MERGE iMagazine Exclusive Feature:
LAKITA FOX
Faith. Finance. People. Purpose. Impact.
An Exclusive Interview by Sherri D. Motes Jones
Senior Editor, MERGE iMagazine
MORE THAN A TITLE
There are people who can tell you what they do.
And then there are people who can tell you why they do it.
Lakita Fox describes herself in terms that reach beyond a position, profession, or accomplishment:
“I am a woman of faith, purpose, resilience, and service.”
At the center of her story is a simple but powerful idea: potential should not remain potential. It should become progress.
Her journey brings together finance, workforce development, leadership, entrepreneurship, mentorship, community service, ministry, and a deep sense of purpose.
But Lakita’s story is not simply about the places she has been.
It is about the woman she has become, and the impact she hopes to make with what she has been given.
MEET LAKITA FOX: THE WOMAN BEHIND THE WORK
Lakita Fox is a financial services leader, civic official, and community advocate dedicated to economic empowerment and purposeful leadership. She currently serves as Commissioner for Ward 1 in Horn Lake, Mississippi, where she represents her community with a commitment to transparency, collaboration, and sustainable progress.
Professionally, Lakita is the Managing Partner and Mortgage Broker of H & F Financial Services, LLC, licensed in Mississippi, where she leads operations and guides individuals and families through the homeownership process with integrity and education. She also serves as a Financial Wellbeing Coach with Operation HOPE, supporting clients across the Southeastern Region of Mississippi. Through this work, she helps individuals improve financial outcomes by increasing credit scores, building savings, and reducing debt, contributing to long-term financial stability and economic resilience.
Lakita brings over 21 years of experience in banking and finance, having served in leadership roles including Branch Manager, Assistant Vice President, and Consumer Lender, where she led teams, trained and recruited banking professionals, and supported clients in achieving financial stability and growth. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and is a Public Notary.
Lakita is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., serving as Assistant Secretary of the Alpha Alpha Zeta Omega Chapter, where she supports effective governance and chapter operations in alignment with the organization’s mission of service.
A resident of Horn Lake, Mississippi, Lakita is passionate about breaking cycles through access, education, and opportunity. Outside of her professional and civic roles, she enjoys reading, cooking, volunteering, spending time with family and friends, and creating chocolate-covered treats.
THE CONVERSATION: WHO IS LAKITA FOX?
MERGE: Who is Lakita Fox?
LAKITA FOX: “I am a woman of faith, purpose, resilience, and service.”
I am a builder at heart, I love seeing potential in people, ideas, and opportunities and helping bring that potential to life.
Professionally, much of my work has centered around finance, people, workforce development, and helping others create stronger futures. But those titles only describe what I do; they don’t fully describe who I am.
At my core, I am a servant leader. I am someone who believes that success is not simply about what you achieve for yourself, but about what you make possible for someone else. My faith has taught me that my gifts are not just for me, they are tools I have been entrusted with to make an impact.
I am still becoming. I am still learning, growing, rebuilding, dreaming, and allowing God to reveal the next version of me.
THE FOUNDATION
MERGE: Tell us about your journey:
LAKITA FOX: My journey began in finance and banking more than two decades ago. At the time, I could not have imagined how many different doors that foundation would eventually open.
Finance taught me much more than numbers. It taught me about people, decision-making, systems, opportunity, risk, and the impact that financial knowledge, or the lack of it, can have on someone’s life. That eventually led me into financial wellness and workforce development, where I found myself sitting across the table from people who weren’t simply trying to balance a budget. They were trying to change their lives.
Over the years, my journey expanded into entrepreneurship, mentoring, community service, leadership, and ministry. Looking back, I can see that the seemingly separate pieces were actually connected.
“God was building a blueprint before I understood the blueprint.”
PURPOSE IN PRACTICE
MERGE: What is your mission?
LAKITA FOX: My mission is to help people recognize their God-given potential and give them practical tools to turn that potential into progress.
I am passionate about economic empowerment, financial wellness, workforce development, leadership, mentorship, and helping people understand that where they are today does not have to define where they end up.
