Full Transcript for She Left Corporate, Found Her Village, And Is Still Building The Bridge

transition with women going through a life transition. I know you were in corporate for many years and a number of years ago went off in a new direction. What came up for you then that had you by words, reconsider what you wanted from life? speaker-1: Well speaker-0: When was it? It was around two thousand speaker-1: Three years ago. speaker-0: three years ago. Okay. So speaker-1: So listen, I had been working like you had it right, I have I'd been working in a corporate type setting for twenty five years. And the last I don't know, fifteen of that, let's say, I was commuting, you know, an hour and a half each way type thing. my Wow. And so into New York City and it's just and I lived in New York City since I was eighteen and had started going in your so anyway I was burned out of that lifestyle at large the real I mean it was amazing and I I really sometimes I think about it and just can't get over how blessed my like whole career and just the experiences of all of it. And and working in New York City has its pros and cons as any Everybody who works there or commutes there will say. It's like a I say it's an abusive relationship because it's got all the good stuff. It's got all the charisma. It's got all the options. It's got all the opportunity. It's got all the stuff. And then it makes Energy. The energy. It like takes you on a journey and you just like get sucked into it. And it's all the things. And they it is all of that. And it is for for any for people like me. I'm I'm a pretty, you know, I'll call it porous. person energetically. I can I take a lot of I absorb, you know, empathically absorb energy. And so for me, it's like it's a lot. And so I managed it as best as I could and tried to, you know, do all the things to keep myself centered throughout that journey. But at some point it just was like, I think I am done with this. And felt I had I had felt a new chapter coming. years before this. it was probably three years prior. I had said to my husband, FYI, I have probably three years left of of this in me. Like I I had given him that my mother-in-law reminded him of when this happened. She he was, she was like, Well, he she did tell you that, you know. So I I felt it in my body coming. And PS, and this can be for a later discussion, but I had taken along the way, Not planned, but looking back, I had taken about three sabbaticals or had major three major turns and twists along the way. And when I look back and calculate, it looks like I was basically every seven years having a moment of I need time I need a sabbatical. And there's a lot of documentation out there about that seven year that's a thing I I didn't I didn't I didn't I didn't know it at the time, but I think that was somewhere in my psych, my natural cycle, that every seven years I was hitting this point of okay, I need a shift and I need a change. And so that happened throughout my career. But then this last one, like what I think when I gave the heads up of the I have three years left in me, I think I was at seven years at that moment. And so then I went an additional three years. So I was speaker-0: Done. speaker-1: I was ready. And it was speaker-0: I'm I'm curious it was the toll on your body? You did say physical, just were w anything in particular speaker-1: energetically I manage and especially in those years, it's gotten better recently, but in those years I struggle a lot because I also have an autoimmune I have Hashimoto's. And I mean, I think it's that and a combination of other things, but that flares up for me when I have a combination of, you know, higher stress. my eating patterns change, sleep changes, like all the nasty ones that kind of affect everybody, they for me a lot of time cause a flare up. and what that looks like for me is kind of almost similar to what you would think of for chronic fatigue. It's like just unbearable, like it's it's a like a different brand of speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: tired. You can't kind of describe to people, but you basically feel like you can't function. So I was always managing That also. And I had a pretty high stress job and I was traveling all of the time. speaker-0: well. speaker-1: So, it it was just hard, And at the same time that I was living that life again, which was extraordinary. Like most of the time it was really pretty amazing. Like I worked at National Geographic and met awesome people. I always say, like, we would meet like the Indian real life Indiana Jonesists and things like that. It was like, How you complain about that? it's awesome. And again, traveling and doing all these amazing things. so that was great, but it takes its toll. And then at the same time, I was in my volunteer life and in my spare time co founded and built a nonprofit here in Terrytown and Sleepy Hollow. And for the last 15 years, I've been working as the co president and building an awesome farmers market here, which is amazing. It's the tash for anybody listen. You can come. speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: It's a spectacular. I call it a weekly festival because it really is. It's different than a normal farmer's market. It's in a beautiful park. It's got all the things. Anyway, we really set out to create a community meeting place, as I like to say, a third space. And it's got all the things that you would want in a Saturday. Anyway, so we built that. And so my life was really full. But I was and I hit I hit 50 this year. I think I told you that on my I'm still practicing saying it out loud. So there you go. First time publicly. I'll give that to you. So I was feeling and cosmically, you know, the year of the fire horse we're in, like it was all just culminating this year into like, you know, really just stepping into a new chapter. And that's what's kind of been in the works for the last two years, is kind of this trend. I I feel like I'll look back and really see these. few years as a clear transition, a bridge from my prior life to this new life that I'm intentionally

