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In this powerful first installment of Earn Your Seat, moderator Amy Watts sits down with Tamika Porter, fractional CFO and founder of Porter Financial Services, and Jennifer Ramirez, real estate entrepreneur and relocation specialist, for a raw, insightful conversation on the explosive rise of women over 50 entering entrepreneurship.

Together, they unpack the fears, the freedom, the identity shifts, and the purpose-driven clarity that define this new era of female leadership. From corporate ceilings to personal reinvention, this episode reveals why women in their 50s are uniquely positioned to build thriving businesses — and why this season of life is becoming a superpower.

Key Themes

• The 50+ entrepreneurship boom — and why nearly half of new businesses are now started by women
• Freedom vs. fear — navigating layoffs, life transitions, and the loss of corporate identity
• Purpose as a catalyst — how aligning with passion creates confidence and momentum
• Breaking generational scripts — moving beyond “perfect attendance” conditioning and corporate obedience
• The power of lived experience — why decades of life, leadership, and resilience become business assets
• Imposter syndrome at 50+ — why it still shows up and how these women move through it
• Legacy, control, and financial independence — redefining what success looks like in midlife

Featured Guests

Tamika Porter — Fractional CFO, financial strategist, and founder of Porter Financial Services. After decades in corporate finance, Tamika stepped into entrepreneurship to claim freedom, purpose, and generational wealth.

Jennifer Ramirez — Founder of Pro Homes and Lake Wylie relocation specialist. After a 25-year corporate career and a sudden layoff, Jennifer rebuilt her identity and launched a thriving real estate business rooted in service and leadership.

About the Moderator

Amy Watts — Founder of Amy Watts Coaching & Consulting and The Reinvention Collective. Amy helps women over 40 redesign their lives, careers, and identities with clarity, purpose, and confidence.

Why This Episode Matters

Women over 50 are not slowing down — they’re accelerating. They’re rewriting the rules, reclaiming their time, and building businesses that align with their values, purpose, and lived experience.

This episode is a testament to resilience, reinvention, and the power of stepping into your next chapter with courage.

Watch more and/or request a seat

Listen & Subscribe

Watch the full roundtable on YouTube and subscribe to the QC Amplified network for more curated conversations with credible voices.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Amy Watts Coaching and Consulting
• Reinvention Collective
• Porter Financial Services
• Relo Pro Homes

Welcome to earn your seat at the table.

This is a roundtable discussion where we go deep and we get real.

I'm Amy Watts, founder of Amy Watts Coaching and Consulting and the Reinvention Collective, where we are redesigning life after 40.

And I have with me this morning Tameka Porter, fractional CFO and financial strategist of Porter Financial Services.

And I also have the lovely Jennifer Ramirez, real estate agent and Lake Wiley, relocation specialist with me this morning.

So today, ladies, first of all, good morning.

And I want to start with a little bit of celebration this morning.

We have somebody who is having a 50th birthday tomorrow.

Tameka is joining those of us in the 50 and up club.

And we're gonna hit on this today, but Tamika's joining us in that fantastic club tomorrow.

So a happy birthday and a year full of blessings to you.

Tamika.

Thank you so much.

I truly appreciate that.

Absolutely.

Happy birthday.

Thank you.

Okay, so today we are diving into one of my favorite areas of discussion and it is so hot right now.

We've had some conversations off camera about this, ladies.

So let's get into.

We are going to start today talking about the rise of the 50 plus female entrepreneur.

Huge topic, huge movement in our world right now.

I would say country, but it's really international.

Just a couple statistics because, you know, I'm a little bit of a science girl.

So I love my data, love my numbers.

But as of right now, 49%.

Let that sink in for a minute.

A massive shift.

And we're going to get into a little bit about why we think that is happening.

Then also here's the why the impetus behind that.

So that being said, Tameka and Jen, what would you say have been your reasons for jumping into entrepreneurship at the almost 50 mark?

Right.

Even if we started a little before our 50th, that's where we are now.

So what led you to jump into entrepreneurship and a little bit about your background if we want to start with you, Tamika?

Absolutely.

So I am credentialed in finance and accounting.

Right after college, got straight into work.

