don't even need to say the state.

She lived in Lansing for about 10 years now.

Currently majoring in business with aspirations to be an entrepreneur.

Looking to become a makeup artist in the future as well.

She considers herself to be resilient, bold, faithful and steadfast.

Today's guest is Maya Luckett.

Maya, welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me.

Super excited.

Glad to have you with us.

So tell us a little bit about your childhood.

It was like living in Chicago and the transition to Michigan, Lanson area.

Growing up in Chicago, it definitely had its challenges like any city does, of course, you know, specifically regarding around violence and so forth, so on.

I definitely had to overcome a lot of trauma and obstacles growing up there.

I would say mainly family based, but then as well, you know, you trying to navigate the adolescence years, you know, those friends that you come across that may not be friends anymore.

My childhood I would say was very loving but not always secure.

Definitely had a lot that I had to overcome.

One of my biggest traumas was molestation.

So that was like a huge, I can say issue and something I had to continue to heal from even today, you know, it's still a process, but I would say it made me the woman that I am now.

So, you know, even though I didn't have the best spick and span upbringing, I know my parents did the best that they could.

So I still love them anyway and I'm just proud to be where I am now.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, I'm sorry to hear that about that situation.

But, you know, glad that you're good now, you're safe, you're moving, you're pushing through life.

So yes, keep it up.

You seem like you're a pretty outgoing and happy person too, so that's always a good thing.

A lot of POS vibes to you.

Thank you.

I definitely try to be, but big, big Big thanks to God, because I wouldn't be where I am if I weren't for him.

Yeah.

Amen.

So you.

You want to be a makeup artist in the future?

Is there anyone or if you had to choose somebody, is there any.

Any famous person or anyone that you would like to work with?

Ooh, that is actually a great question.

I've thought about a lot of people, actually.

Okay.

But I will say my biggest ones that I would love to work with is I want to work with Tasha Cobbs, because I just love her.

Her music.

And another one I would say would be Taraji P. Henson, because I just love her.

And they.

Those right there.

My main two is another one, but I can't think of her name.

My mom always says her name, but I forget.

But she was just on the new Tyler Perry movie Ruth and Moab.

Or is it.

Is that.

No, no, no.

That's not the name.

That's not the name.

Boab.

There you go.

Thank you.

Ruth and Boaz.

I don't think that's what it was.

I think I've seen the title, but I haven't watched it.

It's good.

I've seen on Netflix.

I think it's Claire Hust.

Huxtable.

I think that's how you say her name.

I hope I'm saying it.

Close enough.

Close enough.

Right?

Yeah.

Taraji seemed like she'll teach you a lot, too, just on the side, not just business.

Right.

You know, so.

Well, you never know, Right.

I hope so.

Maybe.

Maybe God's grace.

So to this point in the journey in life, what's one of the biggest life lessons you've learned to get you this?

To this point, the biggest life lesson that I've learned to get to this point is to always expect unexpected, you know, and I had to realize that, you know, people grow, and sometimes you outgrow those people.

Places and things.

And not everything or things that you have come across can go with you in every season.

So really having to face the fact that some things will dwindle off as time goes was really a hard pill for me to swallow because I have such a big heart.

And if I could hold on to something for as long as I can, I will.

You know, I have a issue with letting go, and that's actually some.

A challenge I'm still working through even today, because it could be really hard.

Well, I think part of that, too, is like the outgrowing part.

Yeah.

I tell students all the time, especially when they're, like, 18 to 22, and, Dom, you Might, you might say this as well because we have similar conversations.

But you'll change naturally.

Like an 18 year old sometimes would be like, I don't know what I want to do.

Like, yeah, that's kind of normal though.

Like this is your life, your future, your career, your educational goals, so on and so forth for it.

You just don't know what to expect.

So another three to five years you'll change and it keeps going and going.

So yeah, sometimes your environment or you know, what you're around, what you're accustomed to, sometimes you outgrow it.

It's maturity too.

Yeah.

A lot of phases and stages that come with life.

Right.

Different parts of the journey require different, you know, skills, abilities and mindsets to help you get to that next part of the journey.

I agree.

Because it definitely require different versions of you.

You start to realize a lot of things.

Like I feel like I'm still in that phase of where I'm stepping into my true identity and really figuring out who I am.

I think that's evolving too.

Right.

Because even where we're at now, I think looking back, you know, when we were in your position and now even in our careers.

