Behind The Business

Some would say discovering your passion is about finding the things you’re good at and sticking with them. But is that enough when one could be excel at something they’re not really passionate about? We think there’s more to it than that.

This week, Denise Bean-White, owner of Consortium Media, confirms there’s power in exploring our passions by learning to listen. She encourages us to reflect and ask ourselves what brings us the most joy and how it creates light in our lives. According to her, uncovering our passion is about figuring out what feels good and choosing to lean more into it.

Denise and host Tawney Allen’s conversation helps us discover that there’s a difference between doing what we have to do to survive and doing what we choose to live a life of creation. Many times, it’s hard to know what we want when we feel stuck in things we’re convinced we need to be doing.

Get committed to having a personal relationship with yourself. Read new things and expand your research to make informed decisions led by what brings you the most fulfillment. Share your passions with the world by figuring out how to contribute. These are just some pieces of wisdom shared in this week’s episode.

There’s plenty more for you to tune in to.

Imagine a room full of entrepreneurs working collaboratively to assist in the expansion of each other’s businesses. The copywriter helps the financial advisor, who supports the marketer, and so on. Through the collective, there is an opportunity to generate new conversations and strategic planning with various perspectives to help grow your business.

These are the connections that drive Diane Knudsen, owner of The Alternative Board of Ventura County. Diane’s professional purpose is to create a space for entrepreneurs to think for themselves in ways they hadn’t imagined for their business. She works to bring together diverse business owners who can create vast energies and communication styles to broaden the lens of innovative development.

In this week’s conversation with Tawney Allen, the two touch on the concept of awareness and choice in business and how much of that involves getting honest about the personal too. Diane believes there is power in paying attention to your core values and personal vision before creating a sustainable business model. When you determine a vision that aligns with your truth and purpose, your business falls in line with those same notions. 

Listen in as Tawney and Diane discuss how forming a creative, connective business space allows you to embody the role as a front-runner in your field while making all the magic you desire for your life.

Connect with Diane Here

Connect with Tawney Here

We’re all in the business of making money, even when we founded our career pursuit on the passions that drive us to make a difference in the world. But have you ever considered what your relationship with money looks like? Have you considered that you need to have a “relationship” with money at all?

Well, this week we’ve got a treat for you because Teena Broumand, a local California mortgage broker, is here to give us the low-down on all things finance in the realm of loans, house-buying, and more. In her field, she says there’s a lot of shame and comparison around money and debt, but her wisdom reminds us that debt doesn’t have to be bad. Debt can be leverage for future purchases. It’s about knowing the right questions you ask and being willing to seek help from someone you trust.

One of the most rewarding aspects of this podcast is when Teena opens up to host Tawney Allen by telling us that money is emotional and evaluating the emotions you have towards money. She encourages us to reassess the way we handle our money and the way in which we view the money we make. Get real about your finances and make a plan that feels right for you.

With Teena’s guidance, you can be sure to come out on top with more knowledge and confidence in the next steps to take.

Connect with Teena Here

Connect with Tawney Here

There’s a lot of talk in entrepreneurial conversations about the importance of self-care. But is self-care just about bubble baths and proper exercise, and spending enough time with family? Or does it go deeper than that?

After talking to Rosanne MacDonald, Hypnotherapist, and owner of HypnoVitality, we experienced some game-changing revelations about what it means to “self-care.” Full of knowledge regarding mindfulness practices, Rosanne spills the hard fact that 88% of our minds comprise the subconscious, meaning that most of what makes up our brain is not at the forefront of our awareness. How does that apply to you, the business owner? Well, self-care means committing to levels of self-development, rewiring the programming of habits that generate most of your thoughts. 

As host Tawney Allen often says, “business is personal,” and if you want to sustain in growing your business, you’ve got to maintain the transformation of your mind. It’s about the willingness to pull back layers you’ve been adding for years far beyond the scope of your business.

Listen in as Rosanne and Tawney make the path clearer by extending the experiences of their personal development journey to us. If you want to show up for your clients, learn to seek the emotional freedom you deserve to show up for yourself.

Connect with Tawney Here

Connect with Rosanne Here

“What am I good at?”

This question surges through our minds when considering what career path to take. But there are only so many attributes and skills we’ll compile on a list before fear attempts to convince us it’s all unattainable. Then we ask ourselves, “What if I fail?”

Well, Toni Caruso is with us this week to invite us to ask an additional question: “What if I give it my all, anyway?” As a Speaker, Trainer, and Event Producer, Toni knows the power of clear communication to her clients and audience as a means of connectivity. As a businesswoman, she also knows the strength of strategy, and that involves clear communication with herself. Toni’s authentic intuition allows her to establish unwavering boundaries in her business. She credits that to her willingness to being honest with herself about what works and what doesn’t.

Toni and Tawney’s conversation expands our perspective as Toni says that being an entrepreneur is not about navigation but introspection instead. Don’t assess your business based on position, time, and place. Analyze the genuine emotions and thoughts that come to the surface when evaluating your progress. Do you feel joy or dread? Listen in as these two women in business shed light on aligning with your connection to self to align success for your business.

Connect with Toni Here

Connect with Tawney Here

On this week’s episode of Behind the Business Podcast, an expansive question comes to light regarding the pressures business owners put on themselves when they’re doing all of their prepping, planning, goal-setting, and time-bending.

Do we get too hung up on the ‘why’?

