We recently connected with Tierra Briscoe and have shared our conversation below.
Tierra, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?
I believe this is a very touchy and tricky subject you know. Some are blessed to have the full, undivided support of family and friends; then on the other hand there are those who have minimal to no support from family and friends. I will always speak from my experience and in full transparency. I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with asking family and friends to support your business because you can’t do everything by yourself. It never hurts to ask for assistance. You never know who your family/friends know who could align with the services or products you may offer.
As an entrepreneur, we will receive support from the places we least expect it outside of family and friends. I think support is important and looks different for everyone. Whether that is word of mouth, showing up to events, purchasing products, etc…. I don’t think there is any support that is inappropriate unless it is negative or puts others in danger you know.
Since I made the decision to pursue my dreams, the idea of what support looks like from family and friends has definitely shifted for me. I just knew when I took the leap of faith I would have all the support from my folks when it was indeed the opposite. What I did notice and being in the entrepreneurial space for about 6 years now, is that a lot of my relationships have indeed shifted with not only my family but my close friends as well. The biggest lesson I’ve learned regarding support and how others show up is that people, including family, are not obligated to show up and support. Although we may feel like they should support us because they are family and friends, not everyone will see your vision as you do and truly believe in what you are pursuing. My relationship with my father and his siblings has suffered greatly because of my decision to leave the government and go after my dreams. Now at first, this was extremely hard for me to understand how couldn’t they see the support, but as I have continued my healing journey.. I realized I was hurt more so because I was operating unconsciously from a space where I was still seeking their approval. When at the end of the day, my happiness is important.
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?
Hey Everyone!! Wow! Well, let me introduce myself. My name is Tierra aka YogiTB and I originate from PG County, MD. I am a yogi, healer, coach, and Ph.D. Student, and a vibe all around.
Ok, I started practicing yoga in 2008, my freshman year of college at Penn State University. When I first began practicing yoga, the only other person who looked like me doing it was my uncle. So I was in class uncomfortable and going through the unknown basically. I took Yoga 1 & 2 as my gym credits and this class literally gave me such a transformative experience I never knew I would have. Fast forward 15 years later, and I am living in my purpose. I am 200hr, prison yoga, sports yoga, and trauma-focused yoga certified. I am also a certified law enforcement fitness coordinator.
But, let me backtrack a little bit. My background initially is in law enforcement, many people do not know that about me. I was a federal officer, Sergeant, and Agent from 2014 – 2018. My experience in law enforcement was interesting, yet life-changing. It really opened my eyes to pushing the limits in a society that may not always be on your side. Being a young black woman, in a male-dominated field was not for the faint of heart. I came in at a young age, got promoted extremely fast, and shook the table. LITERALLY. I made a decision to step out on faith and leave behind the day-to-day stability that kept me afloat or “operating in functioning survival mode”.
Yoga was the practice that saved my life on numerous occasions. During my lows and highs. I practiced Bikram yoga and many other styles. In 2016/2017, I started to share my yoga practice via social media which was an extremely vulnerable moment for me. With the encouragement of friends and other followers, I decided to obtain my 200-hour yoga teacher training certificate in 2017. This is when things popped off!
I got the opportunity to start teaching in different places. I started working with athletes, at the professional, collegiate, and high school levels. In 2018, I made the decision to leave the government to teach yoga full-time, and what a time! Entrepreneurship is not easy and I learned that fast!!!
I spoke about this in another blog, but there were moments where I barely had enough gas to get from point A to B, but I was so in a hustle/grind mode that things were not aligning for real. I wasn’t getting paid my worth and I was jumping at any opportunity to teach. What I realized is that my worth wasn’t being acknowledged and I was BURNT out. I fell out of love with the practice that once brought me so much joy.
Things began to change for me in 2019. I started teaching again. I began doing huge events and community activations in the DC area and building my audience. When COVID hit in 2020, I stepped it up more!! With the onset of the BLM movement, I began using my platform to speak up about discrimination experienced in the wellness space.
I have always vowed to advocate for instructors of color at all times. This opened me up to a number of opportunities that I am forever grateful for to this day! Fast forward to now, I am living my dreams. Manifesting every day. Leading retreats, connecting people with others, working with amazing clients, and teaching on my own terms.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Whew!! A big lesson I had to learn was to take emotions out of business. I am such a huge empath and I always try to take everyone’s feelings into account. But what I’ve learned is that doing so leaves me with the short end of the stick in business and I have lost a lot of money/abundance in playing nice and being mindful of people’s feelings. NOW, now. I am not saying be rude and an asshole (can I cuss? lol) when you are doing business with others. But be firm in who you are and stand FULLY in your WORTH. If your price is $200 for a service, that is your price and you stick beside it. Don’t ever let anyone make you feel like you are not worth what you are offering. People will invest in and purchase what they want, especially when it aligns with them. Do know that all money and opportunities are not good money and opportunities. Be confident in who you ARE and what you offer. Remember that money is also an energy exchange & you deserve your worth to be fully acknowledged. Do good business, be polite, and professional, and use your discernment.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I literally started from the bottom with Instagram, haha & built my audience organically to what it is today. What I will say is something that always helped me grow and connect with my social media tribe is being genuinely myself & authentic in my story. I have never portrayed to be anyone more or less than who I am. I am unapologetically me & that is how this always will be. Also, I share my story, tell my story, and include my audience in my journey. Whether it is my workouts, yoga, or life in general.
Create content that aligns fully with your audience. Make it fun, engaging, bright, inviting, and informational. Also, don’t be discouraged by follower count. Just keep posting. Someone is seeing your content and you are helping them more than you ever know. All it takes is one time for something to pop off for you and go viral (if that is your goal). Just stay ready. Do not let social media trick you into believing you aren’t doing enough. Create what is aligned with you and feels natural. I always say “we don’t force anything in yoga, and that includes our lives as well… relationships, people, places, things, careers, you name it..” anything forced never lasts. Keep your relationship with social media positive and you will be good.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sol-full.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yogi.tb/?hl=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfGFgBpS9WW5hmspkLEcSIQ
- Other: https://trips.trovatrip.com/trips/indonesia-with-tierra-briscoe-aug-2023 https://yogandoretreats.wetravel.com/trips/the-vibe-and-the-flow-presents-healing-in-harmony-joshua-tree-edition-yogando-retreats-joshua-tree-51006329
Image Credits
@samholtimages @huddlebrand @studio.hayes