La’Torria Lemon: Award-winning Publicist Stars in OWN’s “Heart & Hustle: Houston

La’Torria Lemon runs an award-winning PR Firm in Houston and Atlanta. The Bayou City native and Clark Atlanta alum has a heart as big as the city itself, so it’s a different lane for the self-professed private woman she is, who helps to manage and enhance her clients’ public image and reputation, to step in front of the camera to share her world. La’Torria “has worked on campaigns for A-list celebrities such as Melissa McCarthy, Tyler Perry, Jamie Foxx, and Meagan Good and major networks like TNT, BET, VH1, and the OWN Network.” The latter, you will find La’Torria as one of six women castmates on the network’s new reality series Heart & Hustle: Houston. And like La’Torria shares with us from her many H-Town supporters who have said, “I don’t see how they would have been able to do a show about Heart & Hustle and not have you in it.” From her loyal circle to how the show helped her deal with the loss of her dad to the childhood wisdom gained from her Nana and a fur baby who steals some screen time, La’Torria wants people to know, above all, “she never gave up.”

What made you decide to do a docu-series?

To be very honest, I was approached to do it, and I really evaluated the opportunity. I think the show is more like a docu-series versus reality, so that made me a little bit more comfortable. Most people who know me know that I’m pretty mild-mannered, and some of the stuff I’ve seen on TV is not of interest to me, but I also did my research on what the goals of this show were (the intentions). Who’s involved? All those things, and I think it just aligned.

You are usually on the PR side of helping clients curate their entertainment projects, stories, and brands. How does it feel to be on the other side of things, where you show your vulnerability on camera in who you are outside of being the CEO of an award-winning public relations firm?

It was definitely a transition. I feel like God doesn’t make any mistakes (right)! It has been almost a three-year journey from being approached to do the show, which involved pitching the show and shooting a pilot. It’s a process, especially for a new show. I had to evaluate, “What about my story could inspire others?” We filmed this year, so I literally told God, “If I’m going to do this, I want to show all sides of me, whether that’s me being a business woman, trying to navigate being a daughter, who no longer has her father, or that’s whether me going through therapy or trying to open a new business or trying to meet with my staff, I wanted to be able to be as transparent as possible because this is no easy journey and when I say this, I mean life. We all go through things. I’ve been pretty private the majority of my life, so most people wouldn’t have known if I was single or if I was dating. If I were married. Sometimes people don’t know if I have kids (or not). I’ve just kept it that way. Most people are more interested in my client’s lives than mine, so it wasn’t anything to publicize about me other than my business and my brand. So, to step into a platform like this and say, “Okay, I’m not only going to show y’all my life, but you all are going to get to know some things about me that you didn’t know. Maybe you didn’t know I opened another business.” Once you watch the show, you will see some of the things I play tug-of-war with in my life.

Was this reality series therapeutic for you in dealing with the loss of your father, your best friend?

There were some therapeutic moments, but there were also some real moments. You will see on the show some of the real moments, like those days when I still had to get up and face the world. And I still have to have the cameras around me that I signed up for (laugh). It’s like, “Ohhh! They’re ringing my doorbell because it’s time to film, but I make them sit outside for a little bit because I need a moment.” Again, there were some therapeutic moments where I probably cried more during this filming than I’ve ever cried in my life. That’s the space I was in and I was navigating. Grief is such an unfair thing at times.

There are times when I can be super excited about the day, and then it’s like, “Oh My God, something has triggered me and reminded me of my dad.” I was telling my best friend this morning. We’ve been best friends since we were three years old. My dad was like her dad. So, she was doing my hair, and I told her, “You know, I’m excited about this week (leading up to the show premiere), but it sure is strange. I’m used to having encouraging words from my dad.” I’m on Zoom right now, and he would have been sitting over there (near me), giving me the thumbs up. And not having that is definitely different, but I like to say I probably have one of the best (guardian) angels.

What will be different about Heart & Hustle: Houston… for viewers, who may think this show is the same type of reality series that starts with a group of women being positive, and then it changes?

I think what’s different is that even if you watch the trailer, you are going to see sisterhood, friendship, and personality. Of course we (the castmates and I) don’t get to see anything before it comes out to the public so when they (executive producers) told us the date that the trailer was coming out, I said, “Okay, Lord (laugh) now let me tell you something, they better not do me wrong.” (laugh). Granted once we sign up for it, the editors are not here when we’re filming, the producers are, and editors and producers are on different projects at different times, so I said all that to say, I think that embracing this moment and again knowing it is a testament to God because when I left Houston at the age of 17 to go to Clark Atlanta University my dreams were to be on radio and tv. My major was radio, TV, and film, and in my freshman year, I applied for an internship I didn’t get, but the publicist of the internship said, “You should go into PR.” I was like, “I don’t know what PR stands for.” (laugh)… I’ll give it a try because I was always a hustler for lack of a better word. I wanted to figure things out. I went into PR and have been in PR for 17 years, and I think God is showing me, “Hey, I didn’t forget what your initial dreams were because you’ve been obedient and helped others to achieve their dreams.” I’m thankful for that, and with Heart & Hustle: Houston, the world, not just Houston, but the world, is going to see that Houston is made up of some dynamic people, and we’ve been a very humble city. There are some other cities that talk their noise (laugh), but in Houston, we just sit back and it’s like, yeah, okay, we did that. And then that’s it. I think with Heart & Hustle: Houston, you’re going to see the hustle, but most of all, you’re going to see our heart.

