177. You’re Not A Tree - You Can Move Anytime with Tabatha Jones - podcast episode cover

177. You’re Not A Tree - You Can Move Anytime with Tabatha Jones

Feb 06, 202545 minEp. 177
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Episode description

Always finish what you start.

Don’t give up a good thing; you’re good at it and make a lot of money at it.

The voice in your head is always right.

All this sounds like good advice, yes?

But what if one day you found out you had been slowly dying of this advice? I mean, literally, your health was deteriorating and you were wasting away?

Tabatha Jones had an intuition for years that something was wrong, based on the challenges she started to face getting out of bed in the morning.

At her foundations, nothing really stood out. She grew up in a typical middle class family and learned the values of hard work, responsibility, accountability, and being aware of the ripple effect caused by the example you set for others. She could sense when things weren’t right and had no problem speaking up when she saw injustice or unfairness.

Excellent traits. She grew up… fine. She got married and started what turned into a prosperous career doing work she was really good at and paid very well. It was all fine, until it wasn’t – after all, Fine is a 4-Letter Word.

While she loved the company she worked for and her co-workers, she started to feel out of alignment with how things were going. As a side-hustle, she began coaching in 2017, with a long-range goal of striking out on her own… someday.

Then came yet another company reorganization that went on for almost a year and ended up with her staying in the same job. While she negotiated for a raise and got it, it wasn’t fine anymore. Too much travel. Not feeling aligned with her purpose. The money was great, but she could barely get out of bed, much less fly from California one day to make an 8am Eastern meeting in Philadelphia the next.

She planned to quit her job and go full-time with her side business in March 2020, but then, as you might recall, the world flipped upside down. Sure, she didn’t have to fly to Philadelphia to meet with the Philadelphia people, but she still struggled, and finally gave notice in spring 2021.

In the meantime, she had been seeing a naturopath trying to get to the bottom of her health issues. A few months after she quit her job, her naturopath called her in to review the latest test results… which were stunning.

In a moment, when you meet Tabatha, you’ll find out what happened, including the very unique way she found out her previous job had been slowly killing her. You’ll also find out what her experience means for you, should you find yourself stuck in the ground like a tree whose roots are dug in too deep.

Tabatha’s hype song is "Confidence" By Demi Lovato.

Resources:


Invitation from Lori:

Let me ask you, if there was a simple way to reclaim your peace of mind and not feel so frazzled, would you want to know what it is? Enter the “10 Proven Habits Top Leaders Use to Stay Calm and Focused Every Day” checklist — your quick guide to creating...

Transcript

Lori: Hello and welcome to Fine is a 4-Letter Word. guest today, Tabatha Jones. Welcome to the show, Tabatha.

Tabatha: Thanks, Lori. so excited to be here and chat with you today.

Lori: I am excited to be here and to chat with you as well and unusual circumstances of how we connected because I get a bunch of people messaging me about, I'd like to be a guest on the show. their emails are so irrelevant to the show. Like, here are the five things I can talk about. And I'm like, that's not what we talk about on our show. But you actually had a great message. And I was like, yes, I do want to talk to you.

Tabatha: Gosh, I love it. And I love just the title, Fine is a 4-Letter Word, just totally resonates with me and so many aspects of what we've lived through and done. And it was just such a great match. So I'm excited.

Lori: Yes, and we had a really great conversation before the pre-show conversation and I am eager to get into some of what we talked about there. But first, the question of what were the values and beliefs that you were raised with that contributed to who you've become?

Tabatha: Well, as the oldest of four, growing up in a, guess, generally middle-class kind of family, right? The values were really about hard work, responsibility. Accountability was a big one. Setting the example, I don't know how we rephrase that as a value, but absolutely, know, setting the example and making sure you realize that your actions have a ripple effect on others. And just really, you know, doing what was right no matter what.

And sometimes that meant speaking up, but I'm Gen X. So as long as I wasn't speaking up against my parents, we were good. So yeah, definitely those which led me kind of into life, into my career. And just a big piece of that was really caring for others. It was just kind of part of my DNA, I guess, as the oldest and the expectations that were on me in that role from a young age.