I was climbing the ladder through my career, was having had children and like most women, having to juggle corporate and being a parent.

And then in some parts of my life, I felt like I was overlooked because I had kids.

Right, we'll get into that.

But I think for me, as you spoke, the biggest transition for me was freedom.

You know, having the time freedom and also the financial freedom.

We all know that in corporate you're capped, right?

And so I felt that with my credentials and my experience, I should be a millionaire.

I should be able to make exceedingly more than what was presented to me based on corporate structure.

What pushed me out was Covid.

Covid was an eye opener for a lot of us.

And a lot of the companies were unstable.

They didn't have a strategic plan, which we promote a lot in corporate America.

But as you can see, these companies were not able to survive 90 days.

They had to be bailed out.

As a result, there were a lot of layoffs.

What I did is I took my skill set and my expertise, I tapped into my community and I said, hey, here's an idea.

This is what I'm looking to do.

I want to create generational wealth for my families.

Came up with the idea to tap into myself and invest in myself from my corporate training and I decided to start my own company.

I had worked for several friends, you know, just looking for, looking at their businesses books and you know, giving them tax advice for free.

And then I said, hey, you know, we gotta, we gotta do something different here.

So started my business was not confident.

And initially it started as an idea.

I still was working my corporate job because I was scared to let go that W2 income.

And then it just, it took off.

Right.

Which led me to become more confident in myself.

And then here I am today, five years later, about to hit the 50 mark at my fifth year business and I have a successful suite of clients at Port of Financial Services who trusted me.

And I have a passion for this.

I would do it for free in a perfect world, you know, so that's kind of like my story.

Beautiful.

You hit on a couple key words there, Tamika.

Number one, you said confidence several times.

Right.

We're going to get deeper into that.

And then also you mentioned passion.

So marry those two and you have no different outcome than to have a fully booked, thriving business.

So incredible.

Thanks for sharing that.

Thank you.

Jen, tell us a little bit about what brought you into this and then we'll hit on some reasons that women jump into this crazy world of entrepreneurship.

Of course.

Yeah.

So first of all, thank you for having me here today.

I'm so happy to spend the day with you guys.

So my name is Jen Ramirez.

I'm the owner of Relo Pro homes, and I'm 51 years old.

And I went into entrepreneurship when I was 49.

Gosh, sometimes I have to, like, get a calculator to remember how old I am.

But anyway, so I was in the corporate world.

My last role was I was vice president of sales.

And so I've always led sales organizations.

And I used to sell industrial air compressors for manufacturing spaces.

Right.

Really, really Sexy.

And after 25 years in this role, working for large corporations, one day they came to me and said, jennifer, you've been here too long and you make too much money.

It's exactly what they said.

And so my role got eliminated.

I got laid off.

Now I am a licensed real estate agent, and I got my real estate license before I got laid off from my corporate job.

And the reason I got my real estate license was because our youngest son decided he was going to go to college.

We're a big military family, so our older two boys both went into the military.

My husband is retired army, but the youngest one said, I'm going to go to college.

And I said, well, you know what?

I want to make sure that he can graduate debt free so that when he gets started in his regular career field, he can go in with less stress and really focus on what's going to make him great.

So I got my real estate license and my job.

My goal, or my idea was I'll sell one house, maybe one or two a year part time, and that'll help cover his living expenses and books and all the things.

And then I got laid off for my corporate job.

And I said, well, what am I going to do?

And of course, I was scared because he'd been in that world for so long, it becomes your identity.

But then I said, well, how do I want to put myself out there and look for another corporate job where I can be susceptible to this happening again at my age?

You know, what do I want to do?

And I took a step back, I moved a lot for, for my job.

I mean, we've lived in a lot of different states.

We've lived in different countries.

We were an expat, expat family for a while.

And I said, I will.

I'm gonna go into do my real estate business full time, and I'm going to focus on people who are relocating because I know it and I can do it.

And I. I grew a business from zero to, you know, $10 million a year in revenue annually.

We're still, I'm still growing.

I'm a solo agent, I run by myself.

My daughter in law helps me with, you know, some administrative stuff.

But why I got into that business was number one was I wanted to be in business for myself.

I wanted to leave something for my grandchildren, for our grandchildren.

