How Shameco Lattia Moore Redefines Excellence and Opens Doors for Young People
When Damian Howard invited Shameco Lattia Moore onto the Village Talks segment of the SELvie podcast, he wasn’t just bringing on a guest. He was centering a woman whose entire life has been shaped by one core conviction: young people deserve real opportunities, not just inspirational speeches.
Shameco is the founder of Impact, a speaker, and the author of Excellence Is Required. Her work lives at the intersection of identity, skill development, leadership, and access to opportunity — especially for students who often fall through the cracks.
And it all started with one unplanned talk at a high school in Englewood.
The Day Everything Changed: One Classroom in Englewood
Not long after graduating from Eastern Illinois University, Shameco was living at home with her dad when she got a call:
Could she come speak to a high school class in Englewood?
On the way there, she questioned herself the entire time.
“What am I going to say? What do I have that’s going to be of some value to these students? I don’t believe in wasting people’s time.”
When she arrived, she asked the teacher what she should talk about. The teacher, looking tired and discouraged, simply said:
“Just anything. Just anything.”
Shameco walked into the classroom, looked into the students’ eyes, and saw it clearly — disappointment and hopelessness.
In that moment, she realized that if she was going to reach them, she would have to go first.
“In order for me to reach them, I’m going to have to open up. I can’t reach them unless I’m open.”
So she told them her story.
At 15, Shameco lost her mother to cancer. Her best friend’s mother told her daughter not to hang out with Shameco anymore because she assumed Shameco would “go down the wrong road” and “end up getting pregnant.”
Standing in front of that class, Shameco flipped that narrative.
She told them they didn’t have to accept other people’s stories about them. They could be the change agents in their own lives. They could write their own story.
The room went silent. About 20–25 students, and not a sound.
A young man in the back put his head down and began to cry. No one laughed. No one mocked him. The class just stayed quiet, listening.
Afterward, the teacher hugged Shameco and said:
“It was meant for you to be here today.”
Shameco went home, walked through her father’s front door, and said the words that would define her life:
“I know what I want to do with my life. I want to motivate young people and I want to be that person that helps young people.”
She had no idea that single presentation would redirect her entire future — leading her to speak to thousands of students across Illinois and New York about who they are, the skills they bring to the marketplace, and their potential to lead in their families and communities.
How College Shaped Her Voice — And Her Mission
Shamika’s ease on stage didn’t appear out of nowhere. It was sharpened at Eastern Illinois University, where she majored in speech communication after a pivotal moment in high school.
As a quiet senior at Eisenhower High School in Blue Island, Illinois, she delivered a class presentation in Mr. Charters’ class. Something clicked.
“The light just came on and I spoke.”
After class, Mr. Charters asked to see her. She wasn’t a student who typically got in trouble, so she was nervous. Instead, he asked where she planned to go to college and what she would major in. When she said she had no idea about a major, he told her plainly:
“I think you should go into public relations, speech communication. I think you have something.”
She took that seriously. She talked to her dad, enrolled at Eastern, and stepped into a program that taught her not just how to speak, but how to connect.
At Eastern Illinois University, she learned:
– How to walk into a room and capture an audience.
– How to communicate with “the heart of the people” in mind.
– That if you are closed off, your audience will be closed off too.
She competed on the speech team and was crowned Miss Black EIU. Those four years were transformational.
“Those four years really set me up for success.”
Shameco is quick to say she is not a blanket cheerleader for a four-year degree. She knows college isn’t the right path for everyone. But she is honest about what that experience did for her — especially getting away from home, taking on leadership roles, and finding her voice.
Identity, Skill, Leadership: The Core of Her Message
Across classrooms, auditoriums, and community settings, Shameco keeps returning to three threads:
1. Identity
2. Skill development
3. Leadership
Damian called these out explicitly during their conversation because they show up in everything Shameco does — her talks, her organization Impact, and her book Excellence Is Required.
Identity: Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone
When Damian asked how she helps young people build identity and community, Shamika’s answer was simple and practical:
“There’s a key. And the key is get out of your comfort zone.”
She sees comfort zones as a problem for both young people and adults. When you stay with the same two friends at lunch, never try anything new, and avoid unfamiliar spaces, your growth stalls.
Her advice to students is specific:
– If you’re interested in nursing, call a nearby hospital.
– Introduce yourself as a junior at your high school who wants to speak to a nurse.
– Ask a few questions about their job and their path.
That one phone call does three things:
1. Answers your questions.
2. Gives you a real-world view of the field.
3. Starts your professional network.
“Now you have somebody that you know that’s in the field that might be able to open some doors for you.”
For Shamika, identity isn’t formed in isolation or by one lecture. It is built by small, brave actions outside your comfort zone — over and over.
Skill: Knowing What You Bring to the Marketplace
Shameco spends a lot of time helping students (and now adults) see themselves as people who have something to offer.
She wants young people to know:
– You have talents and interests.
– Those can be developed into skills.
– Those skills have value in the marketplace.
Her work is about moving students from vague dreams to concrete capabilities.
Leadership: Start with Your Own Life
Shameco doesn’t talk about leadership as a title. She talks about it as stewardship.
She encourages students to first become leaders in their own lives — making decisions that align with who they are and what they want — and then to bring that leadership into their families and communities.
“Be a leader, not just in your own life first, but also in your family and in your community.”