creating. so I'm still in that bridge. I'm still in that transition. And I'm really working through the intentionality and like, what do I want it to look like? What do I want it to feel like? How is my relationship with money showing up? You know, all of these questions. speaker-0: I love it. There's there's so much there to unpack. I had mentioned to you before this conversation that I'm integrating astrology into these podcast conversations and you sent me your birth chart. So I just want to reflect something back to you. So in astrology, the tenth house, which is really the top of the chart, represents it can represent career. It certainly represents mission, not work. Not what you do day to day, your mission. And the tenth house is where, Tammy, your son, is. That's where your sense of who you are, your core identity is represented by the sun. So you I understand you to be someone who feels mission driven. And not only that, but your son is in the sign of Aquarius. You know, we all know the age of Aquarius. That is, I would say. a community oriented mission driven person. So just hearing about the Tash what farmers market, your call to create something not just for yourself, not just for your family, but for the community feels very strong in your sense of self and who you are. speaker-1: A hundred percent. And honestly, it's one of the most fulfilling things. out of everything I've experienced, it's it's one of the most fulfilling things and things I'm most proud of because first of all, because you can see it, right? how often do we get that to see something that was in our brains and was something that we imagined and then you get to see it outside of yourself is such a weird thing. but when Over the years, people will come up to us and say, my thank you for creating this. This is my happy place. And I just I get so happy because you know, and people say it like there's no other place to go like this and connect with your neighbors this way and have this experience. It's just there's not a lot of other things that we have in our community for that. And that was like the exact intention is to kind of really be a place where you can just almost hang out all day and just like hang out with your neighbors and have this village green feel to it of like that harkens back to the days of your when you had a village green and you'd get together. But no, it does and like I mentioned with my parents, it they were always involved in everything, both of them, and still are to this day. They just there's a sense of contribution, there's a sense of service in everything. And, I I got the messages of do more than your share was always a thing that my dad would say, So don't just think of just just doing what, is expected, but do more than that. And how can you show up and how can you make it better? be the change you want to see in the world. all that those types of mindset of okay, you don't like something. that's how the market started because there were a few of us in town who who wanted something and it wasn't there. And we had a very clear vision of what we wanted. And so we kind of sold everybody else off. Don't you want this thing? you know, but but yeah, it's definitely for others. And now, you know, that that's kind of fully built and I'm kind of moving back from that and looking again for like, okay, what else can I dunno if was it's whether I can create for the community or in the work that I do is also in service of you know helping leaders, whether they're it's like a founder of a mission led business or a nonprofit or whomever kind of who has an idea or a project or an initiative or whatever and needs to kind of go to the next level and I love to get in there and kind of help. get them there. So yes. Because if you and if you think of what what that does, it's like it's helping them create the change, that they want to make. and so it's kind of exponential in that. And that's in my head, that's what it does. It's like helping other people spark the change. I spark change within them. They spark change in the like it's all a ripple. Or that's that's the intention. speaker-0: you it sounds like your parents were and continue to be great role models and that you acting on the message that you got growing up. And I also I want to reflect one more thing back to you that you're talking about that I see on your charts. So when I'm thinking about one like your relationship to your financial resources as well as your personal self worth resources, I'm going to look At the second house in your chart that directly reflects that. You do not have any planets in the second house, but then I look at what's on the edge, what's on the cusp. And what that is, is the sign Gemini, which is about communication thoughts. And I know you to be someone that works with, you know, helping nonprofits, other mission-driven businesses to communicate. And there's always a parallel between signs and planets. So the parallel planet to Gemini is Mercury, which is in your house of earning exploration. I mean, to be specific, I think your resources, your your financial resources, your skills are your power to communicate knowledge, expertise, to bring all this together. It's in a very concrete way. It's in an earth sign. it's not all is up here that is true of communication and thoughts, but that you can help organize, help someone else organize and create. It's next to Venus, the planet of beauty, so you do it in it's not a spreadsheet way, but it's communicate your thoughts in an organized almost beautiful way. So how does that resonate with you? Does it resonate with you? speaker-1: thank you. That's beautiful. And yes, I mean, I think that that's true. It's interesting because you you use the word, you know, when you said you help, you know, organizations or communicate. I don't think of it that way because I talk about and my experiences in partnerships, right? So I talk a lot about, you know, helping people

