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

Alright, Trevia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright, so one thing we think people don’t talk about nearly enough is investments – either time or money. What’s one of the best or worst investments you’ve made and what did you learned from the experience?

My best investment when starting to transition from full-time elementary school teaching to running my own business with a purpose was investing in a program called We Are The Culture Makers run by Kelly Diels in the end of 2019. Kelly is a business and copywriting coach and her shorter workshops really spoke to me. So when the launch hit for this 2020 year-long program about letting go of shame and stepping into my power with a cohort of other people, I couldn’t throw her money fast enough. I also signed on for one one one business coaching. The members of that cohort honestly sustained me through that first year of the pandemic and I launched my first offer in Sept of 2020. I felt held, supported and seen. I wasn’t alone in working through my lack of business experience and visibility issues to get my offer out there with the website and all the other automations I needed to make implementation more seamless. It was a TON of effort, learning and work, but it was so worth it. This course and cohort meant so much to me, that I now co-host the program with Kelly and love working in that partnership everyday.

A previous investment made this program and coaching possible for me. I had a year long runway before I left my teaching position. I knew in July of 2019 that I would be leaving teaching in June of 2020. I had a settlement from my divorce and I took a lump sum out of it to invest in building my own business. This made it possible for me to pay for the course and coaching along with having a cushion saved for earning less for a while. In hindsight, I was really fortunate because I ended needing that cushion to get through that first year of the pandemic.

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?

I am a mixed-race woman with Indigenous ancestors who has two decades of experience in elementary education, bodywork and community-building. While living in Colorado, I completed my bachelor’s degree in History and Native American Studies and continued my higher education by receiving a Masters in Elementary Education. After teaching in China and Saudi Arabia I find myself back in America finding my roots and how I belongs in the world. I taught Kindergarten for 4 years in Hillsborough, North Carolina and transitioned in 2020 to doing collaborations with adults on social justice issues and community building. I love supporting people in unpacking cultural appropriation, community building, as well as helping Culture Makers gift the world with their knowledge, lived experience and wisdom so not only they, but their clients can thrive. My clients have told me that they feel held in a shame-free environment to grapple with messing inquires with integrity.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I recently did a pivot to “shelf” my online course HELD, so I would have more energy for list building, and supporting other entrepreneurs in their community building and programs. It wasn’t an easy decision because I built my program and the feedback from the three cohorts I did was very positive. However, I just don’t have a very big list currently and I didn’t have the capacity to market and list build to get enough sign ups right now.

I gave myself some space after two failed launches and felt called to go with where the money was flowing. I was making ends meet supporting other business owners. On top of that, I was being asked to offer one on one coaching for exploring cultural appropriation in people’s businesses and personal life. Once I made the pivot, to these two offers, it was a huge weight off of my shoulders. I am so blessed to really love and find meaning in the work I do. A bonus is that it is different enough to stay interesting. The best part is that I now list build mostly through being a guest on podcasts and I can relaunch my program again when there is enough interest to make it worth while.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I have two very different offerings in my business so my reputation has been built in each differently. In my coaching practice where I help people unpack cultural appropriation personally and in their business, my guest appearances on podcasts have really helped hone my skills and get my message out in front of people. The wonderful thing for me is that every time I appear as a guest on a podcast it adds to my body of work. I can link certain interviews with topics in my newsletter or on social media. I also have a Spotify playlist of all the podcasts I have appeared on which is a great way to share with people how it would be to work with me. It is a generative way for me to market myself and my services. I want to acknowledge Natalie Koussa and her course Pod Squad as an amazing tool to help me hone in on what marketing really works for me and how to make amazing pitches to podcasts. With my supportive role for business owners who are running online community spaces and/or delivering curriculum online, my reputation comes from doing the work in groups and being seen in that role. I don’t really have to market for these clients because they come from the courses and communities I am already facilitating. It also helps that my skill set if fairly niche in working with the Mighty Networks platform to deliver programs and support an online community. This software makes my job much easier.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.manytreeslifeway.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trevia_woods/
• Facebook: n/a
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevia-woods-9199851b8/
• Twitter: n/a
• Youtube: n/a
• Yelp: n/a
• Other: n/a

Image Credits
none needed. I have paid permissions for all or took them myself.