How To Build A Brand Without Burnout With Tina Wells, Entrepreneur & Author Of “The Elevation Approach”

Hey, guys, before we get into the show, I have something really fun for you. I have my really good friend Natalie Ellis from Boss Babe. She's the CEO and founder, and she's also the host of the incredible Boss Babe podcast. It is one of my favorites, and she is on here to tell you the things that she recommends when you feel overwhelmed. Natalie, what should we do?

Okay, Lori, I'm so excited to be here, and what I really wanted to talk about was how you can get off of the overwhelm wheel when where we get so stuck. We're like, on this hamster wheel. We cannot get off because we're so burned out. We're not doing the things or avoiding the things, and things continue to pile up. Sometimes we just need a reset. We need to fully hit pause, wipe the slate clean, and reset. The best way to do this is look at your to do list with the four Ds. Do, delegate, delay, or delete. Do. You're going to do it. Delegate. You're going to delegate it and really be ruthless with this because you can delegate so much more than you think. Delay. You're going to put this out of your mind because now is not the right time or now is not the season that this thing should be done on. Delay it without guilt. Or finally. And the thing that I think is the most important. Delete. How many things do you have on there that you really don't want to be doing? You're just doing it because you think you should. I know when you shed the shoulds, that's how you can really get into reset mode. So I'm going to encourage you to go through it with a fine tooth comb, maybe even twice to see what things on there you can delete.

Oh, my God, this is so good. I'm gonna run through my to do list with this list from now on. And I can't tell you how many things that I have written down that I'm like, why is that even on there? It's just taking up space in my brain. So, Nadalie, thank you so much for this. And if you guys loved these tips, she is full of them. Truly. It's one of my personal favorite podcasts. So go join Download the Boss Babe podcast for more tips from Natalie. All right, let's get in the show, guys.

And as entrepreneurs especially, we really struggle with the idea of recreation. We struggle with the idea of, like, pausing for fun, just pausing when we think we should be hustling or grinding. The reality is, like, I struggled with that. And when I realized, and I literally would track it, like, you know, oh, wow. It's a really important part of my process. I had to measure it for a while, and once I did, I was like, okay, I am all about this. I get why it works. This really does work for me.

Hey, everyone, welcome back to the show. Before we get into it, I don't know if you've heard yet, but I am giving away a course that we used to charge $1,000 for, you guys. It is our Become Aligned course. All you have to do is go to become aligned.com and. And I'm going to give it to you absolutely free. You're probably like, why in the heck is she doing this? Is this course not valuable? You guys, the course is so freaking amazing. My husband Chris and I recorded it quite a few years ago, and we poured everything into this course. We said, what are all of the things and lessons that have shifted us around money, around relationships, around networking, around creating our business? And we put it all into a course. So the reason why we want to give it to you free is because I want to get you back on my weekly newsletter. You guys, I am sitting down and writing, pouring out my heart once a week. I literally just finished two more emails today where I am writing all of the things that are changing my life or that I'm thinking or the things that are really helping me in business. And this is not about, like, fluff. I'm not generating these on ChatGPT, I promise, which is totally cool, but I'm not doing that with these. I wanna sit down and truly connect with you and talk about the things that are moving me forward. I wanna share them with you. So I want to gift you our Aligned course if you join that newsletter. So that's what it's gonna be. You're going to sign up for the course and immediately get put into the newsletter where I can finally talk to you consistently outside of the podcast on a weekly basis. And it's also gonna be places where you can know what's coming up, what's coming out, get discounts on anything that I'm doing, get early bird access to any hosts or any events that we're hosting. So you guys go to becomealigned.com and I am going to send you the free Aligned course. You can see how to sign up there. It's super easy. It takes one second. That's becomealigned.com. so let's get into the show, you guys. Tina Wells is my incredible guest today. She's a business Strategist. So, you know, I love talking strategy with people because I am more of a visionary. So whenever I can, like, ground all of those ideas, I get to ask all of the questions that I want. She's an advisor and author and the founder of Relevant Media, which is a multimedia content venture that brings culture shifting storytelling and beloved products to the market through innovative partnerships. For over two decades, she led Buzz Marketing Group, which is an agency she founded at age 16. Like, what the heck, you guys? With clients like Dell, the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Okay.

Kroger, Apple, P and G, Johnson and Johnson and American Eagle. So I would say that she's a pretty amazing business strategist. So, you guys, let's jump right into the show. Dina, I'm so excited to have you on the podcast. Thank you so much for coming on.

Hi, Lori. I'm so happy to be here.

So I am really excited about all of the topics that you love to talk about. Just harmony in life, work, life balance, creating brands, creating more room in your life. What kind of brought you to this place of wanting to help people build brands, but also do it in a way that wasn't going to totally burn them out?