And number two, I wanted to be able to take control of my own destiny because I had that experience in the corporate world and I'm like, I don't want that to happen to me again.

Beautiful.

So I'll pull out a few words that you threw in there, Jen.

That kind of parallel, they may seem opposite, but they really parallel what Tamika said.

So you talked about fear, responsibility, legacy, control.

Huge motivating factors for us to our business, our career doesn't exist separate from the rest of our lives.

Right?

We still have the families, the partnerships, the pets, everyone to take care of and all those outside obligations.

So that freedom, that legacy piece to your point, is not available to us for the most part in corporate.

So most of us didn't plan this.

I entered entrepreneurship, this is my first year full time in entrepreneurship and I actually still have a part time job in a research study on substance abuse with the government right now.

But so this is my first year, you know, full time in entrepreneurship.

And I come from the healthcare industry where.

Thank you.

Where you know, you talk about a cap and you talk about ageism, you know, nobody wants to hire a 51 year old nurse.

We are too expensive, right?

And there are too many others in the pool to choose from.

So most of us didn't plan this.

Something pushed us, a layoff, a divorce, which was part of the case for me, right?

I walked out of a 22 year marriage with five children in foster care, two dogs, and it was the middle of a pandemic and I was an rn.

So, you know, you want to figure out who you are, what you're really made of, step into entrepreneurship.

But that is exactly why those of us, women over 50, at 50 are the perfect ones to do this and why we're seeing the numbers that we are jumping into this us.

So corporate really does offer those golden handcuffs.

I think you actually used those words, Jen, in one of our initial conversations.

But we chose freedom in spite of the fear, the responsibility.

The mornings when we wake up thinking, shit, do I have a way to pay my mortgage this month?

You know, am I going to have the money for my third child's tuition Next semester, but we push through.

Anyway.

Let's talk a little bit about, you know, we were raised to show up every day, do what the boss said, please, everyone, at the expense of ourselves, get the steady paycheck.

And now without that, it can be terrifying.

But it's also the most alive I've ever felt.

So let's speak to a little bit about how you navigate some of that fear and where you dig into to pull that confidence when you need it on those days when it's extra hard.

You know, maybe the deal fell through.

Maybe the third consult for the day was the third.

No, for the day.

What allows us as women in this demographic to continue with the confidence, the courage and the tenacity in this world?

Absolutely.

I can absolutely tap into that.

So what many people do not know about me is I have a bachelor's in psychology.

Yeah.

But you know, having said that, I feel like I have a bachelor's in psychology and I have an MBA in finance.

So what propelled me was purpose.

My purpose was greater than my fear.

Without purpose, you will never climb the ladder as far as you want.

You have to have a purpose.

Everyone has a God given talent and purpose in life.

If you're not operating in your purposefully, you're always going to be chasing, you're going to wake up in the middle of the night with these ideas.

You're never going to be 100% happy.

I was well over six figures in my career, working as a controller for manufacturing companies, a finance manager for manufacturing companies.

Then I moved into banking and treasury, middle to senior management roles, making well over six figures, but just was never truly happy.

When I started my first, when I started my business and I received my first contract, it wasn't even a lot of money, but I was so happy because I'm just like, oh my God, this is for me.

I'm operating in my purpose and I'm making a difference, especially when I can look at my client's face.

And I grew their P&L 30%.

They went from confusion to clarity.

I actually help business owners with clarity and confidence so that they can effectively do their business and then we can talk growing.

So I think for me, again, I'm going to constantly say that.

And I drilled this into my mission statement.

It's all about purpose.

When you have a purpose, your ideas and your dreams come to life, especially if it's on paper.

So you always want to have that vision and you always want to, you know, write it down, have something physical and tangible.

So for me, purpose I love that.

And it's so true.

I do a lot of that work.

Right.

The clients that I work with come to me.

Maybe they are looking to make that transition.

They're either retiring or they're making a career pivot or they are jumping into entrepreneurship.

And it's that mindset, identity, capacity, finding your purpose and being able to connect to that.

Where, you know, I see women who are terrified to even admit that they're starting a business because of what the, you know, their corporate colleagues or even their friends and family may, may have to say about that.

