Life Conversations with a Twist
Join me once a week for a new interview with a local, badass woman who has an amazing story to tell. Join me in conversation so you too can gain inspiration and empowerment from these stories! If you love hearing about leadership, relationships, families, motherhood and navigating hard times, then tune into my podcast and share with others. If you love what you hear, share and tag me on Instagram at @heathernelson.life. You can also visit my website at heathernelson.life.
Life Conversations with a Twist
Master One Thing: Transform Talents Into Multiple Income Streams with Dr. Tabatha Russell
“Master that one thing and then continue to build on it for later. Learning is a joy, and it can be very rewarding at the same time.” — Dr. Tabatha Russell
Big ideas do not fail because of lack of talent. They stall when focus gets scattered and confidence gets shaky. This conversation pulls apart the pressure to do everything at once and replaces it with clarity that actually feels doable.
Dr. Tabatha Russell shares her journey from growing up in inner-city Philadelphia to becoming a financial empowerment strategist after losing everything in a business partnership and rebuilding with intention, structure, and mindset at the center of her work.
Press play for a grounded conversation about mastering one strength and turning it into sustainable income without burnout.
In this episode, we cover:
- How to identify the one skill worth mastering
- Turning one idea into multiple income streams
- Why depth creates more impact than chasing every opportunity
- Lessons learned from failed partnerships and financial loss
- Imposter syndrome, confidence, and mindset shifts that matter
- Building legacy-focused businesses with solid foundations
- Creating abundance while staying aligned with purpose
Connect with Heather:
Episode Highlights:
01:07 Meet Tabatha– Building Purpose & Wealth for Women
05:07 Discovering & Monetizing Passions
09:26 The Power of Focusing on One Thing
12:57 Building Businesses & Brand
17:25 Memorable Client Success Story
25:36 The Truth About Business Partnerships
29:07 Foundational Business Advice– Structure for Success
33:47 Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
38:52 Navigating Low Motivation & Practicing Daily Gratitude
49:38 Be Yourself & Launch Your Purpose
Resources:
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Connect with Tabatha:
Dr. Tabatha Russell is a renowned financial empowerment strategist, keynote speaker, and serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience guiding women and men to realize their fullest potential. As CEO and Founder of Inside Inspired Women Global, Dr. Russell specializes in helping individuals unlock their purpose, transform one idea into multiple streams of income, and build lasting legacies. Known as the "Money Makeover Mogul," she is celebrated for her dynamic coaching, impactful live events, and her bestselling book, “I Divorced My Money and Married My Mindset.” Dr. Russell’s mission is to empower others to embrace abundance, resilience, and authenticity on their journey to personal and professional success.
Hey ladies, it's your host, Heather Nelson, welcoming you to another season of Life Conversations With A Twist. This is a space where we dive into stories of remarkable women who've conquered challenges and emerged stronger. Join me each week as we unravel tales of resilience, triumph and empowerment. These narratives aren't just stories. These are stories of inspiration, and I'm so honored to have the space to share them with you. Plus, I will be sharing my own personal stories of inspiration as I navigate starting my own business and achieving my own goals. So whether you're driving in the car or out moving your body, get ready for heartwarming stories and empowering conversations together. Let's raise a virtual toast to empowerment, because here at Life Conversations With A Twist, every story has the power to inspire. Cheers, ladies.
Heather Nelson: Hello everyone. Welcome to this week's Life Conversations With A Twist. I'm honored to have a Tabatha Russell on. Her and I just met, but I already know this conversation is gonna be so amazing. I was mentioning to her the reason why I have this podcast, that it is all about inspiring and empowering women. And this is the work that you do, so I'm really excited to have you on this podcast. I know I need this conversation today, so welcome.
Dr. Tabatha Russell: Thank you. I am so happy to be here with you today. Yes, my name is Dr. Tabatha Russell, and I am the CEO and Founder of Inside Inspired Women Global, which is a platform that helps women to really walk in their purpose authentically. But we teach them how to be able to do that and diversify their income as a result of doing that. So we show them how they can take one idea and really make multiple streams of income from it from using their voice to writing books, to just really walking in their power of helping others as well. A huge focus of ours is to really empower them to be able to help other people as well. So for me, I grew up in Inner City, Philadelphia as a young girl. I was always a curious girl, though, from the standpoint of, I always wanted to know how people live in those big houses. How could they afford to drive those really fancy cars and different things like that?
