Interviewed By: Charron Monaye
Toni Moore, Esq. is the attorney of choice for those who play big, from celebrity influencers and six-figure coaches to founders building million-dollar brands. With more than 20 years of experience as a business and estate attorney, Moore has become a trusted advisor to celebrities, influencers, and powerhouse entrepreneurs determined to protect what they’ve built and grow it intentionally.
A former litigator turned serial entrepreneur, Moore is also a best-selling author and educator whose mission is rooted in one goal: closing the wealth gap through legal literacy. Through her firm and her national speaking platform, she empowers women, particularly women of color, to secure their intellectual property, structure their businesses with legacy in mind, and leverage the law to scale with confidence. Her client list includes well-known names in entertainment, media, and the digital creator space, but it’s Moore’s ability to make complex legal strategies actionable that sets her apart. “Contracts, copyrights, and corporations, those aren’t just paperwork,” she says. “They’re BOSS moves.”
In this exclusive Hype Hair Magazine interview, Moore discusses why owning your brilliance on paper and in practice is the new currency of wealth.
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HH: You’ve dedicated your legal career to helping women secure their wealth and legacies. What personal experiences shaped your passion for economic empowerment, particularly for Black women?
Toni Moore Esq.: I was raised by a single mother with limited education who like many women I knew, saw men as financial plans. Unfortunately, my childhood was riddled with abuse, poverty and instability. I thought it was because my mom chose the wrong men. But as a divorce lawyer, I saw the ugly side of “happily ever after” when wealth was weaponized and the laws in society were just words on paper when it came to ‘damsels in distress.” I watched women lose everything: homes, businesses, inheritance, peace. The courtroom showed me that money doesn’t just buy things it buys options. It buys freedom. That’s what drives me today. I help women—especially Black women—boss up, protect their brilliance, and build bank accounts that delay the stench of poverty and give them power over their own lives.
HH: As someone who bridges law, business, and finance, how do you define true wealth and how should today’s entrepreneurs be thinking about it beyond income?
Toni Moore Esq.: True wealth isn’t just about how much you make it’s about how much you own, protect, and have the freedom to have, do and be with the safety net of money. It’s owning your business structure, securing your intellectual property, and creating assets that live beyond your labor. Entrepreneurs need to think beyond the next sale. True wealth is when your brilliance becomes your bank, your legacy becomes your leverage, and your business becomes your freedom plan that defies the status quo.
HH: You often emphasize ‘bulletproofing your business.’ What are the top three legal protections every entrepreneur should have in place before scaling?
Toni Moore Esq.: 1. Form the right business entity: Separate yourself from your business legally and financially. 2. Protect your intellectual property: Trademark your brand, copyright your content, and own your frameworks. 3. Have written contracts in place: Boundaries and clarity prevent burnout and lawsuits. Legal documents are your power moves in business.
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HH: What misconceptions do you frequently encounter about estate planning and generational wealth and how do you work to shift that mindset among your clients and audience?
Toni Moore Esq.: People assume estate planning is only for the rich—or for when they’re older. But if you have a business, a brand, or babies—you need a plan. Generational wealth isn’t just cash; it’s ownership, protection, and transfer. I use my platform @TheLegalDeeva to shift that mindset, teaching women how to normalize trusts, succession plans, and legacy-building before crisis hits.
HH: You’ve authored multiple books and built a strong personal brand. How important is intellectual property in building a long-term business, and what steps should founders take early on?
Toni Moore Esq.: Intellectual Property is currency. It’s how you get paid for your knowledge long after you’ve spoken the words or created the content. Founders should secure their brand with trademarks, protect their creations with copyright, and treat their ideas like assets from day one. Your brand is not just a vibe—it’s valuable. Protect it like it’s your inheritance because if packaged right it can lead to long, lasting currency.
HH: Can you walk us through a moment where your legal expertise directly helped a client transform their hustle into a legally sound, thriving business?
Toni Moore Esq.: One of my clients was running a powerful coaching brand but her business was legally naked and vulnerable to a lawsuit. No LLC, no trademark, no contracts. We restructured everything: got her incorporated, protected her brand, and created licensing deals for her signature framework. Within months, her business was no longer hustle-dependent, it became a protected, bankable asset that made her money while she slept.
HH: In this era of AI, influencers, and digital entrepreneurship, what new legal pitfalls do you see emerging and how can founders future-proof their empires?
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Toni Moore Esq.: AI and digital platforms make it easy to create—but even easier to infringe. I see entrepreneurs using AI-generated content without understanding copyright law, building brands on social platforms without owning their domain, or licensing deals with no real protection. To future-proof: Own your IP. Use contracts. Don’t build on rented land. And never assume virality equals security.
HH: With your programs like Secure HER Bag and Boss Up Bootcamp, you’ve become a go-to resource for women in business. What’s your secret to building not just a service, but a movement?
Toni Moore Esq.: I meet women where they are—with language, tools, and legal strategies that make sense. I teach them to think like CEOs and protect them like lawyers. My platform @TheLegalDeeva is all about breaking legal down without dumbing it down. It’s not just a service it’s a call to action for women to boss up, lawyer up, and build bankable, protected legacies.
HH: What advice do you have for Black women navigating spaces where legal and financial literacy may be lacking or inaccessible?
Toni Moore Esq.: Start where you are—but don’t stay there. You don’t need to know everything, but you do need to know that legal ignorance is expensive. Don’t wait for a lawsuit, divorce, or disaster to get serious about protection. Tap into platforms like mine, @TheLegalDeeva, where I translate legal jargon into real-life strategies. What I know for sure, broke ain’t biblical and brilliance deserves boundaries.
HH: Looking ahead, what’s your long-term vision for your legacy and what kind of impact do you want to have on the next generation of CEOs, lawyers, and wealth builders?
Toni Moore Esq.: My legacy is to normalize ownership, protection, and succession especially for women who’ve been told to “just figure it out.” I want to leave behind more trust-funded businesses, trademarked brands, protected IP, and women who knew what to do before they got burned. I’m building an ecosystem where legal literacy becomes part of the wealthy conversation and where future millionairesses know precisely how to secure their brilliance and pass it on.
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Website: https://legallychic360.com/
