877: Meet The Entrepreneurs Who Turned Pain Into Purpose (And Are Changing Lives)

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2:01I kind of feel like what is actually your unique message? What is your thing? What are you here to contribute to the world? And I feel like everything is rooted in identity. So I literally started my message around identity. I want you to know who you are so that nobody can take it away from you. I'm Jenna Kutcher, your host of the Gold Digger podcast. I escaped the corporate world at the age of 23 with nothing more than a$300 camera from Craigslist and a dream. Now I'm running a seven-figure online business that feels even better than it looks, all from my house in small town Minnesota with my family.

2:40Here, we value time as our currency. We mix the woo and the work and we are in the pursuit of building businesses that give us the freedom to live lives that we love. I've always loved turning big goals into reality and I'm here to help you do the same. This isn't just a peek behind the curtain. Come along with me and my guests as we tear the whole curtain down. Every week we tackle practical, no-fluff marketing strategies and host honest discussions on what works and what doesn't. Join me and my expert guests for actionable insights to help you grow your dream business with confidence. Pull up a seat and get ready to be challenged, inspired, and empowered.

3:19This is the Gold Digger Podcast. Have you ever heard a story so raw, so real that it physically stopped you in your tracks? The kind of story that makes you put down your to-do list, take a deep breath, and remember why you started this journey in the first place? May is National Small Business Month. And while I love hearing from the headline makers and household names, today is about something even more special. Real stories from real listeners of this podcast. These are the kind of women who tune in when they're juggling kids and client calls, who build their dreams during nap time or after their nine to five.

3:55They may not have gone viral, but what they've built is powerful. It's personal and it matters. Tambra, Maris, and Shell didn't just build businesses. They build something beautiful from heartbreak, identity shifts, and unimaginable challenges. From learning she had cancer to grief to reinvention, these women turned their hardest chapters into platforms that now help others. This isn't just an episode about resilience. It's about rewriting your story mid-sentence. It's about what happens when you let your hardest chapters become someone else's survival guide. So if you're walking through your own hard chapter, or you just need a reminder of what's possible on the other side of pain, this one's for you.

4:38And Hey, if you want to be a part of this kind of community where we don't just talk about business, but also the heart behind it, I would love to invite you into the Gold Digger Podcast Insiders group on Facebook. It's where these stories start and where yours might just be next. We'll link our Facebook community in the show notes in the show description for you. I would love to have you in there. And let me know if you like this episode because I want to create more just like it. I loved hearing from listeners just like you. Let's dive on in. First, we're going to hear from Tambra Waswagu, who is an amazing life coach for women over 40 looking to live lives that feel more purpose aligned.

5:19She is an incredible teacher and oh my gosh, I could have just geeked out with her for so long. I absolutely love her and you will too. Let's dive on in with Tambra. Tambra, I am absolutely thrilled to be with you. Now, I want for you to take me back to a moment or a season of life that shifted everything for you. Okay. It is wonderful to be here. And for me, it was 2020. 2020 changed absolutely everything for me. Like when the lockdown was announced, I had a corporate job, you know, normal nine to five, but I'd had feelings in my heart, like I was misaligned. I wasn't doing what I was created to do, but it just wasn't loud enough.

6:01But when the lockdown happened, I was basically laid off because the organization I was working with was just like, you know, a completely risk adverse. And they were like, everybody, you know, who isn't absolutely crucial to the work that we're doing was going to be laid off. And I was. And I just kind of felt in that moment that the world was giving me a chance. That was my moment to really reassess, reset, realign, and really, really think like, if my life were to end today, would I feel like I was living worthy of the calling that I had been called to live? And the answer was like, no, that the path I was on didn't feel authentic to me.

6:41And you know, it doesn't feel authentic when you go on maybe Instagram or you see other people who have, you know, are doing things that you know that you also have the capacity to do somehow, but inside of you, you don't feel worthy of. And then you see those things and you see those people and you see those parts and it's just constantly almost indicting you. You're feeling like, oh, and I said, you know what, this is my moment. And I basically just took it and ran with it. I was like, I am going to realign my life. And that's what I did. Oh my gosh, that is so visceral. And I think, you know, I think 2020 for so many of us, if you didn't wake up then and ask yourself those bigger questions, what were you doing with all the time we suddenly had, you know, I want to know, like, what made you decide to build a business kind of out of that experience?

