Small messages can create big connection wins. My guest Tammy J. Cohen discovered this truth by sending short, heart-centered texts to her adult sons, a practice that rebuilt trust at home and later inspired her book, Text Messages to My Sons.

In our conversation, Tammy shares how simple daily actions translate into stronger family bonds, clearer brand messaging, and more authentic networking. You’ll hear why meeting people where they are, writing like a human, and practicing gratitude can transform not just your communication but the relationships that matter most.

Highlights:

The Power of Daily Texts - Hear how Tammy’s short, love-filled messages reshaped her connection with her sons and gave them confidence without expectation of reply.

Meeting People Where They Are - Learn why your audience’s preferred channel matters more than your own comfort zone.

Owning Your Brand - Discover why Tammy says, “You’re the brand,” and how integrity and accountability are the foundation of trust.

Networking with Intention - Explore Tammy’s Women Beyond the Table community and how real curiosity can turn strangers into allies.

Gratitude as a Practice - Find out how 10 minutes of gratitude and reflection can reframe your voice, presence, and energy.

Connect with Tammy:

Website: https://tammyjcohen.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammy-j-cohen/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tammyjcohen/

In appreciation for being here, I have some gifts for you:

A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile:

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by checking this presentation page - you won’t regret it. 

AND … Don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and be eligible for my complimentary LinkedIn profile audit – I do one each month for a lucky listener!

Connect with me:

http://JanicePorter.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceporter/

https://www.facebook.com/janiceporter1

https://www.instagram.com/socjanice/

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Troy, Hello everyone, and welcome to this

week's episode of relationships rule. Today's episode is about

the power of heart centered communication, and it's with

award winning author Tammy J Cohen. She is also a brand

messaging consultant and a podcast host herself. Tammy work

spans from reshaping how we speak to our children to

transforming how we connect with our clients and communicate and

communities. She's the author of text messages to my sons, and

she's the founder of the women beyond the table network, and a

passionate advocate for messaging that reflects love,

values and authenticity, and today, we're going to explore

how her intentional approach to communication strengthens both

personal and professional relationships, and how we can

all put her insights into work to work in our lives and

businesses. Welcome, welcome. Finally, to the show.

Tammy J. Cohen: Well, it's so great to be on and thank you so

much for having me on Janice, because I appreciate

it My pleasure. So Tammy lives in one of my

favorite places, New York, and it's been a long time since I've

been there, but I know the world is busy in that area of the in

that area constantly, right? They say the city is alive at

what do they say? They say the city never sleeps. That Never

Sleeps, right?

Tammy J. Cohen: That's right. Is that true? Yeah, Manhattan has

that reputation. There's always a lot of activities and things

going on. Not sure what the future Manhattan is going to

bring, but we'll hope for the

best. Yes, for sure. All right, I want to start

with your book, text messages to my sons. And I want to ask you

what sparked that idea, and how did did this project shift your

personal relationships?

Tammy J. Cohen: That's a great question. It's a great leading

question. And I want to say that I actually, you know, the way

that the whole thing started was during the pandemic. I was, I

really, you know, we all shut down. We all shut down and and

we had an opportunity to, kind of, like, think about where our

lives were, right? A lot of people went through great

resignation. They were like, I don't know if I want to, you

know, go back the way I was. I want to change things for me. I

was, you know, traveling a lot for work. I was very happy with

that part of my life, but there was a part of me that was not

okay. I always felt like these feelings of resentment. I had a

lot of limiting beliefs about myself, and I always had a lot

of these thoughts, and and I really didn't know where they

came from. And when you're traveling, when you're busy with

work, you know, it's easy to get lost and all that. And I have

three kids, but I was, you know, I I'd done the mother routine,

but I always worked. And I was kind of like, what's going on

with me? I'm home, my clients, you know, it was like

disappearing everything. And I was like, what? Why do I feel

this way? So what happened was I just immersed myself Janice and

like all these different programs, these learning

opportunities, courses, I was like, Unleash the Power Within.

