Today we’d like to introduce you to Tiana Clewis.
Tiana, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My journey to being a Financial Lifestyle Coach started way back in college. I was a freshman at Howard University, far away from home and my debit card was declined during a shopping trip to Walmart in front of my entire dorm floor (OUCH!). I had one of those “That will NEVER happen to me again” and started budgeting and mapping out how I would use my money. By the time I left, I had a credit card (with no debt, of course) and was regularly lending money to friends when they got in a jam.
I continued this out of college (with a B.S. in Accounting) and into a Dallas-based position at Ernst & Young in their Fraud Investigations and Dispute Services (FIDS) group in 2009. With FIDS, I traveled constantly because we went where the fire was, be it a fraud investigation or regulatory loopback project. My world revolved around money and what people and companies did with it.
My travel slowed in 2014 when I met and married my husband, Boyd, and became pregnant with our son, Gabriel. Talk about an interesting transition. I was a budgeter and planner, but my husband loved to spend money on a whim. By the time we figured out how to manage money together, we had a lot of debt and were living paycheck to paycheck like too many other families.
In 2015, I left EY to work as an Internal Auditor for Baylor Scott & White Health, where I happily worked for 2 years working on processes, procedures, legal compliance and, you guessed it, money. It was at Baylor, with its reasonable hours and limited travel, that I was able to find my path to Selah. Here’s how that went down.
In the spring of 2016, my husband and I took a Financial Peace University (FPU) course at our church (Trinity Harvest Church in Hurst, TX). At the end of the 9-week course, we were on fire and ended up paying off over $30,000 in debt and buying a house that we absolutely loved by the end of the year. With those major wins happening in our lives, we decided to facilitate a Fall FPU that year at the church. The courses were 2 hours on Saturdays and each week I found myself helping some of our families by unofficially coaching them on how to take the concepts they had just learned and apply them to their specific situations. It was then that the light bulb went off.
I started Selah Financial Coaching 2 weeks later in late October. By June 2017, I had left my job at Baylor to pursue this business full-time.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Has it been a smooth road? HEAVEN’S NO!!
When Boyd and I got married in 2014, I had a couple of debts, he had a couple of debts and we both were homeowners. The problem is that while I had several years of budgeting experience under my belt, my husband did not. Not only did he not budget, but he liked to spend the money as quickly as he made it.
I really tried to find a balance between responsible family money manager and not being a party pooper, but I wasn’t learning that balance fast enough. We ended up maxing out all of our credit cards (the ones I had with a zero balance when we got married) within our first year of marriage. In spite of making a combined 6-figures, we were so broke, we had to sell a gun to pay a light bill back in 2014. That, on top of the stress of being newlyweds, parenting 3 kids from his previous marriage, and my pregnant lady mood swings resulted in these really ugly money fights that threatened to rip our marriage apart. It got so bad at one point that we nearly divorced after less than a year of marriage.
We limped along financially for another year before that life-changing Financial Peace University course at our church. Some families take the course and keep doing what they’re doing, but we both honed in on the message, got on one accord and started destroying debt. We cut expenses. We started planning months in advance for vacations, for Christmas and birthdays. We found some side-hustles to create more money. He switched jobs into better-paying positions. We worked our tails off!!
By the end of 2016, we have paid off roughly $33,000 in debt and bought a beautiful, brand new home in Midlothian. And even that journey wasn’t easy. There were family court issues, a car stopping on the highway, marriage counseling, family and friends needing money, tenants that refused to pay their rent on time – just so much stuff that could have derailed our success if we had let it…
And even now, things aren’t perfect. There are some obstacles that have hit our family in the last few months, but through budgeting, staying on one accord and refusing to give up, we’re still making forward progress!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Selah Financial Coaching – what should we know?
I am a Financial Lifestyle Coach with my company, Selah Financial Coaching. As a coach, I started out by showing families how they could turn their financial crisis and into a life that they can truly love and enjoy by using that tool we call money effectively. My universe is all about budgeting, repaying debt, saving for emergencies, having a sound financial foundation and having a plan to make that dream life you want to actually happen. My coaching is what led to me writing the book I published in July of 2017 entitled “That Tool Called Money” and speaking engagements around the metroplex.
As I’ve met more and more people, worked with more and more clients, my coaching practice has begun to shift. Now I focus on showing women how to walk in their truth by launching the service-based business of their dreams while doing all of those other things (paying the bills, saving money, destroying debt) and having fun with their families at the same time. So the core of what I do has not changed, but who I serve certainly has.
I have come to realize that most women have a general understanding of the concepts of responsible financial management and how to create a business. The problem is that they don’t really know how to apply them to their own situations in a way that helps them hit their goals. In fact, many people are just working day in and day out to pay their bills and maybe enjoy a couple of luxuries, if they were lucky. They’re trapped in jobs they hate and are scared to move into the business they want to create because they’re so worried that it won’t succeed. These ladies stay trapped because doing what they KNOW feels safer than making a change that may or may not pan out.
It’s something I absolutely love to do because that was me for a long time. I was that woman who was trying to play it safe, but in playing it safe I wasn’t allowing myself the freedom to truly pursue the life that I wanted for myself and my family. So what I’m most proud of with my company is that we are here and that we’re helping women who have the same fears, struggles and insecurities I did figure out how to break free of those fears, walk in their dream business and still take care of the people they love. I can’t think of anything better than that.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
There are so many people that have pushed and encouraged me, but the ones that stand out are:
– My husband, Boyd. What better encouragement can you get than your spouse allowing you to quit your job to pursue a business venture? That man deserves insane amounts of credit.
– My brother-in-law (Will Clewis) and sister-in-law (RaeShawn Cannon). Between them and my husband, I get so much amazing advice, insight, strategy, encouragement, and just flat out help.
– I don’t reveal the name of my clients, but there is one client in particular who has advocated for me SO hard. SHE has put her own name out there and told people about me, including in front of an entire audience at a small conference. I think she’s the reason the line was so long at my booth after my presentation!
– Beverly Brown, who you have previously featured, has helped me so much with exposure and opportunities!
– My pastor, Ray Taylor of Trinity Harvest Church, is always giving me all of the business, coaching, speaking advise that he has gained over the years. Plus, he always saying how proud he is of me. He’s such a big brother to me.
– I cannot make a list without including my aunt, Stephanie Dancer. The support, encouragement, taking my small humans (i.e. children) when I need a break or a moment to think in the midst of being a business owner and just plain old life. So much help.
– I almost forgot Wendy Torres, one of the most amazing counselors, pastors and radio show hosts. From my heart to my spirit she takes such amazing care of me. And as a MOMpreneur herself, she shares so much business advice and encouragement with me.
– Also, my mentor, Jessica Rodriguez from Day Dream Achiever, who I had been following for MONTHS before I started working with her. Such a joyous spirit filled with such great creativity, insight, strategy and all around business acumen. I’ve learned so much from her that’s made ME a better coach!
I am tearing up writing all of this because I have simply had SO much help and support. There is absolutely no way that I could have done this without God’s grace placing these people in my life. I am so grateful to Him and everyone on this list!!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.selahfc.com
- Phone: 817-618-2069
- Email: tiana@selahfc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/selahfc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SelahFinancialCoaching/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Selah_FC
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