490: She Left Corporate and Built a 7-Figure Business
Side Hustle Pro
Nicaila Matthews Okome | Side Hustle Pro Media
4.7 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 26 November 2025
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week in the guest chair, Dr. Lakila Bowden shares her powerful journey from leading thousands inside Fortune 500 companies to co-founding ISee Technologies, a Black sister-owned, disability-led consulting firm now earning seven figures.
After leaving corporate in 2019, Lakila teamed up with her sister, Camille, to build a company trusted by brands like Disney, Kraft Heinz, and the EPA for high-impact training, inclusion, and workforce wellness programs. What makes her work different is how she blends corporate strategy, healing, and public speaking to help organizations and people thrive without burnout.
In this episode, Lakila opens up about the moment she walked away from the “known,” how she rebuilt her identity outside of corporate titles, and how speaking became a major accelerator in her business growth. She also breaks down the inner and outer transformation required to grow with your purpose, honor your well-being, and lead from a place of wholeness.
In This Episode, Dr. Lakila Shares:
- The pivotal moment she knew she had to leave corporate America
- How she and her sister built ISee Technologies into a 7-figure consulting firm
- Why public speaking became a core revenue driver in her business
- How personal healing shaped her approach to leadership and entrepreneurship
- Her framework for helping organizations and individuals thrive without burning out
Highlights Include
00:00: Intro
02:10: Starting IC Technologies with her sister Camille
04:30: Becoming a speaker and author and how speaking scaled her impact
08:20: Building a disability-led, wellness-centered company
12:00: How corporate strategy + personal healing became her business superpower
16:15: The growth that came after walking away from the “known”
20:45: Helping organizations cultivate inclusion and sustainable wellness
26:30: Advice for anyone ready to pivot from corporate into purpose
Watch this episode on YouTube and listen on all podcast apps
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/side-hustle-pro/id1126021323
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/13qDj08lBR4ymzGhXIKy8t?si=8daf52a57e054042
Links Mentioned in This Episode
- ISee Technologies: https://www.iseetechinc.com/
- Achieve Work Life Alignment by Dr. Lakila Bowden http://www.lakilabowden.com/
Click here to subscribe via RSS feed (non-iTunes feed): http://sidehustlepro.libsyn.com/rss
Guest Social Media Info
Lakila's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lakilaj/
ISee Technologies Website: https://www.iseetechinc.com/
Side Hustle Pro – @sidehustlepro
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | By age 37, you made the life-changing decision to retire. Yeah, I was out. He's out. I've had enough. Thank you. No more for this. |
| 0:09.6 | What went into that? What do you mean? Retire? You're listening to Side Hustle Pro, the podcast that teaches you to build and grow your side hustle from passion project to profitable business. And I'm your |
| 0:22.2 | host, Nikala Matthews Okome. So let's get started. Hey, friends, hey, welcome, welcome back to the show. |
| 0:31.1 | It's Nikaela here. And today in the guest chair, I have Dr. Lakeila Bowden, a dynamic speaker, |
| 0:37.2 | renowned author and co-founder of I.C. Technologies, |
| 0:41.1 | a black sister-owned disability-led company that's now crossed the seven-figure mark. |
| 0:47.0 | Lekela left corporate America in 2019 after building a successful career, leading thousands at Fortune 500 companies. |
| 0:54.8 | Since then, she and her sister Camille have built a powerhouse consulting firm |
| 0:58.8 | trusted by clients like Disney, Kraft Heinz, and the EPA for training, inclusion, and workforce |
| 1:05.6 | wellness programs. |
| 1:07.2 | What sets Lakela apart is how she's combined corporate strategy with personal healing and turn public speaking into a business accelerator. |
| 1:17.0 | In this episode, we talk about her pivotal moment of walking away from the known, the growth that followed, and how she helps both organizations and humans thrive without burnout. |
| 1:29.0 | So let's get into it. |
| 1:30.4 | Here's my conversation with Dr. Lakeila Bowden. |
| 1:37.3 | All right, all right. |
| 1:38.9 | Lekela, welcome. |
| 1:40.1 | Welcome to the guest chair. |
| 1:41.5 | Thank you for having me. |
| 1:42.6 | I'm so excited to be here. |
| 1:45.1 | This is a long time coming, and I am ready. |
| 1:48.5 | I'm ready to just really learn about your journey even more and what brought you here. |
| 1:54.3 | So you have gone from a career in corporate. |
... |
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