Women's History: LaShonda Williams

LaShonda Williams has proven herself to be a pillar of the community as an accomplished entrepreneur and a diligent public servant.

She was born in Texas to Oscar Lee Williams and Denecia Paschall. Her military father was a native of the Wingo community between Trezevant and McKenzie.

LaShonda’s mother was an alcoholic, and at age three she was adopted by her great aunt, Joan Taylor, and moved to Wingo.

Her father died when she was eight, and she didn’t see her mother again until she was 18 years old.

She was expecting a visit from her estranged biological mother at some point, and it came during cheer practice at West Carroll High School. LaShonda told The Banner, “She came in, and I knew right away it was her.”

Denecia relocated to the area, started a life and got married. “There was still a disconnect. I was raised in Wingo with such strong family values, but I still respected her as my mother. I saw her on holidays.” Denecia died of cirrhosis of the liver, but was able to see three of her grandchildren, including LaShonda’s oldest daughter Alajah.

LaShonda graduated from West Carroll in 1998. She was chosen as Most School Spirit by her class and earned Who’s Who honors. She served as a principal’s assistant and was admittedly a “teacher’s pet”.

She attended Jackson State Community College on a cheer scholarship, studying business and marketing. After a few months, she decided it wasn’t for her.

“When I told my family [I was quitting school], it was the end of the world, oh my gosh… But as they see, I had a motivation like no other. I was determined to be successful.”

Having worked at E.W. James in McKenzie during school, she then worked in marketing at a local window company.

She read an ad in The Banner for Rainbow, a vacuum company seeking sales reps. LaShonda was one of many to be interviewed but made the cut.

What would become a long, successful career got off to a rough start for the young, eager seller. “My first 12 appointments, I didn’t sell anything,” she lamented. “But then it was like a rocket taking off, I sold everything.”

She was promoted to sales manager after several months. After several years, she opened her first office in Milan, then another in McKenzie. She employed as many as 20 people at one time.

Despite her business burgeoning as a manager, she never lost the itch for sales, so she returned to sales rep work. That continued until the pandemic, as it felt unsafe to do in-home demonstrations with a daughter with asthma back at home. She scaled back her involvement with Rainbow, but continued to do sales calls.

Around that time, a friend introduced her to the multi-level marketing nutrition business. LaShonda opened Lakeway Nutrition in Paris, followed by stores in Mayfield, Paducah, Stewart County and Jackson. She has since sold the others, but there are still seven stores in her “down line,” meaning she gets a portion of sales from those stores.

When she narrowed her focus to Lakeway, it took off. “I was amazed at how the community welcomed us with open arms.” She tapped into the school systems and says they probably deliver 200 drinks per week to area schools.

“It was so busy, I couldn’t even think about Rainbow for probably two years.”

After six months, Lakeway had to be expanded to accommodate the customer base. Eventually, LaShonda hired a manager to run the shop day-to-day.

“I tried to create different marketing strategies to separate my loaded tea store from the others, and it’s paid off so far.”

Lakeway’s success allowed LaShonda to resume Rainbow demonstrations.

She has been with Rainbow for over 25 years, and Lakeway Nutrition celebrates its fifth anniversary on July 3.

Both of LaShonda’s daughters, Alajah and Aleecia, have worked at Lakeway, and Aleecia recently began selling for Rainbow.

Somehow, over the years, LaShonda has found the time to serve the public in a plethora of capacities.

She served on the policy council at Head Start for six years, including as vice chairman and chairman.

In 2018, she ran for McKenzie’s school board as a write-in candidate and won with 204 votes. She again rose through the ranks to vice chairman, and has served as chairman for two years.

She serves on the McKenzie Middle School Parent Advisory Board and was president when her kids attended. She also serves on the Pre-K Advisory Board.

She serves on the local foster care board, serves the Miss Teen Volunteer America program and is a member of the McKenzie Rotary Club.

In 2021, she joined the Henry County Chamber board.

She serves on the Henry County Healthcare Foundation Board and completed the Henry County Leadership class.

LaShonda also completed the WestStar program, earning the CP Boyd Award for top leadership. She said, “WestStar was by far the best thing I’ve ever done.”

Recently, LaShonda was nominated for a Sterling Award by the Jackson Area Business and Professional Women as one of the 20 Most Influential Women in West Tennessee 2025.