Joe Dispenza. I was Robin Sharma. I was reading, reading,

reading. I was really into it, and I was learning a lot. And I

was like, wow, this is, this is really interesting. Like, I

don't know, learning about the subconscious, the limiting

beliefs and the and why we do things and saboteurs and all

kinds of things. I was like, you know, nobody teaches us this

stuff in school, no about worthiness or resilience or

accountability. Like, we just don't learn it in school, and

it's not a focus gratitude, you know, none of it is. So I, I

kind of was like, you know, this is really interesting stuff. I

want to, I want to share it with my sons, like, when I'm

learning, because I just thought it was wild. And so I started

messaging them. Like, every day I was messaging them, a message

about something I learned, I was quoting some thought leader, and

I what it was amazing to me is most of the thought leaders are

quoting lived hundreds of years ago, or 56 years ago, or, you

know it. And I was like, Wow, there's so much information. I

mean, you could read a book and somebody's sharing, like, what

took them 30 years to figure out the sharing with you in a book

that you can read in a couple of days or a week. And during the

pandemic, like there was so much time to read. And Tony Robbins

was like, get a mentor, read a book, you know? And I was like,

This is amazing. I was buying my kids books that I was reading,

and like, let's talk about Napoleon Hill. So what happened

was, as I was messaging them, I just all the all the all of a

sudden, I just started telling them how much I love them, how

much they mean to me, how grateful I am that they're in my

life, how extraordinary they are, how worthy they are. It

just started coming out. The messages. Were always sharing

wisdom, but it became about heart centered feelings that

really started. Boring anime. And I had no intention, Janice

of writing a book. This wasn't to write a book. There was no it

was text messages. And I was telling people what I was doing

because, you know, you talk in your virtual stuff, because it's

pandemic that that that's really changed much. And, you know, my

friends and colleagues would be like, Wow, that's amazing. You

should put that in a book. And I was like, do you do that? I

don't know how to read a book. Like, what do you read a book?

What do I do? I don't know what to do. So like everybody else, I

turned to, like, Google. And I was like, editor. You know,

like, find me an editor. Because I did. I one thing. I was

thinking, if I'm going to put anything into a book, I need to

work with a professional editor, at least, because I don't want

to put something out that's, you know, you can self publish all

day long, and I don't want to put something out that's not, at

least done well. So I googled, and I found an editor, and I

started working with an editor, and it was editing services. And

the next thing I knew, I published self published text

messages to my son's the first edition, connecting deeply in a

world of devices. And it was a great experience, and it won a

couple of awards, and it was wonderful. But as I really

thought about it, and as things started unfolding, like the

first book published on October 4, my son's, my oldest son's

birthday in 1993 in, I'm sorry, in 2023 and October 7 then

happened, and as a Jew like you know, of course, the messages

started changing because of what was going on and how my sons and

I were talking about it. And then just life started happening

all kinds of different things. And I put out a second edition,

but this time it was with the publisher, and I put in, you

know, I just learned so much, like in the from before, when

with the first book, and I said, there's so much more I can add,

because it's become so much more rich, like, as far as the

experiences of having with my son, what I'm learning from

everything, and It became amazing. And okay,

I need to back up. I need to back up for a

second. So when you first started sending the text

messages to your sons, and your sons were adults, right? They

really not. I can't hear anything outside, so don't worry

when, when you were first sending text messages to your

sons, and they were grown up. They were living out of the

house, correct?

Tammy J. Cohen: Well, okay, so my older two were living

downtown. They still are my youngest, my 25 year old. He's

now 25 he still lives at home. So when I started, they were all

living in different places. Okay, you know, like kids were

out of the house. But the thing is, when your kids are in

college, or they're on semesters abroad, or they're doing this,

or they're doing that, they still, they come home, right?

But they're, they're not there. So when I first started, yeah,

they were different locations. Yeah, they weren't all at home,

or anything like that.

Okay, so, and I don't, and I don't know if

things are different with boys than with girls, because I only

have girls, but the first thing that came to my mind was when

you started sending you were learning all of this self

development, personal development stuff, because I've

done this too, and I start trying to share it with my kids,

and they just roll their eyes. So I just wondered if you had

any pushback at the beginning.

Tammy J. Cohen: Well, no, because I didn't try to have a

conversation with them.