But then when we build that confidence, confidence when we help them, when I help them develop a business that feels aligned with their purpose, with their core values, and then they suddenly are exceeding, doubling, tripling their previous corporate salary because of that work, that expansion.

And we come to the table with four or five decades of life experience.

Right.

So we've got a deep well to pull from when we need those moments.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

All right.

Jen.

Yeah.

I like what you said because you were.

And I'm just looking at my notes.

Cause you were mentioning, you know, having all the time in corporate world and then we talked about like being, being a little bit afraid and being nervous.

Right.

So I.

It's real.

It's real because when you're jumping into entrepreneurship, you, you think, especially when you've been working in the corporate world for one, two, three decades or more, it can be scary.

But we do know what we're doing.

Because every one of us that have been in that, in that space, I mean, we have an expertise.

We were at the ranks where we were in our corporate world because we did know what we were doing.

It's very easy for us to fall into imposter syndrome, especially when we're going into business for ourselves because we don't have that corporate directive that's coming down guiding us with what to do.

We're the ones that are developing the strategy.

We have to tell ourselves what to do.

But the big thing that we forget and we have to remind, I personally have to remind myself, is I know what to do because I had to lead other sales teams to do this.

So if I led other teams to sell a product or a service, why can't I lead myself to do the same thing?

And I think that once we as women and as leaders lean in to what we're really good at, because we're all good at something.

We are, we have a God given talent and we just lean into that, go full force, believe in ourselves, then that will tell you exactly what to do.

One of the big things that I questions I get asked is from other women in our, of our age that are wanting to get into entrepreneurship.

As they get scared, they're like, well I think I want to do this.

And I say, well okay, if you were to do that, how does it make you feel?

Let's just imagine it for a second.

You want to have a daycare or you want to open a dog walking business, business, whatever it is, how does that make you feel when you really put yourself in that space and if you feel happy and excited, then you know exactly what to do and just lean into that.

Yes, beautiful.

I love your point that we all, we all do know what to do.

Listen, even if you didn't come from corporate, I again, you know, background in healthcare, I did run multiple practices administrator there and 25 years in mental health.

But think about the, this, you know, the, the non traditional roles as far as profession too.

I was a foster parent for 15 years.

I had 56 children come through my home, all of them with severe trauma, some of them actually terminally ill or with very complex medical cases.

So how do we.

And I had five or six children at a time.

Think about the logistics, the organization, the planning, the human resources.

Because I didn't just have the children, right.

But their parents, their families, their caseworkers, their entire team and then also advocating in the community and lots of running support groups and things like that.

So the point being we can pull from all different areas of our life to bring our skillset into whatever this next vision is.

And I love Jen, what you said.

Find what lights you up.

Think about how do you feel in that.

Don't do something just for the dollar because that will get you only so far and then your energy will fizzle out.

You've got to have a very strong and passionate why to connect to on those really tough days, right?

When it takes scrappy resourcefulness and just some good old fashioned grit.

Right.

To get through.

So let's talk about how, you know, you mentioned one, two or three decades in corporate and we've got four or five and beyond.

I have, I have a client who's 72 years old and just started her first substack account and is writing a blog and is monetizing all of this and her grandchildren are looking at her like wait, how did you even figure this out?

Right?

So it is never too late.

I believe that we are in our superpower season and we're seeing that.

Let's go back to the numbers I quoted at the very beginning of this conversation.

This is the superpower season for the females over 50.

We are redefining what life looks like, like, for the rest of our days.

We've got decades ahead of us.

And, you know, in the past, it's been scripted of, like, you know, you get married, you maybe you get the job, or you're a homemaker.

You stay at that job until you retire, and then you have your retirement, and you hopefully live long enough to enjoy some of it.

But we are completely rewriting that script.

We are no longer required to stay in a marriage.

And so let's come to what are some of your superpowers that you see personally that you're bringing into this season and.

Or that you see from those women around you who are in entrepreneurship?

Maybe they're ahead of you, and maybe they're just starting out.

What are some of these superpowers?

For me, I would say patience.

I think, you know, over 40 typically brings in wisdom and patience.

You know, when I was young, I was climbing that ladder.

I was in the boardroom.

