By Les Ong on January 16, 2026
When LaTanya says she meets people where they are, she means it literally and figuratively. As the founder of Illuminate Your Journey, a Phoenix-based empowerment coaching practice, LaTanya has built her reputation on a simple but powerful philosophy: everyone’s healing journey is unique, and true transformation happens when we listen without judgment.
“What sets me apart is the fact that I meet a person where they are without judgment,” LaTanya explains. “Everybody can have a theory. Everybody doesn’t follow up underneath a theory. Because I don’t follow directly up underneath a theory and am able to look and hear you where you are and meet you where you are, I create or accommodate things that will help me reach you.”
LaTanya brings over 25 years of experience helping people navigate life’s most challenging transitions. Her journey into empowerment coaching was a natural evolution from her work as an educator, where she spent years supporting students and families through difficult times. Two years ago, she took the leap to establish Illuminate Your Journey as her own practice, driven by a desire to help people on her own terms.
“I was at a point in life where I said, I want to do this for myself,” she recalls. “I love helping people the way I see that they need to be helped versus being held up underneath somebody else’s rules. I like to give people what they need, accommodation, meet them where they are, versus having to limit what I can do for them.”
The name Illuminate Your Journey itself reflects LaTanya’s approach to her work. “It was just me playing around with the words,” she says, “light, you know, bringing light to someone, journey, talking about a journey, as people go through different parts of their life.”
What makes LaTanya’s practice distinctive is her refusal to rely solely on textbook approaches. As a multi-certified coach with specializations ranging from grief counseling to addressing people-pleasing behaviors, she holds a doctorate in leadership and business. Yet her true expertise lies in her ability to truly listen and adapt to each client’s unique circumstances.
“I’m not just using just a typical book,” she emphasizes. “I’m actually meeting you, hearing you, without judgment and seeing the different things that you may be going through that may be affecting you.”
Her client base reflects the breadth of her approach. Working with individuals from age six through adulthood, LaTanya helps people transition through health trauma, overcome obstacles, and reach their full potential. “My ideal client is one for all ages,” she says. “It’s anyone who is trying to figure their next path out or trying to transition through something or they’re stuck in a situation where they’re trying to get through it and they just don’t know how.”
While Illuminate Your Journey is based in Phoenix, where LaTanya has lived since 1996, her impact extends far beyond Arizona. She conducts workshops and motivational speaking engagements internationally, with events as far-reaching as Ireland. Yet she maintains strong ties to her adopted hometown, drawn by what she calls “the sunshine and the growth and the possibilities that are here.”
Originally from Indiana, LaTanya was brought to Phoenix by her brother and immediately fell in love with the area. “I’ll take those three months” of intense heat, she jokes, referring to Phoenix’s famously hot summers. “The other nine months are beautiful.”
Her work takes many forms. Beyond one-on-one coaching sessions, she offers group settings, week-long retreats, and customized programs tailored to individual needs and budgets. “My pricing varies based off of what you need,” she explains. “Once we discuss things, and then I look at your budget, what are we able to fit in there? My thing is I always want to try to give you the max within your budget.”
LaTanya’s commitment to service extends beyond her coaching practice. She actively supports several charitable organizations, including Tall Girls United, which helps women over six feet tall navigate challenges with clothing and furniture availability. She’s also involved with the Bridget Pettis Foundation, focused on farming and local community development for youth, and Mental Heart, an organization dedicated to helping people through the grieving process.
Her dedication hasn’t gone unnoticed. LaTanya was nominated for the Forbes Entrepreneur Impact award, placing sixth in a highly competitive field. She’s also received the Power Women Award and numerous other honors throughout her career.
When asked about the influences that shaped her approach, LaTanya points to her family. “Always pushing to do better, always watching them run their businesses, just expectations, just believing that you can do it and keep moving,” she reflects on the lessons that drive her work today.
She also credits starting her own business as a transformative experience. “It has given me the opportunity to meet so many different people and to see that many people in life are going through so many different things and they’re healing,” she says. “A lot of people don’t understand why they’re going through things, and through this process, it has just been amazing just to see a level of different people and to hear them and to listen without judgment.”
Beyond her professional life, LaTanya is an athletic coach for volleyball and basketball, bringing the same philosophy of meeting people where they are to the sports arena. She’s also an avid traveler with a passion for gardening and working with plants, finding balance and inspiration in these hobbies that fuel her work.
Looking ahead, LaTanya envisions Illuminate Your Journey reaching even more people in need of guidance and support. “I see my business five years from now being able to reach more people in the community,” she shares. “Being able to help have different pockets of groups where people are coming together in the community to help and support each other. I see it growing internationally even more and having a variety just of opportunities where people are able to meet and understand each other right exactly where they’re at, with no judgment.”
Her tagline says it all: Empower, Success, and Longevity. These three words encapsulate LaTanya’s mission to help individuals not just overcome immediate challenges, but to build lasting foundations for personal growth and fulfillment.
What makes her particularly effective is her genuine appreciation for seeing people succeed. “I just love seeing people do well,” she says simply. Whether it’s helping a young entrepreneur find their footing, guiding someone through profound grief, or supporting an individual in recognizing and moving past trauma, LaTanya brings the same level of commitment and care to every interaction.
For those struggling to reach their full potential or feeling stuck in their current circumstances, LaTanya offers more than coaching. She offers partnership, understanding, and a judgment-free space to explore what’s holding them back and discover pathways forward.
If you’re ready to work with someone who will truly hear you, meet you where you are, and help you reach your full potential, LaTanya is here to guide you through whatever transition or challenge you’re facing.
Contact Illuminate Your Journey:
Don’t wait to start your transformation. Reach out today and discover what it means to have a coach who truly meets you where you are, without judgment, and helps you illuminate your unique journey to success.
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