We recently connected with Tiana Tee and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tiana, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

First, I must say having a child of my own has allowed me to honor and appreciate my parents in ways I couldn’t even fathom before parenthood became my own journey. My parents, like all other parents, are far from perfect, however they did the best they could with what they had in the moment.
My mother, brothers and I refer to my dad as “Mr. Fix It” because whatever was broken, rather it was a plate, a ceramic vase, a bookcase, or someone’s finger, he’d attempt to fix it with duct tape! Now of course the majority of these broken items were easily replaceable and thankfully so, we had medical insurance to be able to have a broken finger set in better fashion, however my dad’s innate response was to try to remedy the issue with whatever was in front of him.
My mother is an excellent forecasting planner. It was her who taught me the importance of knowing how to pivot if your first plan doesn’t go as planned.
I am grateful for my parents living out loud. Neither of them were ever paralyzed by the fear of making a mistake as they raised children. Their choice to live transparently allowed me to recognize that failure, a break, a pivot, nor a necessary ending, is the end of MY story. I am to do the best I can, with what I have in the moment and continue on my journey. As I get older I’ve realized that life is made up of pivots more so than plans that go from idea to reality without a hitch. I can say my parents’ model gave me a vantage point to notice adaptability is both a skill and strength, and I rely on it both professionally and personally.
For example, In 2020, like the rest of the world, I was navigating the COVID Shutdown unable to do much to change the situation for the world. We all were learning how to adapt and pivot. During this time I was also pregnant with my son, and shifted by private practice from traditional setting to 100% telehealth, on top of my full time job AND navigating the emotions attached to the new journey of marital discourse, separation and divorce. I was sure all of the high emotions, stress, shame and frustration was going to drive me insane. My negative self talk got loud. There were many moments where I felt completely lost, abandoned by God, and literally doomed for failure. However even in the midst of the heaviness I felt, I thank God for the fact that it was from the Word of God and my parent’s model of adaptability were I pulled strength.

Tiana, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a licensed marriage and family therapist and have been practicing for a decade. I have been operating in my private practice for 7 years where I support adults live their lives uninterrupted by trauma, society’s unrealistic expectations or self sabotage. I am grateful to have been able to expand my offerings by opening, Wiselign consulting, which is a mental health consulting firm that is dedicated to aligning work& wellbeing. I am a people person at my core. I seek out opportunities to spark up conversations with strangers and can spend hours people watching. Overhearing big belly laughter from a group of friends, sharing a smile with a cooing infant, or watching a couple, completely smitten, walking down the sidewalk bring me great contentment and joy. Those moments are reminders that even with all that there is to worry about in this day and age, love, peace & joy are still readily available to all that can make space for them to show up. I want everyone to flourish! This motivation has guided in me my choice for career, education path, volunteerism efforts, and overall disposition & way of life.
At the age of 21, I graduated California State- University East Bay with my Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology. During my college education, I tutored high school and college students and realized more often the problem was the student’s mindset and self-esteem, and not the actual subject matter. Pairing lessons with affirmations and practicing stress management techniques yielded to be an effective approach to fortifying their self-esteem and self-confidence and in the process creating the mindset necessary for students to be able to learn and retain lessons and therefore yield a higher quality work. I believe my decision to major in psychology and start the journey to become a therapist really felt validated. The sense of excitement that I experience when I see people shed limiting beliefs, heal through traumatic experiences and make a commitment to do the best they can with what they have in the moment is a reward for me.
In 2022 I published the first book in the series entitled, A Seat on the Couch: Mya’s story.” “A Seat on the Couch” series was birthed, after I prayed for wisdom. I wanted to know to support people the people in the world that could benefit from mental health support and therapy but would never pick up the phone to call me. Growing up, even in an urban area like the San Francisco Bay Area, the conversations about mental health and emotional intelligence were nonexistent. Stigma is still a huge obstacle in the Black community that keeps many feeling like therapy is not “for them.” The “A Seat on the Couch” books are urban fiction novels that follow related Black characters in their pursuits to navigate life and the highs and lows that accompany it. My purpose is to provide readers with a model what anxiety, depression, healing from sexual trauma and suicidality, setting boundaries in relationships and more in addition to providing them with a glimpse of how therapy could help.
Overall I am grateful to be a part of peoples’ journeys to their best selves, and rather if someone is moved by a book or interview I do or by becoming a client receiving therapy or mental health consulting.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

By the fall of 2022 I was noticing my very active 2 year old wasn’t doing some of the things that the other 2 year old kids at his school or at the park. This starts months of several hour long virtual assessments and appointments and by February 2023, my son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and presented with severe symptoms. By the time he was diagnosed, I had already taken a huge reduction in client hours to accommodate the time needed for assessments which led me to have to make the hard decision to pull my son out of daycare because I could no longer afford it. This season was a season of pivoting. My son and I’s compete day to day routine changed as quick as a flip of a switch, and adapting was necessary for us to make it through. Immediately, I became a full time stay at home mother, homeschool teacher, acting behavior technician overnight while being a self employed therapist whose sole income must uphold my son and I without any extra help. With the our needs and human limitations, I had to learn to rely on the promises of God & live by faith even more, pivoting and adapting along the way. Whether that meant rocking him to sleep mid while typing notes or decreasing my workhours to make sure in my evenings I was physically and mentally available to read, teach and bond with my son.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective strategy in growing my clientele has been to recognize that growth is going to be an outcome of the work and connection I make with my audience. My focus has been less on turning people I meet into paying clients and more on providing the people I meet with the care, support, and respect that they are deserving of. I believe my desire to connect with and uplift all that I speak to ends up being a factor in my client’s choice to work with me. I encourage you to join my email list to stay connected with me. I am hopeful I will provide you with a message of hope or a level of support that will help you align with your most optimal self, ready and willing to align every area of your life with wellbeing and wisdom.
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Contact Info:

• Website: https://iamtianatee.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/iamtianatee
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/iamtianatee
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/tianatee
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@iamtianatee