“Never give up,” advised Kaila Lawson. “Don’t allow anybody to take your idea and turn it into something else. If it doesn’t work out, regroup, reroute, and try again.”
Kaila Lawson demonstrates a strong determination when it comes to achieving her dreams. She doesn’t allow a little discouragement to stop her from being successful and leading others to do the same.
Growing up, she did a lot of traveling because of her mom’s position in the military. She was able to experience things in her childhood that others have not seen or done.
“My favorite childhood memory was being born in Misawa, Japan. We lived on a military base, so everything was kind of like the United States. When we went off base, we saw different Japanese. My hair was braided, and they loved playing with my braids and beads when I was younger. That’s something they didn’t see because their hair is all dark black and cut short. When they saw me with my braids, they wanted to touch my braids and beads,” Kaila reminisced. “We moved back to the States when I was about five or six. Every three years, we moved to different states or somewhere different. Biloxi, Mississippi, is where we stayed the longest. We stayed around seven to eight years in Biloxi. That was where I actually made childhood memories because we stayed there the longest.”
Although her mom had gotten married and was transitioning to Quitman, she remained on the coast a little while longer to try and continue her education.
“Tobey and my mom met on eHarmony, and when they got married she retired and moved to Quitman,” explained Kaila. “When I graduated in 2010, I went to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College on the coast.”
Kaila wasn’t sure of what career she wanted to pursue when she first started attending college, but she has recently decided to return and finish her education while working at her current job.
“I was actually undecided on what I wanted to major in. I knew I wanted to dance, so I was just going to get my basics at the time. I never could figure out what I wanted to be. I tried to do nursing, but that didn’t work out for me,” expressed Kaila. “I go back to school in August to finish my Bachelor’s Degree in Health Administration Information Management. I work at Dr. Purvis’ office Monday thru Thursday, and I go to the ER on Fridays when he’s closed. I’m going to school on top of that.”
Along with her job at Dr. Purvis’ office, she maintains a business of her own as well.
“I have my own business: Unforgettable Beats by K,” continued Kaila. “I do makeup. I just enhance everybody’s beauty, basically. I’ve done weddings, special events, birthday parties, and a little bit of everything. Whenever I’m called, I come.”
One thing she knew for sure that she wanted to do when she was older was dance. She has always enjoyed dancing and even started up her own dance studio in Quitman for a while.
“I danced at Gulf Coast Community College, and when I moved to Quitman with my mom and Tobey, I opened a dance studio called Danielle’s Dance Studio in honor of my sister who passed away in 2013,” informed Kaila. “We were open for four years, and then the majority of my babies grew up and graduated, or they lost interest. I slowly shut it down. Now, everybody’s interested again, and they want me to reopen. That’s a prayerful thought right now because it’s a lot of work.”
While her dance studio was open, the girls were exceedingly successful.
“We competed in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Those are the main three states we competed in,” declared Kaila. “They’ve won Grand Champions. They didn’t place lower than second when we traveled. They were amazing. The different styles they did were based off of majorettes: lyrical, contemporary, and jazz. It was a little mix of all that into one. When we competed, they had to show different styles and what they were able to do, but the main one was majorettes.”
She still has a desire to assist the younger generation and has started up an amazing organization that helps young girls get different experiences and learn things they may not do otherwise: Blossoming Young Ladies.
“I have an organization called Blossoming Young Ladies, which range from the grades eight thru twelve,” described Kaila. “Blossoming Young women originally started in 2020. We just did conferences at first with different speakers to come and talk about different topics, and then I said we should start a group. This was the first year where we actually made it into an organization or group. It’s just like having 30 little sisters.”
Her own experiences are what inspired her to create the organization.
“Growing up on the coast, we had opportunities in different organizations at my school. When I came to Quitman, I noticed that girls hadn’t been talked to about or experienced a lot of the things I did on the coast,” explained Kaila. “I’m so heavy on doing things in organizations and getting involved because we have the potential here. That’s why I got involved in starting Blossoming Young Ladies. I wanted the girls to be able to experience some of the things I experienced when I was young.”
Naturally, she is highly involved in the schools, and she was recognized this year for her hard work in the district.
“I’m the PTO President at Quitman Lower,” stated Kaila. “I got Parent of the Year at Quitman Lower this year.”
No matter what she does, Kaila makes sure to give her all to make her dreams come true. With each day that passes, she strives to do her best to be an inspiration and positive influence in the lives of everyone she meets.