So for me, over the course of years, I have had the opportunity to become a financial strategist. So for me, most people know me as the Money Makeover Mogul. I'm a financial empowerment strategist, keynote speaker, and a serial entrepreneur, literally to the core. My passion is helping people design the life and the wealth that they deserve. Not the one that they settled for, but the one that they deserve. And so for me, I believe in creating abundance without burnout, and showing women how to walk in grace and greatness at the same time. For me, I like to do things like journaling, traveling and mentoring future CEOs because purpose doesn't stop at success. It's about legacy. So for me, the thing that really drove my passion is that I've been an entrepreneur for over 20 years. However, I made one decision, and that one decision caused me to literally lose everything. I lost a half million dollars on my house, the cars, all the things, because I didn't know what I didn't know. As much as I admired the people that lived in the big houses and drove the fancy cars, because I was afforded an opportunity to go to school in a Gifted and Talented program, which was not in my local area so I had to get up and take two busses and the L train just to get to my school bus every single day.
And so with that, going to school and kids are driving up in cars, and riding past all these fancy houses, well, I knew that I wanted that even from a young child. However, getting to that, I'd ask the questions, what does your mom and dad do? Oh, my dad's the town dentist. Or my mom's a lawyer. Or the town accountant, and different little things like that. I was like, well, I need to be a business owner. I need to do these things. But I didn't know that I needed an accountant on my staff. I didn't know that I needed a lawyer on my staff. So all of that came to the culmination of me getting into a partnership that I did not know that I needed all of these things in place prior to when I lost everything. I wrote a book called I Divorced My Money and Married My Mindset because once I lost everything, it became the blessing of a lifetime. Literally, because it gave me the fortitude, the strength, the power to rebuild my foundation, and put some things in place. So here I am today, using all of those lessons to really help people now to, first of all, get acceleration in the process, but also build from the ground. Bound up properly so that their foundation is solid. So definitely, thank you so much, Heather, for this opportunity to be here with you today.
Heather Nelson: I love it. I'm so excited to have this conversation with you, because it's all the work that I'm personally doing as well. Finding that thing that's inside me, my superpower, what I want to be known for, and figuring out what it is, and it's so hard. I feel like you should just know. ing all this work, and leaning into different projects, or trying different things and really trying to find it, it's been really stressful for me. What advice do you have for somebody who's like, they know they have something, everyone's told you that there's something really cool about you. You're so inspiring, but it's like trying to find that exact thing is what is always so hard for me.
Dr. Tabatha Russell: So I find that, WE, as women, first of all, we're multitaskers. We're natural nurturers. So we can cook the meal, take care of the babies, watch TV, wash clothes all at the same time. And when it's done, everything is perfectly in place. Just magically, it just happens. So for most of us, we are naturally good at a lot of things. However, I tell most people, pick one thing that you are absolutely amazing at, and go deep in it, master it. But also, it's the thing that can bring you the most amount of income in that area, and you would do it if you didn't get a dollar from it. And so when we start talking about that, people are like, well, what could that one thing be? For example, let's just say, for me, I absolutely love to cook. Now, I just so happen to have a big family. I personally have four sons and a daughter. They're all grown and gone now. They're paying their own bills, living the life of their own dreams on their own terms. However, when everybody was at home, I was always cooking the big meals. However, I'm not a baker. There's a lot of people that I know that are absolutely amazing at baking. So let's just say, Heather, you're a baker. I would say, okay, Heather, I want you to make me your best lemon cake. Because I absolutely love Lemon Cakes. You're like, I got you. Let's just say that you charge $50 for a cake. And I'm like, okay, I want that on my list. It's gonna be on my table for Thanksgiving.
Now, because I'm not a baker, baking is not my thing. But I will buy your cake because of the convenience that it affords me. So I'm buying your cake, but I say, huh, things have been going well. I got a little bit more time on my hands. Heather, could you teach me how to make a cake? And you say, you know what? Yes, I absolutely can do that. Matter of fact, I just made a recipe book, why don't you just get the recipe book? It has the exact information in there. You can get the book, and it has so many more recipes in there. Yes, absolutely, please. And thank you. So now, I have your book. Well, let's just take it a step further, because I have some more time on my hands. Heather, can you come over and show me now how to make those cakes? And you said, you know what? I can do that. The kids are in school, let's do it while everybody's away, while I have some time myself. Now, within that process, really, without thinking about it, we've just created three streams of income from that one process of me not wanting to be a baker. So you look at the people that you're connected with and the things that they want that you can easily provide, but just one thing starts there before you go wide. And most of the time, people teach you to go wide before they teach you to go deep. And so I often say, find one thing, and master it. So when people think about cakes, they should be thinking about heavenly having their cakes, right?
