Ly'chel Carmichael

Ly'chel Carmichael is a curriculum and human development strategist, special education teacher, and multi-hyphenate entrepreneur whose approach to leadership is rooted in building people before building systems.

A non-reader until nearly the ninth grade, Ly'chel spent three years failing the same grade before a brain injury led to the diagnosis that had been missed all along: dyslexia and dysgraphia. With the right support, she graduated on time. She went on to earn five degrees and is currently completing a doctoral study.

Her career has centered on emotional intelligence as the foundation of durable leadership. She manages people's emotional wellbeing before she manages any program, an approach that turned a struggling daycare into a million-dollar facility, and that guided her through a year leading one of the most challenging classrooms in her school, where more than 85 percent of students had IEPs. She spent two weeks on emotional repair before teaching a single academic lesson. That class finished third in the state.

She is the founder of four businesses: Goddess Lux Beauty, Food by a Goddess, Love Jones Media, and Dream Chasers Business Solutions.