You just sent it out with nothing like the first

Tammy J. Cohen: thing I realized, if I want to change a

conversation with my kids, I have to reach them where they

are. Yes, everybody's on their phone. Nobody's having really in

person conversations. And when you're discussing, like

anything, if you go on a little too long, nobody's Yeah, nobody

pays attention. So I was like, okay, my kids are on their

phone. And I know everybody like, before the pandemic, it

was the the estimate was about 70% of the time people were

spending on their phones. And then once the pandemic hit. It

was continuous. It's still continuous. As a matter of fact,

now that you know the phones and the technology is so much more

nefarious, because you have algorithms that are designed to

actually keep you on the phone longer, keep you engaged longer,

to learn your preferences, to learn what you like. So what

they're feeding you constantly is whatever you're clicking on

or looking at. So if you're looking at all day and

misinformation and induction, you're going to get it. Yes, you

get whatever you're looking at. So I said, Okay, I have a choice

here. I want to reach them where they are, so I'm going to text a

message, because I know that they have their phone in their

hands or in their pocket. And if you're, if you're have a

daughter, or you're messaging woman, it's in her back, okay?

So it's going to look for us at the message, and you have to

keep it to a certain point. I mean, I'm I tend to my messages

are a little bit long because I'm sharing but it is annoying

for my sons, they tell me sometimes, yeah, but that's

okay, but they're reading it. Yeah, I have zero. Zero expert,

this is really important, and I'm going to repeat it. I have

zero expectations in return. I have zero expectations in

return. You don't do any of these messaging things. If

you're expecting to be love, validated or told You're the

best mom or parent or person doing it, that's not what you're

doing, and it's unconscious. It's unconditional. So, you

know, I figured my kids reader, what happened was, then they

wrote the forward to the book. Yes, they they were admiring

that I was actually going into this metamorphosis that I was

trying to learn things that I at that at my age, I was trying to

be to teach, to share, to not parent at them. No, I wasn't

telling them what to do. I wasn't giving them advice. I was

just sharing what I was learning, that I was open to

learning things that's really important for our kids to say,

that doesn't matter how old you are, that you're open to other

ideas and other other ways of doing things and thinking. When

I started messaging about accountability, I was being

accountable to them. I was explaining to them, like a lot

of the things and a lot of behaviors that I did weren't

right, that I didn't I didn't act right with them a lot

because I was frustrated or resentful or not happy that day,

or something didn't go right, or I was being triggered, and I

took it out on them, and you can't take that stuff back,

especially when you're, your children are living there, and

they're, they're, they're, like, looking they're, you know,

you're the power in the house, and they're just looking at it

like, what, what's wrong with me, what am I doing wrong? Why

she's screaming, you know, like, what? What's wrong with me? And

I really wanted, because I grew up like that, I really realize,

what am I? What have I done? In a lot of ways, right? When I

started doing that kind of messaging with them, they

started seeing me as human being, yes, seeing me as

somebody who, who's admitting to things that you want your kids

to be accountable, you want them to have respect. You have to

show it. So I chose to do it with messages, because I knew

that's what they'd say. And what's really, really cool is

when they wrote the forward to the book, because I said, Look,

I'm going to put this in a book. And they were like, well, you're

not going to put our picture on it. I'm like, No, the pictures

of the second book. Now, of course, that I really included

them in, like, I said, this is out. Then, you know, like, I've

been sending these messages to you guys, so I want your

feedback, and I would share, like, what do you think of this

design? What do you think of this format? What do you think

and but when they wrote the forward, I was really touched,

because it for them. You know, they what people don't realize

is that there's somebody who's taking the time to love you, and

that's what meant something to like. Here's here's a person

who's like taking the time tell us how much we matter, how much

they love us. To take the time to do this. It is a habit, but

it's 10 minutes of every day, and if you don't have the in of

900 to 60 minutes that people are awake from Monday to Friday.

I'm not even talking about the weekends, because I don't do it

on the weekends. It's Monday. It's a lot of minutes. If you

can't find 10 minutes, there's something up right now, you

know? And that's how it started. But they they appreciate it, and

they appreciated having somebody who cares, because it made them

feel bulletproof.

Well, did do you are any of your sons fathers?

No, oh, okay, because I was going to say, I wonder when they

will start, you know, to to speak their truth from what

you've written, you know?