So it's funny, I wrote this book for a friend, actually.

Really?

Yeah. I was having a conversation with a friend on a walk during the pandemic. Right. Like, many of us were outside.

Yeah.

I was talking about how excited I was about a new book project. And that friend said to me, like, I wish I could do that. I wish I could get this idea out of my head and make a plan and execute it. And she was just kind of complimenting me, saying, like, you execute things and I need to learn that. Of course I'm an entrepreneur. We're problem solvers. Right. And I went home and I just kept thinking about this and I'm like, you know, she is a very accomplished person and unlike many other people I know, like, I don't think that this is a problem or issue unique to her. And I'm like, well, I taught thousand students at Wharton how to make businesses from scratch. What were the things I taught them? And then I started to think about just, like, what advice I would give a friend and quickly mapped out what's become the outline of the book, the elevation approach, and then what became my book. But, you know, I had been living those principles for a long time. It was just that I needed to get it. Get out of my own head and say, here's how I would tell you how to do this.

Okay, so I want to know about that experience teaching a thousand students at Wharton. How did that come about? Were you freaking out when you first got that opportunity? Or at this point, had you been kind of like, seasoned?

No. I Described the first 20 years of my career as me being an entre, like a accidental entrepreneur. So I wasn't. I. I started at teen. I thought it was too cool that I got to do this cool thing. And I was not intentional. I'm incredibly intentional now. But, you know, leading up to how I got to work Life harmony and created what I have now, I was a student at Wharton. I was in a program, Wharton Programs for working Professionals. And I graduated with a degree in communications and decided, you know, I'd been running my business for six years at this point and decided I was going to really continue doing it post college. And so I was like, well, I really need some business training. And Wharton had this really unique program. But funny is the program I think they had really designed for a lot of their doctors and people who wanted a couple like business education with their full time roles at Wharton. And so I was really lucky that it was offered at night and I could work during the day and go through this program. And so what happened is one of my professors called me a couple years later and said, hey, I run the west coast version of this really cool program. We just had an opening for an academic director on the east coast and you should interview. And he described the opportunity. I went in, interviewed, even interviewed with some students and got a call later that day. They were like, okay, you're hired, right? And so I'm like, great. Originally, the person who like hired me was really designing the program and going to run it. And he gives me his notes like two days before, and I'm like, I don't know what to do with this. Like, it's literally just like a few words here and there. I'm like, I don't know what to do. I ended up for year one writing and teaching and writing and teaching, like literally writing a lecture, teaching it the next day. At point, I had 70 students. You know, the program grew to me having 160 students from 20 countries for a month over the summer. And so it was really incredible experience. I was there for six years. And, you know, I tell the story in the elevation approach about deciding not to return. And that was, you know, in that first phase for me of decluttering my space and saying, I love this, but for me to do the next big thing I have to do, I have to make Some space. And so I'm still really sad. I can't tell you how often I think, like, maybe I can just do one summer. And then I realize, like Tina, the time commitment, it may not work, but it was really incredibly gratifying to have students come in, not have any business background. Right. And then I teach them how to create a business. I coach them through it. They compete in a very Shark Tank style competition and to see the growth that they made it's people over the month. And I think the most important piece, which also translates to the elevation approach, is they learned the language for building a business. Right. So no matter what they decide to do for the rest of their life, they had a process to go through to understand is this business feasible? Can I do it? Should I do it? What is it going to feel like? And that's what I love about the elevation approach. Right. It doesn't mean that just because you're unlocking a bunch of dreams or, or mapping out things that you're actually going to do that, but you're getting them out of your head. You're getting really realistic about what it means to bring that into your life. And then you're making a decision about if it fits, if you're going to do it, or if you're going to let it go. I definitely see a lot of parallels between what I got to do at Wharton and what I get to do with this book. And just hearing from readers and how they've been using the principles from the book, it's been really, really gratifying.

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I think what I didn't realize until way later, right, was I had these students come in, they get into groups of 10. So imagine the height of the program when I had 160 students. Those were 16 unique companies. I didn't know what the companies were going to be that they were going to come up with and I had to coach them. I had to be on the spot. And they were just geniuses. Younger people, their minds are so open. They have so many options and possibilities that still exist for them. Right. And so kinds of things. And I would have to quickly get up to speed on how to coach them through all kinds of companies. And I will say, over six years, I can't think of companies that were exactly alike. Right. So that's, you know, 100 plus companies that I coach through and, you know, all very unique. And so that I think that was the hardest part. Right. It was being in the fire and having to deal with real time, you know, recitation was one of my favorite things where these were days where for eight hours I would spend 30 minutes per group and just answer their Hot Topic questions. And so it was challenging, but in the best way. Right. It was like when you're just like in the fire, but you are loving that moment. That's what that was for me.