Heather Nelson: The thing is I'm not a baker. Though, I'm with you. I'd rather pay someone to do it.
Dr. Tabatha Russell: But the concept still stands from the standpoint of, what's that one thing that brings you so much passion that somebody will pay for easily. You could be a designer. It doesn't matter, whatever it is. Even your podcast. People will love the opportunity to be able to share their story out there, get their voice heard by all of your followers in just the same way. Because they may not have the same opportunity to create their own podcast, but they have a desire to do so. So how can you build that connection in a seamless process for them to be able to do so? So that's how you get to simplify it.
Heather Nelson: I think because in my business world, I'm really good at building connections. I love it, and which is why I'm a podcaster. I can easily connect with people, but I build businesses, my own businesses, and I've helped other businesses grow by helping them create relationships. So that's kind of my entrepreneur career life. But truly, what fuels my soul so much is really podcasting. I love podcasting. I love interviewing women. I'm always watching TV, and I'm like, I wish I was interviewing them. So that is my passion. That is what I love. That is where I make zero money, but it's the thing that truly fuels my soul. So that's one of the things that I've discovered over the last six months, that that's what I want to lean into, doing more podcasting, and figuring out how it is that I make money doing that.
Dr. Tabatha Russell: Oh, I love it. I love it. I just so happened to know that, for example, my husband has had his own podcast now for about six years, and he has interviewed some of the most amazing people. His calendar now is full through next April. Every week for the last six years, he's put in work in order for him to get to this place right now. So I know first of all that there's a need for it. A lot of people want to be on the podcast, and they want to do things now. He has agents that now bring their people and say, hey, I want you to, or would this guy, would you be open to interviewing this guy, right? Because it's an all male type of panel. Well, from that, he made his own network. He's his own network, so he now has made space for other podcasters to now be able to bring their shows and teach them how to do so. But as a podcaster, you have a lot of flexibility on what that looks like. Now, I know that larger names sometimes and their publicists will pay for opportunities for you to interview their guests, and potentially put them in front of their ideal client. So there's a lot of different ways for you to be able to do that and teach people how to do their own podcast, because I'm sure that there's a lot of things that you've learned over the course of time.
Heather Nelson: Yeah. I've been doing this for four years, and I've released an episode every single week. I totally know how your husband is. I think I have interviews booked all the way through the end of February. What a great place to be in. Great because now I'm like, okay, that gives me time in the next few months to take a little pause and really focus on what is next.
Dr. Tabatha Russell: Yeah, absolutely. And the great thing about that is that you get to design it in a way that's most beneficial for you, your audience and your potential clients, that you could now help them with that. From lighting, to the actual studio, to the sound, to the room, to the microphone that you get. It's all a thing, right? And now, because you're such a people person, and because you like to build connections, what about those affiliations of things that you can build off of that people will say, you know what? For the podcast in the box, you can have X, Y, Z. So it really does allow you to really sit and think about the next steps, and how you can help people on their journey as well.
Heather Nelson: It's so good. I'm assuming this is the work that you do within your company. This was a great intro into, this is the work that you do with your clients. I'm assuming, do you only do women? Do you do everybody?
Dr. Tabatha Russell: I primarily, 80% of my clientele are women. Because, of course, we're in everything, and we want to be the best at it. But I also have men. So the overarching name of my business is Inside Inspired Women Global. But men are in the umbrella, because I do have a platform called The Next Level CEO, where we basically sit down with individuals and talk with them about the overarching vision that they have for themselves, as well as their business. And then we come up with a customized plan of what's next over the next 12 months. We also have the Powerful on Purpose Summit, where people have a story that they want to share with the world. We do live events twice a year. Our next one is February 21 here in Columbia, South Carolina. I have on average about 30 speakers that come in to share their message. We have a virtual stage where we will also be going live that day where they'll get the opportunity to share their message as well. So we have two sides of the house going, and we help people to craft their signature message, which ties back to them, their platform and different things like that. So yeah, the Lord has definitely gifted me with the ability to be able to listen to people and take their vision, and come up with a customized way of them being able to share it with the world.