Tammy J. Cohen: Well, you know what? I that's the whole point,

right? Like Walsham, and then you'll tell two friends. And so,

yeah, okay, so I'm thinking there's a lot of things with

this. When I first did it, it was to my sons, but I've been

telling people, it doesn't, you don't have to have kids, right?

I have grandparents doing your grandchildren. I have people do

it with nieces and nephews, with friends who they feel needed or

disconnected, partners, you know?

Well, I mean, it fits so much into my philosophy

around sending greeting cards use because that's part of what

I do and I teach others to do, and what we teach in our

company, because it's, it's about the kindness revolution,

in a way, as you send out to give you, don't expect anything

in return. So just send out that love. Send out that and that's

exactly what you're doing with your book. What would you say

are some common mistakes that people make when trying to build

connection, especially over digital platforms?

Tammy J. Cohen: That's a great question. Um, mistakes? Well,

like, the biggest one I see is people tell me, like, oh, like,

I don't know what to say, and what should I say? And I'm like,

Well, you know, here's book. There's 215, pages of messages.

You can tweak one categories and messages, they're all text. It's

text format. It's really easy to read. Yeah, it's a bit it's

going to become heart centered. Don't worry about, what am I

going to say? What am I going to do? What if they don't like it?

What if they don't want to talk to me? What if they hate me?

Like, don't think about that. You're starting a habit with

really good intention. And what's, what's, what's your

intention? Is it to get them to validate you. Is it to look like

you're a great mom? What are you doing it for? If it's

unconditional, and you just want to deepen that connection, and

you want to, you want to do it up where they're at, and you

want to like, I have a mother who told me that she started

with her son, and he said, I only, I only want to do this on

Snapchat. Can you do it on Snapchat? And she was like,

what? What's Snapchat? I was like, it's an app, I think.

Like, okay, but you don't have to. You don't have to put a lot

of pressure, yeah, and because it's actually very easy, you

don't I got one of your cards. By the way, you sent me a card

when I was going through especially treatment with breast

cancer, and I was so touched by that. And really, what is this?

This is a message in a lunch box. This is the note I remember

growing up. And you look at the kid who get the message, I

love that. The message in a lunch box, yes,

yes. And you'd be like, I was

Tammy J. Cohen: always like, the kids so lucky, yes, from their

mom that they love them. Like, you know, that was a really

wonderful so just think of it like, everybody's got a phone,

and thank goodness we only had to, like, use it and text.

You're not doing anything really technologically advanced. You're

not talking to AI on here and saying, like, help me write a

minute. People are using AI, yes, by the way. And I'm like,

That's cool, okay, I'm okay with that too, as

long as they make it their own.

Tammy J. Cohen: After I said, if you want to, if you want to use

AI, use AI, but just don't go into this worrying about if

you're doing it right, or if they're going to hate it. I had

one mom say to me, you know, my daughter, she loves it. She

thinks it's wonderful. My son said, Don't you dare I'm like,

That's okay. What do you what are you worried about? Keep

sending the messages, because, believe me, he he's gonna read

them. He's not gonna say. He's not gonna He's gonna appreciate

it. Because when we move on to our next lives, what do you

think every What do you think your kid is going to miss what

you bought them. They're going to think about what you bought

them. They're going to miss that message every day. They're going

to miss that I love you. Yeah, you matter. I don't know how

old. It doesn't matter how old the person is, either. Janice, I

don't care. I've met people every age. They want to know

they were loved by their parents and the parents what they were

worthy.

So all of these you're saying, This person is

asking you, this, this, where are these people coming from?

Are they writing to you? Are you speaking to different events?

Because it's become a whole thing, obviously. Okay, yeah.

Tammy J. Cohen: So people message me. I get messages on my

website, on social media, and what's really great is also

through an Amazon reviews, yeah, when you read like, people leave

reviews so and they're sharing like, yeah, I tried this with

this person, and it was great. They loved it. You know, my

like, my aunt's friends, my aunts is a grandmother, and she

was messaged. She started messaging her grandchildren

because they're in college. A lot of grandparents have grown

adult grandchildren, and she shared. She just started sharing

the book with her, all of her friends, you know, and it's

really interesting. She's like, Oh my God. And they they see me

when I come visit, and they'll tell me, because she looks she

she's in Florida half the year, so I'll go the community, and I

just have people reaching out to me and sharing, and it's a

beautiful thing. I have a lot of friends who are doing it too.