7:35Like, yes, we have ideas and we have callings, but like how did it become this like fully formed business? So I very first of all, I started by podcasting. So the very first thing I did, it wasn't even a business necessarily. I just wanted to get my voice out there. I felt like I had much more than I was living, like I was giving to the world. And you know, the truth is that the only thing that makes you truly immortal is what you create. and somehow in my mind at that point, I realized that I wanted to leave something here on earth. So I thought podcasts would be the best place to start. So I started podcasting and immediately, it was so interesting, the very first podcast that I dropped, like literally in the very first like 20 minutes, somebody reached out to me and said, oh, I just seen you podcast you've dropped.

8:23I love it. I'd love to do my own podcast as well. And that was it. I immediately started podcast coaching. So I started doing bootcamps and running this bootcamp. So podcast coaching, But then again, as I normally do, I feel like there was still something missing because people were starting all this podcast and it wasn't rooted in anything necessarily. Oh, I like this. I'm going to podcast on this. Oh, I like that. I'm going to podcast on it. But I kind of feel like what is actually your unique message? What is your thing? What are you here to contribute to the world? And I feel like everything is rooted in identity.

8:56So I literally started my message around identity. I want you to know who you are so that nobody can take it away from you. Wow. Okay. That is huge. And I agree so much in terms of the power of identity. And if that is not fully formed, I feel like anything is built on a shaky foundation, right? Like it's like anything you build is so easily removed or shakable. You're not tethered to anything that's real. and so I love that so what part of your story kind of gave you this unique approach like when you figured out okay identity is really like the common through line for all of these people where did you go with it I was like okay how was I going to start teaching it so for me I felt like I came my background I had I had childhood trauma you know it's not very pleasant to say but I did And I felt like people needed a way to demystify understanding who they were and really getting a starting point for aligning with their purpose.

10:10And I say starting point because purpose really does change, but not a lot of people teach that. Who you are is centrally fixed and the calling, what you've been called to do ultimately in the world is static. But the purpose of your life will change per season, depending on what your calling demands in that season of life. Right? Yes. Oh, I feel this so much, especially as a mom of young kids. I'm like, what is my purpose right now? Because I can't even think beyond this current stage. Exactly. And I think the message out there is just such a mishmash of stuff. Because what it does inadvertently is get people stuck.

10:51Everyone is looking for purpose and they're looking and they're looking and they're stuck. But I'm like, no, who you are, your strengths, your natural abilities, your talents, all of these things speak to your purpose. And you start where you are, literally what you know. As you go, it will become more clear to you because what? Movement is what gives, you know, momentum is literally gotten when you move. You don't get it without moving. It's not something that you get. And so that's why I started. I just basically said, you know what, I want to start with identity. I want to help people understand who they are.

11:29And the key three things that I feel like every single person must know what they must consistently keep in their minds, three things. One, in every season of life, you have to learn how to release. And release, align, and activate. Those are the three things. Release from limiting thoughts, limiting views about yourself, things that don't serve you. You align with your purpose in that season and you activate. So if you're constantly doing that, most of the people in the world, they live linearly. A lot of the people that I serve, before they come to me, they're just going and they're living linearly.

12:07And I'm saying, no, that's not the way to live. You think about how the world was created. Everything in this world was created in seasons. You have the summer. So it's this principle of cyclical living. So that's what I'm completely for. So in every season, it's releasing. What are the things that have stopped me? Where I'm going now? What are the things that are causing me to hold on to perspectives and paradigms that don't shape me? Then you're aligning. How do I align better with what I know about myself in this moment? And then activate. How do I go forward and do what I can do in the most powerful way?

12:40And you get to the end, you start again. And this is what saves people from burnout. A lot of times people just burn out because they're constantly like just on this one track lane, doing, doing, doing, doing, and never stopping to reassess. I think this is like, if anyone just does these three things and you do it, twice a year quarterly like every time the full moon happens like whatever that is right you actually teach it quarterly you you've got it put on i actually teach like that if every every year you should have this phase and this thinking four times a year every single quarter you should be releasing aligning and activating yes how most powerful part of you and it's like crazy too because I feel like I so connect with this like linear ideas.

13:28I think that one people either are like waiting for their life's purpose to like knock on their door and show up. And they think it's like this one grand thing. And until it arrives, they're just going to keep going with the flow. And it's like, I love how you teach movement. Like you just got to be in action because action is going to teach you where you need to go and what you need to learn. Right. But I also think too, especially for women and even thinking about like our monthly cycles and just all the different ways that we are also in rhythm, we need to constantly be in conversation with ourself on these things.

