"Who is Lonni?" Lonni will be unpacking who she is, where she comes from, and her why behind starting this new journey.
"Who is Lonni?"
Lonni will be unpacking who she is, where she comes from, and her why behind starting this new journey.
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Do you have something to ask or share with Lonni?
Submit all questions and stories to Chit Chat with Lonni.
Lonni will be answering questions that are submitted throughout different podcast episodes.
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Chit Chats with Lonni is mixed and produced by Ann-Catherine Desulme .
Connect with Lonni on Instagram:
Lonni (00:05):
You're listening to Chit Chats with Lonni, a podcast that was created to amplify black and brown voices, while unpacking some shit. I'm your host Jalonni Weaver and I hope you're ready to chit chat.
Lonni (00:22):
Hey, you all, welcome to Chit Chats with Lonnie. Oh my gosh, this is my first episode. Like, we're here. We're doing this thing. Oh my gosh. Yeah. There's so many mixed emotions right now. If only you all knew how many times I've recorded this episode, it's ridiculous, because I kept messing up, or something would happen or a distraction, but we're here. No distractions. We got this. I want to start off by saying thank you to everybody that has been in this process with me. I've had so many people support me, so many people be there for me, want to see me win, and it's such a good feeling. I have such an amazing audience, such an amazing, I would only want to say fan base. I hate that word of having a fan base, but just having supporters, people that are in your corner that want to see you win, and then also vice versa.
Lonni (01:20):
I want to see the people in my corner, win. We're here. Let's just shout out to my producer AC, you're amazing, the person who did my cover art, Doug, thank you. You're appreciated, and [the Southern 00:01:36] for the music throughout the podcast, and just everybody that has been here along the way. Just honestly, just, I just want to say thank you. You guys are amazing, and much love to you all, but we're here, and since we're here, let's talk about who Lonni is. A lot of you all know me as Jalonni. If you're here listening in from LinkedIn, you know me as Jalonni aka Recruiter Friend. If you're here from Instagram or Twitter, you know me as Lonni the Photographer. I wear so many hats, so I want to dedicate this episode to me.
Lonni (02:11):
I don't know if that sounds selfish. If it does, oh well, but I feel like it will give you guys a better idea of the reason why I started this podcast. It's not just like, oh, I was bored one day. A podcast sounds cool. Let's go for it. Let's do this. There is a reason behind why I started it. About me, my name is Jalonni. I go by Lonni. That's my street name or whatever. I was born in Maryland, PG County. I was raised in Texas, Dallas, Fort Worth area. Dallas and Fort worth are not the same, but I ain't going to let you all know where I live.
Lonni (02:55):
I moved here when I was about six. My dad got a job here. We moved, been here ever since. Love it, sometimes hated others. This weather is really a killer. We're in tornado season right now here in Texas. I hope you're holding up. I graduated high school in 2013, and after high school, I was like, okay, we did this thing ... [inaudible 00:03:21], I didn't want to go to college. I'm a first generation graduate, shout out to everybody that is first generation grad. You all are real MVPs. You all know the standards that we're put up to, so shout out to you all, once again. Went to college. Didn't know what I wanted to do. Didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. I just knew I had to go. My parents saved money, and I couldn't disappoint them. It was one of those things.
Lonni (03:50):
Like, I want to make everybody proud. Didn't really think about what does Jalonni want. I knew I didn't want to go to the military, because I can't fight, and I knew I didn't want to be a bum, because that's not okay, and so went to college. I grew up in a predominantly white area, so I was used to being the only, a lot. I went to college, and I felt like I didn't really have a sense of belonging with people that look like me. Now, I know that sounds weird, but I didn't feel like I belonged in the black group. I felt like I was too "white" for the blacks, but I was too black for the whites, if that made any sense. I kind of just did my own thing and was like, okay, I don't want to fit in with anybody. I just want to do my own thing, be myself, and that's when I created the look of the Lonni the photographer.
Lonni (04:48):
I love taking pictures. It was a hobby of mine, and it was something that I just enjoyed, and it was how I related to people. Everybody likes photographers. Everybody likes people that know how to make art, and so my way of having friends or gaining friends, whatever you may call it, was taking pictures, because who doesn't like their pictures taken. Who doesn't like to see themselves look good? That's really how I really got that confidence booster and really found my way of "fitting in". I got to college, ended up being a nursing major. Hated it, absolutely hated it. I was not good at anatomy and physiology, and I knew that as soon as I enrolled in. It was like, this is not for me.
