In 1980, when young Stacy Lattisaw sang the hit song “Let Me Be Your Angel,” she had no idea the lyrics would be prophetic.
Fast forward to today, we have Stacy Lattisaw-Jackson, minister and motivational speaker, CEO, wife of 19 years, and mother of two teenagers. Talking to Stacy was rewarding because she knows where she’s been, what she’s got, and where she’s going. Her purpose and her passion were made clear when she told me “I’m not the same girl”, which is the name of her book. “The closer I get to God the more I know what her plan is for me.” Stacy is the executive director of Believer’s Building Bridges; her company published her book and is also the home of her Youth Empowerment Program. Stacy is on a mission to reach the kids. She holds youth conferences and events, encourages children to finish school, convincing them that they don’t have to follow the crowd. She challenges them to stand up and lead. She also teaches about the principle of integrity and not being afraid to support abstinence. “There aren’t many role models for our kids today, so I do my best to be in the gap for a lot of them.” Her heart goes out to those who are being bullied.” I had a hard time in school. Because I was very light, they called me a white girl and a yellow girl. I was quiet, shy and somewhat shy, so people took it as stagnant . above.” Unfortunately, after she became a child star, she took a turn for the worse. “You know that when you reach a certain level of success, not everyone is happy for you. And a lot of times the opposition comes from our own people.” Not only did she have to worry about the students, but now she had teachers joining in: “I was 15 and grown women would look me up and down and talk to each other about what I had.
“I’d hand in my papers and they’d say they couldn’t find it; anything to harass me.” Eventually, Stacy’s parents had enough and decided to homeschool her. She went on to be a star.
Following her crossover and mainstream status with “Love on a Two Way Street,” “Miracles” and “Let Me be your Angel,” Stacy was taken under the wings of Narada Michael Walden and produced five hit albums that led her to sign with Motown in 1986.
It was at that moment that Stacy began to see things that disheartened her. “I realized that she was in the depths of an industry that had a lot of corrupt people.” “My daughter Kayla wants to get into the industry, she sings and writes songs. But I won’t push her, in fact I encourage her to wait until she’s a little older. I want her to enjoy her childhood of her and get ready. for the life of the industry.” Stacy said, “I had a nice experience being a child star, but it’s a lot if you’re not prepared.”
I understand a lot about what Michael Jackson went through when he was a child star. “I was lucky enough to open the Jackson Family tour, which was a great opportunity for me. I actually had the opportunity to speak with Michael, a moment I will treasure for as long as I live.” He reflected on the childhood he never had. “I didn’t know how much I missed growing up until one day I took my son Kevin to one of their games. I was sitting in the car watching them have fun like teenagers and my mind went back. I realized I never went to a dance or party school graduation, and I never went to any school games. I got crushed and cried right there in the car.”
Road traveling can be a lot and when you’re 15 it can be scary. There were sad moments when, “I was forced to leave my family and fly 20 hours to an event in Africa. I was tired and didn’t want to go. I sat down and cried because I was exhausted but still had to go.” And then there were funny memories “like the time I was on stage and I forgot the words to the second verse. I had to play it back and make up words.” “Now this was one of my hit songs, so everyone in the audience was singing the right words and I was singing the wrong ones.”
“I guess everyone was saying what he’s singing,” while laughing. At this point, they had Stacy on the road at least 4 nights a week. “We had fun but we got very tired.”
It wasn’t until she recorded “Where We Go From Here” with Johnny Gill that she realized she wasn’t ready to be in the music business. Although her mother was traveling with her on the way, they all had very limited knowledge of the industry. “We were getting ripped off. This was a chart-topping hit record for several weeks at number 1, and we were told we only sold 30 or 40,000 records. We both knew that couldn’t be true. Johnny was going to audit the company.” her, but she knew it was time to leave the industry. I told them to go ahead and keep my share of the money.”
Stacy eventually left the industry after marrying a consistent sound engineer named Kevin Jackson, who was determined to be in her life forever. “My husband was my sound guy at the time, and our first date was at Pizza Hut,” she laughs. “He went out of his business and we dated for 11 days straight. Six months later we got engaged, six months after that.” we were married.” She talks about her relationship, “Divorcing us is not an option. There is no such thing as the perfect marriage, and we have had our share of arguments, but we are God fearing and respectful of one another. The secret to a successful marriage is two forgiving people.” Seventeen years later they have a thriving business and he is particularly supportive of her ministry. He is currently in the studio working on his Gospel Project and will announce the release of new music in the future. “This time I’m ready.” Stacy encourages everyone to “learn the business you want to be in, tap into your gifts and talents, figure out what you’re good at, and don’t give up. Some people give up right before the breakup hits. Learn who God is and he will know his purpose.”
“Stacy, what do you want people to know about you?”
“I want them to know the real me. I didn’t get a chance to show that on some shows, like the article about ‘Unsung Hero.’ And that’s one of the reasons why I wrote my book. I want people to know that I’m not the same girl, I have renewed myself!”
