Today we’d like to introduce you to Leilani Melendez.
Hi Leilani, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I was born in a small city (Waukegan, IL) but raised in a big city (Minneapolis, MN). I am the youngest girl out of six children. I had a hard childhood after my parents divorced. I became a teen mother in 1998 & graduated from high school pregnant with twins girls in 1999.
It took for my children’s father to see something in me that I didn’t to push me. I can’t thank him enough for that, because I had many obstacles I had to face. Along this journey I noticed I wanted more out of life than to build someone else’s dream. So, I went to trade school and took a lot of courses that will help me be my own boss one day. It was very hard doing this at a young age and being mother of three. I graduated in 2010 with four trades and “A” honor roll status.
I took a little break from school and took a lot of trips with the family. If you know me it wasn’t a long break and I enrolled in college. In 2017 my life changed again. I started caring for my mother because I refuse to put her in a nursing home. That same year; I also took in love ones to help them during their hard times. However, that lead to me adopting my great-niece & great-nephew in 2020.
Yes, I know I had my hands full but I still graduated from college in 2018 (double major). I even quit my 9-5 to start my own business. By the end of 2021 Leilani’s Consulting was open for business. As of August 2022 I can now run my own tax company, grandmother of two and one one the way. I am truly bless.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Credit: I’ve faced many challenges and obstacles regarding credit repair. I started wondering if this was even something I wanted to do; I didn’t have any paying clients to afford insurance or software. I tried advertising on social media with flyers, but that was not working. I was told to use myself, but I didn’t have any collection, and I knew I needed to stop using my credit cards so often. Someone told me to offer my full service to two clients for free. So, I did that and advertised their progress. My business is doing better with a lot of help from word of mouth.
Taxes: I was knowledgeable on how to file W2s but unaware of how to file business taxes until I met someone who taught me how. That’s when I found out a lot of businesses were unequipped with their income/expenses. I had to research a lot of their business information to determine their tax deductions eligibility. For example, I had a client that kept all her receipts, but they weren’t to help me file her business taxes. I educated the client on a software I use to help her stay organized. I have included this service in my business to help business owners keep their expenses/income for tax time.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Leilani’s Consulting was created in 2021, however I’ve been doing taxes since 2005 (individuals), credit repair since 2019, travel in 2017, and notary in 2020. Many wanted to know when I would take my skills and turn them into a business. I wanted a business but was afraid to fail, so I kept educating myself and networking. I met Maurice Davis (M&M Mgt) that taught me about finances and marketing, as well ashow to be outgoing and brand myself. I met a lady by the name of Nancy K (Black Business Enterprise) who ran a number of Facebook groups. We met a few times and I attended many of her events before Nancy connected me with her associates to set up my LLC. She also showed me how to network and do credit repair. Once I knew how to set up my business for funding and credit, I decided to add that to my business. I then set up my daughter Amant’e Taylor’s business (Saditty Kosmeticis). I have a niece named Alexis Smith (Uplift Realty), whom I team up with to help her clients with their credit before buying a home. I am always pushing myself to find new services to add. I want to be a one-stop financial company.
Leilani’s Consulting stands out for many reasons. A few business owners need help tracking their income and expenses, so I request receipts and bank statements to look for all the tax deductions that their company qualifies for. I enter that information into a spreadsheet then convert it to a PDF. This gives me categories such as advertising, office rent, office supplies, gas, etc. Theprocess takes a while, but I enjoy helping people understand how much money they can save. When it comes to credit repair, I review the client’s credit report with them—educating them on their credit. By educating the client, I hope they learn how credit works and will manage it much better—allowing them to save money on repairing it. Most start a business but don’t structure it correctly to get funding/credit. I teach future business owners how to structure their business and pull business credit without pulling/connecting it to their credit.
What does success mean to you?
In my opinion, success is overcoming obstacles and completing the journey toward a goal or purpose regardless of the setbacks. Being physically and mentally healthy is where my success starts. Without that, I wouldn’t be able to deal with the obstacles/challenges in an individual’s daily life. Once I am fully successful I will be able to prepare individuals for success with me.
Most proud of: I am proud of conquering my fears head-on and successfully starting my own business. Doing that encouraged my oldest twin daughter Amant’e Taylor to start her makeup line, Saditty Kosmetics. I am also in the process of helping my son Michael Melendez (Underlaidkey) start his photographer business and my youngest twin daughter, Alant’e Taylor, with her esthetics business.
Pricing:
- Taxes $300+
- Notary $5
- Travel Fee $25 (to do in person)
- Credit Repair $99+
- Travel membership $110 a yr
Contact Info:
- Website: lconsultingll.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laniconsulting/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100073328634346
Image Credits
Ceaser Palace: How I look when travel at wholesale price Credit: Process of client credit score Flyer with my name and contact information for service Black Business Ball (Black Business Enterprise)- Happens every year in October to acknowledge/reward business owners Business Health- How the business credit heath rating look on my personal company