I want people to have access to knowledge, relationships, resources, and opportunities that can change the trajectory of their lives.
Ultimately, I want my work to create generational impact. I don’t just want someone to learn something from me. I want what they learn to change their decisions, their family, their community, and eventually the people who come after them.
FAITH + MARKETPLACE
MINISTRY + MARKETPLACE
MERGE: What does merging your faith, ministry and professional life mean to you?
LAKITA FOX: For me, there is no separation.
My faith is not simply something I practice on Sunday; it is the foundation from which I operate every day.
Merging ministry and marketplace means bringing integrity, compassion, excellence, wisdom, and purpose into every room I enter.
It means understanding that ministry doesn’t always look like standing behind a pulpit.
Sometimes ministry looks like helping someone understand their finances.
Sometimes it looks like mentoring a young professional.
Sometimes it is encouraging someone who has lost confidence in themselves.
Sometimes it is simply opening a door for someone else.
I believe God can use a boardroom, a classroom, a community meeting, a coaching session, or a business conversation just as powerfully as He can use a church.
“The marketplace is one of the places where purpose gets put into practice.”
WHEN PURPOSE SHOWS UP
MERGE: Tell us about a memorable experience where ministry and the marketplace came together for you:
LAKITA FOX: One of the most meaningful parts of my work has been realizing that what may look like a professional conversation on the surface can become a transformational moment for someone.
I have sat with people who came into a conversation focused on a financial problem and left with something much bigger; a renewed sense of possibility.
Those moments stay with me because they remind me that people don’t just need information; they need someone who believes there is more possible for them.
That is where my faith and my professional work intersect. I may be teaching financial concepts, discussing career opportunities, or helping someone think through their next step, but underneath all of it is the same question:
“What could your life look like if you stopped allowing your current circumstances to define your future?”
Those are the moments that remind me why I do what I do.
THE POWER OF MENTORSHIP
MERGE: Tell us about someone you have mentored whose story stands out to you:
LAKITA FOX: One of the greatest lessons I have learned through mentorship is that sometimes people don’t need you to give them the answer, they need you to help them discover that they already have the capacity to find it. I have had the privilege of mentoring people who were trying to find their voice, build confidence, navigate their careers, or simply believe in themselves again.
What stays with me is watching someone move from “I don’t know if I can do this” to “I think I can.”
And then eventually to, “I did it.”
That transformation has impacted me just as much as I hope I have impacted them.
Mentorship has taught me that influence isn’t about creating people who look like you. It’s about helping people become the strongest version of themselves.
WHAT KEEPS HER MOVING
MERGE: What wakes you up in the morning?
LAKITA FOX: I wake up knowing that there is still more for me to do, more people to encourage, more ideas to build, and more lives to impact.
I am motivated by possibility. I love taking something that may seem uncertain or undeveloped and asking, “What could this become?” And my faith keeps me moving because I believe my life is bigger than my circumstances.
There have been seasons when I didn’t understand what God was doing, but I have learned that not understanding the process doesn’t mean there isn’t a purpose in it. That keeps me moving.
PURPOSE WITHOUT A PAYCHECK
MERGE: What would you do even if you weren’t getting paid?
LAKITA FOX: I would mentor, encourage, teach, create, and help people build better lives.
I have always been drawn to helping people see possibilities that they couldn’t see for themselves. Whether it is financial literacy, career development, leadership, entrepreneurship, personal growth, or simply encouraging someone through a difficult season, I genuinely enjoy helping people move forward.
I think that is one of the clearest indicators of purpose: the things you would still do even if nobody handed you a paycheck for doing them.
TURNING POWER INTO PURPOSE
MERGE: What have you learned about turning power into purpose?
LAKITA FOX: I have learned that power isn’t just about the position you hold. Power is the ability to influence, create, open doors, and change outcomes. But power without purpose can become self-serving.
Purpose asks a different question:
“Who benefits from what I’ve been given?”
My advice would be to stop waiting until you have the perfect title, perfect platform, or perfect circumstances. Start using what you already have.
Your experience is power.
Your relationships are power.
Your knowledge is power.
Your story is power.
Your voice is power.