14:03And so I can only imagine how transformative your work has been. One of the things I'm really interested in is you are kind of working with women in their 40s, in that era of life. Why that era? Like, what do you find about women of that age? I'm nearing that threshold? Because I think for me, I really feel a connection because when I turned 40, I started asking myself a lot of reflective questions. I do it a lot, but I think more so as I turned 40. And I realized again, seasons, that there are four seasons of every human being's life. And the first season is our season of preparation. So imagine when you're just born, you're learning and you're being prepared.

14:44Your mom is saying, this is how you should do this. Your teacher is saying, this is how you should do that. Then you go into your second season, which is your season of planting, which is when you start to really start to do stuff. I'm going to do this. I'm going to try that. I'm going to, you know, you're trying different things. And then you get into the third P, which I call the season of proliferation. So this is when you get some wisdom off of the things that you've planted. And then you now start compounding. Things just start growing. You start, you know, you started a podcast from your, you know, your cupboard or your wardrobe or your car.

15:14And now it's just like this massive platform because everything is compounding and multiplying. And then you enter into your season of passing. And the idea, remember what I said at the start, the only thing that truly makes you immortal is what you create. But not only that, what you pass on to the next generation. So for me, I realized that 40, when you think about this four seasons, once you start to, a lot of people were stuck in this season of preparation. And sadly, it's not a chronological thing. So you have people who are 50 that are still preparing. constantly learning, constantly going from place to place, never ever actually planting stuff.

15:50Or you have the people that are planting, but they don't have full conviction. So they plant a little bit and they're turning around and there's just no conviction. So they can't actually yield and multiply, right? And then you now have the people who are then multiplying, but don't have the idea that my, what is my legacy? What's going to be here when I am gone, right and then they're not thinking about how do i make this so that it's immortal so that beyond me it's there so for me 40 is just this whole opportunity i think it's a wonderful opportunity to really really reassess to start to think like look life is not promised like we we must use life not just in length but in breath it use life and make sure that we maximize every single second that we have here on earth.

16:39So it's, I think I then got into this, how can I help people? I thought that the people that I feel that are probably not as aware about the urgency of their time is 40. Once you hit that 40 mark, I want you to get serious about your life. I want you to get serious about the conviction that you have in what you carry. And I want you to get clear about how you're going to serve the world. I love this. So I just turned 37. and for some reason 37 felt like so much closer to 40 than 36 and it's beautiful though because I was just out to dinner with some girlfriends and we were just talking about how like 40 feels like you are more sure of yourself you are less influenced by people's opinions or what they say like it's just like you kind of find that like confidence that maybe you were seeking and like you approve of yourself and you're not seeking the world's approval at such a high level.

17:40It's just an interesting stage of life. And I think it's just beautiful. And I love, one thing I love about your work is like, you are specific about who you serve. Now we have often talked about like the riches are in the niches in that space. But I also think that right now people need clarity in, okay, is this for me? Does this make sense? So have you found that in kind of narrowing your niche and saying, this is who I serve, you've offered your clients clarity of like, this is who I need. Yes, absolutely. Spot on. You know, I wasn't, I didn't have that niche very narrowed down until probably I would say maybe about six or seven months ago.

18:21And I feel like it's made such a considerable difference because when people see me now, especially the women that I speak to, they feel I'm speaking to them. It's not just me having this conversation. It's this coach who speaks specifically to women over 40. And that thread runs through everything that I do in the work, because I'm thinking about who they are. I'm thinking about how they're living in their lives. I'm thinking about their family dynamics. I'm thinking about the fact that they have been turning multiple directions. I'm thinking about how they feel, you know, they feel this sense of like something is missing.

18:54And for some of them, you know, they feel the sense of something is missing. They feel this sense of this, You know, how do I amalgamate everything? How do I make everything come together? And I don't really know how to do this. I have a 95 job. I have this business. But what is everything going to stand for in the end? So I pull everything together just so that I speak your language. I'm making sure that you find a home. You feel seen. I think that's the key thing. I want to make women over 40 or I make women over 40 feel seen, feel understood, feel supported. so that they can activate truly that thing which they carry on the end inside of them.

19:33That is beautiful. And I just got something beautiful that you did. You said, I want to, and then you corrected yourself and you said, I make, you do it. And I feel like even just those tiny nuances are the things that women need to be reminded of and empowered by and also shown, right? Like you are a mirror to them. And another thing that I think is so beautiful, just as I'm pondering exactly who you serve as, not everyone is on the same timeline, but for a lot of women, if they have children, when they're hitting their forties, a lot of times their kids don't need them as much, right? They're entering a different season of caregiving where your kids need you in a different way, right?