For anybody who has a challenge like that coming up where it's like, woo, anything can be thrown at me. I'm not really sure what's going to come out of this, meaning questions from clients, whatever that looks like. Maybe it's first time events, first time, whatever. Were there some like phrases or things you would say in your head or give yourself some grace? Like how would you give yourself grace around not having to know it all?

Well, I think the first thing was, you know, I'm very type A. I know that's so surprising to everyone listening right now. I like to have a plan, I like to execute a plan. And while this is Wharton.

Right.

There are many things that are quite planned out. You have to be able to respond on the spot. And so the first thing I always thought of is like giving myself grace but then also being very honest that this is going to be a very challenging four weeks. Every single part of who you are is going to be tested. You need to show up. Right. And these are my students. They're paying to be here. For some of them, it's their first experience away from their families. I need to show up for them. And I think allowing myself to understand it is going to be hard. Not lying to myself, not saying, you'll get through it, it's fine. But acknowledging this is going to test every part of you. You have to be on. Right. I'm an introvert, so I'm good at being on for a little bit of time and going to recharge. So imagine for 30 days, weekends were when I could recharge. But I just kept being honest with myself saying, okay, you got to get through Friday, you got to get through this day. Some Days I might have one day off in the middle of the week. You got to take that day. But constantly coaching and being realistic, you know, that also parallels with the elevation approach. It parallels with, just because you're bringing a big idea to life and you love the idea, doesn't mean it's not going to be hard or challenging. And you're not also going to have to coach yourself to say, I'm in a season that's incredibly challenging. I know why I'm doing this. I'm still. Yes for why I'm doing this. But I also have to deal with the fact that it's really challenging.

From the early kind of stages of your life, maybe between ages 8 to 16, like, what can you see that has really shaped you and what you teach now? Like, what were a couple pivotal moments for you that really, you can see them in how you're teaching everybody now?

Yeah. So I'm the oldest of six, and we all grew up in Bourbon, New Jersey. And I would say a lot of what I was able to teach, I learned from my parents. Like, my parents really allowed us to dream. And then they were. My dad always said to us all the time, like, always remember, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. And so my dad was really big on, like, whatever the dream is, create a plan for how you're going to get there. And my mom was really big on accountability. And just if you're showing up, if you're committing to a sport, whatever you're committing to, you're going to show up, you're going to do your best. Always. Let's like, maximum effort all the time. And I think with my students, it's the same, like, let's just have a plan. Right. We understand. And I would say often it's like having a map. You might choose to change the direction of your trip, but it's that much easier to change direction because you have a map and you can still see where you're going. I think I got that planning piece from my parents, and I think elevation approach, again, it's a plan. It means, you know, plans change. But sometimes just getting it down and saying, here's what I'd like to do makes it so much easier.

Okay, I love this. I can look back to parts of my life where I've had high anxiety, and it's always because I just didn't have a plan around what I want to do. I think there's people listening who they understand the plan concept. But then we have this group, which I'm not actually. I don't resonate with being a perfectionist, but I know that many, many, many people do. So can we speak to that for those who are like, it's really hard for me to have flexibility within a plan. Like, obviously we need to have the plan, but how much flexibility should we be open to when planning and what does that look like to go back and assess when plan needs to change?

So I have committed to living with work life harmony, which means I had to let a lot of that type A stuff go and open myself up to a lot of flexibility. Right. Because it was really affecting that idea of harmony for me. Right. And there are things now. I mean, it's funny today, you know, I'm traveling. I totally. I'm in South America right now. I had a need. I had to get into one of my partners right away. I have a brilliant team and they're like, all right, we're gonna, like, sent three documents. I'm like, here, I wrote these three things. You'll find what you need there to make the new one. I got the new one. Would it have been how I designed it? No. And guess what? This person needed it today, so it had to go and I'm fine, you know, and that's. It's like, do I want to be anxious and create all this drama and then, no, it's fine. You know what I mean? It's a document someone's going to look at for like two minutes and be done with it. So I need to also just apply the same thing. I'll also say, as you start to do bigger things, and I think as you start to really align with your purpose and the kind of work life harmony you're seeking, I think things become so big and you kind of bring in and allow in bigger things that it's so too hard to control. Right. Like, there are things happening in my life right now that are so large, the idea that I could control all of them, it's like, so laughable, you know, so I've had to just embrace. Like, we gotta get it done. It's not gonna be perfect. Let's get it out there. And then we have time to revisit and revise.