I was aggressive, I was competitive, you know, but as I started to age, I started to relax more.

Things didn't bother me, and I came into my own.

I was more confident.

When you are more confident, you create creativity, you create success, and you create boundaries.

I no longer was a yes person, you know, no, I may not want to do that, you know, and so I think, you know, with confidence, that creates the foundation for you to succeed in your business again, as you just mentioned, it's not about the money.

If you get into business for money, you're not going to go far.

When you do what you love, the money will chase you.

You know, I've been in rooms where people have recognized me or have received my name from clients or just from network partners.

My other piece that I am big on is business development and collective economics.

Together we are better, right?

You can go great alone, but when you have a group, you can go far.

And so I didn't get here alone.

I credit the VP of operations at Merrill lynch, who let me through the door having a bachelor's in psychology and working in the mental health field.

And she took a chance on me, and that's what springboarded my career.

Not taking away from corporate, right?

Because that corporate structure, it benefits me and my business because I'm able to bring that to my clients, I tell them, hey, corporate America is not operating solely.

You have legal, you got operations, engineering, finance, accounting.

I actually provide that full suite of products for my client so they feel safe.

I'm the financial partner you need that can provide the confidence and clarity so we can put a goal together for you so that you can stay in business.

Right.

Because if you're not successful, I don't care how much you love it, it's going to be a hobby and you're not going to stay in business long.

So that's my take on it.

Well said.

And so true to your point.

Yeah, the money will drive you for so long, but that energy again will fizzle out.

And I think it comes through in your marketing and your interactions with clients or potential clients.

And passion is felt.

Passion is felt.

Jen, how about you?

Yeah, I think coming from our generation, we're Gen Xers, right?

So we figure it out.

I mean, I did not, I don't know about you ladies, I did not get my first cell phone till I was 20 years old.

I didn't grow up with the cell phone in my hand.

So a lot of the things that we're having to do now that I'm having to do to market my business, I had to teach myself how to.

To do.

Right.

I had to teach myself how to do digital marketing and social media marketing.

But that's very empowering.

And sometimes I meet other real estate agents and they will subcontract a lot of these things out and they'll ask me like, hey, who does your whatever?

And I'm like, well, number one, I learned how to do it myself first because it's my business, so I need to know how to run it.

And then I.

If I need help, then I will leverage my help elsewhere.

But one of the things I think that gives us the superpowers that we have is that we figure it out.

And just like you were talking earlier, Amy, you were like, we.

I mean, I was raised this the same way.

Like, go to school, get a good job.

My mother would always push me to get like a government civil service type of job.

Because then you have stability and it's steady income and you'll have a pension and you don't have to worry about anything.

Right?

Yeah, exactly.

That's what we were raised on.

I mean, I remember.

And then like showing up every day and doing exactly what you're told.

Do you remember we used to get certificates for perfect attendance?

That meant we could not be sick.

We could not go on vacation.

We could not be late.

I mean, that's the way our generation's brains were wired.

But that gives.

That separates us because we understand personal connection.

We're not afraid to pick up the phone and talk to somebody because that's how we operated.

Right.

And so I think that that's one thing that will set women of our age apart because we do know how to have that personal connection.

We do know how to figure things out.

Yes, it will be hard, but we'll do it anyway.

And we always find a way.

And I think that, you know, you talked about chasing the dollar.

You're right.

We cannot be chasing the dollar because that's not going to give us the really the good connection and the leadership.

Because when people come to us with whatever it is that we're doing, they're coming to us because they see us as leaders and they want us to help.

To help.

And for us to be true leaders is we have to, number one, believe in ourselves.

Because if we don't believe in ourselves, we can't believe in anybody else.

Right.

So we have to do that.

And I think that really helps.

It's just the way we were raised.

Yes, it's beautiful.

And the fact that we get to take that five steps further.

Right.

So you talked about kind of where that, that leadership comes from.

And I think a huge piece of that too is we now know that investing in us is the greatest ROI that we can get.

It is not investing in the VA or the social media manager.

It's not investing even in the cpa.

God bless you all, because I don't want to do that myself.

But the true greatest ROI is investing in ourselves like we are the CEO of our life, of our business.