Right.

I think growth and change just is a natural evolution.

Right.

And you kind of just gotta, you gotta go with the flow of it or else you can't, you can't just remain the same.

That's true.

Things you do.

Yeah.

Can't become too stagnant basically.

Right.

So in your bio you gave a lot of credit to God for your success so far.

How has your faith impacted your decision making or you know, again making the decision or which direction to go in?

Oh, my faith has made a major impact, honestly, one side, because of course I grew up in a church, you know, being young, you know, we have a, a family based church in Chicago actually, and I grew up there, but around that time I didn't necessarily know, know God like I should.

If, you know, I went, you know, I, I praised Him, I knew of him, but I didn't actually take the time to build relationship with him and seek him for myself.

So as I got older, I started to.

And he definitely started to reveal Himself to me in plenty of different ways.

And even then it gave me a time to reflect and see how he was always there.

I just really had a blindfold on at that time and I wasn't paying attention to it.

Being young, still trying to find your way, you know, you got a lot of things that you're also trying to overcome at a young age.

And often I felt overlooked because I was young, because people like, oh, you know, you're a kid, you don't really have much to, you know, worry about.

And I think that can be a big hindrance on children, especially, because then as they grow older and as they get older, they have trouble adjusting.

You know, they have trouble.

How can I say?

I faced a lot of trouble with speaking up, using my voice, because I was silenced and because I felt like it.

It just was, you know, unimportant.

They made my.

My feelings and how I was processing things feel unimportant.

So it made.

It definitely shifted my perspective.

And when God came into the picture, He.

He basically restored everything.

And he continues to, even every day.

You know, I'm not perfect.

No, but this walk doesn't require you to be perfect.

It just requires you to be willing.

So are you willing?

And I am willing.

And I can tell myself that every day I get up, I spend time with him, I make sure that I'm acknowledging Him, talking to him.

And even now, it's helped me to make better decisions and choices for myself and not to be caught up in the same cycles or circles.

But it is a battle because, you know, you got your flesh and you got your spirit, you know, and those two are always going to be at war with each other.

So sometimes I find myself losing, you know, when it comes to my spirit or even when it comes to the flesh.

So I can say being and growing closer with God every day has really changed me as a woman and how I view things and even how I handle people that I may not be too fond of anymore.

I still love them.

I still, you know, extend them grace and pray for them.

Pray for him and keep it pushing, because that's the best thing I can do.

Because one thing about it, that's.

That's where humility comes in.

You have to extend that to people because hurt people, hurt people.

It's true, you know, and that's what most people are doing nowadays, because they're coming from a hurt place.

And God brought that to my attention as well.

So I can say I hope that every day that I get closer to Him, I start to reflect him more, just as he does for us, you know, because he loves us unconditionally.

And I just want to be able to spread that same love to others, even if they're, you know, not operating in the same place that I may be operating from.

But I think that's the best thing about helping people.

That's why Jesus came in the first place to spread that love.

So you got to be able to reflect it.

Reflect him, be like him the best way that you can.

Sometimes I find myself asking myself, like, what would Jesus do?

You really have to ask that question.

That's part of.

That's part of the journey.

You said flesh.

Flesh and spirit.

It's always a battle.

But then that's also related to what you talked about as far as, you know, just, you.

Like, parents will make decisions for their kids.

Like, they know what's best, right?

That's how.

That's how it is.

Yeah.

In.

In a lot of cases, naturally.

So it's kind of going back to what we talked about earlier, where you kind of outgrow certain things or you become who you're supposed to become, or you, like, it's just you recognizing or God showing you certain things, like, this is how it should be.

And then from there, that's when you keep going.

Yes, yes, I definitely agree.

All true on all accounts.

So correct me if I'm wrong.

You completed your phlebotomy certificate last year, came back, you're now pursuing a business pathway.

We talked about your goals and your aspirations to be a makeup artist.

Right.

Eventually own your own business.

Talk about some of those.

Some of the biggest fears you may have when it comes to entrepreneurship and owning your own business and kind of your general perspective of navigating it from where you are now.

Oh, this is actually a great question because I. I ponder on this question often daily only because, you know, I. I think fear was like a big hindrance for me when I first started to actually try to branch out into my business and really get into it.

My biggest fear, or I would say my biggest obstacle when it comes to entrepreneurship and owning a business is the risk that you have to take.