Lori: When you say doing what was right, like how did you know what was right?

Tabatha: I would say I have always been fairly intuitive and empathetic. There's always this feeling in my stomach if something's not quite right. And it's kind of interesting. I saw something that was hurting other people, I would speak up. If I saw something that someone was about to do that was a terrible decision, I would speak up. But I would say a lot of it was just intuition and just that gut feeling and it's probably saved me from a lot of things throughout my life and helped me make a lot of great decisions through my life.

Lori: Do you think it's ever held you back?

Tabatha: For sure. Sometimes we question that feeling, right? It's getting ready to make some big change. Just recently I've been working on some changes in my business and the feeling was there, like you need to make this change. It's a great idea. But then on the flip side, it's like, Ooh, what if you do the wrong thing? What if you make a mistake? That also happened when I chose to leave my corporate career in 2021. You know, it's a big, sure you're doing the right thing. So it was like my head constantly questioning that gut feeling even though there were so many things telling me this was the right time and the right place. Absolutely. Yeah.

Lori: How do you override, like, it's not even an overriding thing. Well, it kind of is. Like, trusting intuition more than the logical thoughts in your head.

Tabatha: That's a really great question. So I will fully on confess. We're in the booth right now. Sometimes there is a lot of analysis, a lot of pros and cons, a lot of talking to other people, like getting perspective and opinions and feedback, which sometimes isn't always valuable because our friends and family see us a certain way, but we might not be really aligned with that anymore. We might be doing different things.

So sometimes it leads to taking a lot longer to make a decision because there's so much time spent in that head and heart kind of space and making sure we're doing the right thing.

Lori: Yeah, you just said something that I'm gonna pull out as a key point and we're on not even five minutes into this. And that is that a lot of times our friends and family see us in a different light, they see us how they've always seen us, they might see you as still a 12 year old girl, right? And because that's the image they have, but that's not who you are now. So they don't see you accurately. Like sometimes strangers see you more accurately as you are now because they don't have any of that history.

Tabatha: That is 100 % spot on. my gosh, it's funny. Somebody will reach out from high school days, right? And they start this random conversation. You're like, I'm not who I was, I'm gonna say 20 years ago, but we all know I'm lying. I'm not who I was then. Like that's not how you remember me is cute and all, but no. Or, you know, even from leaving corporate. So I had been in corporate just over 30 years in full. And when I told people I was planning to leave and get into working for myself as a coach and so many people closest to me were like, I just don't see that or, but you're so good at your job and you've worked so hard and you've done these things. And I'm like, but that's, that's not really who I am. That's what I did. And, you know, even now, a lot of people who are really close to me have a hard time understanding, or they see that I've made some shifts and I'm not the same person I was four years ago.

I've done a lot of learning and growing and it's sometimes a little hard to overcome people's perception of who you are and who you should be. And to your point, a stranger that I go and meet on the street, it's like, man, I love what you're doing. How do we talk? What can we do? Where do I sign up? You know, they're so excited because they didn't know that other version of me. So yeah, absolutely.

Lori: Right. Yeah, it's like moving, like when you go away to college, you don't have to be the person you've been up to that point. You can reinvent yourself. When you start working at a new company, you can reinvent who you are. And when you move to a new city, like I just did a few months ago, like you can be somebody different if you want to, you don't have to. And then the other thing you said about being really good at what you did for 30 years.

Like just because you're good at something doesn't mean you have to keep doing it if it's no longer fueling your soul.

Tabatha: Absolutely. And that's hard for people to understand, right? Because I had what so many people want. And I say this all the time, it is perfectly okay to be grateful for what you have and where you are, but to also want something more and different. Or maybe instead of but, I should say and want something more and different or different. And I worked really hard to get where I was. I climbed the ladder as I was expected to. And as I had set goals for myself to do.

There was just a point where we had gone through one last reorg and I just realized I'm not really where I want to be. I'm not happy. My health is not great. I am not enjoying the flow of things, we'll say nicely. I loved my team. I loved my people. I loved my company. I just no longer was aligned with what I was doing. And when it's really hard to get out of bed in the morning, it's a pretty good sign that it's time to do something different.

