WOMEN+POWER 2023: The Tims Sisters

‘We’re sisters, I can’t even begin to think of a better team or duo,” Chlanee Johnson said about her younger sister Char-Lesha. Born and raised in Los Angeles, these women have been outworking male counterparts since they were young. Brought up in an entrepreneurial household, the sisters were heavily influenced by the work-life balance mentality of both their parents and wisdom instilled by family. 

After losing their father, Donald, to cancer, the sisters stepped up and out into their family business to continue the legacy and ensure the success of their family. Working alongside mother, Renee Tims, a valued community icon known for her providership and high standards of long-term care and treatment of special-needs individuals, the sisters learned how to be a counterpart in managing and directing these facilities.  

With over 10 locations, together their now conjoined power team tackled the family business from all angles. ‘Our dad instilled a lot of patience, drive and strength in us,’ Char-Lesha said. “His ability to manage a situation, really any situation (as he was in construction) always showed us that the approach dictates results.” The sisters, whom are also mothers of two young girls, Celebritee and Maliyah, make sure to instill these same values to them. 

With this instilled drive, the sisters chose not to settle and still be nimble and creative in their own rights. They came together to brand their own business, Hookah Queenz, which specializes the concierge based, luxury-forward experience of Hookah. Insistent on providing something that has yet to be done, they decided to craft an aggressive business model with the cultural experience found in the Middle East. As if this wasn't enough, the sisters joined together in another endeavor, along with their mother, to reshape the traditional end of life experience. They designed a boutique-mortuary experience, Family to Family Funeral Services to reflect a truly compassionate and celebratory view towards an individuals final moments. 

While also being full-time mothers and entrepreneurs, the sisters furthered their educations gaining degrees like a Bachelors in Sociology and Business and a Masters of Business Administration with a concentration in Leadership and Organizational Change. But while they embarked on those endeavors, a new curveball would hit their family. Chlanee was diagnosed with lupus and the family was blindsided. 

With no blueprint of the future, this strong female family unit came together to better understand and how to manage this disease. While Lupus affects each individual differently, they thought it would only be right to help educate others in the most advanced and proactive ways, possibly furthering the quality-of-life management for others.

The Ladies of Lupus 501c3 Charitable Foundation was formed with just this mission in mind. Along with their mother Renee, they decided that helping spread knowledge, in a world which they felt it was lacking, could also save the lives of others.  

While inspiring many and continuing to bring positive and touching ways to impact individuals lives these sisters make it a mission to inspire others to do the same.

“We draw on the power and strength from within,’ Chlanee added, ‘Seeing how both our mother and father pushed through adversity, only to triumph really brings us life. Our grandmother instilled in our mom that: There is nothing like having your own- and for us, there would be nothing if we didn’t accept that but also provide the ability for others by giving back and elevating others’ qualities of life.”