We were lucky to catch up with Teri Donelson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Teri, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I work with women who are unclear on their purpose or lack a roadmap on how to pivot and begin to live in their purpose. During this time after covid, people want to engage with one another again and attending a brunch has been the thing to do. So I decided to bring the two together, I wanted the ladies to have the opportunity to network, have a space place to talk, a space for them to take the hats off but I also wanted to provide them a place to get their mind set for the next quarter. I wanted to provide a safe place to say I don’t have all the answers and I need help. I have been that woman who knew she knew she was unhappy and not living in her purpose but she also didn’t know how or where to start. The Purposeful Brunch is that safe place where women are able to eat, drink and network with like minded women. They will also have the opportunity to work on their goals, milestones in preparation for the next quarter. They will not only have a good time but they will also take care of business. This brunch gives me such joy to offer because I am able to help women who are business owners, just starting or trying to figure it out, they will receive tools to meet them at their level.

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

Highly sought-after keynote speaker, business strategist, author, and life coach Teri Donelson is one of the most empowering, entertaining, and enthusiastic voices in motivational speaking today. She impacts audiences with her transformational principles, so they learn to embrace greatness and achieve success. Affectionately known as “Your Purpose Pusher,’ she trains aspiring female entrepreneurs worldwide to overcome obstacles, pursue passions, and live a life of purpose.

Leveraging over 25 years of professional experience, Teri is on a mission to impact audiences with her message of unlocking your personal power. Through sharing her personal journey of discovering her untapped potential, Teri challenges her audience to embrace their next level, personally and professionally. Audiences who have been impacted by Teri’s content are more empowered to create the best version of themselves and become purposeful in developing a sharp vision and achieving goals. She mentors passionately, guiding her clients to strengthen and elevate their business vision.

Teri’s extensive expertise has landed her on major platforms across the United States, and her exceptional skills have allowed her to deliver presentations to some of the most prominent organizations in the industry. She has delivered heart-stirring keynote speeches on live and virtual international stages for large audiences, including Dr. Shawn Fair’s Leadership Experience Tour, Kearn Cherry’s Level Up Summit, and the StepChella Instructor Conference, to name a few.

Teri is a compelling thought leader dedicated to supporting the personal and professional empowerment of women around the world. In line with her relentless passion for helping women succeed, Teri serves as Chief Executive Officer and Founder of The Purpose Chasing Company ™, a global company that provides women opportunities to FIND, DEFINE and TURN their purpose into a thriving business while living a life of success.

Teri is a visionary who has been recognized for her leadership, commitment, and contributions to her community and the next generation.

I speak on wellness and fitness, I am not the standard of beauty but I speak to a lot of people because of my transparency I advocate for a standard of healthy not skinny. I started my weigh loss journey in 2012 but in 2014 although I was able to lose 120 pounds and keep it off I was doing very unhealthy things trying to fit a unrealistic standard of beauty, because I was in the fitness world. I finally realized I had to love myself at all stages of this healthy living journey and love all my curves. I begin to realize it isn’t about losing pounds but gaining years on your life. That came from putting clean healthy food in your body, proper rest, mental health and movement and your body will respond by releasing excess weight. Getting my body and mind healthy moved me to have the confidence to excel professionally as well. I overcame the negative thought in my mind about helping others build their business because of my financial past or lack of formal training.

Now, The Purpose Chasing Company works together with women, globally, who are unfilled in their current professional and/or personal life. Our client-based process revolves around three essential components which are: a healthy mindset, a healthy body, and healthy relationships. These core principles guide women to prosper while growing, learning, and developing into the person that they desire to become with our life and business coaching program. The primary focus of the coaching program is to discover one’s purpose to achieve success in life, business, or in health. Once the purpose is defined, for those women who have the desire to increase their skills, create or build a business, our next phase is the mastermind program. This program creates a roadmap which consists of clarifying the vision, goals, objectives, creating strategies and action plans.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I wouldn’t actually call it a side hustle, it was something fun to do on the weekends. I started working with the creator of Xtreme Hip Hop format, I was pushing him into his purpose, into his full potential. At the time it was only a fitness class and co founded the brand it is today and move it forward. However started out as scheduling classes around the US and we only did it one the weekends, but when I begin to really enjoy pushing the mission of fitness, I began to think of other things we could do. I suggested a workout video so we could reach more people. After that I quit my full time job and began building the Xtreme Hip Hop brand full time. Now we have produced 6 DVDs and created a certification program training over 3500 individuals globally. Went from 3 staff to 11.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

When I decided to focus on my health, I wanted to find a personal trainer to focus on muscle building. I found a locally owned gym that felt like home and the owner was the creator of the step format and the cofounder of Xtreme Hip Hop with Phil. I took all of Phil’s class, he inspired me to go hard in the gym and I inspired him to take his vision to a higher level.

Contact Info:

• Website: teridonelson.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terispeaks/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeriDonelson5
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teri-donelson-470504217/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVYp6EkisF5lgjl3pU7FB8g