Oh, my God, yes. Like, when I. I'm like, okay, there's no mental bandwidth left, and I free it up by caring less about something that doesn't actually require all of that care, you know, it's like, oh, this doesn't actually matter in the grand scheme. Your logo doesn't matter. Your website doesn't really like all of these things that you kind of let go of and you can always come back and revisit.

You can revisit. That's true. You know what I mean? Listen, I'm a marketer, so I'm like, it does matter, but you also have a lot of time to, like you said, how many people rebrand. I think what's most important in any situation is the feasibility of what you're doing. Do you have an audience that wants what you're doing? If you can identify that you have an audience, we can always get better for that audience. But first you have to know who they are, you know, and so I. I know for any product I'm making, if I do a version two, I can always do some things a little bit better, but I gotta get it out there first just to know what people are responding to.

Yes. Okay, that. That is a huge topic before we move on, because I wanna know exactly what is all in the elevation process. But I think that's such a huge point for people, is we work with a lot of entrepreneurs and I. We watch them get stuck with trying to go back and perfect it and being afraid to actually get it out there. And I'm like, oh, honey, like, you're gonna. This is gonna be eight different times. You're gonna launch this thing before you even feel like, wow, I've got this thing I love. Can you speak a little bit more into just how. How do we make sure we just. When do we know we just need to get it out there.

Yeah. I mean, you don't want to hold on too long. You know, I think the tech world got it right with this whole idea of, like, your minimum viable product, your mvp. I used to always say my MVP was my maximum product. Like, I gotta go the other way. You just gotta get it out there, you know? And I think that you don't, like, for me, it's, if there's a chance that someone else can come along and you have this really unique idea and they come along, you know, one, we all have ideas. I don't know, like, these days, how unique. I think everybody's ideas are. Like, I think there's just so much data and so much content being shared. I believe we all have a unique perspective on something. Right. But I don't know that I believe we're all creating, like, people are like, I'm the first person. I'm like, yeah, maybe you just don't know someone else who did. Right. Like, I'm not the first person to Talk about work, life, harmony. Right. I think I have a really unique perspective. I think I'm coming to this work as a black woman who has like my work history. And I'm approaching it in a unique way. But I'm certainly not the first person to talk about the concept of work, life, harmony. Right. And so that's where I'm like, you know, just getting out there and getting the concept out there. There's a lot more I want to say and more I want to do. But how do you really bring people into your world if they don't even know who you are and what you're about? If you're like waiting for the perfect time, I think what I've learned over the years is there is no perfect time. You know, I kind of scaled my first business during a recession. That was not the perfect time for that. Right. And so if you're waiting because you think that you can make something better, I would say don't do that. And the faster and the sooner you know if something's going to go, if something's going to work or not work, the better for everybody. Because if it's not going to work, you can move on to the thing that is going to work for you.

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It's also the Elevation Approach is the name of the book. And it really is my method for approaching what I call work, life, harmony. Right? And it' an idea that if you have a big idea that you need to get out into the world, this approach is going to coach you through how to bring that from your head to down on paper to launching it, right? So the four phases, preparation, inspiration, recreation, and transformation. And in each phase, you literally do the work to get closer to launching whatever the thing is, right? You also might get to the point where you're like, I don't want to do the thing anymore. But you learn the process, right? So in preparation, you are, for example, decluttering your space, getting curious, you know, your numbers. That's the phase where you decide, is this idea feasible? Not talking about if it works for your life, any of that stuff right now, just, is this an idea that can work, whatever that is. And I could be an idea for a new company. It could be, I want my family, my entire family to go on a trip to Disney World, right? So in that, right, you know, that phase, you're like, you're checking prices, you're checking timelines, you're figuring out when does this fit into the calendar for the family, right? You're doing all the prep work. And then in inspiration, this is where you socialize the idea. And this is not like calling your friends to say, hey, I think I want to go to Disney. And they're like, great. It's like someone who went to Disney and asked, is this feasible? Am I thinking about this the right way? Or too many days, too few days, right? You start to ask questions about it. I want to open a bakery. You don't go ask your friends, should you open a bakery? Right? You go ask someone who runs a bakery, what is it like to do this? And then in recreation, you take a break. And that was the phase that was really revolutionary for me and for my work. And obviously I do so many things. I have four middle grade series. I've written 20 books to date. And I do it In a way, 14, by the way, in the last three years. And I have a lot of free time and a Lot of harmony in my life, but it's because of recreation and realizing when I need to take breaks, whether it's five minutes or five days, that recreation phase was the game changer for me. And then when you're in that phase and doing something completely unrelated to your idea, you really have time to process. And then once you process in transformation, you decide, I'm either going to do it or, thank you so much, I completed this and I'm going to move away and I'm going to do something else or do nothing at all. Right? So it just finishes the whole. Really the whole circle for that, for that. That finishes off the entire season for that. And so I use this method all the time for many different things just to see what's feasible, what works. Some things I launch, some things I don't. For every book I'm launching, I probably have five or six ideas that didn't go anywhere. And it's become just a really easy thing. But it is very customizable, and it's all about what works for you.