Lori: How long did you struggle to get out of bed before you decided I need to do something different?

Tabatha: Well, it was a good two years, but I will tell you why it was a good two years. It was because I had planned to leave my job in 2020. So I'd started coaching on the side in about 2017, 2018, and was just kind of building up and getting excited. And I liked my job at the time. was like, I'm okay. It's fine. And then we, it's fine. It's just fine. Just step in fine, right?

And so then we get into this space of we're going to go through a reorgan. It started in 2019 and the deeper we got into that reorg, probably about June, July, the more unsettled I felt. I just felt more and more misaligned with the leadership team. felt more and more misaligned with my job. had gone from leading very specific, very technical groups to getting kind of what nobody else wanted because you're good at it. I'm like, I don't know about that.

So, you know, as it kept going, we got to probably that August time frame as we're still working on the reorg. It wasn't fully official. And the plan came across. We're just going to bring you across as is with your title. And I'm like, hold the phone. First off, I'm not doing the work that I love the same anymore. Second of all, I'm leaving employees across 40 some odd states rather than seven and I'm now responsible for national work versus division work. Not fine.

So I had scheduled a conversation with the head of the department who's really high up in the company and just said, you know, I would expect that you would have sent me an offer letter and we would have had a conversation about my title and compensation. I would not expect to come over as is. So we negotiated that. got a promotion and you know, all the things that came with that, which was great, but it still was just like, ugh.

My gosh, I got to go back to Philadelphia again. Okay. And I live in California, so that's an all day adventure. It's not, it's not a quick trip. It's up at three in the morning to get to an airport, to sit in an airport, to wait for the delayed plane to get to Philadelphia, land at five in the afternoon, which is all day. And then go to dinner and put a smile on and then sit in the meeting the following morning at eight AM Eastern, which is five AM for my poor little brain. I was just like…

Lori: Right. Yeah, and it's harder to go east than west, by the way, for, yeah.

Tabatha: Agree, agree. The mornings come a lot quicker. And so I had gotten to that point. It was probably September, October, and I was just dreading. Like, can't, I really can't do this anymore. I'm exhausted, but all right, 2020, I'm leaving. We're going to fully reorganize this team at the beginning of 2020. And I'm going to give my notice around March of 2020 and scooch on out into my own world. Well, the world had different ideas in March of 2020. Something really weird happened. don't.

Lori: Wait, did something happen in 2020? don't remember. No, no, it's all a blur. Yeah, okay.

Tabatha: I typically remember the details, but I thought, that was a hold the phone. I guess I'm fine. I'm going to just keep doing what I'm doing. I will get my team settled, get some processes in place, really elevate my leaders so that their work is distinguished from the work of their teams because it was not at that time. They were new leaders to me. Just doing some really good things. So I spent that pretty much entire year with struggling to get out of bed. was tired. Luckily, I just pretty much had to fluff a little bit from the neck up and roll downstairs.

Lori: Well, was going to say at least the one good thing is that you didn't have to get on a plane.

Tabatha: Exactly, no airplanes. So, it was great. And we would laugh because my former boss, through the reorg, she was no longer my leader. And we would laugh because I would be late to a meeting or whatever, psych traffic. I'm like, yes, the stairwell was packed. I do. I have an adorable dog who's laying under my desk right now. Totally traffic. She wouldn't let me by without licking me for a good five minutes. So sorry.

But yeah, I mean, it came to that point and around the end of 2020, I just kind of looked at my husband. said, here's the deal. I'm giving my notice in April or in March, as soon as bonuses and merit and all that stuff is done. I know where my stock options are sitting. I'm going to go. And, you know, as amazing as he is, are you sure you make really good money? got three things. I'm like, I'm doing it.

I need to know that you're behind me. And he said, I am. I'm like, okay. I said, 20%, you're behind me. Got it. So then I had conversations with friends, same thing. Are you crazy? You have such a great job. You've been there so long. You've worked so hard. And I'm like, oh gosh, I don't know. I'm gonna go. And then bonus time came and the conversation starts up again at home. Well, are you sure? That's a lot of money. I'm like, I know, but what else do we need at this point? Like, what is it? Because I am 50. I want to be happy.