They started doing it, and people telling me, You know

what, my kids are really little and but I'm going to do it with

them when they're old enough. And I'm like, You know what?

This is the beauty of it, right? And I've had people say to me,

like, I don't have a kid, but I love my niece and nephew. I'm

like, do we can niece and nephew? Like, yeah, it's okay.

Like, whoever you want to deal with. But here's the thing,

kids, okay? Like, when do they first get a phone? A lot of

times you give a kid a phone in middle school, right? Because

there there's more of an independence they're walking to

school. Maybe they're older. But of course, the message that

you're going to send a college kid and a high school kid is

different than a middle school kid, right? Well, every every

milestone of when they move from lower school to middle school,

middle school to high school, it's they're getting more

independent, right? So you have to respect that, and you have to

treat them that way. But you also have to remember the age,

yes, so you have to tailor the message for each stage of life.

So what I tell people is, you know, when my kids were in high

school, I was sending them reminders, reprimands sometimes,

you know, reprimands, sometimes commands. You know, where are

you? What's because they live at home, so you still have, there's

a coordination thing. Don't think, like, Okay, now I'm going

to tell. Them only. I love them, and I'm not going to send

anything. It's okay to tell them, hey, I'm not happy with

what you did. It's, you know, the they're teenagers, they're

middle school, you know, you have to understand. But once

they move out and they start going to college, they're not at

home. They come home, but they're not at home, right? You

have to, like, be cognizant of where they are and where they're

at when a kid is already working and they're supporting

themselves, and they're moving out, and they're taking that

apartment, they're done with school, that's a different kid,

that's that's an adult

well, and that, and that's the beauty, is that

they could be I have a daughter who's, you know, just in her

early 50s. She's still my kid always, right? They're always

your kid, right? So that's the thing. All right, I don't know

if you're doing any brand consulting right now. Are you

still doing Yeah, okay, so in your brand consulting work that

you do, how do you help your clients clarify their message

and communicate more authentically.

Tammy J. Cohen: That's such a great question. So first of all,

it all goes back back to talking to the client. Like, when I work

with a client, I mean, I there's we go through a whole there's

homework, we go through a series of questions. Because I really

want to understand, I want them to think about, like, what are

five things that you really love about what you do your business?

Like, what are five things that you actually know about your

audience, your client? Like, tell me five things. It's very

challenging. Yes. What are your values? What is your vision?

What? What is your mission? Like, sometimes they don't, they

really don't have that formulated, or they do, and

they're not really. So I said it all starts from understanding,

like, who you are, you're the brand. Like, even if you're

selling, it doesn't matter if you your products called XYZ,

it's just you. It's you. This is you, right. You're selling

representing you, yeah. So what do you know about your audience?

What do you know about yourself? What is your why? Why are you in

this? Why are you doing anything? I find that a lot of

businesses don't know their audiences. Like what makes them

tick? What is the need? Why do they need your product? How can

you stand out? How can you make it different? How can you have

them understand that what you're doing, what is building trust?

Like, why should people buy from you? Like, what is it about you?

What do you So, what are you going to do to help them? Or,

what do you do that's better, or what's so trustworthy about you?

Like, you have to think about all these things, and once you

think about them, then you can then all of a sudden, you're

like, wow, there's a lot of things I want to say, but sure,

people just look at it like and I find this. This is what also

was always very amazing to me. Most people, when they're in

business, they worry more about their brands, messages, how

they're messaging an audience, and they don't even think twice

about how they message their children, their wives, their

friends, how they talk to them. They don't worry about they

don't even think about it. They only think about like, what am I

saying to my audience so they'll buy well. And if

I can just add on to that, I agree with you

totally. But I also noticed that it's yeah, what can I do to get

them to buy? But it's never, what can I do to get them to buy

again, or to, you know, show appreciation to them, that part

that never happens,

Tammy J. Cohen: yeah, like, like, why? Like? And when you

have you just sit down and you start with the conversation. And

also, I'm the type person that it's not just the business

owner. I'm like, if there's a team, like, the team has to be

talking about, like, why are you working here? Like, what is it

that you love about what they're doing, right?