Heather Nelson: How big is your team?
Dr. Tabatha Russell: I have six people on my team right now, and everybody has a task to do. Of course, with the invention of AI, it made it really, really good. Because four of the six people only work sometimes during the live events. Other than that, the rest of the time, the team is working in the background doing other things for me there as well. So it works out that we have a simplified, streamlined process that works really, really good.
Heather Nelson: How many people have you helped to find their thing, their passion, their journey? So if I did what you did, I would have liked either stickies or like marks. I just helped that person, that person,
Dr. Tabatha Russell: Yeah. We've tracked it, and we're about 257 people to date helping them to come up with their purpose, and really build out to launch. We've worked with other people. I also do corporations and things like that. So this year alone, I probably have been in front of close to about 5,000 people over the course of time, and that's not including virtual events that I've done and things like that. So I literally do speak around the country as well. So with that, though, we've had the opportunity of those that have come through the process, through the program to get launched, and that are out there doing some amazing things from creating their own stages, to either creating their own platforms, to where they're helping other people. That's what we've counted thus far.
Heather Nelson: Oh, my gosh, that's so great. I was going to ask you, what was your most memorable client or story that you've seen somebody do? I'm sure you'd have a lot. But is there a favorite?
Dr. Tabatha Russell: Yeah, I do have a favorite. We actually still work very closely together. So I had a really high ranking official that had come through our system, and they wanted nothing to do with their years of service, 32 to be exact. And I'm like, hmm, this is interesting. Why is that? And of course, they had a story behind it, and they wanted to not have to wear the uniform and do the things, and walk the tightrope and all of that. And I'm like, okay, let's back up here for just a moment. First of all, you've earned the right, and put in the time to say that you are retired, whoever that you are. And with that being said, do not allow yourself to discount that. And of course, their specialty is leadership. It is helping people to now go into corporations, help them to reorganize some things, and that kind of stuff. Having done that in a short period of time, from 9 to 12 months, they have literally had the opportunity to transform their landscape and do some absolutely amazing things. Interviews on ABC, NBC. Go to the Super Bowl Media Week. They've had the opportunity to speak on some most amazing stages, and now have their own platform where they're able to work with their ideal clients in leadership there as well. So sometimes, we look at, oh, because I don't like what I used to do, I'm going to do something brand new however you can do that, but leverage the experience, the time and all of that that you put in there.
But yeah, she was like, oh, I'm done. I just want to burn all of this stuff. Take the titles away and all of that. And I was like, wait a minute. And so that has become my favorite success story, because there's value in everything. Sometimes, even our trash. Even the things that we're like, man, that just brought me so much pain and so much turmoil. I had sleepless nights. All the travel and all the things that they wanted to get away from. However, that takes nothing away from you, did you really get out of it? There's oil and the olives. But sometimes, you just have to squeeze them a little bit to get the goodness out. So now, we've taken that, and created a whole platform as a result of that. So I know that there's goodness in everything and in everybody. However, it sometimes just requires a conversation, and then doing the work necessary in order to do that. So say for example, you like podcasting. That is the crux of what you absolutely love to do. However you said it yourself best is that you're good at other things. So based upon the other things that you're good at, if you were to stop podcasting today to go after one of those other things, there is a ramp up period. There's some loyal that you'll be able to learn and leverage based upon who you are and all the things that you've built up in the podcasting space, but they don't know you over here as, we'll go back to the baker, we know that that's not your thing. But as being the baker, you now have to re-establish yourself. People need to taste your cakes, and they need to be able to say, okay, heavenly Heather cakes are amazing. However, if you did something and it still lends a light to podcasting, then now you get to leverage and build off of that. So we talk about the pros and cons of doing that, and what's going to work for you that's going to give you the biggest amount of influence and impact the quickest as well.
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Heather Nelson: One of the things you mentioned in the beginning is that you're a serial entrepreneur, which is myself, I have podcasts, I've had businesses. I have two businesses. I'm always constantly thinking like, what's the next idea? How do you leverage that? During your journey, how did you find the one that you were gonna continue to lean more into?