create the partnerships, whether that be a corporate partnership, a strategic partnership, whatever kind of partnership, to bring in to kind of fund and further their work. So when you first said communicate, I was I was thinking, ooh, is that the right word? But a lot of what I'm finding out, especially right now, because I've I've been advising and coaching more around this stuff, is that it ends up that end the communicating part and how they communicate is the work. It's fascinating. And it's stuff that I didn't know was so valuable because it's just it's one of those things that I just do. speaker-0: Take for granted. Right. speaker-1: Yes. And I've been talking a lot about with people. It's this whole idea that like, you know, the whole idea of like your zone of genius, usually all of our s our zone of genius is something that we do so easily that we don't even think it's valuable, nonetheless that it's our zone of genius. Yes. So you have to really kind of try to figure that out. Like what's so easy to me and so part of who I am That and and that's not easy for other people. So it has taken these last few years, I'm literally just coming into this now of like understanding like some of the things that are easy to me that are not easy for other people. And it I think it's it's still very weird for me because it's it's like really simple stuff, but it is in how you it's a my often it's a mindset, it's an approach, it's it's how they like especially with partners, it's how they have the partner conversations. And there's such specific thing. Like you said, you said there's such, it's, it's very specific. And it's it it and so a lot of the things that resonated with me is like you talked about it's up here, meaning like, yeah, it's it's up here in that the like the woo part of it is that you have to find alignment and resonance and like where the two, you know, where two things come together. And so it's a it's getting clear a lot of times, especially if it's a founder of a of a business, it's a lot about finding getting clear on what their focus is and what their mission is and what their values are and what they want in a partner and what they need in a partner and how that works with them kind of first before they can attract the right partner, right? It's the same as like relationships. It's all the same. Right. It's all the same stuff. And then and then once you get clear on that, it gets so much easier to bring in the right partners. And then when you're having that conversation to have it in a very my at least again, the thing that comes naturally in the things I really see work is when it's it's a co-creative mindset versus a this is what I want from you partner and don't you want to give it to me partner? Right. So it's like a very co-creative mindset. And a very consultative approach versus a what someone might call like a traditional like sales kind of thing. So yeah, I think that everything you said resonated and I think you kind of hit the nail on the head with that. That was a long answer to did did this resonate? But yes. speaker-0: Yeah. You are not the sum of your earnings. You are the sum of your yearnings. If you're ready to use wealth to create more freedom and flexibility, let's align your finances with what matters most. Together, we'll build a plan that balances your scarce resources of energy, time, and money so you move forward with clarity, confidence, and less stress towards a life of true abundance. Learn more at www.truabundanceadvisors.com and schedule a short conversation. When you left corporate to start your your new career, your new journey, if you will, Tammy, what kind of money issues did you have to deal with? What kind of questions did you ask yourself? Did you ask yourself questions about how you could make the change? financially. speaker-1: My gosh. I mean, this is the this this could be a 10 hour pod. I mean, literally this question could be its own day, but I experienced all levels of it, right? Like the all the things that you would assume of like trying to figure out what's the runway, where do what, where are we gonna get my okay, where are we borrowing from and all this stuff. But I think the biggest piece of it was really tackling my identity around money. And being the person who always did well and never worried about money and always had it and saved it and was really like this with my savings and my my financial advisor had to have a intervention with me, I think a decade, probably a decade into my adult life. He was like, Damn it, you can't just save all this money. And not that it was so much, but at you at a certain point you're like, it's better to invest that, even if it's a thousand dollars, it's like at some point, yeah, you want some in cash to have a have have li you know it available, but like you also want to start investing. And I was I couldn't do it in my like twenties and thirties. I was just like, No, I need it to be there. For me at all times. that's how tight I was. And I I can't swear on the podcast, but I called it, I called it, a F U fund, meaning speaker-0: Yes. speaker-1: right, it was there so that because I was in corporate America and I'd heard all these nightmare stories about what if you have a really offensive boss you're getting abused, like whatever. Yes. Plus like a rainy day fund. Like that I, to me, it was. It meant options and it meant freedom. So it meant if I have enough here in this place, then if anything bad ever happens where I feel like I need to leave to protect myself, I can. And that was how I thought about it. And finally, you know, he convinced me that like, you gotta invest this money. And thank God, because now I look back at my, you know, account. Yes. And it's like It's like no gross, no gross for a decade. And then it's like, and now I look back of course and I'm like, God, where would I be if I would have just invested that earlier? Well, speaker-0: You're n you're not unique