Because with entrepreneurship, you have to take a lot of risk.

And I think that was like a hur for me at first because I'm like, risk.

I'm not that kind of person that really be wanting to take risks, you know, but over time, I had to really reflect and was just like, well, you're taking risks anyway, you know, even throughout life.

So granted, entrepreneurship is different because it's coming from a business aspect.

It's just, how are you going to approach it and.

And how you approach it is what's going to help you in the long run.

I think also the fear of speaking to people or being around people was.

Was a big one for me.

Definitely my anxiety would go up and I'd be like, no.

But I had to come up out of that, you know, you have to come up out of there, especially if you want to be a business owner, because you gotta.

You gotta use your voice.

You got to speak, you got to communicate with people.

You got to make people want to come to your establishment, your business, you know, come and see what you are giving them or what you're serving or what you're selling.

Because if you don't, then.

And you just have a business with no clientele, no customer attraction, no nothing, because you're not willing to really step outside of your comfort zone.

And that was a big thing for me.

I was struggling so bad guys to come out of my comfort zone.

But once I started to get the groove, it gets easier.

But I can say risk is definitely something I'm still trying to work through.

And that's gonna be a process.

Right.

I think one of the.

One of the biggest nuggets I got from an instructor and now a mentor when I was taking classes.

Right.

Taking classes here was you got to create the ability to step out of your comfort zone.

Right.

And sometimes, you know, it's about taking calculated risk.

Right.

Not necessarily just uncalculated risk, especially in being an entrepreneur.

And another piece that you kind of mentioned with feeling more comfortable engaging with, you know, clients, people in the community.

Right.

Having the ability to disarm them.

Right.

Having the ability to.

To have general conversations and make those warm connections to grow your clientele, but just create that relationship.

Yes, I agree.

Yeah.

And you gotta find ways to stand out, too.

Anytime there's any, whether it's a talent or we'll have students who say they want to be an influencer or something.

All right, that's fine.

And I'm not trying to knock your hustle or your dreams, but how do you say stand out?

What makes your content stand out?

It's similar with.

With the business.

Right.

You know, you.

You.

You can't be too timid.

You can't be too aggressive either, like, as far as networking.

So it's always good to have a team as well, just to balance things out.

But I agree, I agree that balance definitely has to be there because it makes things a lot more smoother.

If it's not, it definitely makes the road a lot more challenging and difficult.

Yeah.

Especially with business, like, once it starts to grow you, it's the best at marketing, advertising, payroll taxes.

Like, there's just so many.

Oh, yeah.

Yep.

Definitely.

Or just management leadership.

I think that's the other part about entrepreneurship and having your own business is it it, it's not just like a regular job where it's like eight to five, you're working 40 hours a week.

You're constantly growing your brand or networking and growing your relationships or trying to find outlets or inroads in the community to like build those relationships.

So I think that's, that's also something to be mindful of.

Yes.

247 Job, basically.

Definitely, definitely.

And I tell myself, hey, it is a 247 job.

But I one thing about it, I want to be my own boss.

Yeah.

I've always said that I want to be my own boss because I know how I like to structure things.

And, you know, I've worked in workforces and I didn't feel like they were really.

It was areas that I definitely seen needing improvement.

Yeah, gotcha.

And I want to be different from that.

When I run my establishment or my business.

I want to set the tone, the example of how a business should be ran.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, there you go.

So, so far on your journey or in, in your life in general, who has had the biggest impact on your life?

A family member, mentor, even a professor, A former supervisor, maybe.

Who's had the biggest impact on your life?

My biggest three, I would say right now is God is number one.

Okay.

And my mother, my grandmother, actually, for my mother, my grandmother, and then my aunt.

Gotcha.

Those four, my pillars, I rely on them for everything.

Everything.

I don't know what I'll do without him.

And I'm just grateful for the support system that I do have because I can see how God has really blessed me.

And for, for when, you know, being young, you, you, you look at what you don't have too much that you, you know, you miss the blessings of what God has given you.

The now, the present.

So now that I see what he really has given me, I'm very appreciative.

And my dad as well, My dad as well, even though he's been in and out kind of sort of, you know, because you know how it is when, you know, my dad's incarcerated right now.

So it's been like that on and off all my life.

So it was just a navigation.

But I can always say my dad always spoke life into me.

So that's where I can get.

That's where I get my positivity from speaking life into myself as well as others, because it's important, you know, and for no longer the time.

