From left, Destini Jordan, daughter of LaToyia, Jaden Jordan, son of LaToyia, and LaToyia S. Jordan pose during event. 

Editor’s Note: This is part of a series of stories spotlighting influential Black community members in honor of Black History Month.

{h3 style=”text-align: left;”}Through a vision to empower women in East Texas, Henderson native LaToyia S. Jordan has impacted the lives of many women and young girls in the region.

Jordan currently holds many roles in the East Texas community such as board member of Empowerment Community Development Corporation, local nonprofit assisting the community with events and a variety of forums, board member of the United Way of Smith County, 2022 Women in Tyler Honoree, founder of nonprofit organization I Am Beautiful Movement and CEO of BAM (Beautiful Ambitious Motivated) Woman Magazine.

Notably, she is best known through her passion to uplift, motivate and inspire women through the I Am Beautiful Movement where she encourages each woman to find their inner beauty and radiate with confidence.

Feeling beautiful wasn’t always an easy thing that came to Jordan, which is why she emphasizes it today.

Jordan shared a traumatic experience on a regular night out with a friend that sent her into a depression, which then awakened the inspiration for the movement.

At the time, Jordan was in her late 20s and was out with her friend at a lounge in San Antonio, when her life completely changed.

“As I was going down the steps in the lounge my heel caught the rug and I slipped and fell face first and skint up all the left side of my face. I chipped my tooth. When I got up I was mortified and my friend was like, ‘Oh my God, are you OK?’ and I was like, ‘No I’m not OK,’” she recalled.

According to Jordan, the incident shaped her in many ways, especially the outlook of her self-image.

“After that I went into a deep depression, by that time I wasn’t working anymore and I would say it was more of what I looked like because I always cared about my features,” she said. “I feel like God stripped me down to ‘this is what you look like.’”

“I felt ugly, I felt ashamed and embarrassed. I was like, ‘I can’t go anywhere with this scar on my face.’ I got my teeth fixed but there was still something missing,” Jordan said.

At that time, Jordan was already a mother of her two children and was fighting to keep herself together.

“I was going through the motions, the kids going through school and still doing stuff and making sure they were good. But I would get home and lay in a bed the whole day and when they came home, I would put on ‘that face’ for everybody,” she said.

Through that stage in her life, she took her experience and decided she wanted to do more and assist other women who may be lacking in confidence.

“I was wearing hats to cover, and just not feeling pretty. I knew that if I felt like that with scars and stuff on my face, and I just knew people without scars that go through everyday life feel unpretty and don’t feel beautiful,” she said.

During the time, Jordan was disconnected from the world but was encouraged by a mentor. With assistance from family and church members, the I Am Beautiful movement was born in 2013.

With her incident experience and having her daughter as inspiration, she went full force with the movement to create memories for young girls in East Texas by giving them a workshop for them to obtain information and get inspired.

“I wanted my daughter to have something to grow up with, I wanted her to do things that I didn’t do as a little girl. So that’s what I really focused I Am Beautiful around, the things I would’ve liked to have done at that age,” she said.

The first year of the free workshop, it reached 20 to 25 girls who loved the experience, according to Jordan. Although it received positive feedback, she didn’t think of continuing it, but others encouraged her and said “you started something, you have to keep it going,” she said.

This year, the workshop will be celebrate its 10th year being hosted in Henderson. The movement has changed the lives of thousands of girls through witnessing female leaders such as Miss America Nia Kranklin in 2019, human trafficking informative lessons, mother and daughter experiences, confidence building through photoshoots, fashions shows, age-appropriate makeup activities, vision boards and the main goal of allowing every woman to feel beautiful and battle self-esteem, self-image and confidence issues.

According to Jordan, the workshop attracts girls from all surrounding East Texas areas and has even attracted Dallas residents.

Jordan also promotes ways for young girls to approach the business industry in a professional manner, prom dress giveaways and assists them with mentors and networking opportunities. She also encourages mother and daughter relationships, which is something she didn’t have growing up due the loss of her mother at age 16 when she died of cancer.

The I Am Beautiful Movement currently stands under the nonprofit of Empowerment Community Development Corporation alongside the historic Texas African American Museum in Tyler which is also under the nonprofit.

Continuing the mission of empowering women, during the yearly workshops, Jordan also launched another outlet, BAM Woman Magazine and Podcast, which spotlights women making an impact in the community and all over the world.

“Seeing other women out there making moves and making things happen, it just excites me. I love it,” Jordan said. “There’s great women here doing big things.”

As a powerhouse woman in the community, Jordan mentioned that as a Black woman she has to “work a little bit harder and go the extra mile when doing things.”

“I feel like right now with Black women, we’re doing so much and accomplishing so much. From starting businesses, nonprofits, organizations and the list goes on and on. Being a Black woman in leadership I do feel like all eyes are on me,” she said.

She also mentioned the importance of representation and her goals to encourage future generations of Black women.

“Representation really matters, just being an example and a mentor for the next little Black girl to be like, ‘Oh wow, she did that, I want to do that too,’” Jordan said.

For more information about the I Am Beautiful Movement, go to http://www.iambeautifulmovement.org/about.html. For BAM magazine go to, www.bamwoman.com.