Hear us out. Matthew Powers, owner of Calioh Coffee Roasters, weighs in with an interesting perspective on this. Matthew is a detail-oriented entrepreneur. He sets specific money goals, and he puts in the work to achieve those goals. But he doesn’t do it because he feels compelled to make a dollar. To him, that’s where we get caught up. Matthew says he commits in the way he does because he’s secure in the lifestyle he desires for his family. He’s measuring his financial goals by the experiences he gets to have, not by how much money he generates.

We don’t want to allow our work to take precedent over the joy of life. We don’t want to “just earn a living.” Host Tawney Allen encourages the idea of leaning into what feels good as opposed to waiting until we can justify ‘why’ we feel that way. Gain the resources you need to warrant the life you desire and then watch your business grow. Not the other way around.

Connect with Matt Here

Connect with Tawney Here

When designing the career path that works best for us, many experience a longing for control over their lifestyle structured by their accord. While there are vast challenges when choosing to go forth on a business venture full-force on our own, the balance we seek for a self-made career path is attainable.

Meet Nicole Oden, owner of Nicole Cheri Oden Law. After deciding to practice law for herself in an online space, she instantly learned the challenges of being strict on establishing the proper boundaries between being your own boss and taking steps to be your own person too. As a mother, Nicole always knew she wanted to have a career and be active for her family, knowing she could have both.

She says it's about knowing that sometimes work is going to win, and sometimes the family will. Being accepting of both ends of the spectrum has allowed her to be a badass mother while showing up for her business consciously directed. As host Tawney Allen weighs in, the stigma of telling ourselves that if we go all-in on one thing we can’t be all-in on another is broken. We can, and these ladies are doing it.

One of the most rewarding parts of this chat is the open discussion around resisting unrealistic expectations and knowing that there’s room for everyone to find their place. Community over competition reigns heavy in this episode. Surround yourself with people who will help you level-up!

Connect with Nicole Here! 

Connect with Tawney Here!

As business owners, it’s natural to feel like we must constantly work to build our brand actively. We get lost in the hustle and grind we think we need to keep at the forefront because we perceive it as the only way to expand. But how much of that is perfectionism disguised as motivation? Are we working smarter or harder when we’re in a rat-race mindset, assuming that the one who works the most wins? What’s the prize worth – if there’s a prize at all?

This week we meet Ari Kirk, owner of Visionari Media, whose transcending views on building a conscious-based business remind us just how important it is to slow down and reflect on what our true purpose is as entrepreneurs. We want to make money, but at what cost to our spirit? Business is personal, and host Tawney Allen and Ari engage in a deepened conversation about personal alignment as it reflects on how we show up in our professional work.

Sustainability in business requires regiment just as much as self-care does. If we prioritized ourselves the way we prioritized our work, we’d expand to greater heights. As Ari so insightfully adds to this week’s discussion, our clients and colleagues will feed off our emotional energy. If we allow ourselves to be the primary focus, we create abundance through the heightened creativity and positive attraction that self-care brings.

Connect with Ari Here

Connect with Tawney Here

Behind the Business Podcast focuses on opening conversation with entrepreneurs about what goes on underneath the surface of their businesses. These discussions provide an opportunity to take unique, and sometimes stunning, experiences of business owners and apply them to the guts-and-grit that goes on behind-the-scenes.

This week, we meet Camisca Fontes, owner of Ms.Dianes Salon, who connects her personal journey and moral ground with the success of her long-time entrepreneurship in a way you’ve got to listen in on to believe.

Despite the tragic loss of her parents in her early twenties, Camisca never lost sight of the southern family roots they implanted within her. She cared for her younger siblings while continuing to expand her academic and professional ventures, moving on to become a woman-owned business.

According to Camisca, everything she has worked for is to show her children and other youth that what they desire is possible for them. While she always had a passion for hair care, it’s clear to us that Camisca’s true purpose is to show the reward of remaining resilient and always persevering- especially to younger generations.

As a black woman in business, she knows upholding her integrity is essential to her authenticity, but not as important as her family. Making money does not equate to a happy life- only family can do that.

Connect with Camisca on Instagram: Follow HERE

Connect with Tawney on Instagram: Follow Here

In a surface-level conversation, one would say to start a business that will make you money. While that is true, in a soul conversation, one would say to start a business that will award you a life of integrity.

Could simply leaning into what feels most honorable to you be the first step toward discovering your business values? What about personal trauma and distress? How does one establish freedom in business while working through inner wounds? Listen in on Brandy Nightingale’s candid perception of creating a business through discovering what aligns most to your boundaries and aspirations.

Brandy openly discusses the mental and emotional burn-out she experienced after years working various careers in the film industry, where she tried to remain compassionate in consistently toxic environments. Intuition compelled her to stand up for the notion that sometimes the kindest thing we can do for ourselves is walk away from negative situations.

So, after asking herself where she wanted to be most, she followed her answer to establishing The Peaceful Pup, a Dog Walking & Pet Care Service. Brandy set boundaries that felt best to her, rebirthing her purpose through what she loves most- caring for her animals.

But make no mistake, the journey required profound self-development. Both Brandy and host Tawney Allen weigh in on how deep the layers run to reach the core of one’s innate ambitions and most authentic selves. Sensitive topics of childhood sexual abuse are discussed with dignity as the two remain honest to create a positive impact.

Connect with Brandy: