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Erie resident LaVonna Roth has worn many hats in her life. She’s worked at a tanning salon, at McDonald’s, on an assembly line in a warehouse. She was a grade school teacher for 10 years, worked in business development for a university, and was once an educational consultant.
But when she was “cussed out and screamed at” while working one job, Roth said, she’d “had enough.” In 2008, she decided to start her own business.
Ignite Your S.H.I.N.E. is the leadership and professional development company Roth created. She teaches her S.H.I.N.E. framework, helping people discover their strengths, passions, how to achieve their goals and how to navigate challenges.
Her work spans financial services, nonprofits, education and corporate leadership teams.
Roth has delivered speeches on international stages in Singapore, Ecuador, Lebanon and Switzerland. In the U.S., she’s spoken in schools and for organizations including Morgan Stanley, Waddell & Reed, “Commercial Real Estate for Women,” and the United Way.
Roth is originally from Ohio, where she lived for almost 30 years. She moved with her husband to Erie from Florida only about 10 months ago, looking for respite from the heat.
“I swear, my husband watched every video on YouTube, of every town, by every Realtor, and we landed on Erie,” she said.
Below, Roth reflects on what inspired her to start Ignite Your S.H.I.N.E. She hopes to help people “understand their value.”
What led you to start teaching leadership skills? Was there a specific moment that inspired you?
I realized something watching kids in our education system. They’re in a machine that says “you need 100%. You need all A’s. That’s what makes you good enough.” And when they don’t hit that? They internalize a story: I’m not smart enough. I’m not good enough. Fast forward 15, 20 years, and those kids are adults sitting in boardrooms carrying that same wound.
I received D’s and F’s in high school. I was almost kicked out of college for grades. For a long time, that reinforced the narrative that I wasn’t smart. But here’s what I know now: we are all smart. The question is how. When someone understands how they’re smart — what they’re genuinely good at, what lights them up, where they can make a difference — everything shifts. They step into confidence. They show up differently at work. They contribute instead of hide. I’m on a mission for teams of people to understand their value before they spend decades carrying their past as a wound instead of letting it become a scar that teaches them something.
How have you learned about what helps people thrive in leadership positions?
Eighteen years of speaking, teaching and watching. I started in classrooms and moved to organization spaces. What I kept seeing was the same thing: The people being promoted with certainty were the ones who understood themselves. They knew their strengths, what energized them, what inspired them. They were also the ones who could connect with people. Not perform at them. Connect with them. That’s what the S.H.I.N.E. Framework is built on.
What challenges are you seeing people and leaders struggle with most right now? Where does Ignite Your S.H.I.N.E. fit into those modern-day challenges?
People are paralyzed by self-doubt. They have expertise, ideas and value to bring, but they’re sitting on the sidelines because their inner critic is louder than their inner knowing. Organizations are trying to grow with fewer people — they need their teams to step up, speak up, lead. But you can’t do that if you’re trapped in “am I good enough?” S.H.I.N.E. directly addresses that. When someone can quiet their inner critic long enough to see their value, and when they can present and connect with confidence, they own their role and create a culture where others want to show up fully too. The capacity an organization needs is already there — it just wasn’t being used.
What do you hope people take away from your work?
After a keynote or any engagement with us: that they have value, they know what it is and they use it with confidence.
What are you most interested in exploring next?
How the work of S.H.I.N.E. escalates faster when people amplify their presentation skills and strategies. When someone learns to connect and engage with an audience, their confidence skyrockets because they can see the impact they’re making. That combination — presentation mastery plus knowing your value — that’s where the transformation happens.