20:14It's not necessarily packing the diaper bags and getting the snacks. It's more of like the emotional support. And so it's just a beautiful, a beautiful way to support women who maybe have more time than they have in the past, but also have more questions than they maybe had anticipated. Oh, that is so good. Because another thing I didn't say is when I turned 40, I was actually diagnosed with ADHD. So adult ADHD, literally at age 40, because everything just felt a little more chaotic than before. I started forgetting that brain fog, Yes. Back of focus. And I was like, what is going on? And I think for me, that experience just made me feel like there must be other women out there just like me who everything was all right.

21:00Because there's this increase now in women over 40 who are being diagnosed. I know you were diagnosed slightly earlier. Yes. You know, so I said, you know, what can I pull together to help them? And that's why I do this whole cyclical framework, this non-linear framework, because it really, really does support people. especially people who struggle with just doing just the one thing and that just linear track, because then you can, you know, always reassess and it just works basically. Tombra, where can everybody find out more about you, connect with you, listen to your podcast, learn from you?

21:37This conversation was far too short and I feel like we should do it longer next time, but give us all the places of where we can connect. Oh, love it. So I'm on Instagram. It's Tomra Moswagu. You'll see the name spelling in the show notes. I'm also, my podcast is created for more of the podcast. What else? And my website is Tomra.com. And I've got a crystal clear thing that helps you with your identity. It's called the crystal clear toolkit. And if you're unsure about who you are, you don't really know where to start from. You know, hit my Instagram. It's a link in my bio. And then you go on there and it helps you literally walks you through five powerful steps that helps you get clear on your identity.

22:16Thank you so much for being a part of the Gold Digger community and our small business month. I am so grateful for the work that you do. And thanks for hanging with me today. Thank you so much. Thank you. This podcast is brought to you by Mercury, banking that helps entrepreneurs do more with their money. Okay, I remember in the early days of my entrepreneurship journey, clients would literally mail me checks and then I would have to drive all the way to the bank to deposit them. It took me literal years to make things go digital. And I am ashamed to admit I still have a filing cabinet with paper contracts because I'm way too afraid to throw them away.

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24:09Start building your sanctuary of comfort this fall with Bowl & Branch. For a limited time, get 20 % off your first set of sheets plus free shipping at bowlandbranch.com slash golddigger. That's bowlandbranch, B-O-L-L-A-N-D branch.com slash golddigger to save 20 % and unlock free shipping. Exclusions apply. Next up is Marisa. Sar. She is an amazing neuroscience-based hypnotherapist, coach, and mom to a neurodivergent teen. She is incredible. And her journey has been anything but straightforward. She has worn so many hats and chased so many dreams. And today you get to hear from her. Let's intro her to the show.

24:51So I would love to start with, can you take me back to a moment or a season that shifted everything for you? Yes. Yes, I can. So I'm going to tell you just the tiniest bit of the backstory. I was voted Estonia's Best Wedding Photographer at the age of 24, then Estonia's Best Home Chef. And I was nose deep in all the materials, all the things I could learn. I was even in your newsletters, I printed them out. I studied them religiously on how you do it, how is she making her thing, and how can I copy it to my business. So I was an overachiever at the time. And it was a cold winter's day with my son sleeping next to me.

25:38He was three months old at the time. And I was at the top of everything. Snow was falling down, and I was just looking out the window. And I should have been happy. Jenna, I should have been happy. And I was devastated. I was sad. I was dissociating. I just literally wanted to die. There was no life left in me. And I didn't know at the time that it was post-natal depression. My then husband urged me to seek help. And as an ambitious woman, I wanted deep help and I wanted it quick. It has to be deep. It has to be quick. And I was searching for some kind of means to get it and the traditional ways just didn't do it.

26:22So I went online and I was like on page 46 of Google and I found the hypnotherapist. 30 minutes of Skype call and I got instant relief. And I knew at that moment that even my dad's a scientist. I've been grown up in a lab. I'm the two feet kind of on the ground kind of girl. and it helped me. So there's something to it. And I rushed to study hypnosis and I saw the possibilities I could do with it. At the time my son was diagnosed with autism. So I was going to London, studying hypnosis, coming back to Estonia, going to therapies with my son, offering my services everywhere, offering my services as a photographer, as a therapist, calling magazines.