Deja Davis
Managing Editor
“The most exciting thing about coming to Jackson State to do this forum is having this chance to come back to my university to be an example of ‘you can do it too’. It allows the opportunity for students and organizations to come together and exhibit the THEEILOVE mantra,” said Latasha Houston. 
Writer, businesswoman, influential speaker, and author of “The Seven Year Promise”, Houston is a native of Jackson, Miss., where she attended Jackson State University, studying public relations and minoring in English.
Post-graduation Houston moved to Washington, D.C. to take on a job working for the Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI) for seven years.
Writing has always been her first love since she was a child, but it was not until she came to college that made her really have to decide what was more important.
“When I first came to Jackson State, I was a biology major because I thought I wanted to be a doctor. I have always loved writing since, but I thought that you could not make that much money as a writer, so I wanted to go with what was going to make me some money at the time,” she said.
Like most college students, choosing a major can definitely become a headache and what one may originally think is their calling may suddenly change.
Houston shared one of her experiences that played a huge factor to help her along the way to where she currently is now.
“I hated biology, so one day I went to Honors College to change my major to Business Administration and another student beside me asked why I am changing my major to business,” she said.
Houston continued, “That student’s exact words to me were: ‘you know depending on what you want to do, you don’t need a business degree to own a business.’ That is what gave me the courage to change my major.”
Seven years ago, she received a prophecy from God and for seven years she had been waiting on that prophecy to be fulfilled. This would be the fuel behind the creation of her first book entitled, “The Seven Year Promise.”
The book is about Houston’s life, trials, vulnerable moments, and unexpected plans that she has overcome.
“My book is a book of faith. It is about my faith journey and it is about me dealing with life ups and downs, daily disappointments and life altering events,” Houston said. “Each chapter of my book has a devotional to go with it and it each devotional is broken down to a different rule.”
Even though her life is being talked about, she wants men and women to feel strengthened and encouraged while reading about her overcoming adversities.
Houston shared some advice to assist students at Jackson State to secure a job while in school and after graduating.
- “Make sure you write it all down, no matter how big or how small you think it is, write down your thoughts.”
- “Take advantage of any type of writing classes that you can as well as speaking classes because they’re both almost synonymous.”
- “Invest in professional photos, head shots, and personality shots.”
- “Network because the person that you might meet today may be the person that you need tomorrow.”
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