Business Feature
An Interview with Tam Finley, Lifepreneur®
By: Christina G.Sato
When you browse Tam Finley’s Instagram profile, you get a small glimpse of who she is and what she shares with the world around her. Her vision, her confidence, her power to encourage and uplift, and her eye for beauty and talent is evident in her photos, quotes, and client testimonials. To know and work with Tam, is truly a gift and makes you feel like you have a coach pushing you on this journey of life. Her company and trademark term Lifepreneur® has allowed her to challenge others to join her in the incredibly rewarding task of following their dreams, providing for their families, and finding joy in their purpose. Tam knows joy, and she emits it through her smile and her insightful and inspiring video posts on IG and Facebook. At 39 years old, this wife and mother has found the secret to success, and has made it her life work to share these life skills, helping others to materialize the desires of their heart, and giving a platform for others to rise with her along the way. From her home in Alabama, Tam gave Eclectic Shades Magazine a deeper look at who she is and what being a Lifepreneur® looks like. Do you have a dream you have put on the back burner? Tam can get you started on the right path towards living your best life.
ES: What is a Lifepreneur®?
TF: A Lifepreneur® is an entrepreneur that manages to run a profitable business while balancing, home, life and everything in between. The term fits my situation so well I trademarked it.
ES: What’s your brand story?
TF: I own and operate three businesses under my parent company, Love, Chocolate Girl LLC which I founded in 2012.
Initially, I only intended to sell fashion accessories online.
At the time that I came up with that bright idea, I was seeking something to do with my free time while I traveled with my husband who was a professional basketball player in Europe.
I loved to shop and I had a really keen eye for fashion and styling so this was a win-win right?!
Wrong.
I really hadn't thought out the process, I was just seeking a way to make some money and be successful at something.
I realized early on that it would be hard to run my jewelry business while traveling.
It was cool while I was in the US, but when I left I had no one to help me ship products.
Hiring someone wasn't an option at this point because I wouldn't be here enough to manage them
In addition, I wasn’t getting much fulfillment out of the business.
I was making money and what I was doing was cool, but I didn’t feel like what I was doing was purposeful.
In 2013, I had my son.
It shifted my world in all sorts of ways, immediately I felt that all of my dreams and aspirations would have to take a back seat to him.
At first, I was cool with it because I was enamored with just being my kid’s Mom, but once the pixie dust wore off and reality began to set in I craved more self-fulfillment.
In the midst of the overwhelming feeling of being a new Mom (and probably a bit of post-partum), I found myself sobbing and rambling uncontrollably on my bedroom floor one day.
I was sad.
And I knew that something had to change.
The change came in the form of a question: “What makes you happy?”
I literally got out a piece of paper and started writing.
I didn't know exactly what the answer was, but I knew it would involve being content and doing something that made me want to get out of the bed in the morning.
I also realized that whatever it was it would have to compliment my life and not complicate it.
I briefly thought about my youthful thoughts of entering the corporate rat race and knew that they were no longer in the picture.
So what were my assets and what was I equipped to do?
In college, I was initially a Computer Science major.