among women. Women tend to be risk averse and uncomfortable about investing. On the other hand, invested women tend to stay the course and not go for each new high fee, shiny object. Yes. speaker-1: Correct. speaker-0: Do tend to be better long term, but you are not unique in that. As you mentioned that What's your relationship with money now? it does seem to have been impacted by your conservative dad, the the worker? speaker-1: Yes, totally. Hundred percent. so when I was thinking about and let me just f for full transparency, so this was like c my it was so it was kind of a universe moment, honestly. It was so crazy because it was it was I was really heading for like I was still working and I was at my end. Like it wasn't good. I wasn't showing up as my full self and it was just gonna So I started thinking, how do I, what's my runway? I started really putting pen to paper in terms of how can I do this? what savings do I have? What can I sell? all that stuff. And at the same literally, the week that so anyway, I had been thinking about making a change and then I got laid off. And it was the first time I've gotten laid off. And it makes perfect sense because they were making all of these big changes. Anyway, it's a whole that's a whole other story, but it was perfect. Right. In that retrospect. speaker-0: It in the moment, because I'm going to share that I had a similar moment. I literally had journals trained that, you know, I was going to do X, Y, and Z as to see if that would help. Otherwise, I was leaving. And I got called into my boss's office and was given 10 month severance and big pack. You know, I experienced it as a gift and a loss of identity at the same time. So speaker-1: All the th my God. Yes, exactly. Everything you said. And so I was like, my God. in one fell swoop, it gave me, it gave me more of a runway. It enabled me to figure this out. So and then I took what I I took a sabbatical, in my mind, and I called it my cocoon. I went like I just went inward. You know, everybody, I feel like everybody always When you take time, people always are like, Are you gonna travel? Are you gonna do? And I'm like, No, I just needed to find myself again. I needed to find my center. I needed to find my voice. I needed to get clearer on I just get I needed to get to neutral before I could figure out how to be expansive, So I did I did that. That was three to four months it took for me to even before I came out of the cocoon and could even have. Coffees with people. I did nothing networking wise. I did not go right into a let me start. it's like, nope, I'm gonna go inward first. And then I came out when I was ready. And when I came out, it just was, I can't even tell you how clear it was that I wasn't gonna go back into the lifestyle. I wasn't clear on what the future was going to look like. I just knew I couldn't do that. And it was tested a few times, the most comically perfect opportunities would show up in that old life format. Like dream, like honestly, I feel like it was comical, like how perfect they were. And I couldn't make myself even reach out and talk to the person. I was like, Nope, I'm not, I cannot go back. So I a very strong, repellent like feeling in my body. speaker-0: an intuitive body knowing. speaker-1: a hundred percent. It feels like I get a lot of intuitive hits in my clearly in my solar plexus. it feels like it's like tightening. And this one felt like a like how magnets go like you feel that pull. It felt like that in there. And I I couldn't do it. So I was I was like, I got it. I have to just I have to just go on this path. And you know, it looks a lot like I think there's a roommate quote that says walk, walk on the way and the way will appear. So it's like you don't know what the you don't know what the way is. You take steps and then the the path appears underneath your feet. And there's also a really good meme from Frozen that does this. Elsa is like running across an ice bridge as she's making it. And it's like that is the feeling. So that's how I feel right now a little bit. speaker-0: Actually just said something very similar to a friend of mine, 'cause I am weaving astrology into this podcast as sort of, you know, dipping my toe. She said, So where is that going in with your work with clients around money? And I said, Imagine we're at the precipice of a cliff. And as you take the first step, the step appears, and then you take the next step and the path appears. And that's how life evolves. I don't I don't Where the path is taking me. And I'm hearing that loud and clear from you, Tammy, in quite a spiritual way, which is also wanting me to reflect one more thing back to you. The north note of the moon, each of the south note and the north note in our chart. The north note is we're drawn to, again, sort of to use the word mission or what we're called to in this world. And that too is in the twelfth house, which mirrors Aquarius, which is Communities