And it does come from the top, though, right by

the whole attitude thing. And, yeah, like,

Tammy J. Cohen: why is everybody working together here? Like, I

want I even say, can I? I'd like to come and sit there and watch

you guys and see what you're doing, see how you do it,

because it is a conversation, like everything else, there is a

conversation, and it goes into it. And you could really pick up

a lot by by asking questions, doing the little bit of

homework, doing your research. So I don't think it's such a

great idea. Like, people will just go out and they'll say,

like, Okay, this is what I'm what I'm doing. This my

business, and I, this is what I want people to know about me.

Why should they care about knowing about you? Like, I mean,

like, like, think about the Who are you selling? Think about

them. Yeah. Why would they want you? What is so great about you?

Like, and what do they need? Do you even know what they need?

Like, I've seen a lot of people come up with services and stuff,

and I'm like, is there a need? Like, are you solving something?

Yeah, problem. Like, no. I just thought it was

a great idea, right?

Tammy J. Cohen: They're like, Oh, you know. Well, you know.

And then, or the business. Has changed, right? Like they'll

take over a business from their their family business, or things

change. You know, things are changing so quickly, and they

don't realize it, like they don't, they don't realize things

have changed, or the audience shifted. The audience, their

their audience aged out. You know, they just don't. So

there's a lot that goes into it, but it's questions always, yeah,

that's okay, for sure.

Alright, let's talk a little bit about women

beyond the table. This is a network that you, I think, have

had for I'm not sure how long and and what role does

relationship building play in the growth of this organization.

Tammy J. Cohen: Relationship building is in everything you

know, because people, people do business, people join networks

that they where they like and trust, you know, where they

feel,

yeah, sometimes I have to say, with relationship

with with organizations. Sometimes you join one, and I'm

speaking from experience, and I'm not sure they're my people.

I'm not sure I, you know, I had to find out for going a few

times, but I'm not really sure that that's my people, so not

rushing to go back. So you really do have to feel, I

believe you have to feel the love in the room, so to speak,

Tammy J. Cohen: that they're your Yeah, and it takes time,

because, like, listen, we so wouldn't be on table. It's like,

six years, okay? And how did it start? Well, how did it start,

right? So during the pandemic, I was trying to, like, I lost my

bit, like I was always a consultant, but my clients in

the sector, I worked in the gym and jewelry, it was a lot of it

had fallen down. You know? It just was like, things won't

haywire for a while. So I was like, Well, how do I build my

business? How do I expand? What do I do? Like, what? So I

started really thinking, and I was like, Wow. You know, I

really, I've never needed a website, or needed any of these

tool things before, because I was, I had clients, and it was

like, word of mouth for me, it's like, wow. I'm going to need

some some skills here. So I was like, Googling, you know,

website, okay, copywriters and, well, like, what's digital?

Like, what, what is digital touch points, like, I have to,

like, social media. Like, I never bothered with this stuff

because I was working. I was busy. I was working with

clients,

and you were face to face and going to to

different stores

Tammy J. Cohen: and, like, also, I realized I needed a life

coach. I needed a business coach. I needed I needed help.

Okay, yeah, so I was like, now I was talking with some colleagues

and some friends. I said, like, Wouldn't it be great if there

was like, group of women who all had these services that I really

liked and I trusted, because you Google website developer Janice,

50 million people show up. And you're like, Who the hell should

I work with? And then you, like, go on a couple of websites, and

you just click on something, and the next thing you know, like,

you're getting 10,000 emails from them, yeah? So I was like,

Wouldn't it be great? So they're like, Yeah, that would be so

great. So I was like, Okay, I'm going to make a call. I'm going

to have a call. I'm going to invite you to a zoom. You show

up, because I'm going to talk about this. Okay, so at the

first call, I don't know, three people on it, and it was fun. We

had a great time. So I was like, now they told people, they told

people. So the first year, it was, like, with it was also the

pandemic, women were showing up. They were like, This is great.