Dr. Tabatha Russell: So I would say that I've always been the most passionate about helping people to build out their legacy, whether that was fixing their credit. Because I started with helping people fix their credit and their finances. And from there, I went into real estate. We did taxes for several years and different things like that, but it always went back to money and numbers. And so for me, numbers make sense and cents. So it makes sense here, and it makes dollars. So for me, I found that because I always go back to something that's helping to make money, or make numbers, or help people to stabilize themselves financially, then that's how I was able to drive home that that's where I need to be. And I found that I really get a lot of joy out of helping people to now build their reality, putting things in place that's going to help them to build a legacy that lasts for more than two generations. Because most people lose it within one to two generations. All the institutional knowledge, all of the systems that they put in place, and things like that. A lot of that is lost because it's not taught. It's not something that is at the core of the family. So just really realizing how to implement that has made all the difference in the world, and that is my one thing, for sure.
Heather Nelson: I love that you did mention that you did hit a bump in the road that was kind of the turning point of what direction your career was now going into, and you alluded that it was a partnership. I would love to get your feedback and your outlook on doing things together. Because I have found that in my experience of working with other entrepreneurs and other businesses that sometimes going in with somebody together, it's not always a great thing. You don't see too many people super successful with a partner. Can you talk about your experience there and kind of what you've learned?
Dr. Tabatha Russell: Some people know me to say that I am collaborating over competition all day long. Joint ventures and partnerships are everything. However, over the course of time, though, you have to make sure that it is the right connection, the right partnership, and how do you do that? Sometimes, you ask some of the hard questions. Sometimes, you ask for proof. Sometimes, you ask for how they think and process things. And it's a courtship. It's just like a relationship that not every relationship is going to last, but you go into it all of, I think all of us go into it with warmth and fuzzies. Oh, my goodness, they're amazing, and I just love them. It's going to be great. However, what is their business institutional knowledge? What does the bank account say? What is their prior business knowledge and success? What does that look like? Things like that as well. And a lot of times, people can verbalize that. But to actually show it is something completely different. So should you, if you, and should you desire to go into a partnership? Ask the hard questions first. And if there's an antenna, or the hairs on the back of your neck stick up just a little bit, no is a no, and be okay with that.
A lot of times, we try to force things right to make it work. We're putting a round peg in a square hole, and we're wanting to fill in the sides to make it work. No is no, and be okay with that. Like, no and next. And so I've learned over the course of time that some partnerships go like, I don't say yes to everything. At a time in my life where I was struggling for money, or trying to make things work, or find my next new thing that I was going to get into, I might have said yes to a lot of things. But at this particular time, there's more no's than there are yes. And being intentional and really protecting your impact and your influence makes the difference at all. So not every opportunity is a good opportunity. Weigh it out, and at least allow yourself to make informed decisions. What do I mean by that? Have all the information, and then yes is yes, and no is no, and be okay with that.
Heather Nelson: So good. Thank you for that. I have a situation, and I was curious what your opinion was on that. Obviously, like you said, having a partnership and having to part ways was a big bump in the road for your journey. What other things have you learned along the way that you wish that somebody had told you during your journey that you could sign into our listeners?
Dr. Tabatha Russell: Oh, yeah. Well, thank you for that question. But over the course of time, I've learned that setting up the proper foundation the right way from the beginning is everything. There's a lot of people that I talk to, and they're like, I am a business owner. They are proudly ready to give you all the attitude with it. However, the structure is jacked up. They don't have proper structure ready to go. And it's more of a hobby than it is an actual business, because you've made pennies instead of dollars. And so we talk about what it means to be an actual business owner and setting the proper foundation, A, because sometimes it's hard to go backwards and play catch up at the same time. It's just not going to work. So if you do it right the first time? Man, I just say that that puts you light years ahead of everybody else. And people wonder why so many businesses close their doors so quickly. Within the first one to three years, so many small businesses, I think the average is like 60% or so, close their doors. Most of them don't even know they exist. However, that is because of not doing the proper things the right way to begin with. And so if we do that, we also give ourselves a fighting chance. An opportunity to say, yes, I'm going to be a successful business owner. But that also means that you may not make millions the first year. Some people do it. The chances are super small. But what is your niche? What's your specialty? I tell everybody, even in some of my groups, that we can all do the same thing. However, find your niche in it, and drive that home. We all work with women. For example, you do podcasting. I do more financial strategies and coaching. However, I'm okay with doing what I do, and I'll refer people to your podcast. So that way, we basically all get the opportunity to be successful by staying in our own lane. When I'm in my lane, I get to go as fast as I want to. When I go over in your lane, I might hit a couple of bumps in the road. I'm like running and we are bumping, bumper cars over there, because there's somebody else in that lane already. So where's your lane? Find your lane and drive it home. Some of the things that I found over the course of time.