And so he said, all right, you've got this, I'm behind you. I was like, OK, we got this. So I gave my notice to my boss on Zoom, probably a couple of days after all my paperwork and bonus had come through and watched her visibly choke on Teams, which was what we used at the time, as I gave three weeks notice. And yeah, but just rolling around like that just fine. I couldn't imagine doing it for one more year. I couldn't and not serving my purpose.

Lori: Yeah, you mentioned earlier that your health was being affected. is that, was that another, like, was that a consideration? Was that kind of a side note? What was happening there? And did you know, did you know that potentially, I don't know this for a fact, I'm speculating that your health issues were because your soul wasn't happy.

Tabatha: I did not know that. I did not ever really put together that my health issues and my job were fully related. I just kept saying, it's just stress, right? It's just stress. It's just stress. And I had been seeing a naturopath since my early 40s, really getting some holistic, full-rounded, like, you know, they do all the tests, the allergies, the deficiencies, all the things. And my hormones, all of them, were never in balance. And we've got so many hormones in our bodies that I never even knew the names of until...

I started working with her, but what happened is, you know, just like, I feel nauseous all the time. I'm tired all the time. just, I either eat a million. Whatever's or eat nothing. Like my body is just not regulated. I'm not sleeping. I swear I hadn't slept in, don't know how long. And we had levels run on my tests in February of 2021. I left the company in April of 2021.

So in August of 2021, six months after my former tests, I had tests run again and my naturopath, she said, what's different? And I said, well, what do you mean? And she said, have you looked at your report? And I said, no, I haven't. always just wait to get on the phone for you to go through it and tell me I'm sucking right now. Right. I like to tell, I like for you to tell me what I should and should not be doing. And so she said, well, I want you to open to this page. She said, this is the first time ever.

Lori: Right. Yeah, I like I like you interpret it. Thank you.

Tabatha: Your levels have all been correct. Your hormones are all level. I was like, she said, well, what's different? And I said, I left my job and she said, my God, that job was killing you. And I'm like, it literally was. I just hadn't ever equated it because it's women. We just keep doing the thing, right? It's just stress, it's fine. Well, it's not stress. It's all the components and things that happen in your body because of stress.

Lori: Yeah, yeah, and I think that that happens regardless of gender. In fact, I think men are even more resistant to admit, that is a contributor. And our whole, I mean our whole world, but especially in our country, stress is the number one killer, but people don't think of it as being all that important. Everybody's stressed, it's just how we are, it's how life is. But it doesn't have to be that way.

Tabatha: That's very true. And, you I won't say there's no stress with being self-employed, right? There's definitely different stress, but it feels like coming from this place of awareness, now I can help other people who are like, you know, it's just stress or, I don't feel so well. It's like, well, if you thought about talking to this kind of doctor or have you tried a little meditation and sound bowl session, here's my friend's number, you know, just trying to help get that level, feeling again because it's such a better feeling when you're not such a mess. I mean, was a mess.

Lori: Yeah. And I think another key point here is that managing your stress and your health doesn't mean you necessarily have to leave your job. Right? Like if you're aware of what's causing these issues and you can find ways to deal with and manage it, it doesn't always mean just because you left your job and went and started your own thing that everybody who's listening or everybody who's having stressful symptoms caused by stress needs to quit their job and start their own thing.

Tabatha: No, unless you want to be exponentially more stressed because that wasn't your plan to begin with.

Lori: Well, but like you said, it is very different. It is different when you are controlling your own destiny. The stress is different. But yes, there is still, there's always gonna be a stress. I don't think, you know, there is no such thing as a stress free life because again, stress is kind of a natural thing. Like we need it, I think, to be somewhat motivated and not just be, you know, as much as I would like to be a cat and just sleep on the couch all day.

Tabatha: Sounds a little boring. I don't know.

Lori: Yeah, exactly, exactly. So I think, you know, there's always going to be some, but not all stress is bad. That's the point.

