I'm Dr. Lisa,
mom of two, and creator of The Fresh Dolls.
After witnessing the lack of representation in the toy
industry, I founded The World of EPI designed to represent beauty
and diversity in all children.
My parents always provided for us.
And so in many ways it was a little distorted because I thought everyone
lived the way that we did.
It wasn't until I was in college where I realized the money was currency
and how many sacrifices my family had to make so that my sister and
I grew up incredibly comfortable.
I was the first African-American female to graduate with a PhD
in marketing and logistics.
But it was kind of bittersweet that there was no one that had come before me.
I became pregnant with my first child in 1995.
And at that time I was starting my new position as an assistant professor.
I wanted to make sure that my husband and I were financially
stable. But as life would have it,
that didn't exactly happen.
Basically six months after my son was born, I would be facing a divorce.
So it was incredibly financially stressful because I went from a
dual income to a single income and there were huge legal bills.
The only thing that really helped me to survive was the
support of family and friends.
I began to be able to breathe a little bit easier once I received tenure,
because it was guaranteed income.
I know I had never seen an African-American female get tenure.
I had seen others do it before, and if they could do it, then I could do it.
And then I'll have the opportunity to become a multimillion-dollar endowed
chair at the University of Arkansas.
Even though I had all those accolades, I didn't feel totally fulfilled.
So I started writing a book.
And what I've found out is that success is based on how much of a significance
are you being in others' lives.
So when I published the book, Walmart reached out and asked if I would allow
them to sell the book in their stores.
And then they came back and asked if I would do a line of children's books.
I decided to write a book that was going to be totally inclusive.
I had characters that were African American, Caucasian, Asian,
Latina, Latino, and I loved it.
The books did very well that they asked if I would do a line of dolls.
I said, absolutely not because I know nothing about doing anything
with toys. But I was sitting there watching an updated doll study.
I was shocked when I heard the little black girl say she wanted
to play with the white doll because the black doll was not pretty.
And that broke my heart.
And so even though three times I had told Walmart, no, I call them back that day
and I said, yes. When I made the decision to leave the
university, it was frightening.
It required me to leave a job where I had literally a job for life.
I did talk to my financial advisor and he said to me, you're planning
a great retirement for yourself. Now is not the time to leave.
In spite of the great advice, I decided to invest in myself and in my dreams.
My dream then, as it is now at The World of EPI is to build products that
empowers children of all ages to see their beauty and their brilliance.
Even though I'm seeing profits, I'm still constantly
reinvesting it into the company.
It was still financially, incredibly hard.
I mean, I went from driving a Mercedes that was worth $90,000 to driving
a car that had a value of $1,500.
There were many days that I had sleepless nights because I couldn't
figure out how I was going to pay the mortgage. The company had no investors.
I had to use equity in my house.
I ended up moving from my home into an apartment.
And if it weren't for the support of friends and family
and pulling from my retirement,
I do not know how I would've made it.
I remarried in 2006.
And at that time I inherited another son, Daniel. I did indeed have the support of
a partner, but I still had the details of running a company with now the demands
of being a wife and a mother of two.
Things began to gradually change at about 2012. As I grew to confidence and
trusting myself in my own decision-making, my company grew. Having a little bit more
income, I was able to start paying my own bills and not needing the support
of my family as I had to previously.
Going through the financial challenges that I did, it taught me that I had to
be more protective of my finances because I know money can be finite. So I'm always
putting money away and planning long-term.
But as in my business, there are things that come up that I didn't plan for.
So it's an idea of strategically planning and making financial
decisions in the moment.
Because the company is now profitable,
we are able to give to so many charities that help children.
I get to support my family and my family's current and future dreams.
And I hope that I am an example to my children, that as they move forward
in their companies, that they see that it can be a challenge, but it's
possible to achieve your dreams.