Heather Nelson: So good. It's so true. And I really, truly believe in collaboration. I truly believe in any person you meet, whether you're going to give me direct business or not. It's not about that. It's about how we connect? How do we grow? How do we leverage each other's experience or network? And I have met so many fantastic women who have brought me so much joy and wealth, and so much happiness in my life, but they never gave me a single dollar. They weren't my specific client, but they led me to so many other opportunities. And so sometimes, you just never know when you meet someone.
Dr. Tabatha Russell: I absolutely love that, and I am the same way. I quite often like to say that I'm an introvert at heart. And my husband was like, I don't know where, because you never meet a stranger. And oh, my gosh, you're so friendly, and you just work with everybody. And I'm just like, okay, well, maybe I'm not so much of an introvert. But I absolutely love, love, love that we can see the value in each other, and just really pull that out, and allow each other to stand on their own. This is why I also practice and tell people about authenticity and what that looks like. And I see that sometimes, people mistake authenticity for imposter syndrome. There's a huge difference between the two, even though there's some similarities. But ME, allowing you to be who you are and in all of the stuff that comes along with it, ME to love you right there, and YOU to love me right where I am is the beautiful thing that allows us to be able to collaborate. It definitely does not mean that we compete by no stretch of the imagination, because I'm pushing you as hard as you're pushing me, and that's the thing that allows us to be able to grow together, and watch each other grow.
Heather Nelson: You talked about imposter syndrome, and that was actually one of my questions for you, because that is the one thing that I struggle with the most. Not necessarily in the podcasting role. It comes up like, I know that I'm good at what I do and how I connect to people. But I think when it comes to my career in helping businesses with business development strategies, I struggle so hard with like, Heather, you've done it. You have helped businesses grow from here to here. You've done it, and you've done it this certain way. I struggle so hard being like, I'm not good enough. Are people really gonna buy from me? Do I really have the knowledge? I'm sure that's come up in your journey. How have you gotten through that? Please give me some advice.
Dr. Tabatha Russell: Yeah, yeah. So imposter syndrome, the effects of it is a real thing. The spirit of comparison, the spirit of not feeling like we're good enough, and the confidence. However, some of that is necessary in order for you to be able to see that there is a difference. You comparing yourself to whatever it is that you're comparing yourself to. However, in order to overcome that, it's okay to glean in the garden to see how they're doing things and what's successful, pull that out, all the weeds, and throw it away is how you now allow yourself to separate in some areas. So what I found over the course of time is that I may absolutely love, love, love, love, love the person, and love the way that they're doing things, and all the impact that they're making. However, there could be a few things that I like, I could do that a little differently, a little bit better, and really make an even bigger impact in those areas. And so that's how you find that you start to pull away from those feelings because you're going in the direction that's fruitful for you, not in the way that is less fruitful. So just the same way that you've allowed people to become very successful using your proven method, your proprietary, your IP, it allows you now. If you just stay in that lane, then it clouds out everything else. However, people pay you for time to not have to go through all the stuff, and they pay you for access to information. So I tell people, if somebody on YouTube that teaches people how to fish every day and they're making millions of dollars, surely, your idea can go viral.
Heather Nelson: 30 years ago, that wasn't a thing. Sure is now, you can make money doing anything.
Dr. Tabatha Russell: Yeah. 30 years, that was not a thing. However, today, you see people crocheting. You see them knitting stuff. Teaching you how to sew. There's a lady on there that has millions of followers teaching people how to do math and all of that. All of our little grandbabies are attached to. I've had countless hours of sitting and watching Miss Rachel. I would say that there's beauty, and there's impact in everything. So what takes me away from that to go back to your original question is what am I feeding my mindset. Every single day when I get up, one of the things that I work on is feeding me first. So I'm getting up, I'm reading something, I'm listening to something, I'm getting my workouts before I start my day. So good in, automatically good comes out. And so I don't give myself the opportunity to go into a space of where I'm feeling less than or whatever, because everything that I'm putting in is telling me that I'm more than enough. I am the head and not the tail. I am above and not beneath. I'm the lender and not the borrower. So putting all of that in is telling me, oh, I got this today. Do you know who I am? That's how I start my day. And some people might say that there's a small area of arrogance that comes along with that. If that is what it takes to get you through that season, borrow it. Matter of fact, own it. Get the brownie patch. Your new tat is going to be, I am more than enough. Or do you know who I am? That it allows you to be able to walk through that space confidently as well.