Tabatha: Yeah, I agree with that. And back to your earlier point, not everybody is meant to jump from their job and go do their thing. I mean, I was 50. I had built a pretty good runway for this. Some people may just find that they're in the wrong job or they may find that they're frankly working for someone they hate. Who knows, right? Whatever it is, if it's something that's not in your control, then you've got to find ways to control it on the outside.

Definitely getting into more things that are self-care that help with your mental and emotional health. But sometimes you just need to make a little shift or a pivot or look at new opportunities that maybe haven't really caught your attention before. But I do think the negative side of stress is a great motivator to go in and find what makes you happy and makes you feel good.

Lori: Yeah, what would you say to people who would say, I don't really have any options because I need the money. Like I have a mortgage to pay, I have kids to raise, I have debts or whatever it is. I can't leave this job and it sucks and I work for a company I hate, but there's nothing else I could do. What would you say to them?

Tabatha: You are not a tree. You can move anytime. And even if you are a tree, you can be dug up and replanted somewhere else. A lot of times it's fear. It's fear and not understanding transferable skills or understanding what else you could be doing. There are, I don't even know how many companies in the United States, some will hire remote, some will hire, you know, in your area. It's scary.

And it's scary, especially once we're at a certain age, because it's a little bit more uncomfortable because we've been doing maybe the same thing for a long period of time. That doesn't mean you have to sit in the suck. There's definitely options. And I would never say leave your job and go find the next thing. I would absolutely say stay in this job. Let's manage your calendar a bit so you can start looking for your next thing and start feeling more hopeful about it.

Lori: Mm-hmm. Yeah. We talked in our pre-show conversation about being expected as Gen X, as part of Gen X doing what was expected of us. But the this weird dichotomy of Gen X doing what was expected of us, but we're also feral and don't care what other people think and we're going to do our own thing. Like, it's so weird.

Tabatha: And that's what keeps us stuck sometimes, right? It's so funny. We were talking about that, as you said, just before the show, and we were talking about how I was making a bit of a pivot in my business. And it's like, oh yeah, I'm going to go do this. And this is the best thing ever. And I'm like, wait, what if it's a bad decision? Let me go get some permission from someone really quickly. And we laugh because it's really kind of funny. There's some things we'll just go do and we don't care. And then other times it's like, uh-oh, the streetlights are coming on and I'm a mile from home. better watch out. I'm going to get in trouble.

Lori: Right, right, right. Yeah, because you see all the memes on social about Gen X being feral and forgotten for like, all the, yeah, we're forgotten, we're feral, but we also wanna make sure everybody's happy and do I have your permission to do this? Is it okay if I do this?

Tabatha: I think it's a combination of being raised with a bit of people pleaser and then a little mix of feral and a little mix of, know, keep your head down and just work hard. It'll be fine. You'll get through it. So many messages that have come to us through life that have made us who we are, which is an extremely resilient generation, probably a generation that can handle so many different kinds of stress. it's just kind of so many things just popped into my brain. But yeah, it's a weird balance.

And it's like that really mixed cocktail that makes us who we are.

Lori: Do you think that it also makes us, I was gonna say resistant to change. Like, well, this is who I am, this is my identity. And so, you know, but now I want to change. Like I think people have reached this age, you're Gen X, even if you're older millennial, and you reach this age where you're not willing to settle for what's been put in front of you just because somebody served it to you that you have to eat it. And that we've gained this level of confidence now, I think it is, comes with age, that you have this level of confidence to go, no, no, that doesn't suit me anymore. I don't like beets and I'm not gonna eat them.

Lori: I have not liked beets since I was an infant. No beets for me, thank you.

Tabatha: Yeah, I would say it's that finish what you started programming, right? This is the direction you chose. You're going to stick this path and you're going to finish what you started. And you're not getting down from the table until you eat those pretzel sprinkles.

Lori: But, right, but, it's okay. See, I think this is another one of those key takeaway points is you don't have to finish what you started. You could change in midstream and that doesn't make you like a quitter.

