We had the good fortune of connecting with Tiana Clewis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tiana, what role has risk played in your life or career?
My training as an accountant makes me naturally seek to avoid to risk, so it has taken me a lot of work to overcome that inclination. It wasn’t until I looked back at my life that I realized I have always taken risks without even realizing it. Auditioning for a school choir was a reputational risk. Working at Six Flags as a teenager, checking bags with unknown contents, was a safety risk. Going to college in Washington D.C., even with the full scholarship, was a social risk (culture shock, anyone?). Writing reports to the Dean about a the horrendous behavior of a tenured professor was an academic risk. By the time we’re adults, we have taken countless risks without even realizing it. Some seem easier than others, but every decision we make is a risk. It wasn’t until I accepted that reality that I was able to take the big career risks, like quitting my salaried position making $90k to work in the ministry and pursue my coaching business full-time. I crunched the numbers. I wrote down all of the risks. I talked through the contingency plans with my husband. I prayed about it, but it was insanely scary. It was so scary, I didn’t tell my own mother I was doing it until 5 months after I had already done it. It was so scary I nearly talked myself out of it a hundred times, but I did it and 3 years later, I know it was the best decision of my life! Our “income loss” latest only 6 months. Our church has grown significantly. I have launched my weekly podcast (which has already hit 100 episodes) and my YouTube channel. I’ve even been in place to help my husband to grow his career, caring for the family and even joining him on international travels. Had I not remembered all the risks I had taken every day, randomly in life, I never could have done it and our life today wouldn’t be as amazing as it is now. So even if you don’t consider yourself a risk-taker, the fact that you’re alive on this earth means that you are! You have always taken risks and you will continue to take risks every day. So crunch the numbers, talk it out, pray about it, then, if it MOSTLY makes sense, take the leap!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
As a Financial Lifestyle Coach, business strategist, author, podcast host and public speaker, my universe revolves around the women that I help escape the paycheck-to-paycheck, 9-to-5 grind that sucks the life out of them and keeps them far, far away from their dream life. Through my business, Selah Financial Coaching, I show women how to use that tool we call money to create a life they desire while still having some fun along the way! I’m not about get rich quick ideas, because too many of them don’t work outside of specific conditions. I’m also don’t believe in not having any fun ever until you’re a millionaire, because most people end up quitting and we never know when our last day on earth will be. I show my clients a realistic, balanced approach to creating financial success, where they can enjoy life and still reach their goals. Yes, it may be a bit slower than other methods, but it works because you’re more likely to stick to it in the long-run instead of relapsing because it was too extreme or too hard to endure long-term. Getting to this place was quite the journey, because I wasn’t always the best with money. When my husband and I got together, we were the average American family. We had houses, cars notes, student loans, several credit cards, some bank loans and other debts. Our net worth was SUPER negative and in the first 6 months of our marriage, we managed to rack up another $15,000 in credit card debt. It was a mess! That mess didn’t get any better until that fateful day when the light bill was due and the bank account was negative! Our only option was to sell my husband’s favorite gun to pay the light bill, because how can you have four kids and no lights?! We were so ashamed! So we sought help in a popular financial literacy course that our church was teaching that year. We got on the same page, we mapped out a plan and we got to work. Within a year we had eliminated over $33,000 in debt, saved our first emergency fund and bought a brand new house in a fabulous school district for our family. For my husband and I, it wasn’t good enough that we were succeeding in the plan. We wanted to help others do it too! So we stepped up to teach the next session of financial classes and I noticed a few things:​1 – A lot of the people in the room had taken the class before. In fact, some of them were in the same class that we had been in! 2 – I was spending a lot of time at the end of each class, going off-script to help people understand how to take what they had just learned and apply it to their lives. 3 – The people who seemed the most determined to make something happen (and ask for help to do it) were women who were or had been toying with the idea of launching a business. Two weeks later, I launched Selah Financial Coaching and haven’t turned back! Not to say it’s been easy, because it hasn’t. I have struggled with my own insecurities. You hear about imposter syndrome, when you feel like a fraud or unworthy to teach others, even thought you know that the heck you’re talking about. I have struggled with that at times. A couple of times it got so bad that I considered going back into Corporate America because it’s easy and safe for me, but I had to remind myself of all the people who have been helped by my business and of the fact that I hate Corporate America. I refuse to be miserable for 40 hours a week when I can do the scary work and have genuine joy in what I do. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned along the way is to pay attention to what feels right and true to you. There are so many ways to run your business, even though so many voice will tell you there is only one way to do it, but you follow that voice verbatim and the business becomes a struggle that you hate. If you hate your dream business, something is wrong. While some things remain constant, there is nuance to everything and you have to find your unique nuanced way to run your business.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
One of the things that I love about the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is that there’s always something new to check out. Yes, some things stay the same, but I guess the adventurer in me likes the way things continuously evolve. Like Klyde Warren Park, with all of the events that happen there. I have so many memories from my corporate days of walking to the park on a warm day to eat a calzone at my favorite food truck. I would watch the people milling about, enjoying life, and I would scope out what they were setting up next. Just last Christmas, my youngest son and I met up with a friend and her son to enjoy the Tree Lighting ceremony, which the kids loved (we moms weren’t feeling the crowds though). Concerts and sporting events at the AAC are always fun. I think about the last time we went to a Chris Brown concert, then rode electric through downtown at midnight like a couple of big kids. We couldn’t have done that just a few years ago. During the fall, I enjoy the Texas State Fair. It’s the only time I can eat as much food as my heart desires and know that I will burn off all the calories by the time I’m done. Plus, the car shows! Who doesn’t love a good car show? We also spend a lot of time hanging out in downtown Fort Worth, like walking through SunDance Square to see what’s going on, but since this is Voyage Dallas, I’ll save that for another time!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many aunts and uncles, pastors, mentors, sisters in Christ, unexpected friends, teachers and counselors that have made a profound impact in my life. Since I can’t cover them all, I will talk about three. First, there is my husband, Boyd Clewis, who has supported every risk, every idea and every attempt (failed and successful) to walk in my God-given path. Like me, he understands the delicate balance of working in ministry, working as an entrepreneur and managing family life. It’s been a surprising journey, but I don’t think I would walk it out with anyone else. Second, I have to shout out my parents. How the two most hard-working, stubborn and bluntly honest people on earth got along for long enough to produce me is a mystery, but I couldn’t have achieved what I have without the traits they have instilled in me. Yes, it’s gotten me in trouble a few times, but ultimately, it’s made me resilient, confident and willing to speak up for myself and others. Third, I have to shout out my little brother, Jordan Johnson, who passed away in February at the age of 23. There have been so many times that I have reflected back on our lives growing up to see how his very existence gave me the strength to continue to grow and take risks when all I wanted to do was give up. Now, even in his death, I am inspired to continue to try new things, to never let fear stop me and to press daily into my calling. He may no longer be here, but he will never be forgotten.

Website: https://www.tianabclewis.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tianabclewis/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tianabclewis/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tianabclewis
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SelahFinancialCoaching/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/tianabclewis

Image Credits
Please see photo names for credits: – Crowns of Wisdom Creatives – Levi Hicks – DorJaba Productions