Is there a particular spot that you see a lot of people always get stuck, or is it all different for different people?

I think it's different for different people. But I would say universally, people and as entrepreneurs especially, we really struggle with the idea of recreation. We struggle with the idea of, like, pausing for fun, just pausing when we think we should be hustling or grinding. Right. The reality is, like, I struggled with that. And when I realized, and I literally would track it, like, oh, this 15 minutes, this hour break made me that much more efficient after, oh, wow. It's a really important part of my process. I had to measure it for a while, and once I did, I was like, okay, I am all about this. I get why it works. This really does work for me.

It's so easy to get stuck in a cycle. I'm sitting here going, okay, I want to plan in things again that are more creative because I'm such a creative person. And then all of a sudden, you stop it because you're like, well, I'm happy and I'm working and I'm enjoying it.

And then.

But it's like all at once that you notice it. So you're feeling good, you're content, you're not doing those things because you're working so much. And then all of a sudden, I'm just not happy because I'm not doing the creative things. How do you kind of structure your life to make space for that? It sounds like you have a lot of Free time. So how do you plan for that?

It's funny, I plan free time. I would say I'm working just as much, but not overworking. Right? Again, it's harmony. And I live my life with the elevation approach. My day, my week, my month, my year, my seasons. Like all with the elevation approach, obviously I have the elevation approach planner at target, takes you through that. And so just to give you an example, like my morning is preparation, my afternoon is inspiration, my early evening is recreation, and my evening is transformation. Right. So I'm bringing that together every day. And then the seasons of the elevation approach, like preparation is basically winter, inspiration is spring, recreation is summer, transformation is fall. And so I'm kind of living this all the time. And you know, it doesn't necessarily mean that everyone is starting in preparation. You might have an idea where you're like, I'm there, I have the info, I talk to people. I don't know what's going on. Maybe you just need to walk away from it for a minute, come back, let it be fresh, and then you can launch it. But I've figured out a way that I can live with this. And you know, obviously, you know, if you're launching a new book or launching a new brand, you go into power mode. And that was really March for me. Right now I'm more maintenance mode, looks a little bit different. I have another launch coming in October. I'm going to have to get back in gear in August. Right. So I have a little bit of time to have some recreation. And then I have a transformation season coming where I got to bring it all together again. Right. But I realize now I'm doing the real work right now over these next two months to make sure I am showing up ready. And this one that's coming in the fall is even bigger than what I've been through this spring. And so, you know, in fall is when we're all in general trying to bring things together in the fall. Right. Kids are going back to school. Like we're all just in a place to hustle more October. And so I am being really mindful of my energy to say what do I need to do right now so I can grind all the way through the end of the year and enjoy it and be present and so happy to be working really hard. And so I think a lot of my recreation, to your point, is a little pre planned to make sure I have the energy to sustain from what it's going to take. Right. Because the idea that we're going to do Things and they're not going to be hard is not really honest, right? It's like, well, you just manifested. It's like we can manifest all we want. But like, for example, if you're working on a doctoral degree, it's hard. You're manifesting. It's hard, right? But you plan breaks, time with family, dinner with friends, like, little things that will sustain you. I think that's the really important part for many of us. And I think we burn out or we just don't get to the end because we just don't know how to stay through the process.

Okay, so I want to know what your favorite recreation is right now. How has that changed? Like, because I know some people listening are like, I don't even know what I would like to do for fun.