Heather Nelson: I love that advice. I truly believe in that. I love feeling like I promote people filling their cups. But do you ever get to a point or part, maybe it's like a season where you're just feeling a little low or less motivated? Have you ever been there? How did you get yourself out of it?
Dr. Tabatha Russell: Yeah, absolutely. When I lost everything, it was probably the lowest place in my entire life. Having four small sons at the time was no great feeling. However, I knew that the source of my existence was to take care of them. So because of that, I've always been one to let my sons tell me what I do the most. I've always been in upper management. I've always had the opportunity to provide for us. I've always been really concerned that if I'm going to send them to public schools, we're going to live in the best area. All of those things. I knew that I had already created a blueprint for our lifestyle that was laid out there. Now, I could just go back and leverage those points. Meaning, all the good that I had built and done. Going back to that as my starting point gave me a springboard to now be able to get through that stuff.
So sometimes, you have to go back and look at all the things that you've done, if that means that you get a piece of paper and you draw a line down the middle that says, this is all the good that I've done versus all the negative in my life. Which one overshadows the other? Oh, all the good stuff I've done. Man, this is temporary, and I'm gonna get through this the same way I got through that because this is not that. I quite often look at how, or the good in everything, and practice a level of gratitude. So gratitude tells me that today is not my best day. However, it's not my worst either. Because somebody right now is going through what you're going through, whatever that is, they will give their right arm and their left leg to be in your shoes. Because what they're going through, they see it as so much worse than what you have. And that gives me comfort in knowing that it's not as bad as what I thought. I can get through this, and it could be some really, really dark stuff. However, knowing that this too shall pass helps me as well. So I look at the good in most everything. I tell people that it doesn't necessarily take a lot to make me go there, but I also know that it's buried in my pinky toe because that's not the first thing that I normally think of.
If somebody is mean to me, oh, they're limited in their thought process. Or they're angry about that. The scruffy bit them this morning. The cat scratched them. I don't know. They bumped into the trash can backing out the driveway. It's just naturally having a bad day. Okay. Next. Let's move on. I look for opportunities on how I can make somebody else's day better. If I'm going into the grocery store and the cashier seems to be having a little bit of a moment because she just wants to slam my stuff, how's your day going? Oh, my gosh, you're having a good day. Or how's everything going? You get the opportunity to invoke happiness and joy in every situation. And sometimes, that's a little bit easier said than done. Sometimes, you have to force yourself to do it. But after a period of time, it becomes a natural part of you, and you just start to see things a little differently. Today wasn't quite so much my day. Tomorrow, I'm gonna crush it. I don't stay mad very long. I could be furious, give me a little while, and it just rolls off because I'm constantly putting good in, or looking for opportunities to create that for somebody else.
Heather Nelson: Thank you for that reminder because that's where I'm sitting in this season right now. I'm trying to get out of it. It is a really good reminder. One of the things I write down every day is my goals, but I also write down five things that I'm grateful for because it's like reminding yourself that it could be a crappy day, but there are things that happen throughout your day that you need to reflect on. And having a home and children, healthy children, your whole family here, and all those things. So that was a great reminder. Thank you.
Dr. Tabatha Russell: Well, good. I want to respond to that as well. When we write down our goals out of time, the natural things that come up are the house and the children, the cars, your lifestyle and things like that. I quite often tell people to challenge themselves to go deeper. Thank you Lord for the hair on my head. Thank you Lord that I have beautiful eyelashes. Oh, my gosh, look at my smile today. I'm going to have the opportunity to make somebody's day today. They had the Pay It Forward Challenge day. I'm gonna go through a drive through, and I got the next person. Or I'm gonna go to the grocery store, and I'm gonna pay for somebody's groceries. That kind of stuff. I almost feel myself getting a little emotional. We get the opportunity to show light in every situation, every dark situation. I had a conversation right before this call that I said that darkness has to be around in order for light to show up. We don't know the light if we don't see the darkness. So some things are going to come along with the goodness. In the Bible, the King James version is what I like to read. It says that the wheat and tear are going to grow together, and the Lord does the separation, so he cuts away all the bad stuff. He comes back and gets the weeds. You just stand in your positioning. You stand in your goodness. So as you go deep in what you're grateful for, it allows you to be able to see, or challenge yourself to see outside of your immediate space. And even though you may be grateful for what's immediately there in front of you, this stuff right here is the closest to us. So naturally, we're going to be grateful for that. But when you go outside of that now, it broadens your perspective that you're grateful for even that many more things.