Lakeway was named Henry County’s Small Business of the Year two years ago.

LaShonda spoke to The Banner about the challenges of being a female in business and in society at large.

“In general, and especially when you’re in leadership positions or an entrepreneur, people look at you differently because you’re a woman. And not only am I a woman, I’m a black woman, a single mom, and a woman that doesn’t have the degrees behind her name. It’s challenging. I’ve had to prove myself.

“Sometimes as a woman, you don’t have the support you think you should have. Sometimes, when I deal with men in certain roles, I feel like they don’t respect things like they should because they’re coming from a woman. I wish I could say in 2025 we’re not still facing that, but the truth of the matter is we are. But if you look over the last five to ten years, women are really stepping up. There are a lot of women in leadership positions now. I just want people to realize just because you’re a woman doesn’t mean you can’t do it. I do think it takes a strong woman to be in a leadership position, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be a strong, educated woman. If you have experience and passion, somebody will give you a chance.”

LaShonda spoke about one recent challenge. “Hiring a superintendent in a small town was a big deal, and I had to be the lead in that. There were some conversations that made me think people probably thought I couldn’t do it. But I worked tirelessly day and night to make sure I succeeded, and we worked together and got the cream of the crop.”

LaShonda credits her adoptive mother, her “Momma”, who died just over a decade ago and would have been 100 this year, for the woman she is today.

“She shaped me in everything I am today. She was my all. She taught me how to clean, cook, how to be a mother, she taught me everything I know. I know she would be very proud of me today. A lot of times people will say, ‘why do you do so much?’. It’s me letting her know. That, and leaving a legacy for my kids.

“She didn’t have to take me in. She was elderly, in her 60s when she adopted me, so that was a challenge in itself. But she didn’t miss a beat. She made sure I had everything I needed and more.

“I think that’s the reason why I have such a big heart and try to help the less fortunate. I was never less fortunate because of Wingo as a community. Everybody works together. But I could have been. Having a mother that’s an alcoholic that didn’t raise us, I could have been that kid that was thrown out there to either swim or drown.”

“Wingo is a place like no other. It’s a wide-open community, and most everybody is relatives. They come together for everything. They still cook every Sunday. To this day, we all go back.

“They support you 110 percent. I’m glad my kids have gotten to see how it is. I couldn’t imagine having been raised anywhere else. With really good morals, family values. They always have that strong bond. And there have been a lot of successful people to come out of Wingo.”

LaShonda finds herself on the other side of that equation as a mother.

“I’m trying my best to raise my daughters to be strong. Being a single mother was obviously not ideal, but I overcame it. If I had to work six or seven days a week to make ends meet, that’s what I did. I didn’t want my kids to grow up without just because they grew up in a single-parent home.

“I first taught them they need to have a good relationship with God, because in this world today we need it, and as a single mother, if I didn’t have that, I don’t know what I would have done.

“I taught them they needed to work, so when I started [Lakeway] they worked when they turned 14. I’ve been strict when it comes to school work, because it’s important.

“I’m very proud of them. They’ve done extremely well, they’re good kids. I try my best not to spoil them. I teach them that you have to work in life to have things.

“They’re my greatest accomplishment. My momma would be proud of them too.”

LaShonda shared her advice to younger generations of women. “You need to fight for what you believe in, whether you’re a woman or not, and I know sometimes when you’re a woman, you think people aren’t going to listen. But if you’re passionate about it, you fight and speak up anyway. If you’re at the table (and if you are, that’s already a plus), while you’re at that table, you’ve got to speak up. And do your research. If you’re going to talk about it and be involved, you need to know the back ends of it.”

She added, “Support other women. Just because it’s not me at that table, if it’s another woman that got it over me, we’ve gotta support one another. That’s one of the biggest challenges is supporting each other. And it doesn’t matter if they’re black or white, they’re a woman at the end of the day.”

She also offered this advice to men. “Respect women. Respect that woman that’s in that position or that leadership role. She’s there for a reason. I know sometimes it’s hard, and a lot of times it’s the way men grew up. Not all men were taught to respect women. But respect that woman. And give that woman your feedback. Just because she’s a woman doesn’t mean she won’t listen to a man. Support that woman, but most importantly, respect that woman.”