It's funny, a couple years ago, this was completely by accident. I talk in the book about when my father got sick and I had a huge girls trip planned. Australia, New Zealand. And my father had gotten sick and I literally couldn't do any. Any of the planning. And so later that year, we were taking the trip over Thanksgiving. They were planning it over the summer. And I show up and I'm like, what in the world are we going? We're just going to vineyards. I was like, I don't really drink wine. I don't. What is this? I don't want to do this, you know, And I just. Part of the planning. And then I started going. I was like, oh, well, going to vineyards is kind of, like, interesting because I'm learning about food too, and pairings and everything. And so it just became something I loved to do for fun, you know, And I just went to Napa for my birthday with a girlfriend, you know, here I'm in Brazil, and I just went. Found random places. We went wine tasting here. And so I'm like, I'm curious, right? But that's also part of the principle around being curious. That keeps my mind open, right? So I think things that you're like, I don't know a lot about it. Try it, right? It might just unlock a creative. Like, it unlocks creativity for me to say, like, oh, this is like, vineyards look different, right? Like, I didn't realize when I would go to some of the different wineries and vineyards, I'm like, the architecture is incredible. Like, it's a creative zone, how people pair food and all of. I'm like, this is a really creative exercise that I really thought, like, I don't want to be a part of this, or I don't really know anything about it, or I don't really like this wine. I remember last summer, a few girlfriends and I, we went on a cruise. I literally called it a booze cruise. It was like a river France. And it was literally us and lovely people, mostly in their 60s and 70s. Right. But just a trip. Like, who would do that in your 30s and 40s? Like, we're just going to do this, but we did it right. And it's incredible. It was incredible to just learn. I mean, I went to tiny towns I never, ever would have gone to on my own. I mean, places where you kind of like Michelin star lunches for 40 bucks. Like, it was incredible. But the learning, you know, I'm like, oh, I don't like Pinot Noir. My friend's like, how do you just say you don't? I was like, I just have never had one I liked. And of course, you know, wern Burgundy. And I encountered many that I did, but I think it was just doing something that was a little uncomfortable. And I talk a lot about getting out of your comfort zone, but again, it was just the learning and then meeting people who were so passionate about wine, passionate about their family businesses. Right. I think it's an entrepreneur meeting. I think sometimes with wine, we think about these, like, big enterprise companies. We don't think about, like, these families where this is the business for generations. And, you know, for me, it was just a really big step in getting curious and really opening me up to new ideas. And so that's one thing. I love trying to think of anything else I'm really into right now. I love cooking and I love traveling. Traveling is huge for me. I don't care where I'm going. I don't care if it's a road trip. I don't care if it's the town next door. I just like to get out of my safe zone and just see how other people live. And so, yeah, traveling, I would say, is the thing I do the most to come up with a big new idea.

Okay, I love this. And we share a serious love of wine and vineyards. It's like one of my favorite things to do for that exact reason. It's like another world. I just feel like I slip into this, like, whimsical learning. Like, you get this history and family and, like, how cool we get to drink a part of history. Like, that is so cool to me that somebody, however many years ago, was working on this bottle of wine, and we get to enjoy it, like, and they don't Even know it's really crazy to me.

Or you go to Napa and you're like, how did you guys do this? Right? Like, land where it is, how it happened. I'm just like, wow. Like, how did this happen? You know? So I agree. Just as an entrepreneur, it's incredibly inspiring for me to be in a place like a vineyard, just to see what families, what people have really built with their hands and their ingenuity and what they've been able to bring to fruition. And it's, like, incredibly inspiring for me.

I love that. And, you know, for anybody listening who's. Who's not into that, it's like, I think what we're talking about here is just going and getting in different environments that create different perspectives. Like, it brings so much back to your business and so many new ideas. I feel like, to get in. Into a world that's so opposite of yours, you know, typically of what you're operating in, that, like you said, it just brings a new creativity. So is this kind of like the ritual that you have. I know you said you love traveling, you love cooking, but, like, getting in these new environments, or do you also have, like, some different rituals that you kind of do throughout the week or when you're at home that bring in creativity as well?

Yeah, I mean, I'm a big. I'm probably a voracious reader. I mean, I read 50 magazines per month on average. Everything. Pop culture. I just, like, love to consume. And I'm flying along, like, tomorrow night, and I'm like, what am I downloading? What am I watching? What am I Like, how do you have time? Like, I make time. I drive a lot. So audiobooks. I probably listen to 100 audiobooks per year. And I'm not talking about, like, things to educate me. I'm like, you know, luckiest girl alive. Yes. Like, listening, whatever. Like a Reese's pick. It's going to be on my list, and I love it. Listening to books. I watch a lot of tv, a lot of content. Like, I consume a ton of content, which really, it's funny, it's not work anymore, but, you know, I started my career as a trendspotter and doing a lot of research and a lot of research on emerging demographics, millennials when they were a new demographic, and tweens. And so it's still a nod to my research days. And, you know, I've always loved product. It's so funny that I was in marketing and research for consumer products for years, and now I create consumer products. So just A lot of content consumption. I would say it's a big ritual. I love a hot beverage in the morning. I don't care if it's a hot water with lemon chai tea. Coffee. I'm a big coffee person, but I love the idea of, like, anything about coffee, learning about coffee, trying different coffees from different places all over the world. So I would say that's probably a ritual for me. I'm a bath person. I love all the things you can do, so I love, like, all the wellness packs. And is this for, like, joint, you know, whatever I love. I study all that stuff. So if I'm home, I think that's a big ritual for me. Like, when I get off the road, reintegrate into my home, what that feels like. I like to cook, and so I'm in a period now where I'm traveling too much to do that. So I miss cooking a little bit right now, but I know there'll be time for that again. If I can't do that, then I'm like, well, what can I do? I'm like, well, I can go like. I'm in Sao Paulo right now. I probably have the most unique and most satisfying culinary experience of my life in this city. Wow. So many. Because, you know, Sao Paulo is a mixture of so many cultures. You have a strong Italian influence. You have one of the largest, I think, is it Chinese communities. Like, there's just so many flavors of food, and it's all really good. I love Brazilian food. So just being able to try different restaurants and try new flavors and again, watch chefs innovate and come up with really cool new ways to make things has been interesting, you know? So I can. I think to your listeners, it's like, well, what if a ritual you're used to is just not available to you in a specific season? Or what if you're a runner or you play tennis and you hurt yourself and you're like, I can't do the thing I love to do. You know, for almost 20 years of my life, I played field hockey. It was a huge. Really? Yeah, yeah. Well played through college. Coached playing. Where were you from? Southern New Jersey.