And when we trust ourselves enough to make the investment in supporting ourselves in learning, you know, what, what are the limiting beliefs that maybe caused me to hit that income ceiling?

What are some of these self doubts that show up and create the anxiety or the pressure to perform and produce and how we attach that to our worth.

Right.

Let's go back to our perfect attendance stickers.

Yeah.

So those are some deeply ingrained stories that as we do the work, this is what I do, right?

As we do some of this deep, intentional work to again, release and rewrite stories, we step into a freedom that we were never given an example of.

And that's the beauty of where we are right now in our generation is we are these trailblazers and we are showing these women behind us that it's not external.

Right.

It's not the vanity metrics and it's not the, you know, getting the approval of 12 of your colleagues on your, on your decision decision.

But it's building this deep internal self trust and knowing how to care for yourself through this process.

And that I think is one of the greatest superpowers that we can model.

So let's talk about one more thing.

That it's a hot topic in the entrepreneurial world, but imposter syndrome.

Okay.

Which I believe is a euphemism for a lack of belief in self.

Okay.

Um, but does that go away at 50?

Like, so tomorrow's your birthday, Tamika.

I wonder if when you wake up tomorrow, all of a sudden, any sense of imposter syndrome or questioning if I belong in this room or at this table.

Right.

Because we earn our seats.

I wonder if that will just suddenly magically disappear for you.

I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish.

You know, it's funny that you say imposter syndrome, because I was operating in that inefficiency, but didn't even realize that is what it was, I think.

So initially, when I started my business, family didn't support me, friends thought I was crazy to leave an over six figure role as well as the leadership role, that I had to leave that type of fixed structure and also to leave a W2 role and then become 100% commission, which is basically what entrepreneur is.

Right?

But I mean, of course, I don't recommend anybody to just jump ship.

You got to plan, you got to have the reserve.

I had to purge everything that I was taught.

I was taught to go to college, become successful, get married, have kids, you know, which I achieved everything on that list.

Right.

However, I was not taught to believe in myself, you know, independently.

And that's what entrepreneur is.

It's writing a check on you and cashing it.

Especially coming from a structured environment, you don't see too many structured personnel or people just coming out of corporate and saying, oh, I'll go ahead and start my own job, my own business, and create jobs for myself and my environment.

So I think purging what you were told can help to eliminate imposter syndrome.

Now to eliminate imposter syndrome in my own world and how I would eliminate that is self talks.

I look in the mirror and I said, you're a bad girl.

You know, like I have to prep myself even before I attend a networking event.

You know, Amy always says I'm like the networking queen.

You know, I walk through the room and I Own it.

But in my mind, I'm like, oh, my God, these people are not gonna want to hear anything.

I'm talking about there's a million finances people, there's a million accountants, you know, there's a million bookkeepers, but they're not me.

They don't bring to the table what my genetics, what my socioeconomic makeup brings to the table, my personality.

I am very structured and very trained in talking and breaking down complex financial information in a way that an entry level person can understand.

So I think, you know, I bring that to the table.

So just trusting and believing in myself.

And a lot of fake it till you make it.

Because there are days where, you know, I'm faced with very challenging financial statistics, reports and clients, very high end clients, you know, in the millions.

And I'm saying to myself, can I really do this?

Can I really turn this, this P and L over?

But in corporate America, I dealt with billions of dollars, right?

But I had that support system.

So again, taking a breath, stepping back and saying to yourself, can you really do this?

Yes, I can.

You can do whatever you put your mind to, whatever.

And so that is what I would recommend to any entrepreneur.

And also reaching out to your circle, you know, having your tribe, calling people and saying, what do you think?

I mean, you know, you've talked me up the ledge a few times, but so you have to have a, you know, really try.

I call it a board of directors, right?

Got to have a board of directors personally to push you and to keep you going.

Because there's going to be a lot of naysayers and you got to purge that negativity.

You got to.

You're going to have naysayers whether you're doing good or whether you're doing bad.

So why not just keep going and do good?

Yeah, I love it.

I love it.

So some really great ways to overcome imposter syndrome there.

And I hear you.

I love to point out too that this is not a toxic positivity, right?

This is not a looking in the mirror and, you know, standing in the power pose and reciting affirmations.