Why She Created Impact: Catching the Students in the Middle
Impact, the organization Shameco founded, was born from frustration.
She kept seeing the same pattern in schools:
– High-achieving, A-level students got a lot of attention.
– Students on the far end who were struggling significantly also received targeted support.
– But the students in the middle were often invisible.
If their parents weren’t at home actively guiding them — and many parents were working long hours, caring for multiple children, and doing their best — those middle students were left to navigate critical decisions alone.
“Some students are beginning to fall through the cracks. And I didn’t like what I was seeing. So that’s why Impact was born. It was born because I wanted to be a change agent and I wanted to be able to help students.”
Impact started with student-focused speaking and programming. But over time, Shameco noticed something else.
Women — often highly accomplished professionals — started coming to her quietly.
One retired FBI agent, who had served 25 years and knew Shameco through the FBI Citizens Academy in Chicago, invited her to lunch. Shameco assumed it would be a casual conversation.
Instead, the agent showed up with:
– Her resume.
– Presentation ideas.
– A clear question: “Shamika, what do you think?”
Others followed. Women near retirement, or simply ready to do something beyond the traditional nine-to-five, began asking for guidance.
Shamika’s message to them is grounded and realistic:
“I’m not the type of person that’s like, leave your nine to five. No, stay there. But if there’s something additional that you want to do, how can you begin to set yourself up ahead of time for success in that area, and monetize your skill, not just for your employer, but for yourself?”
Impact now serves both students and women in transition, helping each group clarify identity, develop skills, and step into leadership in new ways.
Excellence Is Required — But It’s Not Perfection
Out of this work came Shamika’s book, Excellence Is Required — a 94-page, easy-to-read guide that threads together her central themes.
The title can sound intense. But she is very clear about what she means:
“Excellence isn’t perfection. It’s doing the best you can with what you have.”
That definition matters. When people hear “excellence,” they often feel pressure, comparison, or fear of not measuring up. Shameco reframes it.
Wherever you are right now:
– Use what you have.
– Do the best you can.
– As you steward that well, more will come.
The book covers:
– Identity and purpose.
– Talent and skill development.
– Moving from competence to leadership.
– The courage to pivot.
– Conversations with entrepreneurs.
She thought she was done at nine chapters. In fact, she wanted ten, but refused to “just make up something.” So she stopped.
Then she woke up one morning with a clear sense: there was one more chapter.
That final chapter, “The Difference,” tells six stories about networking and connection — how she:
– Connected with the FBI.
– Connected with the Chicago Bulls.
– Built relationships with a local mayor and other leaders.
– Stepped into opportunities that changed her trajectory.
These aren’t theory. They are concrete examples of what it looks like to recognize and respond to open doors.
Readers tell her they often finish the book in a single sitting. It is designed that way — practical, direct, and immediately usable. Excellence Is Required is available on Amazon.
Opportunity as a “Magic Wand” — and a Responsibility
At the end of each Village Talks segment, Damian offers guests a “magic wand” and asks what they would do with it.
Shameco could have chosen wide distribution for her book or a specific local initiative. She thought bigger, but stayed consistent with her work.
“I would want to provide opportunities. Opportunities are available for you. Now, what are you going to do with it?”
She compares opportunity to transportation:
– Some opportunities are like a bus or an Uber — if you miss one, another will come.
– Others come only once. If you miss them, you miss them.
Her dream is to open doors for students who currently don’t see many.
“I don’t feel like a lot of students, especially some of the ones that Impact services, have a lot of opportunities available to them. So open doors, open doors. I would want to open doors of opportunity.”
And she believes something important happens when young people see those doors:
“If they saw more doors of opportunity open, they would get in more of a mindset of preparation, because they’re not prepared because they don’t see the door open.”
Opportunity and preparation feed each other. That’s the space where Shameco has chosen to live and lead.
What We Can Take From Shamika’s Work
Shamika’s story is specific — Englewood classrooms, Eastern Illinois University, FBI Citizens Academy, Chicago Bulls connections. But the principles she models apply to any educator, mentor, or caring adult in a Village of Support around young people.
Here are a few grounded takeaways:
1. Go first with your story.
Real connection often starts when the adult in the room is willing to be honest about their own pain and choices.
2. Notice the middle.
High flyers and high-need students get attention. The ones in the middle often don’t. Intentionally look for them.
3. Redefine excellence.
Shift the conversation from perfection and pressure to “doing the best you can with what you have.”
4. Teach young people to reach out.
A phone call to a hospital, a conversation with a professional, a new club on campus — these are simple steps that build identity and networks.
5. Open doors and name them clearly.
Don’t just say “opportunities are out there.” Point to them, explain them, and walk students through what it looks like to say yes.
Continuing the Work Together
Damian closed the conversation by honoring Shamika’s heart, diligence, and impact — not just in Chicagoland, but in New York and beyond. He also shared his own commitment: buying Excellence Is Required for himself and for his 15-year-old daughter, because so much of what Shameco represents is exactly what he wants his daughter to see and believe about herself.
Shamika’s work through Impact, her speaking, and her writing is one powerful piece of a larger effort to support young people as they move into and through their post-secondary lives.
To learn more about the work being done to coordinate care across the Village of Support, and how SELvie helps communities stay connected around young people’s needs, visit www.sel-plus.com/selvie.