Okay.

To play field hockey, for sure.

Okay. That's what I was wondering. I'm like, okay. That be okay?

Yeah. And then went to college in Maryland. So those two states, it was very. A big part of the culture. But I gotten so used to that as, like, a stress relief and thing I did, I could get on my zone, be on the field, enjoy it, like. But when I I was. It's funny, my first year at Wharton, I sprained my ankle in adult field hockey league and I gave it up. Then I was like, I can't be injured. Like, I need to function. And I was sad. And I'm like, I. And I will be honest and say there are other things. I like yoga, Pilates, but nothing is the same. Will never give me the same building as like that thwack, right? Like.

I love this for you. Like, I feel like I need to see you play field hockey.

I love field hockey. I was very good at it. But also it's like, it's so the way I see the world, right? You're working in a team towards a goal. You get the goal. Like, everything about field hockey is so me. But like, I got to the point where I'm like, okay, in my mid-30s, sprained my ankle. I think I need to let that go. I definitely have moments where I'm like, if I could just go back to a Sunday club game, I'm like, no, I cannot do that. And a lot in field hockey I was very bruised up and. But I always said I played the sport where you could wear a skirt. So I thought it was very cute. But it's stress relief, right? So I had to find new ways and new experiences. And I have a friend recently, say you know her, her husband is a professional tennis player and coach and she's like, should let him give you a lesson. And I'm like, you know what, I think I'm going to take you up on that. I think maybe I'm like a lot of things with field hockey, which is like primarily a left handed sport and you kind of guide with your right hand. I'm like like, okay, maybe tennis could be really interesting. So we'll see. I haven't started yet, but it's on my list of like new things I need to try.

I love this. You're my third interview today and like sports have come up as far as like, we need to like get back into. And it's all been like entrepreneurial stuff or books, but people who write books, but it's all come up with like pickleball or people who want to like get back into different things. So I don't know. I literally want to try pickleball. I feel like it's going to help everything that I do and it's practical. Like I can just go do it in the morning instead of like a workout. And I feel like I can like fit it in and still have fun and still have. I have a very, like, competitive sports side to me, so I feel like I can still do that, you know?

Yes, maybe I'll do the same. Maybe I'll pick. I'll take a pickleball too.

Pickleball is everywhere right now.

It is everywhere. Although my brother, I have a brother in Italy and I think he's doing paddle ball. I think it's not pickleball, but he has like a Sunday ritual game that he has to do with one of his friends. And it's like a two hour thing and he's really into it. And I'm like, I love that. That's a great ritual to have. You say, okay, two hours, I gotta go. I get my morning on Sunday.

And it gets you into community, which I think is so important. Do you talk about that at all in your book? How about your, your life?

Yeah, I mean, I think that's a huge part of understanding the inspiration phase. And I really talk about the different types of people that you need in your life, right. That need your fab vibe, right? Like, we need those people who are our cheerleaders no matter what decision we make, which is different than a board of directors, different than friend tours. You know, I even talk about some people who are like the witnesses of your life, right? They may not be the best closest friends you have, but they're the people who are witnessing your life with you. And so I think that relationships are incredibly important, especially to work life, harmony, and especially to bringing big ideas to life, right? And understanding where people fit in your life is the key to having work life, harmony. If I didn't understand that and didn't really do a lot of work on that, I wouldn't have harmony, right? I would be at the mercy of everyone else's schedule, feel the need to do other where. Now I'm like, no. I can set boundaries and say, this is what works for me, this is what feels comfortable. Obviously, I'm in my 40s. Like many other people, we have family responsibilities, we have things we have to, to do. But I think what's interesting is you start to realize what's negotiable and what's not. And there's sometimes more on the side of being negotiable than maybe we thought. You know, that's why I think just really doing an audit and I walk you through, there's some exercises in the book that walk you through how to audit your relationships to really understand, like, is this the right relationship for me? Is it really bringing harmony to my life? Am I making more withdrawals or I'm making deposits? There's literally a little like audit guide where you can go through and say, like, you doing that within your relationships, do you feel charged up or excited when you go to meet this person or do you feel drained up during. You have to do that energy as well.

