We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tierra Destiny Reid a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tierra Destiny , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

My very first client, as the owner of a boutique, came from a competitor down the street who stopped by to check out my new business and found a pair of shoes she loved. They were only $5, and I was so excited to earn my first $5 that I framed it. I invited her to my official grand opening, recognized her, and took pictures with her to cherish that moment, which represented so much.Fast forward to when I started coaching and consulting, my very first client resulted from meeting with my mentor at the time, Tory Johnson. She felt that several people could benefit from the knowledge and information I had for starting a business lean. She encouraged me to simply list coaching as an offer on my website for my current clients to see and send it out via my newsletter, to see if anyone would respond to needing my support in that way. To my surprise, three clients responded immediately and signed up for my coaching services. I would take a break from my store and coach them by phone twice a month in the back of my storefront. This resulted in me not solely relying on the products I was selling in the store but also the additional revenue from my knowledge and intellectual property.”

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

As the owner of TDR Brands International and the founder of When Women Heal, I am a business consultant, author, and publisher. My mission is to help executives and existing entrepreneurs streamline their processes and increase their results by focusing on their natural gifts. I assist them in identifying what makes them unique and envisioning their greatest impact on humanity, all while maintaining their health and well-being.I advocate for holistic entrepreneurship due to my own experiences with burnout and unhealthy choices in the past. Through support, healing, and transformation, I’ve learned that success can be achieved without compromising one’s health or relationships.I guide my clients in focusing, refining, and clarifying their messaging to recognize their unique value. Through When Women Heal, we provide a supportive community for like-minded women and holistic entrepreneurs to grow personally and professionally while prioritizing their well-being and healing journeys.Additionally, as a publisher, we empower women in our community and clients to amplify their voices and stories through physical and digital products.”

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

In 2012, I made one of the most major pivots in my entrepreneurial journey after completing my first many-speaking event tour to educate and support other entrepreneurs. I was also the owner of a clothing store at the time and a military spouse and a mother of two. I absolutely loved the work that I was doing and the people that I was serving, but I was overworked, I was exhausted at times, and I was out of alignment in different areas of my life. And so after completing that tour, I took my first trip to the Grand Canyon. And the very first sight of the canyon took my breath away. I’ll never forget it. I was speechless. Every fiber in my body became steel. And I was reminded of God’s power and presence. While there, I felt that God was speaking directly to my spirit and telling me it was time to surrender, to pause, and become my own project. After leaving the Grand Canyon and returning home, I decided to sell my store. I decided to begin tying up all those strings with the commitment that I had at the time and I used the revenue from the sale of the store to take a much-needed sabbatical. I was intentional about telling friends and family that I was working on a major project and that I would need to take a step back and I may not be able to be at as many social gatherings and events, but that everything was okay and I needed to be laser-focused on my project. Well, that project was me. I began asking myself some really tough questions and at that time the Oprah Winfrey Network had recently launched and provided new tools and a guide for having tough conversations that I didn’t have previously. And those tools and shows such as Life Class and Super Soul Sunday equipped me with the courage and examples to begin getting honest about the areas of my life that were not in alignment. This chapter led to an intentional journey of healing and transformation. I enrolled in therapy to explore myself and gain more self-awareness. And self-acceptance for areas that I have been judging myself and my responses to people, my triggers and my pain. And I began to slowly stop judging my pain and what I had been through and past decisions that I made and I began to embrace more of who God created me to be. This led me to start hosting conversations and meetups with other women, which led to retreats in the United States and South Africa, which led to holistic coaching and consulting in which we began to infuse self-care, wellness, and self-care. And I began to see the realness, alignment, and fulfillment in the businesses and lives we were creating. And I can’t imagine doing business any other way, even with the unpredictability of entrepreneurship and the highs and lows. When you begin to nourish your mind, body, and spirit, the hard hits that come your way don’t land the same. And so it’s with great honor that when I’m assigned to a person or an organization, that I can want the best for that person and not just what they do. And for that, I’m grateful.”

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Apologies for misunderstanding. Here are your exact words:”Several years ago, when funding my very first clothing store, I was able to purchase a storage unit full of inventory and store fixtures from a previous business that had shut down. I was tired of paying for storage at a price of about $700. I pretty much flipped the inventory and everything that I didn’t need to earn roughly $3,000 to $5,000 from that investment. Coupled with that and a very small severance package, I opened the brick-and-mortar business. After selling that business, I began to move more into a digital space and a coaching and consulting space because I was burned out from driving to a physical business each day. Moving into the digital space allowed me to begin really understanding the value of intellectual property and our knowledge and advice. In this space, it is easier to create offers, packages, and bundles that allow you to pre-sell them to a small amount of people to ensure there is a need and demand for the product. You want to create the offer and experience before you over-invest in producing and creating the entire experience. I think one of the most impactful things that an entrepreneur can do who is willing to take risks is to take risks. One way that they can teach and help others with their advice and intellectual property is to list coaching or consulting on their website and also share with their existing clients that they may be serving or selling products to that they are also now offering coaching. I suggest keeping things very clear, direct, and simple. When someone is initially stepping into that additional stream of revenue and helping people in that way because it will open your mind up to the value of your experience and how many people may be following you and know that you are amazing at what you do. And are willing to invest to learn from you in a different way or to possibly create a business similar to the one you have or one that you’ve had in the past. I find that most entrepreneurs and business owners overthink the process before they create something and sometimes it never happens. I find that it’s very simple putting the information and invitations out and seeing if people are even interested in growing in that way and then taking a step back to refine and assess how you can make the biggest impact on their life that also aligns with the capacity and lifestyle that you have or desire.”

Contact Info:

• Website: Whenwomenheal.com
• Instagram: Tierradestinyreid
• Facebook: Tierradestiny
• Linkedin: Tierradestiny
• Twitter: Tierradestiny
• Youtube: TierraDestinyReid
• Other: Whenwomenheal.com

Image Credits
Eralphia Eckles