Lonni (05:40):
Then I went to registrar's office, was like, "I need do something else." I ended up changing my major to radio-TV, and that was cool. I wanted to be a sportscaster. I wanted to talk about scores, be around all the fine athletes. Figured out that wasn't me, communications was not my thing. It's weird for if you are here from LinkedIn, and you guys know, like, girl, you be all over there. It's a different types of communication. Then I went to photo journalism. I was like, "Okay, that can't be hard. I can take pictures and then write about the pictures," but I didn't enjoy writing. Once again, I know it's funny if you're here from my LinkedIn page, you understand that I can write all day, but it's a different type of writing. I was like, "Yeah, no, I can't do this."
Lonni (06:24):
This was all within the first semester I did this many changes with my major. It was ridiculous. I finally found art school, and I was like, "Wow, this is where I fit in." I became a art major with a focus in photography and a minor in print making, and that was where I found my passion. That's where I found that I could truly be myself as a black woman, and I was probably one of the only black women in my art program. I found my passion for taking photos of black women. Every project from the beginning of, I guess, sophomore year up until my final project was black women. Then in my final project, I was like, "Let me twitch it up. Let me take pictures of black men." I ended up going to a barber shop, spent a whole semester at a barber shop and documented the process of a man getting a haircut and what happened in the barber shop.
Lonni (07:20):
That was probably one of my best experiences and one of my best top projects. I enjoyed it so much. I think that's why I advocate so much for people that look like me, and I want to help people that look like me, is because when I was in college and I was taking pictures of people that looked like me, black women, I would get questioned all the time, like, "Are you going to take pictures of anybody else? You always take pictures of these women." I know they want to say, "They're black women." Well, no, because black women are beautiful. I did that, and graduated college, barely. I was in and out of probation, almost got suspended, had to pay for school. I was a hot mess express, but I enjoyed college to the fullest.
Lonni (08:13):
Then I graduated, and was like, "Okay, so I just spent four years in school and don't know what the heck I want to do." I ended up, got out of college and I worked at a daycare. I remember this mindset. I was like, "I need a job, because bills are coming." This was before student loans started getting deferred. I was like, "I know I'm going to have to make payments on these student loans eventually. I need a job," so I was working at a daycare and making $10 an hour. In my mind, I'm thinking, "I just spent four years in school, spent 40,000 for schooling, and I'm making $10 an hour. The math ain't math, this money ain't added up." I did that for a while, and then I was like, "Something's got to give." At this point, I just needed a second job. I started working at UPS, and anybody that knows UPS knows that that's hard labor.
Lonni (09:05):
I wasn't the one that was sorting little small packages or in the trucks or any of that. I was in the huge 18 wheelers, stacking trucks for five to six hours a day. That right there will have you in shape and looking the best that you've ever looked. I did that, and one day I had got there and I was just over it. You ever just have a job and you clock in one day, and you're like, "Yeah, I'm doing. This is it"? That's what I had. I remember I walked in, I went to supervisor. I was like, "This is my last day," and they were like, "Are you going to finish out the shift?" I was like, "No," and I gave him my badge and left, because I couldn't do it anymore. After that, I was like, "Okay, there has to be other jobs out here. What do I like to do?"
Lonni (09:54):
I was like, "I like go pictures. I want to travel, but I don't have time to travel, and I don't have the money to travel, because all these jobs don't pay anything. What if I got a job at the airline?" At this point, I was applying to every single job that had airline in its hustle, applying to American, Spirit, Southwest, Delta, everybody, just applying. Just didn't even care what the job was. I was just applying. I ended up getting a call back from Southwest, and I was like, "Okay, cool. This is it." The job was a ramper. Anybody that doesn't know what a ramper is, they are the people that make sure your bags make it or don't make it. We're up under the plane, and in Texas, it is brutal, because if the tarmac, which is what the airplane sits on, if that out there is a hundred degrees, inside the bin up under the plane, it's at least 115.
Lonni (10:52):
You're sweating, throwing at least a hundred, 200 bags, maybe a thousand pounds of freight, nonstop, eight flights every day. That takes a toll, but you travel for free. I'll throw bags if you're telling me I have unlimited travel, I can go out of state, go out of the country on my off days. Cool, bet. I did that. I was like, "Okay, this is cool." I don't like being the only girl on the ramp. I was one of the only few women on the ramp. You get a different type of treatment. I'll just leave it at that. You got to work. There's no like, "Aw, she cute. She ain't got to throw bags." It's like, "All right, sis, either you're going to throw us the bags or you going to get in the bin and throw the bags." It was one of those things.