Tabatha: Exactly. And that's so funny when you said quitter, it just hit me. That was the biggest thing, right? If you signed up for soccer, you're not quitting. I paid for that. You're part of the team. You are not quitting. But I suck at soccer. I hate standing in the grass and it really makes me itchy when I fall. But we did, we learned don't be a quitter. You've already invested so much time and energy and whatever it is, you can't quit or you can't change.

And what I say to that is, I mean, I'm in my not quite mid-fifties, almost mid-fifties. How much runway do I have left? Don't I get to deserve to be happy and do what I enjoy doing? We all deserve that no matter what your age is. And we have to work on ourselves, I'd say to get to a spot of building the confidence to do whatever that is.

Lori: What did you do? What was that work that you did to get to that point?

Tabatha: So much overthinking. That little analysis paralysis for a bit. Just so much overthinking. say journaling was one for me really getting down and looking at my finances, right? I have to come at things from a logical. We all have to feed people, especially our dog who eats really great food. You know, it's what do we need to live? How much do I need to bring in per month to make that happen? Can I do that? Hell yes, I can.

And, you know, how am I going to feel? So starting to visualize, how's it going to feel? Am I going to feel like I can't get out of bed or I'm going to feel like, my gosh, I'm on fire today. I don't want to leave my desk. I just want to get these things done. Or I want to get out to that event and go meet a bunch of amazing people who are looking for support and that I can support. And it takes time. It's journaling. It's thought it's gosh, there's this movie it's called The Longest.

I think the longest game is the name of it. It's a golf movie. I hate golf. So I'm just going to emphasize that everywhere I go. But one of the quotes was the game is that about the holes. The game is played on the five inches. It's played in five inches between your ears and that applies to life. I'm like, my gosh, it just hit me. I was like, my gosh, every single thing. It's just whatever that five inches or whatever it is between our ears is where it all happens.

Once that's in alignment and gets through all the questions and the thinking and remembers your why and your purpose and getting really, it's really clear on that, you're really an unstoppable force and you're to be much happier for however many years you plan to do that.

Lori: Yeah, and we hear this over and over and over again, like your thoughts create your reality, what you think about you become, know, whether you think you can or you think you can't, that's the truth kind of thing. And still it's hard to really like crystal to really like anchor that into your beliefs.

Tabatha: Absolutely. I would agree. I'm never going to tell anybody it's easy. I definitely do find myself, I have a friend who does paddle boarding meditation sessions and I love both actually paddle boarding mostly, but meditation comes in and I love getting out on the water and doing that because I can just lay on the paddle board and while she's doing her thing, I'm just visualizing what's next and visualizing why I deserve it. I think a lot of us just don't believe we deserve it.

We're not, we weren't put on this earth to work ourselves to death and be miserable. We definitely deserve to be happy. And you know, the next, my financial advisor always asks, well, how long do you plan to work? Until I don't want to anymore. I don't know, 70, 75.

Lori: Right. Right. I don't have an answer for that question because right, it's until I don't feel like it anymore. When I was doing my year of nomading and people would be like, well, how long are you going to keep doing this until I'm not doing it anymore? That's the answer.

Tabatha: Yeah, yeah. And then that's the other thing too. We worry so much about other people judging us. Sometimes we have to let that go. And this year for me, I'm working on letting go of judging myself. I'd say self judgment is one of our biggest roadblocks. And at end of 2024, I don't do resolutions, intentions, and goals. My intention is I am going to intentionally catch myself anytime I'm self judging.

Stop and write down what's really going on. Because we judge ourselves so harshly. What are people going to think? Well, am I doing the right thing? Are people going to think I'm a disaster?

Lori: Yeah, and I think that that voice inside our head that's judging is not even our own voice. It's someone else's voice. It's your parents or a teacher or a grandparent, somebody else's voice if you really get quiet enough to listen to it, you'll find that it is not your own voice because your own voice is supportive.

Tabatha: I love that. I really love that. I've been working with a friend who's a spiritual coach also separate from the paddle boarding meditation. See all these people are coming into my life for a reason right now. And you know, that's one of the things she said, when you feel something like that come up, take yourself back to, know, your five-year-old self. What would you have told her if she was saying the same thing? It's like, man, you know, you just want to protect that little five-year-old version of yourself and not ever let her feel like she can't or she's not good enough or that she needs to be judging herself.