Valuable.

And it actually does rewire our brain.

But it's deeper work too, of looking at, what are those stories?

Where did those come from?

Right?

Is this from a label that was put on me as a child or is this a story that I've just lived into because somebody said you are good at this or you aren't good at that and being able to release that and step into your true belief where you know that no matter what the outcome, there are going to be no's.

There are going to be deals that fall through there.

I just had a potential client email me or text me as we're sitting here in this conversation saying that, you know, you're, I, I can't do that rate right now.

Right.

So you get those no's.

How do you persevere in that it's learning to have your own back and knowing that no matter what the outcome is, you trust yourself.

What is our worst case scenario?

I love to go to this sometimes.

Okay, if my worst case scenario is I go back to being a psychiatric nurse full time.

Okay.

You know, or if the worst, you know, there are moments too when you wake up and you think like, do I have the fortitude to get through this day?

And that's when you pull in your tribe, just as you said, to have that community.

That's a huge piece that I think that we also are trailblazing that there's so much of this competition among women, but when we collaborate and we pull together, that's how we all rise.

So very well said.

Jen, how about you with the imposter syndrome?

Well, imposter syndrome is real.

I don't know if it ever really goes away.

And it could be, I mean, you could have, Well, I can have imposter syndrome whether I'm being a grandmother with my granddaughters and my grandson, you know, being with, am I a good enough grandparent, you know, do.

Okay.

I'm not the grandma that makes the home cooked meals and sits in the kitchen for 10 hours a day.

But I do like to do other things.

So there's imposter syndrome shows up in all kinds of ways from my business perspective when it sneaks in.

I, I mean, I, we're in sales like you said, 100 commission, right.

We're calling, we're on the phone calling people, calling to our existing clients, prospective clients, etc.

So when that imposter syndrome sneaks in for me, I just, I know I call my clients that I've done business with in the past and see how they're doing and then that immediately takes it away because they're like, oh, I'm so happy you called.

They're telling me how, you know, an update on their life, what's happening.

Almost always there's a thank you, Jennifer.

We couldn't have done this without you.

Thank you so much for your guidance, you know, whatever.

And just that one phone call to somebody that I've helped get their first home or move Move to the Charlotte area from out of state.

It just, it, it gives me that affirmation of like, you do know what you're doing and we do know what we're doing.

We really, we really do know what we're doing.

That is so good.

You know, I can reflect on a different text message that I got yesterday from a client who just finished her first three months with me.

She had the most ridiculous goals with an 18 month timeline.

She wanted to spend a month in Hawaii off the grid, not running her business, but setting herself up in the months leading up to that in a way that she could just take that month off.

She wanted to re.

Establish a relationship with her father who struggles with alcoholism.

She wanted to create, generate the revenue to build a recreational property.

Build on this recreational property that she had as a legacy for her family and to set herself up for pre retirement.

So we had our initial consult.

This was an 18 month timeline.

She signed up for three months of coaching with me on week 10.

She had hit all three of those goals.

As we speak right now, she is sitting on the beach in Hawaii Week 3 of 4.

She has her apprentice taking licensing tests within the next month so that that person can come in.

Her husband actually reached out to me to note that his wife is a completely.

Not a different person, but he just said she's more confident, she's more calm, she communicates differently.

These are the things that we sign up for, right?

And so, but that all came for her.

She came to me feeling pressured, waking up most mornings feeling completely overwhelmed by her calendar, not sure where the next deal was.

And this woman was doing 50, $60,000 months but had nothing in the bank because her money story didn't allow her to hold on to her money and own it.

She knew how to generate it, but she had these old money stories that we had to work through to get her to be able to receive it.

So as she did that work, she started showing up.

She runs a brokerage.

She started showing up in her business very differently.

She didn't feel the need to control everything because imposter syndrome.

Thinking that we are supposed to wear every hat and control every deal and every employee by releasing that, she gave them the, the freedom to grow and expand while she then could step back into creativity and lead generation and building the business that truly supports the life she wants to live.

As evidenced by the fact that she is currently sitting on the beach in Hawaii.

Not jealous at all.

Yeah, not at all.

That is how there are multiple ways to get there as we are all showing.