Lonni (11:39):
I was like, "Okay, I kind of want to go upstairs and wear dresses." I've never been a girly girl, but at this point, I was like, "Let me take my butt upstairs." I applied to be a operations agent, got the job. In the midst of transitioning from the ramp to operations agent, I had applied for leadership and development program. It's a rotational program that Southwest offers, and you do three rotations. Then at the end of the program, you get placed somewhere. I was like, "Let me do that. That's cool." I didn't get in the first time, upset, went upstairs, became an ops agent. I applied again after being an operation agent for about six months to a year, and I got in the program. Was going to move to Ohio, ready, excited. Looking at apartments, saving money. Let's go.
Lonni (12:27):
We leaving Texas. I got my ticket out. Then the panorama happened, the pandemic happened, and everything just got shut down. The program got taken away from me. The airline industry wasn't doing so hot. People weren't flying. People weren't able to fly. My mental health was struggling, because it takes a toll on you when you're in the airport, and you just come to work every day, but the airport's literally empty. You're like, "Okay, I don't know if the next day I'm going to have a job or not." I ended up taking Southwest's severance package, and I left. Then I ended up joining Chick-fil-A's leadership and development program, and I did that for about three months.
Lonni (13:16):
Then I got into an accident. I got hit by a car, riding a bike. I used to cycle all the time during the pandemic, and this happened. I don't really remember the accident. I don't remember what happened. I remember leaving the house that morning and then ending up in the hospital, and them asking me, "Hey, do you know why you're here, or what happened?" I'm like, "I guess I got hit by a car." Like, what? I always say an angel was there, because the time that I was down and out, I was hearing a voice. I heard a lady just asking me all these questions, but I couldn't really open my eyes or really see a face. It was just a voice. The lady who, the voice that I heard, she ended up taking my phone, using facial recognition and calling my mom.
Lonni (14:09):
I'm like, man, technology is crazy. Till this day, the lady stayed long enough to give her police statement, and till this day, I cannot get into contact with her, so angels are real. I don't know what anybody else's belief is, but The Most High is real. Angels are real, and I'm going to leave it at that. I got into this accident, wasn't able to walk out of the hospital, wasn't able to take a shower, do anything on my own. I needed help. My jaw was locked, so I wasn't able to open up my mouth. I had bit half of ... like a piece of my tongue off, so I wasn't able to eat. I had burns all over my body, so I wasn't able to sleep. I had three herniated disc in my spine, and my face was just, there was this huge scar on my face.
Lonni (15:05):
Everything was just bad. I had to get surgery on my back. I'm still have back issues to this day, but I'm here, and all praise is that I'm still here. That's one of the reasons why I want to share my journey, because after that, I think it changed my perspective on so much in life, in general. We often take life for granted until something happens, and it's like THAT switch, just like, "Okay, I need to get my ish together. I really need to sit down and figure out, God gave me a reason to be here. What is my purpose?" After that, I really sat down and thought about, "What do you want to do? What does Jalonni want to do? You were given a second chance."
Lonni (15:52):
Right. I ended up, I needed to work, and so I was on my bed or on the couch, because I couldn't walk upstairs to my bed. I was on my computer every day, nonstop, applying for jobs. Mind you, can't even walk on my own, and I'm applying for jobs. This was before LinkedIn started getting popping and everybody started using it. This was at the very beginning of the pandemic. I was like, "I need a job," and I started sharing my journey on LinkedIn. Like, "Hey, I'm looking for a job. It's hard. I'm applying, I'm getting ghosted. I just had a accident." I'm just sharing all of these details with people and maybe getting like 10, 15. Then it started growing to like a hundred, 200 likes on post, but nothing real crazy.
Lonni (16:41):
I ended up getting hired at a call center at a financial institution, and I worked with people's 401ks. That's when I really figured out, I enjoy really helping people. I enjoy helping people solve their problems, helping people navigate through different situations, educating people. I was educating individuals on what a 401k was, what a IRA is, what benefits they were eligible for. I was doing all of that, and that's when I figured out, okay, I enjoy this, but during that time, I was also interviewing with another company for an operations admin position, because I did a lot of admin work in college. I remember, first walking into the interview and it was a black woman that graded me. I was like, okay, I ain't never had this before. It is a person that looked like me, so I was like, "Cool."
Lonni (17:37):
I walked back to the interview room, and it was another person in there, And this woman was also a black woman. I'm like, "Oh shoot, like, what?" I'm just trying to figure out, what department, will I be working with you all, or what do you all do? How do I get to where you all are at? What is this?" We're talking and she's like, "Hey, I'm going to bring my colleague on the phone on video, because we're social distancing." A lady hops on the phone call, and it's another black woman. This is all the truth, you all. This is when that reality hit, like, "Okay, you're walking in a purpose. You just don't know what that purpose is right now, but these are signs."