Lori: Yeah, yeah, I've done some work too on that inner child thing. And I always feel like this is stupid, but it is valid. It does have a point. does help. it does. Yeah, it's, but it is important to realize that again, most people acting as adults in their 50s or 60s or 80s, they're still being controlled by that five-year-old. They just don't realize it.

Tabatha: And once you do realize it's really powerful, once you have those strategies and those techniques to go and sit with that five-year-old for just a few minutes, it can help you move forward so much faster.

Lori: Yeah, yeah, it can open up doors that you maybe have wanted opened for all these years, but you didn't realize why you couldn't open them. Why isn't it what I want working out for me? It's because your five-year-old is too afraid to let you open the door.

Tabatha: Right. The boogie man might be behind it.

Lori: That's right, it's 100%. It's always about protecting yourself. Yeah. So what are you doing now to humanize your business, your current business? How are you showing up and humanizing what you do?

Tabatha: That's a really interesting question. Humanizing it. I'd say leaning more into, that's another, it's funny that you're asking this, the timing is really key right now. One of the things that I brought with me from the corporate world is that toxic buttoned up persona who isn't 100% aligned and authentic with who I am.

And it actually took a friend calling me out in November saying, where is fun Tabatha? need you to bring her back right now. And I was like, God, okay. All right, let me find her real quick. So I have not been super active on social media or anything recently because I am working on just getting some more fun and playfulness back into my content, back into my life, because it's so important.

When we leave, something after a long period of time, that's a part, it becomes a part of our identity. And I'd say it's, as much as I feel like I've let it go, I haven't. And I realized that when I'm uncomfortable, I become very corporate. And so right now, the humanizing is going to be about showing more of the stumbling blocks, about showing more of the pain points.

And where I've worked with women advancing their careers and on the job search, which is all very serious and sometimes not as easy to be lighthearted about because there are a lot of emotions behind it. I'm adding in kind of that corporate escape Sharpa is what I'm calling myself and helping women plan their next act and having fun with it so that they're not feeling like they can't start letting go of those bits of their personalities or those bits of their, not even their real personality, but the pieces that have stuck to them over the years, if that makes sense.

Lori: Mm-hmm.

Tabatha: Yeah, definitely humanizing it through more fun, through more realistic expectations of what leaving corporate and moving into entrepreneurship looks like. And just helping women feel women and maybe some lucky men. I always forget about the lucky men who call. But definitely helping them understand that there's so much going on beyond those corporate walls and we need to have some fun and enjoy our time here. So, long-winded answer.

Lori: I love that. I know I appreciate that. love it. And it feeds right into my next question, which is what's the song you listen to when you need an extra boost of energy or maybe you need to add some more fun into your life?

Tabatha: My gosh, so funny. So my playlist is that crazy kind that goes from, I don't even know, like Aldine to Afferman to it's everywhere, Jelly Roll. I would say the song right now is kind of hit me with your best shot. Like bring it at me. Let's go and fix it. We're going to figure everything out and just land where we need to be. Any song with high vibe energy makes me happy, but we'll say hit me with your best shot this week.

Lori: Okay, awesome. Lastly, if someone wants to continue a conversation with you and see if you're really bringing fun to it, where do they reach you?

Tabatha: The easiest place right now is to connect with me on LinkedIn and we'll go from there. So we're going to have some really great resources for the next act stuff. And I also have a new podcast, which I'd love to share, which is the Gen X remix life laughs and next acts where we'll actually start having some great guests starting next month. So I'm looking forward to hopefully convincing you to come visit me there too.

Lori: Awesome, I love it. Well, congratulations on starting that. And I will put a link to all of that stuff in the show notes so it'll make it really easy for people to find you. Tabatha, thank you so much for joining me today on Fine is a 4-Letter Word.

Tabatha: Lori, thank you so much for having me and I look forward to staying connected. Have a fabulous day.

Lori: Absolutely.

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