Heather Nelson: That was beautiful. Thank you for adding that because it is a different perspective to think of, for sure. How does one work with you? If someone's listening to this and they're like, oh, my gosh, I need her in my life. I need her to help me find my path. How can someone work with you?
Dr. Tabatha Russell: You can connect with me on my website at drtabatharussell.com. You can schedule a free breakthrough discovery session with me. Doesn't cost anything for us to have a conversation. Of course, we want to make sure that we're compatible, and I like to know the journey that people are on so that we have the opportunity to do that. I like to say, for years, I never advertised. I never really put myself out there. And of course, doing the podcast and things like that. I love doing this there as well, but I definitely love working with people. Though, people used to say that I was a little exclusive and a little hard to get to, but that's not always the case. I just scheduled a conversation. Let's go from there. So yeah, I definitely am open to that. And I'm on social media under I am Dr. Tabatha.
Heather Nelson: You also had mentioned that you do a next level CEO program. So is that something that's different than like a one on one work with you?
Dr. Tabatha Russell: Yeah, it is. It is different from one on one. That's a group coaching program that I quite often have anywhere from 10 to 20 plus people in there. It's a year long where we take your vision, your idea, your purpose, and we build out all the way through your platform. And we're there with you through the launch. We're there with you through the different steps that we take you through in order for you to come out and have multiple streams of income at the end.
Heather Nelson: I love that. And then you also have your live event coming up, which I would love to check that out. That looks so fantastic. Do you always do it in the same state? Or do you guys travel?
Dr. Tabatha Russell: So we are exploring opportunities to travel. I keep getting people like, bring it to my state because it is such a fun environment and a fun thing to do. So we're looking at that, probably for our 2027 schedule, to be able to take it to some places. I do want to take it out to the West Coast and potentially overseas as well, is what we're looking at. Also, I did a Powerful and Purpose Summit International going to Colombia, Medellin, Colombia, where we took a smaller group, and that was super amazing there as well. So we're branching out. We're getting there slowly with Shirley, so it's on our 2027 schedule.
Heather Nelson: I think it's okay to travel. I always tell people, because I always get so stuck in my small little area that I live in. And then when I get out of it, even just driving somewhere, I'm like, there's a whole nother world out here. And it really puts into perspective how big the world is, and how many opportunities there are, and how many potential clients there are. Sometimes, it is good to get on a plane, fly, go experience something different in a different culture, different state. Colombia would be fantastic. So sometimes, that's not a bad thing to make people travel.
Dr. Tabatha Russell: Yes, absolutely. We would love to have you come out to one of the live events. I think that that would be super awesome.
Heather Nelson: Yeah. You have given us so many beautiful takeaways, so many inspiration, empowerment. I am so excited to re-listen to this conversation. But is there anything we didn't talk about? What do you want to leave the listeners with today?
Dr. Tabatha Russell: So my thoughts is, nobody can beat you at being you, so be the absolute best version of yourself that you can be. Whether there's any flaws, whether there's any scars, people need you, and what you have to offer. People are looking for you right now, and you holding yourself back, you walking in fear, you walking in procrastination, all of that is depriving them from getting what it is that they need. Some people are stuck right now because they're looking for what you have to offer, so don't be afraid to just launch, to go out there and start talking about what you do, who you help, why you help them, and the potential outcome that they're going to get as a result of working with you. So take all of the bars off. Take all the levers off, and go full forward. That's always what I want to leave with people. Do what you know to do now, but learn all the other things. Master that one thing, and then continue to build on it for later. Learning is a joy, and it can be very rewarding at the same time. So learn everything that you can.
Heather Nelson: I love that. Thank you so much for being here today. I love this conversation. I always believe my guests are here on the certain day that I need them in my life, so thank you for inspiring me today. I know my listeners. I can't wait to see what's next for you.
Dr. Tabatha Russell: Thank you so much. I greatly appreciate it.
Heather Nelson: I hope today's episode resonated with you. And if it did, don't keep it to yourself. Spread inspiration. Share this episode on your socials, and tag me. And if there's anyone in your life who can use a dose of encouragement, pass it along. Looking forward to continuing this journey of inspiration with you. Until next time, stay empowered and connected.