and future and finding self worth from within almost is how that yet you need that, as you said, the cocoon. That's where you go to evolve. It's not just but it's it's important for you to do the deep inner work and to pull in, which is so interesting. As it said here, I wrote to myself, that's not an indulgence for you, that's solitude, reflection, and retreating from the noise is how you do your work. speaker-1: It's not even just how I do my work. It's almost like I have a deep belief that how the universe works is that we create what happens external. This is the belief that I have. So I believe like your beliefs reflect on the externally, right? Like so if I believe deeply, even if I'm not conscious of it, if I believe deeply that I can't make money on my own. I'm not good. I I believe that I'm not making money on my own. right. So I have to get at the heart of that and be really clear about and get that belief, not just like in a in a mantra way, in like core, like do years of work way around like, I

mean, because as you said, the identity shift for anybody going from corporate to on their own. There's the money, the logistics of money and how do we make money and all of that, but there's the identity piece. There's the identity piece of what is my value? What is my value if I'm not representing this global brand or whatever brand? And it's very easy to see the value or represent a brand and say, well, you know, this is what that brand represents. It's very difficult. or different when you're going out into the world saying, hey, world, I am the thing that has value and don't you want to, you know, exchange energy in the form of money with me? you know, so it's you have to get clear around your value. And it is a massive, I don't know. For me, it was an undertaking to do all of that. And to get clear on what what my values are, what my beliefs are, so that I could show up in the best way and and articulate it. Listen, it's still a work in progress. Cool. But yeah, so it's it's all of it. It's all of it. speaker-0: So Tammy, as we're getting towards the end of our conversation, I guess I have two questions. One, I always like to end on success means to you now, as opposed to earlier. And also, please speak, briefly to what you're doing now, who you work with and and the service you prov the the value you provide. speaker-1: No no now it feels like here's your test. No, I'm just kidding. wait, what was the first question? speaker-0: Success about what it means. speaker-1: Success. I think success on a very high level will look like listen, we're we both well, you're an alumni of Leadership Westchester and I'm in Leadership Westchester now and one of the hallmarks of the program for for just so people are aware, is is writing your mission statement for your life. You know? And it's a nine month program and that's part of the whole arc of it is coming and I have Two more months left, and I'm getting ready, and it's not due until the end, and we have to cross a threshold and all this stuff. And so I'm, and it will evolve. But but and I don't have mine ready yet, nor am I ready to say it on this, but it has the essence of first of all, I do I wanna wanna show up as my full self, right? Not these layers that don't belong to me. Not these layers that don't serve me anymore, but me as my full self. And I really want to I love the idea of sparking possibility for a more just and joyful world. And so everything I'm doing is kind of in that spirit, but I really do want to hold myself accountable to showing up as my true self because I think when that when that is aligned, everything kind of works. Right. when you're showing up in your fullness, when you are centered, when you're feeling good, when you're excited, when you're joyful, people feel joyful, people feel excited, people want to do things, people want to collaborate. And like the world just works. And so I just want to do more of that and and then trust and have faith that as I'm walking, the path appears in the most glorious fashion. That honestly I can't even Dream of right. So success looks like that. Authenticity and abundance and faith and trust in the process. I would want everyone to know that if you or someone you know is sitting on a whisper, an idea, a change, you know, if you're sitting in corporate America and you're like, I have this idea brewing and it's been with me for years, and I just want to figure out how to like get it launched, and I need a thought partner and I champion or if you work at a nonprofit or a organization that needs help finding partners, corporate partners, everybody needs revenue. So call me, think of me, reach out. Yeah. I will I love a good conversation about possibility. speaker-0: I love a good conversation about possibility and about change that is felt come from the universe. Yes. We share that. And that view and framing going on in our lives. And I look forward to continuing to get to know each other, Tammy. Thanks so much for being my guest. speaker-1: Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. This was so much fun. speaker-0: Thanks for listening to Making Change with Your Money. Certified Financial Planner Laura Rodder specializes in helping people just like you organize, clarify, and invest their money in order to support a life of purpose and meaning.truAbundanceadvisors.com speaker-1: Go to www. speaker-0: forward slash workbook for a free resource to help you on your journey. Disclaimer, please remember. speaker-1: But the information speaker-0: shared by this podcast does not constitute accounting, legal tax, investment, financial speaker-1: Good. speaker-0: advice. It's for information purposes only. You professional advice for your specific information.