Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tanisha Coffey. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tanisha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

When I started out in business, I jumped in. I didn’t have a traditional business plan. I was just using what I knew how to do / the skills I had picked up in my post-grad program at Portfolio Center. I ended up finding an online website for Freelancers called Elance. I set up a profile on that website and sat in the second bedroom of my apartment day after day submitting proposals, hoping someone would hire me. Eventually, someone did! I did copywriting for a company that provided video dance lessons. That client ended up being a repeat client for several projects.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a seasoned entrepreneur with 18+ years under my belt. I began my entrepreneurial journey as a freelance copywriter / ghostwriter and marketing consultant. But, unlike many business owners, I didn’t choose entrepreneurship; it chose me. I share my full story is the very first episode of my The Lofty Entrepreneur podcast. But, long story short, despite having the education and skills society said I needed to have to be successful, I was applying for jobs but wasn’t even getting called for interviews that matched. So, I hired myself and found my own work to survive. It wasn’t an easy path but, looking back, I believe that it is the path I was, and am, supposed to be on.

As I started getting more work, I officially formed my first LLC. After that, the company went through a few names and iterations and product and service offerings but I eventually founded my flagship brand: The Lofty Entrepreneur (www.TheLoftyEntrepreneur.com). At the outset, the brand was focus on helping current small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs with marketing services for their business. As I grew in my knowledge, experience and capabilities, so did the brand. The Lofty Entrepreneur began initially from my training as a copywriter and the knowledge I had of art direction as well as Radio / TV / Film production. But, as my fellow entrepreneurs know, a critical skill of a business owner is their ability to pivot and to seize opportunities or thwart obstacles.

Today, my clients benefit from the girth of my knowledge across multiple forms of media, leveraging me as a fractional CMO, marketing strategist / consultant or 1-1 business strategy mentor…and more.

After seeing the financial challenges that many small business owners faced trying to use “traditional methods” over the years, I began to research non-traditional / lesser talked about strategies for funding, cash flowing and growing one’s business. That path led me to the financial services industry. The knowledge I gained was game-changing–for me personally as in regard to how I could help business owners. So, I became a licensed broker. I added financial strategies to my offerings under The Lofty Entrepreneur brand; I also started a second brand Rock Solid Financial (www.RockSolidFinancial.co). Rock Solid Financial focuses on helping individuals and business owners to be “Unshakably rock solid” when life happens by helping them to use insurance products strategically for things beyond the “traditional” uses.

In addition to the two brands, I am also the host of The Lofty Entrepreneur podcast, a course creator, speaker and published author. I penned 30 Minute Startup: A Step-by-Step Guide For Setting Up Your Business Legally and $100 Bucks Branding: Branding Your Business On A Shoestring Budget in 2020, co-authored the #1 Amazon best-selling book The Fearless Entrepreneurs in 2021, and plans are in the works to release my next book in 2024.

My journey as an entrepreneur has been full of adventure, much more than I ever realized when I started on this path. But, after nearly two decades, I’m still here….and I know it’s because of the care, time and attention I pour into the clients I work with. They appreciate the fact that I don’t simply put them into a cookie cutter solution. My motto is: “Intentional. Strategic, Action.” So, when I’m working with a client, I take the time to understand not just their goals but what their intention is and build the strategy and the subsequent actions they should take. It makes all the difference in helping them to do “the thing” they’re trying to do–whether it be on the marketing side or money side. My specialty is helping people to do the thing they’re trying to do when the traditional methods don’t work or aren’t feasible. It’s where I excel and why my clients do too.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of clients for me come from my webinars and workshops. I love educating people on “the possibilities,” whether it be focused on business or personal. So I do them often. What I have found is that it helps to increase overall brand awareness, which sometimes leads to referrals. However, as far as direct business goes, I’ve found clients this way too and I don’t have to do any convincing. They already know they need help and have already experienced me and my thought process. So, they have an idea of what working with me will be like. That goes a long way in business today!

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My business partner is my husband! We were dating when I first started in business, We eventually married and several years into the marriage, we decided to start a business together. We had a dream of helping people to build a legacy. For us, we believed that to be through entrepreneurship & financial literacy. So, I closed my business and partnered up with him to form the parent company for The Lofty Entrepreneur and Rock Solid Financial brands.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.TheLoftyEntrepreneur.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/officialsballiance
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-lofty-entrepreneur
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theloftyentrepreneur