We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tammie Polk. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tammie below.

Tammie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

This is a double-edged sword because it is sometimes hard for friends and family to see us past who THEY know us to be.

I will honestly say that, as an author, speaker, and coach, more strangers support me than friends and family.

I’m sure that’s true for most and I also know there are several reasons behind that.

Everyone has that ONE person in their lives that they want to be proud of them, so we push ourselves extra hard and hope THAT person sees us and congratulates us.

We’re crushed when that happens, but we have to remember that what we do isn’t always going to be about them.

My person was my Dad.

My Mom passed away in 2007 and I published my first book in 2015.

Since my Dad is all I have, I immediately shifted to wanting HIM to be proud of the work that I did.

I found myself in tears after sharing my first book with him because he didn’t like it at all….

That hurt me because I thought for sure that he would be proud of me, but through the help of my husband, I came to realize that I couldn’t base what I was doing on that.

Since then, I have 152 books under my belt and have even opened my own bookstore featuring my own titles.

I’ve seen my books do some amazing things and I am grateful for my readers’ continued support!

I will say that I’ve seen some of my friends and family come around since then, but my focus had to turn to the people I don’t know for me to have the best impact.

If I had let that stop me, I’d still be trying to find my way and that’s not what I’m meant to do.

My mantra is “I Write My Way Through Life and Business and Writing Is My Cross.”

I learned that I have to practice what I preach, so I can’t let those who don’t support me to stop me!

All I can do is pray that they are one day helped by something that I’ve penned

I may never know it happened, but it would be amazing!

Tammie, 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?

My journey as an author started at the age of 11 when my sixth grade teacher told my Mom never to stop me from writing.

I wrote my first two books in the Fall of 2000 and published my first book in September 2015.

In May 2018, I wrote the vision for having my own bookstore after receiving rejection letters from the bookstores in my area due to my works being self-published.

Eleven months later, I turned a 10×6 office into my first bookstore. Four months after that, I moved into a 1200 square foot walk up space.

Professionally Sassy, LLC is my brand and I serve in three ways.

As an author, I write books that cause and solve problems. Women are my primary audience and I write with the intent to help them to own where they are in life and to do more, better, and greater. I have always said that, if something that I’ve written has made them get up and do what they know they should be doing, then my job is done. My books are for busily stressed moms who have big dreams they want to accomplish, are tired of waiting for someone else’s permission and timeline to achieve those goals, and want to achieve them now.

As a speaker, I take the message of my books on the road. What I share depends on the theme of the event, but my intent is always the same — to show women what is possible!

As a coach, I use my books in their purest form — to help women remember who they are, reclaim what they’ve lost, and become who they are meant to be. It isn’t always easy to do, but those light bulb moments will never get old for me.

I also host my own workshops and conferences throughout the year, which is something I love to do!

The most recent was my Girl, Go Eat A COOKIE!: The Experience Event, which was in March 2022, and it was my first hybrid event.

I have more coming this year!

As for my bookstore, I am blessed and excited to be able to provide my customers with the unique experience of a by appointment only, 1:1 personal shopping time with the author of the books that they see on display.

This gives me the chance to get to know them and help them choose the right book for where they are in life and business.

Once they find it, we can sit down over a cup of coffee or tea and talk about it.

There is no one else there during that hour except me and them, which gives them the freedom to get exactly what they need without any added pressure.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

My business is mostly self-funded.

When I embarked on my journey of entrepreneurship in 2014, I did so with $700 from my husband’s bonus from his job and a set of business cards printed on cardstock.

From that $700 came my first business, which was a homeschool consulting business.

Once I opened, I worked to keep my business going while taking on clients. Even when I closed that business to start the one I have now, I did it without loans, credit cards, angel investors, or anything like that.

I did; however, get help from my husband when I went into my business full time in 2018, but I still worked when needed.

During the pandemic, I didn’t qualify for any of the state nor federal aid offered aside from the PUA for self-employed people, yet I never had to close outside of the mandated shutdown.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

It was December 5th, 2021, five days before my Girl, Go Eat A COOKIE!: The Experience Event.

On that rainy Sunday afternoon, I was headed to Cracker Barrel when a four door GMC pickup truck hit me head on, sending my car into oncoming traffic.

Two of my three daughters were in the car with me and one was injured.

That night, I announced via social media that the event was cancelled and I panicked!

I’d received nearly $1,000 in sponsorship funds and had sold 6 of my 12 seats.

I didn’t know what I was going to do because every dime had been spent already.

I must say that I was blessed because not ONE soul asked for a refund, only that I get better and still do the event when I did.

When I was strong enough to walk again, I packed up all of my attendees’ swag items and mailed them out because I wanted them to have something of what they paid to attend.

I announced the new date of March 2022 and, much to my delight, the ladies said they’d still be able to make it!

After announcing the new date, I had to have my gallbladder removed, but I was determined to have my event.

Come March, I did just that and had more people than before!

One of the best reviews was when one of my virtual attendees messaged me on Facebook and said that she was glad I was strong enough to still host the event because she needed it.

I fought….and I won!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.professionallysassy.me
• Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/dynamicallydifferentasc
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/dynamicallydifferentasc
• Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tammie-polk
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/professionsassy
• Other: http://Instagram.com/professionallysassy

Image Credits
JD Westbrook Photography TB Oatis Sweet LaLa’s Bakery