We were lucky to catch up with Tamara Lee recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tamara, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

First off, thank you so much for having me here today. For the past decade, my mission has been to support women in rewriting their financial stories so they can quit earning less, and instead earn what they deserve. I’ve supported thousands of women through teaching financial education classes, delivering money empowerment workshops, facilitating money clubs, coordinating and leading women and money storytelling nights, and for the past three years I’ve added one-to-one coaching as my main business offering.

The story behind my mission began back at the tender age of 26 years old when I was living in Austin, Texas. I remember the morning vividly. I walked outside to get in my car to go to work only to find that my car had been repossessed by the bank due to late payments. Two years prior to this event, I had quit my job as a graphic designer in Crystal City, VA. Upon graduating from Iowa State University with a B.F.A. in Art & Design, I had quickly become disillusioned in my first position out of college and was looking for something in the world that felt more meaningful to me. I found a multi-level marketing company, called Equinox, that was trying to change the world through herbal products and water filters, and I quickly connected to their mission. Within two years of leaving my job, I found myself thousands of dollars in credit card debt. I desperately needed to get my car back and quickly began speaking to a bankruptcy attorney. In the end, I filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy and regained possession of my car.

One of the first things you must do before being discharged from a bankruptcy is attend a money management class. At that time, I attended a local Consumer Credit Counseling Service to fulfill this obligation. I remember well how much shame, sadness, and grief I felt during that class. As I look back now on that pivotal event in my life, it’s when money and I chose one another as life partners and teachers.

Fast forward to age 41 where I was living in Asheville, NC. I began working at the local Consumer Credit Counseling Service non-profit called OnTrack Financial Education & Counseling. I became a financial educator that taught everything from Homebuyers Education to the Bankruptcy Discharge class I had to attend all those years prior. While teaching the discharge class, I knew exactly how everyone in that room felt because I had come from the same experience so many years earlier. It was at that point that I came to the realization that I had been spending the prior 15 years healing my own money story so that I could help others heal theirs.

Upon that realization, in 2018 I decided to get certified as a Sex, Love and Relationship coach which allowed me to add somatic work to how I could help women release the shame and blame of their old money stories. In January of 2021 I launched my first business, Tamara Lee Coaching, where I’m able to coach and support female business owners to heal their own disempowered stories around money so they can thrive both financially and emotionally doing work they love.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I live in the beautiful mountains of Asheville, NC where I share my home with a fluffy puppy named Kinzee Lee. Personally, I’m wildly passionate about growing succulents and sunflowers. Additionally, I think of myself as a playful, fiery, and deeply curious person. Though I was certified as a life coach in 2018, I feel like I’ve always been older than my years. Born and raised in small-town Iowa, I come from a simple family who was probably somewhere between middle class and poor where my parents instilled in me a strong work ethic. I spent my youth making extra money by shoveling snow during the winter and running a paper route all year long.

So, what do I do? As a women’s money coach, I provide one-to-one coaching support for both business-owning and professional women. I help my clients get rid of unconscious money blocks and start fresh on a path of creating freedom, independence, and a healthy relationship with money. I create a customized package for each client that infuses healing modalities that target the unconscious aspects of a client’s relationship with money. Once we bring the unconscious to a conscious level, then we can create a money story makeover by using both somatic and money mindset techniques.

There are several ways I support my clients. For some, I help them see how they are undercharging in their business and then together we create the awareness, confidence, and practice to charge more. For others, I show them how their avoidance patterns when looking at their bank accounts is deeply rooted in how their nervous system reacts to stress and then we rewire that system to create safety when dealing with their money. In some instances, I help them understand their debt isn’t who they are. We create a plan and a path to paying down debt in a way that feels easy and doable for them while releasing the shame they’ve been carrying around. Over the course of 6 months working together, my clients experience more clarity, confidence and calm when it comes to handling their finances.

What sets me apart from others in my field is my unique blend of infusing somatic healing work alongside proven cognitive behavioral techniques which allows me to support my clients on a holistic level. Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of coaching practitioners who use multiple tools and approaches to helping a client understand their old behaviors.

First off, I use a money personality system called Sacred Money Archetypes to show my clients how they can use the gifts of their archetype to overcome their money challenges. Also, I use breathwork and guided visualization to help my client bring presence to their daily work-life balance. Additionally, I use Inner Child work to help my clients release old money traumas. Lastly, I also use Internal Family Systems work to help my client find their Inner Team Players that can support them in achieving their goals.

I am most proud of how I’m able to help my clients create real and long-lasting behavioral changes in regard to their relationship with money, as well as other aspects of their life.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Honestly, I’m a woman who shows full transparency in my own journey with money and I bring that into each and every conversation I have with women. I’m an expert at creating a safe space for women to come and share all of their most intimate thoughts and feelings around money. Also, I’ve built my reputation and brand as being open, honest and authentic in every area of my business and that shows in how I engage with people in my community.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I’m a one-to-one person deep down in my bones. I shine when I work closely with a single person or a small group. My best strategy for growing my business is creating spaces where potential clients can be seen and witnessed around their individual challenges with money. For that reason, I deliver talks, workshops, and one-to-one calls to build my business. The last thing I’ll add is that I’m very playful and real with my clients. With me, what you see is what you get!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tamaralee.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tamaraleecoaching/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tamaraleecoaching/ AND https://www.facebook.com/tamara.lee2/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-lee-70b8215/

Image Credits
Janelle Hamrick