I wasn't always like that, but over time I've grown.

So I'm proud of that.

That's good.

Well, you can take any negative situation and turn it into a positive most.

I should say, not any, but most.

But like, for dad, for example, like, his situation, it's unfortunate, but for you, it's like, all right, what are the things that he did or what are the mistakes?

Like, what can I avoid?

Which path did he take?

Let me go in the opposite direction.

So you always gotta look at some type of, you know, it's the light at the end of the tunnel.

You can say, that's true.

You definitely learn.

You learn from your parents mistakes, family mistakes, you.

You even learn from strangers mistakes.

And I've been big on that, because if I can learn from somebody else, I will learn.

I don't want to try to figure it out for myself.

But sometimes you have to.

Yep.

I think another gem you said in answering that question was, you know, sometimes when you're young, you can take a lot of things for granted and look at what you don't have.

I know.

I mean, you kind of spoke to me directly because looking back at different phases and stages I was at, I took a lot of things for granted.

And you.

It's easy to focus on what you don't have or what you haven't obtained yet, and that kind of blurs and, you know, put your blinders on to where you're going.

So, yeah, I think that was.

That was important to be, you know, grateful and understand where you at and just be in the moment.

Yes.

And even then, like, with.

With knowing that it's still like a.

A process and some.

And like a daily reminder, because, you know, sometimes you can get so caught up in everyday life, even now as an adult, you know, I've had moments where I've done that, and I'm like, oh, looking at what I could have, or comparing myself to others or things in specifics to the point where I'm ignoring the blessings that God had given me because I'm over here looking at somebody else's, you know, or not necessarily appreciating and paying attention to my own.

And I had.

God brought that to my attention recently, actually.

And I was like, you know what, Lord, I do apologize because you have given me so much.

I am so blessed.

And I just let my circumstances blind that because of the fact that, you know, I am unemployed right now.

I have my own place.

This is my first time ever having my own place.

And you got bills, you got the economy that's just all over the place.

And I'm still young, trying to figure it out.

And I was just tearing myself down.

Like, you got this.

You know, you got talent that you really hadn't been using because you.

You've been trying to make sure you stay up on your schoolwork.

You're trying to make sure you look for a job, do all.

All of these things.

And you just really didn't stop to take the time out to see that.

God has blessed.

Blessed you with a lot.

He's blessed your hands, he's blessed your mouth.

He's blessed your words, your speech.

He's blessed everything about you.

But you just keep focusing on what you don't have, what.

What you got to do that you didn't even bother to sit and take the time out to appreciate what he has done and what he continues to do and what he is doing, you know, And I was like, you know what?

I literally bawled my eyes out because I'm like, lord, thank you for bringing that to my attention.

So now that I. I know that I'm.

I'm being more appreciative.

And like you said, you know, when.

When it comes to situations, you can, you know, change a negative situation to a positive.

It's about your perspective, you know, because some things, you know, happen.

But how you view it matters, because if you view it in a negative light, that's likely all you're going to see.

But if you try to incorporate some type of positivity or light into that situation, it definitely can lighten the load a little bit.

Doesn't mean it's going to take the pain away, but it could, you know, lighten the blow.

Yeah, absolutely.

Perspective.

Yeah, it's all about perspective.

So what's one of your favorite hobbies outside of doing makeup?

My favorite hobby outside of doing makeup, I would say, truth be told, I'm more so like a nature girl.

So I love going for, like, a walk, you know, going outside into the nature setting, going to go get grounded.

For real?

For real.

Because you have to.

You have to find that type of piece, that security.

And if it's not makeup, it's waxing.

Because I am actually doing my esthetician apprenticeship right now.

So that's like what I meant by when I said I was going to be adding more services to my business, because I do want to dive into the, you know, facials, waxing, skin care overall.

But, yeah, that's what I would say.

Getting there slowly but surely, step by step, you'll get there.

Well, Maya, we want to thank you again for joining us.

It's been fun.

We can.

We can definitely, definitely keep going.

But we are limited.

So understandable.

But hey, we can, we can always do a part two.

I'm always welcome to part two.

So I'd definitely be glad to join for part two.

Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to share your story and just give us some insight to your journey to this point at lcc.

Thank you so much.

I really appreciate it.

I was nervous, but you guys made this so comfortable, so welcoming.

We try.

We try.

So this is great.

Thank you guys.

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