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

Te’Ara, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate it if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

To be honest, I started off doing social and corporate event planning and although it was successful and a part of my passion, it was not a part of my Purpose. You see, one of my biggest blessings is realizing that God gave me the Purpose of guiding others to theirs. Although it took me well into my adulthood to fully understand that. It was not until I was standing in the gymnasium of Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club pouring into several young ladies about loving and believing in themselves, that I realized I was in the wrong profession. Not just in the wrong profession, but I had received multiple red flags during those events that I was ignoring instead of recognizing the signs that were being shown. I have been speaking, coaching and mentoring youth and adults for over 15 years, but I only started my business 5 years ago. This is when it was time for me to fully face the path that God had me on. The time where accepting, owning and living in my Purpose was imperative, but not easy to do. The funny thing is during this challenging time, I became my first client under my business umbrella. It was time for me to step into my Purpose in all aspects, but I couldn’t do it alone. I needed help. Starting off with brain dumping everything that would come to mind in regard to helping others. From that brain dump, there was the common theme around speaking in some sort, but I didn’t exactly know how to move forward with my findings. There were so many amazing speakers out in the world, and I just knew there was no way I could deliver information like they could, so I continued to hold back and decided to reach out to my mentor Tina Adams-Turnipseed to discuss this roadblock with her. Not knowing that reaching out to her was about to stretch me and prove what she had been speaking into me all along. From the first day Tina met me, she had been telling me that I had a story to tell, and I was going to be a motivational speaker, coach and author. Of course, I laughed and told her no I wasn’t every single time. Although here I was walking into her office for a check in to ask for her help and advice on how to do just that. Coincidentally, during that check in I received an email invitation to join a group of women in writing a compilation book over our trials and tribulations as women and how it affects you personally and professionally. I had to laugh a little because I just knew somebody was playing tricks on me. I told Tina what I was reading and proceeded to tell her yet again I am not writing a book and I was going to email them back and tell them thank you, but I am not interested at this time and even if I was, I knew the publishing fee would be something I couldn’t afford. While ignoring my no, Tina said you never know if you can afford it, let’s just ask how much it is. I replied to the email and asked the question, to be told that the publishing fee was only $100. I thought it was a mistake and replied by asking did they leave a zero off and was told that the $100 was correct because it was 10 women and each of us would cover the fee together. Now all of that sounded great but again I wasn’t writing a book, and I still couldn’t afford the $100 at that time. Unbeknownst to me, when I turned away from the computer and turned back to reply and say thanks but no thanks, Tina had set her credit card on the keyboard and told me to tell them I was in. At that point, I had to make the decision to believe in myself as much as everybody else was doing or give up again. Safe to say, I chose to believe in myself and take a chance on me. Now the writing process was far from easy. I had about two months to complete one chapter and it was not done on time. During those two months, I was putting myself through therapy as I wrote because I was sharing parts of my testimony that I either had never shared or hadn’t shared in a long time. I’m talking about emotional breakdowns and pauses because I couldn’t get it all out. I ended up going to Tina once again trying to figure out why I couldn’t get through this one chapter. Tina’s response was so simple. Create an outline and then go back to writing. By the time I did that, I was at the deadline and had to request an extra twenty four hours to complete my chapter. So, I sat at the table for five hours straight and got it done. Honestly, one of the most challenging times of my life but also one of the best decisions I could have ever made. From that book, I have sold 300 plus copies and became an International Empowerment Speaker. Keeping up with the momentum, it was time to jump into the next part of Te’Ara Speaks and become a certified Life Coach to compliment me being an Author and speaker. We were deep in the pandemic during this time, when we researched and found Transformation Academy’s virtual certification program. The exciting thing about Transformation Academy was that they not only had the Life Purpose Coach certification, but I was able to get certified in several areas and work to become Master Life Coach certified. The program is very informative and absolutely amazing. Now five years in we have evolved into a media organization that provides empowerment, networking and collaboration while inspiring individual growth as we dare to be different, live to inspire and be who we are. We provide a safe place through speaking, coaching, literature, television and podcasting across multiple platforms to help you work through the challenges and struggles we all go through on our journey to get to our PURPOSE. What I had to figure out is that there is no straight road to your Purpose or where you want to be. There will be multiple challenges and struggles along the way, but it is important to have a mentor or some type of confidant to help you work through those times and find the lessons to help push you forward.

Te’Ara, 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 in empowering others traces back to my time with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis, shaping me into a strategic planner with a passion for organization. As the founder of Te’Ara Speaks, a media organization fostering empowerment, networking, and collaboration, I also lead Daring Inspired Youth, a youth Empowerment initiative that guides youth through character development, mentorship, and college and career readiness. We provide a safe place through speaking, coaching, literature, television and podcasting across multiple platforms to help you work through the challenges and struggles we all go through on our journey to get to our PURPOSE.

Amidst my impactful work, I find strength and support in my loving family, my very supportive husband and son. I have been recognized with awards such as BWN/MOIL Legacy and St. Louis Life Coach. My influence extends into the community and has been featured in notable media outlets like Voyage STL, Pretty Women Hustle, Stardom 101 magazine and TGFX on Roku.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

It was the top of the Pandemic; our book Lipstick Stories had just come out and the publishing company had to cancel our several city book tour. Now, there were ten Authors who were a part of this project in several different cities, and we all had to figure out what to do next. After talking to my team, we decided to have an in-person book signing since our city did not have any event restrictions at the time. During my book signing, the news came across stating that there could not be more than 50 people at an event and we had 48 people in the building. My husband Kevin and friend Chris asked me to stand still and take in what I was able to do. All of those family, friends and supporters had come out to share in my success despite what the world was dealing with. From there I knew that I needed to do more and find creative ways to share my new book with others. This is where I came up with the idea to do virtual book signings. I took this idea to Tina to see what she thought, and she said it was a great idea. I proceeded to reach out to friends around the world, to ask them to be hosts during a virtual book signing and invite their family and friends to be apart. Shipping all books ahead of time to the guest so that they would have them in hand during the event. Although virtual, we made sure these book signings were about more than just me and my book. I was able to share the platform with musicians, poets, other authors, etc. We even had international guests that joined us whom we are still in contact with today. You see, what was meant to stop our project from moving forward actually extended our project beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

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

The best source of new clients for me has always been word of mouth. It’s the experience that our past and current clients have and are receiving that is poured into new and future clients. It is important to us that each client receives their individual coaching that is created specifically for them according to their needs and wants and no one else’s. No two clients are the same which means that each client’s coaching plan will be different. Although what will always remain the same is the consistency, care and attention that is given to our clients and their journey with us.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tearaarman.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/tearaspeaks
• Facebook: www,facebook.com/tearaspeaks
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tearaarman
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/tearaspeaks
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tearaspeaksshow
• Other: www.tiktok.com/@tearaspeaks www.tgfx.tv

Image Credits
TSEED Grafix