Episode Summary
Tammie Osborne knows a thing or two about changing plans.
She began her career as a nurse, moved into healthcare IT, launched her own consulting company, and eventually created The Sapphire Suite, a coworking and event space in Franklin, Tennessee. But some of the biggest changes in Tammie’s life weren’t career moves she chose. They were the moments that forced her to rethink what she thought her life would look like.
When Tammie and her husband finally became parents after struggling to conceive, their daughter Jordan, affectionately known as Ladybug, was born with Down syndrome, seven and a half weeks early and with a serious heart defect. Within weeks, their newborn daughter was undergoing open-heart surgery and fighting for her life.
Today, Ladybug is 24, loves to travel, adores her iPad and her next meal, and, according to Tammie, has blessed their family far more than they could ever bless her. Tammie shares how raising Jordan changed her perspective, deepened her faith, affected Jordan’s siblings, and taught their entire family not to build their lives around a diagnosis.
We also talk about the fears that don’t necessarily disappear as our children grow, they simply change, including the question many parents of children with special needs eventually face: What happens when I’m no longer here?
And through it all, there is another theme woven into Tammie’s story: people. From nursing to healthcare IT, entrepreneurship, The Sapphire Suite, and now leadership development, Tammie has discovered that her greatest strengths have never really been about technology, buildings, or businesses. They’ve been about understanding, connecting with, and leading people.
In this episode:
- Creating a business without knowing exactly where it will lead
- The risks and realities of entrepreneurship
- Receiving a life-changing diagnosis you never expected
- How Ladybug got her nickname
- Choosing not to center an entire family around Down syndrome
- How fear changes as children with special needs become adults
- Why Tammie believes leadership begins with learning to lead yourself
- Letting go of the expectation that work and life will be perfectly balanced every day
This is a conversation about entrepreneurship and leadership, but even more, it’s about perspective, faith, family, community, and learning to embrace a life that may look very different from the one you originally planned.
Connect with Tammie
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