About Latonya Howell
Latonya Howell is an Associate Pastor, certified trauma-informed life coach, Christian life coach, and Chief Human Resources Officer committed to empowering women to grow in faith and walk confidently in their God-given purpose. Her journey from growing up in foster care to navigating profound personal loss has shaped her unique perspective on resilience, faith, and personal growth.
With certifications in trauma-informed coaching and Christian life coaching, and as a SHRM-CP certified HR executive, Latonya offers a compassionate, biblically grounded approach to guiding women who feel stuck or overwhelmed, whether that's in their identity, their calling, or their career. Her role as a Chief Human Resources Officer allows her to combine practical, real-world workplace strategy with a deep understanding of identity, confidence, and purposeful living.
As the author of The Trauma Was Necessary, Latonya shares her story of finding purpose through pain and points women toward the hope and transformation found in Christ. She believes that every woman has the ability to grow, renew her mind, and rebuild her life with intention through faith and wise support. Through her coaching, she creates a safe, faith-centered space for women to rediscover who they are in Christ, deepen their faith, and live empowered, purpose-filled lives.
My Story: Healing Through Faith and Resilience
I know what it feels like to face life’s hardest battles, grief, loss, and seasons where everything feels uncertain. My journey has been one of learning to rise through faith, resilience, and the unfailing grace of God.
Growing up in foster care shaped my early understanding of worth and belonging. For years, I carried the weight of those experiences, believing they defined who I was. It was through my relationship with God and the renewing of my mind through His Word that I began to see myself the way He sees me, valued, chosen, and created with purpose.
In 2011, my life changed forever when I lost my daughter to SIDS. That loss shook my world and tested my faith in ways I never imagined. Through prayer, Scripture, and the support of my community, God carried me through a season I did not think I would survive. He did not remove the pain, but He gave me the strength to keep going, the faith to trust Him again, and the courage to believe that my life still held purpose.
That journey is what led me to become a certified trauma-informed and Christian life coach. Today, my mission is to create Christ-centered spaces where women can grow in faith, renew their identity in Him, and walk forward with confidence and purpose. Growth is not always easy, but with God, transformation is always possible, and I am honored to walk alongside women as they step into the life He has called them to live.
Why I Became a Trauma-Informed Coach
Through my own journey, I learned how deeply life experiences can shape the way we see ourselves, others, and even God. Becoming trauma-informed allowed me to better understand how to walk alongside women with wisdom, compassion, and care while keeping Christ at the center of the process.
My coaching is faith-based because God’s grace has been the foundation of everything He has healed and rebuilt in my life. I have had the privilege of supporting women from many different backgrounds as they grow in confidence, strengthen their identity in Christ, and begin to walk boldly in purpose again. Growth can be uncomfortable at times, but it is also powerful, and it begins with the courage to trust God and take that first step forward.
Why I Also Coach Women in Leadership
Healing and leadership were never separate for me. I've spent my career sitting at the executive tables where promotion, compensation, and performance decisions get made, and I've watched too many talented women get overlooked, underestimated, or worn down navigating those rooms. My work in leadership coaching brings that insider experience directly to you: practical strategy for the workplace, grounded in the same faith and wholeness that anchors everything else I do.
Explore Leadership & Career Coaching → Book a Free Leadership Strategy Call
How I Work
The HEAL Method: A Biblical Path to Wholeness
HEAL = Hear, Embrace, Awaken, Live
This process is a biblical journey back to the wholeness God intended for you. For the woman who’s ready to release the weight of her past and walk in freedom, this is your path to renewal, confidence, and purpose.
1. HEAR God’s Truth About Your Life
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:32
We begin with listening—not just to your story, but to what God says about you.
Acknowledge your experiences and how they’ve shaped you
Invite God into the hidden places of your heart
Identify patterns that keep you from walking in wholeness
Create a safe space to process without shame
2. EMBRACE Your Identity in Christ
“See, I am doing a new thing…” – Isaiah 43:19
Replace lies with truth and shame with grace.
Understand how your mind and body respond to challenges
Release guilt, perfectionism, and fear
Accept God’s love and your worthiness of healing
Walk in forgiveness—both for yourself and others
3. ALIGN with Your God-Given Purpose
“For we are God’s masterpiece…” – Ephesians 2:10
Step into possibility and clarity.
Rediscover and align with your God-given gifts and passions
Clarify and align your vision with God’s purpose for your life
Release unhealthy cycles and thought patterns that keep you out of alignment
Strengthen spiritual and emotional resilience to remain steadfast
4. LIVE Fully in Freedom
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” – Galatians 5:1
Healing isn’t the absence of hardship—it’s the presence of peace.
Set boundaries that honor God’s purpose for you
Protect your spiritual, emotional, and mental peace
Make decisions rooted in faith, not fear
Build a life that reflects the wholeness you’ve found
The LeadHERship Excellence Method
For the woman ready to lead from groundedness instead of reactivity, and values instead of approval, this is your path to strategic clarity and sustainable leadership.
1. Name the Pattern
Before you can lead differently, you have to see how your past is already running the show, overworking to prove worth, avoiding conflict, shrinking in rooms of power, exhaustion from constantly managing how you're perceived. This is where a trauma-informed lens does something a standard leadership program can't: it addresses origin, not just behavior.
2. Separate Identity from Wound
Reclaiming who you are apart from what you survived or proved. This is the bridge phase, where personal growth stops being abstract and starts becoming the foundation for leadership presence that isn't performance.
3. Navigate the Room
Reading organizational dynamics, managing difficult leaders, positioning yourself for promotion and compensation, setting boundaries at work without blowing up relationships. Practical, strategic, grounded in real HR and executive experience.
4. Lead from Solid Ground
Leading others from a healed place instead of a performing one. This is where you become the leader who breaks cycles for the women coming up behind you instead of replicating what was done to you.
5. Sustain It
Guardrails against burnout and backslide. Leadership under pressure will always try to pull you back into old patterns. This phase is what makes the change stick instead of being a one-time breakthrough.