In the show’s bio, you said, “You are on a journey to find love. “Is there a special someone in your life?”

You never know! The show may reveal that someone special came along, or maybe there’s someone special now, but you’ll definitely have to tune in and see what that journey of love is all about. It’s something I desire. It’s always been a desire, and I’ve wanted to take the steps of that journey of love… dating (courting), marriage, and then have kids. I wanted that to be my sequel, but you may see on the show that I changed up the sequence a little bit (laugh).

Which of the ladies did you bond with the most?

There are single women on the show, and there are married women, and of course, all of us have a dynamic relationship, but I think Chloe Cook and I bonded a lot. Chloe is single as well, but Chloe has also been on a grief journey. Chloe became a big sister to me, where I could really confide in her and talk. There were some days we filmed, and I couldn’t find my smile because of what I was going through. I would talk with Chloe, and before I knew it, she would have me laughing. Between the two of us, at some point, we became a comedy show. Our producers were like, “Focus focus”… (laugh). But we had a good time.

How do your clients feel about you being on this docu-series? What’s their feedback?

The feedback I’ve received from my clients has been super supportive. My clients also feel like, “You deserve this.” That’s what they keep telling me. Some have said, “I don’t see how they would have been able to do a show about Heart & Hustle and not have you in it.” So, words like that mean a lot to me, and it’s a testament to the fact that you never know whose watching. These people have been watching me for weeks before they DM’d me, and that alone speaks volumes. Even after they reached out to me, they told me they reached out to eight other people who knew me or knew of me, and everyone had consistent things to say. And so that warmed my heart, and again I’ve always been transparent and I’ve always been myself.

What do you want people to know about La’Torria Lemon in this docu-series? And is there something they may not know that will surprise them?

One of the things that I want people to know is that whether you’re a male, female, old, or young, I am a person who has simply not stopped. I’ve had every reason to, but I may have paused at times. But I never gave up and I never stopped. That’s something I’m very proud of. Something that people wouldn’t know about me is that my dog makes a few appearances on the show. She cuts up a couple of times on the show. My dog’s name is “Window,” like the window you look out of (laugh). My dog is like my baby. She is thirteen. She’s like the only child that I have at this point. She gets up in the morning and she gets dressed too. Viewers will see some of her outfits on the show and her personality.

Is there a backstory to the name Window?

It is. I got my dog when she was 5 weeks old. And my dad, he said to me randomly then, “I got you a dog.” I thought, Where did you get a dog? What is the dog’s name? The dog didn’t have a name. I watched the dog tiptoe to the panel at our door, which had a window, and she climbed up on it and looked out. And I said, “That’s it, her name is Window, to the window to the wall.” (laugh)

You’re someone wise beyond your years. Do people tell you that often?

My Nana raised me until I was nine. She passed away when I was nine. I hung out with her and her friends. I had an old soul at a young age. I helped my Nana cook in the kitchen. We prayed, read scriptures, and went to bingo together. We were inseparable. She would always tell me, “No matter what— be somebody.” And that always replayed in my head. She would tell me, “Go out in that world and make something of yourself.” And having people like my Nana and my dad, he was phenomenal at so many things and so respected as well. I’ve had some beautiful people who poured into me at a young age. There are times when I recite some of “their quotes and scriptures they would tell me.” And I say, That’s my Nana.

What can viewers expect when watching Heart & Hustle: Houston on OWN?

Viewers can expect to see a little bit of themselves, a little bit of somebody that they know. They can also prepare to laugh. They can also expect to have a box of Kleenex next to them. They can also look and be inspired. We’re six amazing women, and we’ve built brands. Some of the women have been mothers since their teenage years. So we’re navigating through life and the journey of life— I think there is going to be some healing you will see on the show that will be my hope and prayers that the healing inspires others not to be afraid to heal because I think we’re in such a space in life where there is so much going on in this world, so much!

And La’Torria is showing all sides when she says, “I’m an advocate of therapy.” We laugh on the show about me being La’Torria Secret, and that basically means I’m La’Torria, and I’ve held everybody’s secret in. You can only imagine how heavy that could be. So, for the Houston-born woman who has a lot of heart and hustle and looks forward to new experiences on the show, sisterhood, love, and let’s not forget a ‘good ole’ therapy session right after our conversation ends. She doesn’t mind us sharing that because after all, she’s only being transparent.