The question is: What are you going to do with it?
“Use what you have to build something that outlives you.”
THE PEOPLE ALONG THE WAY
MERGE: Who have been your mentors?
LAKITA FOX: I have been shaped by many people throughout my journey; my parents, leaders, colleagues, family members, mentors, ministry leaders, and people who were willing to tell me the truth when I needed to hear it.
Some taught me through encouragement. Others taught me through correction. Some opened doors for me, while others taught me how to create my own doors. And ultimately, my greatest source of guidance has been my relationship with God.
There have been seasons when I didn’t have a clear mentor standing in front of me with all the answers, but I had faith, prayer, and the lessons I had accumulated along the way.
I have learned to value every person God places along the journey because every relationship can teach you something if you are humble enough to learn.
THE GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT
MERGE: What has been your greatest accomplishment in life?
LAKITA FOX: My greatest accomplishment is not a job title, salary, award, degree, or professional milestone.
“It is becoming the woman I am today.”
There have been seasons that challenged me, stretched me, humbled me, and forced me to rediscover who I was. And I’m proud that I continued.
I continued to believe. I continued to serve. I continued to dream. I continued to show up.
My greatest accomplishment is that despite everything I have experienced, I have not allowed life to make me bitter about my future. I am still hopeful. I am still building. I am still believing. And I believe some of my greatest accomplishments haven’t happened yet.
THE REWARD IS TRANSFORMATION
MERGE: How would you describe the fulfillment you receive from the work you do?
LAKITA FOX: The greatest fulfillment comes from seeing transformation.
There is something powerful about watching someone’s mindset change.
When someone goes from confusion to clarity, fear to confidence, uncertainty to action, or limitation to possibility; that is fulfillment for me.
I don’t need to be the person standing in the spotlight.
Sometimes the greatest reward is knowing that something I said, taught, connected, or encouraged helped someone take their next step.
If I can make someone’s path a little clearer, a door a little easier to walk through, or their belief in themselves a little stronger, then I know my work mattered.
CONNECTING THE DOTS
MERGE: Take us in the journey that connects the dots to all things Lakita Fox:
LAKITA FOX: Today I understand that the dots were always connected, I just couldn’t see the picture yet.
Finance taught me about money and systems.
Financial wellness taught me about people.
Mentorship taught me about influence.
Entrepreneurship taught me about ownership.
Community service taught me about impact.
Leadership taught me about responsibility.
Ministry taught me about service and surrender.
And life taught me resilience.
For a long time, I saw these as different chapters. Now I see them as pieces of one story.
“God was developing the woman before revealing the assignment.”
What I understand now is that my journey was never about finding one perfect title. It was about becoming equipped to serve wherever my gifts, experience, and purpose could create the greatest impact.
THE NEXT CHAPTER
MERGE: Where are you going?
LAKITA FOX: I am moving into a chapter of greater impact, greater influence, and greater alignment.
I want to build at the intersection of people, prosperity, workforce strategy, leadership, entrepreneurship, and purpose.
I see myself continuing to mentor and serve while also stepping into larger leadership opportunities where I can influence systems, not just individuals.
I want to build things that create opportunities for other people.
I want to use my experience to help organizations develop stronger people and stronger workplaces, while continuing to champion financial and economic empowerment in communities. And I want the next chapter to be deeply aligned with my faith.
“I’m not interested in simply being busy. I want to be effective.”
I want to look back years from now and see that the work I did created opportunities, changed lives, strengthened communities, and left a legacy.
ONE LAST WORD
MERGE: If this were your last word to the world, what would you want us to hear in one sentence?
LAKITA FOX: “Your power is not simply what you possess; your power is what you choose to do with what God placed inside of you.”
You may not be able to see the entire blueprint, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t still building something beautiful with your life.
“Trust the Architect, use what He’s placed in you, and keep becoming who He created you to be.”
Disclaimer – EDITORIAL & IMAGE NOTICE: Images are used with the featured interviewee’s permission. Interview and biographical content is presented as submitted, under the editorial oversight of MERGE iMagazine, a subsidiary of Motes Jones & Company.