Oh, I love that. Okay, tell me what a friend tour is.

A friend tour is my take. Like a more modern version of a mentor, right? It's something one who's more of a peer. I think we see this playing out. It's funny. There are so many brilliant women in the online marketing world, right? Where I've seen. I think I'm showing up on social media this week that they've been at, like, retreats, and I'm like, yep, those are friend tours, right? They're peers. They know exactly what the others are experiencing. They can give honest advice from exactly the same position. And it's really important. And my friend tours really changed the direction of my life because I was going to go do something that they called me out on and saying, that's an okay job. Like, it wasn't a bad job. It's going to take a job at a bank. I thought a really great job. But they were like, you need to go do the thing only you can do. That's not the thing. And if I talk to any other group, right, to my Fab five board of directors. Board of directors of people who are a bit more senior who have been to where you're trying to go, they probably would have thought that that job was the thing to do, right? It's great resume. It wasn't a bad thing. But it was the friend tours who are like, no, we see you. We are exactly where you are. And if you do that thing, you're selling out a little bit to what you bring to the world. And that's why friend tours are so important, because having that visibility, being kind of equal with you, but maybe being more advanced in their particular field is what's really exciting for me about having friend tours.

I love this. I've had the same exact experience with friend tours. Like, they have been the people who they're also. I feel like they're very easy to listen to too. Meaning, like, you receive. I feel like it's very easy to receive their feedback for where they're at, you know what I mean? Because you feel like you're in it together. You feel united on that front of kind of being in the same place, in the same position. So I Love that. Okay, so back to your book. Going through the entire process from start to finish of bringing your dream out to the world. Who exactly is this book for? I think we have a pretty good idea. But who is this book for? And what else do you want people to know about it?

Yeah, I would say it's for anyone who feels a little bit stuck or that they don't know why they can't unlock their creativity. It's for the title is really helping you unlock your creativity and really bringing work life harmony into your life. People who are kind of over the idea of balance. Right? Balance is very antiquated in my opinion. Balance means that the more life you have, let's say you're in a really stressful period at work or you have a huge workload, you then have to have this huge fun load. And that might not be realistic. And so. So Harmony is about bringing all the things together that really make that perfect meal of your life and you deciding what that looks like. And so what. It's for anyone who feels stuck. It's for anyone who wants to plan, it's for anyone who wants to feel good, go check everything out, not sacrifice.

So much for coming on the show.

Like in Harmony or feeling very harmonious.

Make sure you go check our stuff out, give us a tag and let us know what you got out of the episode. And until next time, earn your happy. Bye, everyone.

And so my goal is to really help you get to where you're going and feel good when you arrive there.

I love that you've made this like your work life passion because I have so gone to the extreme so many times and it took me a really long time to learn from people like you. So I'm so. I'm so grateful because I do believe that you can build the dream without exhausting yourself. And I think for a long time that's all we saw, was like, you're going to build it, but at this cost. And so I think it's actually scared a lot of people from starting because we think we're going to have to sacrifice so much of ourselves or our lives or our family. So really, really grateful. Where can we get it? Where's the best spot for us to go and get it?

So the book is available wherever books are sold. Target does have a very special edition that includes a letter from me, some journal pages, and obviously Target has all of the products in the Elevation by Tina Wells collection that is designed to create work life harmony in your own environment. So wherever you choose to do your work. For me, a lot of days it's my kitchen island or if it's your office or whatever. Like, these products are really designed to help you experience work life harmony throughout your day.

You guys know you're already at Target, so go swing by. You're already living there, so go swing by and go check it out. Go pick it up. We're so grateful for you. Thank you so much for coming on the show.

Thank you.

You guys, one of the biggest things we can do for our guest is to give her a tag on Instagram and let her know what your biggest takeaway was. And the even bigger thing you can do is go buy the book, so go check everything out. And again, Tina, thank you so much for coming on the show. And you guys, if you loved this episode, make sure you go check her stuff out, give us a tag, and let us know what you got out of the episode. And until next time, earn your happy. Bye, everyone.