Lonni (18:22):
I'm talking to these women, and I'm not even interested in the position that I applied to. I'm trying to figure out what is that these women do. I end up having a second interview, come back a second day, and the head of HR is a black woman. I kid you guys not, I didn't get the job, but I went home after that second interview, and I applied for my master's in human resource management. That just shows the end impact that people can have on your life. Literally, didn't think twice about it. Was like, "Mom, I'm going back to school. We're doing this." I enrolled in my masters while working a full-time job. I enrolled and was on probation. I'm not afraid to even say that. I graduated with barely a 3.0. Obviously, in order to be admitted into a master's program, you have to have a 3.0, so I was on probation while working a full-time job, while trying to heal.
Lonni (19:21):
Now I have a 4.0. I took a break from school, because it's a lot going on in my life. I feel like right now, I don't need school, but I can go back at any time. While I was in school, I was like, okay, I'm in human resource management. I'm getting this degree, but I need to know if I even like this. There's hope for people that aren't familiar with human resources, there's so many moving parts. There's benefits, payroll, diversity, equity and inclusion, talent acquisition, which is what I do. There's just so many moving parts. I was like, "Okay, I probably need to figure out what I want to do." I was blessed to get an opportunity at another financial institution.
Lonni (20:08):
Shout out to the first one that I worked at, because it gave me the opportunity go with the next one. I ended up going to that and getting an internship in talent acquisition, knew nothing about recruiting, nothing at all. I knew it meant, I talked to people, and I'll be hiring people, but I didn't know everything that went into actually recruiting. That's where I got my experience at, and I worked there for about six months. I got promoted to a full-time position as a recruiting coordinator. Then I got blessed with another opportunity to be an actual recruiter at my current company. Now I have the opportunity to actually bring people in that look like me and give people these chances.
Lonni (20:55):
I feel like I didn't really have that type of impact when I was doing other jobs. I had it, but it wasn't really direct, and now I feel like I'm in the position to make that impact. This brings me to why I decided to start this podcast. I have a voice. I've been through a lot of situations, and I've had to navigate through a lot of situations and environments and figure things out on my own. I never really had guidance. When people ask me for help with things, I'm like, "I'm still figuring out myself." Everything that I talk about is from my personal experience. I'm not an expert in it. I just learn how to navigate through these things and make it work, make it work for me.
Lonni (21:45):
There's so many people that feel like they don't have voices, and I found mine. I found mine on LinkedIn. I'm able to be vocal. I'm able to serve my community. I'm able to say things that some people may not be able to say, or they feel like they're going to lose their job or people are going to judge them. Honestly, you all, I don't care if people judge me. I don't care if people don't like what I say. I'm going to say it regardless, but I want this podcast to be a safe space. I want to feel like you're getting what you need and you're not alone, and you have somebody that is going through the same thing as you.
Lonni (22:27):
We're just millennials, or I'm millennial, gen Zers, and we're really just trying to navigate this crazy thing called life. We're just trying to make it. We're just trying to figure out what the next move is going to be. I'm learning that mental health is important, and that's honestly not something that we talk about a lot in the black community. That's something that I want to bring awareness to, and let's chit chat. That's where I got the name from is Chit Chats with Lonni, because a lot of these conversations are going to be high level, but we're going break open some shit. We're going to unpack some shit.
Lonni (23:11):
Yeah, I know I'm probably not supposed to say that, but that's what we're going to do. We're going to deep dive into it, and we're going to figure out where it starts, how we've navigated through these different situations, how to navigate through these different situations. I look forward to this journey with you all. I look forward to sharing my journey more in depth with you all, and I look forward to just seeing where this goes. I know I told people, I had friends ask me, "Are you doing this for money?" and honestly, no, I'm doing this podcast because I want to do it. I'm doing it, because there's things that need to be talked about and addressed that aren't addressed in the real world, or are covered up, or people are afraid to talk about them, and we're going to talk about it.
Lonni (24:04):
It may make some people feel uncomfortable. You may not like it, but it needs to be said. I just want to thank everybody for tuning in and sticking with me. I can't wait. Like I said before, I can't wait to share this journey with you all. I hope you guys are ready to chit chat. Thank you all. Have a good night. Don't forget to subscribe, and leave a comment if you want. I want this to reach a large amount of people. This podcast isn't for a specific group of people, but I want it to reach as many people as it can reach. Just subscribing, leaving a little comment would be great. Once again, thank you all for tuning in, and we'll chat soon.