We became, I like, I was like, women be on the table, because I

was imagining the Knights of the Round Table. But we're women,

and we're beyond the table. We're not just serving. We're

not we used to serve at the table that we got a seat at the

table, but this is beyond the table. We were having a great

time. So the first year was just proof of concept, and then we

started charging membership, building a subscription, and

everything was step by step. But what really was cool for us is

we decided from day one, like who we were going to, who we

are, and who we're going to talk to. So the women who are

attract, who we attracted, who are, you know, you it's, it

wasn't a C suite. We had some of those kind of C suite women. But

really that solopreneur, that women who was a C suite, or was

working in a business, and now she's like, You know what? I

want to do my own thing. So now there's no team. Say, like, she

doesn't have a team. She might have one assistant helping her,

or one VA and she's gotta figure out all this stuff. So let's

bring some speakers on. Like, we have a monthly call. We get

together, we see each other. And they were getting together by

themselves too, which was a beautiful thing. But we started

bringing in, like, education. But then we started realizing,

you know what? Just like I had to realize it, if your mindset,

if your well being, if your health and wellness isn't, isn't

thought of how you're going to do business, right? So we

started mixing the health and wellness with business, and we

became a business network. Work with a soul, and this really

love. It really was something that women were just like, I

like that. And they came in, they go, You know what? I feel

it's a very special energy. I feel like you're my sisters. I

feel you're my friends. Like, and I was like, Yeah, I go, look

if you're coming and I tell people, I'm blank if you're

coming in here. And I we have a lot of coaches, a lot of people.

We have like, six, seven different industries. Different

industries represented. But like, if you're coming in here

thinking, Oh, I have like 65 women who are going to buy my

services, no, you're in the wrong place because they don't

really know you. That's right, I said. But if you're looking to

leverage your social capital, which means that you need a

question answered. You don't know something, or maybe you

want to be connected to somebody. That's what we get out

there. Yeah. So a lot of women and a lot of people have

questions they don't know the answer to and they don't know

where to find the information. So somebody can help you with

that and can answer it, and that's that, to me, is what it's

about. And then over time, you know, you might wind up doing

business three years down the road, you might wind up being

connected to somebody who you do business with, because you had a

connection of somebody you like and trust. So there's so much to

networking. And we actually, uh, we ended up doing three videos

of, how do you network? Like why do you network? How do you go

about networking? What is the point of networking? What's Fear

Of Missing Out from attending every event because we offer

also, we're virtual. But what wouldn't be on the table does is

we'll list the in person events because we want them to have

well rounded in person and virtual. So we're like, what is

the purpose of networking? And why do you network? Most women

will just don't know how to network. They're shy, or

they'll, they'll do what women do. And you know, that's what

makes us different than men. I've noticed when men network,

they get right down to it, you know, like they're, they're

making a deal. They're not shy about it. They'll ask, and

they'll, they'll do it. Women is different, like, we we're not

really programmed to ask or to be, you know, like this or like,

I think it's changing a lot. I think we also talk more about

ourselves and our families, because that's important. And

women just do it differently, wrong or right. So we're like,

you know, try to encourage them to, like, be a little strategic.

Know what? Know what you're looking for when you go there,

make sure the event you're going to is in alignment with who you

are and and the kind of customers you want. You're

looking for, the kind of people you want to build relationships

with, the kind of connections you want to make. Sometimes,

just attending every event, you're not going to get anything

right.

I always say it's important to be curious. You

have to ask questions, but they don't have to be targeted, like,

you know, you have to ask the questions that will allow the

person you're meeting to talk about themselves a little bit,

so that you can see who they are, and, and, and people love

to talk about themselves,

Tammy J. Cohen: yeah. But also, there's the follow up section,

of course, like, there's, like, a whole bunch of elements that

go into it. But we're, you know, really a community that's

dedicated to accelerating professional success and

personal growth, like, you know, like, that's, that's our thing.

And we wound up starting the web, the podcast, the women's

table podcast. So it just, it just became that, and it became

a very nice community of people. And now 40% of our women

exchange services, but at the end of the day, they just like

each other,

really. And how often do you meet? Once a month?

Tammy J. Cohen: You said we meet once a month. That's perfect.

