We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tatiana Cole a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tatiana , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My mission is for entrepreneurs to be free to flourish. That can be through their business as I work with them to create additional revenue streams from strategy to product development. As well as personally as they grow into becoming their more authentic selves.

Flourish means to grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a favorable environment. I create the space and experience to help women entrepreneurs unpack what that environment needs to look like externally in their physical surroundings and also internally (mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually) through the conference and an upcoming online community membership. The next Flourish conference is taking place in Charlotte, NC on June 7, 2024 and i’m looking forward to the next cities I’ll visit nationwide.

Many women go through life changes alone. It can be hard to set boundaries with family and friends and stay the course. I’m creating a space for entrepreneurs to gain the support and community of women that are going to cheer them on in their process of improving not only their life but their business as well.

Clients say they have hope again. They feel refreshed and motivated to move forward whether through our work in private coaching or as an attendee at the conference. I want to see them soar to new heights because they are greatly needed in this world.

Tatiana , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve always been a planner. I would help my friends with meeting their goals through time management, breaking their goal into small steps and creating a 90 day plan. Eventually, I worked solely with entrepreneurs. I come from a family of side hustler entrepreneurs with my father owning a rug cleaning business and my mother using her sewing skills to create quilts, handbags and other items and my grandfather owned a bodega in New York City. I always admired the courage and passion of entrepreneurs who were on a mission to serve the world with their business. Many would come to me when they were stuck figuring out the next step and how to get there. So I used my background in project management from working in higher education, received my coaching certification, and helped them through the process to see their vision and execute it.

Now, I work with entrepreneurs to gain freedom of time and finances in business by strategically offering passive income via products and extra income streams through workshops, trainings, conferences, and retreats. I also work with clients on their personal growth through the free to flourish society to ensure they are continuing to grow as a person and not just business strategy.

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

I was laid off from a toxic job, my relationships were rocky, and after years of trying, I realized I lost a part of myself. I found myself living in this cycle and going through the motions between work, church, friends, family and business but I wasn’t doing what I loved. I wasn’t being intentional with certain areas of my life and I was shrinking who I was slowly over time.

I decided to figure out who I was again; what I liked, what I enjoyed, whether I liked white or gold jewelry and started to express myself more openly. It was an unrevealing. No longer being quiet because I was “too much” and started being authentically me, dancing in the grocery store aisles, celebrating my friends loudly, and doing more of the things that brought me joy.

I have a better sense of who I am and how I wish to show up in this world that I’m better able to show up and serve in life and in business.

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

A stressful week with my eyelid twitching serving as a sign to rest and calm down turned into half of my face feeling numb. That feeling extended to my right hand and foot which led me to a long wait at the ER. After waiting for nearly 9 hours, on my way out, my name was called to be seen. In October 2023, after continued doctor visits and tests, led to the diagnosis of stage 1 thyroid cancer. This was a hard pill to swallow being only 36 years old at the time and coming up on the year anniversary of the passing of my dad that died of cancer treatment complications.

It’s slow growing and I had time before needing surgery to remove part of my thyroid. However, I was able to be seen sooner than expected late November 2023. Comes to find out the tumor was in the back of my thyroid and attached to the nerve that controlled my vocal chords.

While home resting and recovering, I was patiently waiting for my ENT appointment to see if the tumor in fact damaged my vocal chords or not which would result in a change to my voice for life and speech therapy classes. By the grace of God, the ENT doctor ruled out any damage and it took about 9 weeks for my voice to fully come back.

Around this time, I was 5 months out from hosting a women entrepreneur conference in another state. I was traveling from Massachusetts to Charlotte, NC to host this conference. While others were questioning if I was going to cancel, I continued on and pushed back the conference to June instead of April. I was so focused on the impact of this conference that cancer and surgery weren’t going to hold me back. With the cancer putting my voice at risk, I for sure have plenty to say now to speak up for myself and to the women who need hope and inspiration to live their authentic selves in life and business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tatianacole.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamtatianacole
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamtatianacole
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tatianacole
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tatianacole1101
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits
Hillary Lynn Photography Amy Crosby Photography