That's it, because people are busy. I mean, I know there are

groups that are meeting weekly. We just do once a month, but we

also, you know, we have our directory. We encourage them to

interact to each other, Whatsapp group. Now the WhatsApp group

is, is live daily. I mean, people, they're just throwing

offers out at each other and sharing. I'm here, I'm there,

I'm this, I'm that. What's up? Like we're congratulating each

other, we're supporting, we're inspiring each other. So it's

that, that WhatsApp chat is really nice and and they have

the podcast too. So, yeah, you have a newsletter, you know,

like, we keep them, we keep in touch.

Yeah, that, well, that's important, right? So I

have a question here that I I'm going to ask it anyway, how have

gratitude and accountability become cornerstones of your

communication style.

Tammy J. Cohen: You know, what? If I I feel so grateful on a

regular basis. And you know, the best exercise I ever did there

was, there was two things that really helped me, you know,

start wrapping my head around thing. So one was a coach said

to me, you know, just write down. I want you to write down,

like, what you're grateful for, like, just think what you're

grateful. Just write it. And then I want you to reach contact

one person every day for 30 days. It's 30 days. Homer and

tell them what you what you're grateful for about them. And I

was like, that's that's hard, yeah, but you know what it means

a lot. Yeah, it wasn't. And then the other thing that really

helped a lot was, here's my, my other assignment that I was

given for three weeks, three weeks, every day, you're going

to write a list. You're going to make a page in a journal of the

things that you're proud of, that you you accomplished in

your life, things that made you go, yes, okay, that you really

proud of. And I was like, Are you out of your mind? I don't

have the page to fill up. I don't know what you talk okay,

that I don't think I can do that. Well, I did it, and not

only did I fill up the pages, no problem. I It was exhilarating,

because I never looked at myself that way, as somebody who

accomplished things, who did things, who did good things, who

did worthy I never, I never saw it. I never felt it's just so

busy doing, that's the thing, yeah. Or

Tammy J. Cohen: you just like, we're taught, like, you Oh, you

know you don't, you don't have an ego maniac, you know you

don't, you don't practice. But I even something as simple, like,

even just my sons, you know, just realizing, like, there's so

much good. So it just became, like, just carried on. Because

every person I'm grateful to meet, and every day I say in my

prayers, I like, I just I thank God for everything, everything

waking up in the morning, it's become a way of life

well, and you've had some challenges health wise

lately, and you've come through it amazingly. And I, honestly,

I'm in awe of how you manage things just the few times that

we've connected over this last few months. So one final

question, what's one message that you hope listeners take

away today about the power of relationships in every day in

every area of life? Wow.

Tammy J. Cohen: Listen. We're humans, right? We're human

beings. I mean, connection is the most important thing, if you

think about it. I mean, look what's happened. Look what

happens during the pandemic when people didn't have the

opportunity. I mean, thank God there was internet. Could you

imagine being mad? Max, there was no internet.

Oh, and by the way, you talk about connection,

I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I think it's important in this

question to to mention that I was, I'm connected with this

wonderful woman in Israel, Annette, and then that

introduced me to you, right, right?

Tammy J. Cohen: And the next one would be on the table. And I

work with Annette like i Yes,

services, yeah, so, I mean, it's kind of cool.

So we wouldn't have that without the internet, for sure,

Tammy J. Cohen: for sure. And, you know, like I was thinking

that I said to my husband once, it would be mad, Max Road

Warrior if the pandemic happened and there was, you know, no, no

cyber No, no way to connect, no way to order things, no you you

see how people like, they felt like isolated, they felt alone,

and they had phones. It wasn't you could, yeah, anybody you

want message, anybody you want. Yeah. So we're built for that.

That's what human beings are built for. And everything is

built on as a relationship business. Our business is

relationships. Yes, you can't take that away. And if you you

take out the relationships and the connection, you know, you

get depression.

So true. Yeah, it's so true. You're amazing.

Thank you for your time today. And I'd like to just say to my

audience that, you know, Tammy reminds us that connection

starts with intention. Whether you're crafting a brand message,

texting your child or building a business network, how you choose

your your work, how you choose your words, can build trust,

deepen relationships and make people feel seen. It's not about

being perfect, it's about being present. So I hope if this

episode sparked something in you, maybe it's time to send a

message, one that comes from the heart. Thank you.

Tammy J. Cohen: Thank you. That was so beautiful.

I love it. Thank you so much. And remember

everyone to stay connected and be remembered. You.