Okay, last piece I want to touch on a little bit here is that community piece piece.

What has that looked like for you in Charlotte?

I'm fairly new to Charlotte actually.

I'm very new to Charlotte.

So I'm building my tribe, so to speak here, my community.

So what does that infrastructure look like for you and how does that play out for you here in the Charlotte area?

That's a really great question.

So I have been in Charlotte for 12 years, relocated like most finance professionals with corporate, corporate structure.

And so I've seen Charlotte evolved especially as an entrepreneur being in the community.

Charlotte is a very conservative city.

It's also a city that thrives on who you know.

So you got to behave here.

Right.

Because a bad reputation won't grow.

Having said that, my business has grown just through the networking and then just through client appreciation and happiness with my work.

I've had clients, clients, secure buildings.

I'm providing the financial capital ready statements to bankers.

And so from there when that work is presented, because your work, your reputation and your work speaks for itself.

When that work is presented, people start paying attention to you.

Right?

I, I remember walking into rooms when I first started my business and no one knew me.

Now when I walk into these rooms, people are like oh my God, oh my God, I got a client for you.

You know, so I would say just doing what you love and doing a very good job of that.

You know that I've been approached for some political campaign financial support I'm actually doing now.

I'm on the board of medical center here.

So just doing a lot of philanthropy work and a lot of community relations has also helped my business.

So we are in it for profit but you have to have some for form of non profit contributions while you're a business owner because you know, word of mouth and networking will get you further than credentials and will get you further than, you know, just having the corporate structure and the corporate background.

So I would definitely say it takes a village.

Community helped me get here.

I love the community.

I love the work that I do.

I would do it for free in a purpose perfect world.

And I also provide a lot of philanthropy and pro bono services for my company.

We do public speaking and keynote speaking for various engagements and I guarantee the metrics and the return on my investment is typically double what I expected.

So take a take a stab at not going into business just for profit all the time and go ahead and take that opportunity cost and do that work for free and I guarantee it's going to return the profit and the metrics that you are looking for to see to succeed in your business.

That's great advice, especially to a newer entrepreneur who, back to your point, you know, we can be focused on, okay, but I need to pay the mortgage.

But you're right.

This is people first, right?

People first and purpose first.

And when you have that focus, you're going to attract the right people.

And yes, you, you are the networking queen.

You walk into a room and make connections beautifully.

And that's incredible.

In fact, we met at a networking event.

There were breakout groups, and we were together in a breakout group.

And I think I reached out to you afterwards, like, hey, you've got a great vibe.

You want to hang out?

Yeah, I'm sure I said it better than that, but that was essentially right.

I wasn't looking so much for a business connection, although I knew that we could probably collaborate, which we most certainly will.

Workshops that, you know, offer both of our services as a comprehensive package, but to really lean into connecting.

I love how you said too, that, you know, it's that purpose, that purpose that drives.

So, Jen, how about you?

How has it played out for you using this community and what has it been like for you in Charlotte?

You've come from lots of different places.

I have come from a lot of.

Different places of comparison.

Yeah, I've lived in a lot of places.

But I feel like we've moved so much for, for work that we've always had to.

And then also being a military family, so we've always had to like, re.

Establish our, our family, our, our friends and our family circle.

And, you know, when you're, when you're moving here, when you're relocating, or even when you're starting your own business if you're like, my roots and my family are somewhere else.

So I don't, I don't have, I didn't have like that, you know, infrastructure, I guess, to support me.

I was like, okay, I got to figure it out.

My husband and I had to figure it out.

We do it on our own and that's kind of what we do.

Right.

So I, I, I fully believe, like, you know, love God, love people, go first, have fun.

You know, those kind of like things that I always keep in the back of my mind.

I'm constantly networking as well, because to be an entrepreneurship, you cannot be like a silent ninja and build your business.

You have to get out there and you have to talk about it.

That also will help you get over.

I know we're not talking about imposter syndrome, but it does help.

When you're talking about yourself, talking about your business and talking about what you do best to others, it will help to build your own confidence, you know, just, just naturally so, always networking, talking to others.

And it's not just people within our own industry or within the industry that you're with.

I mean, I'm, you know, talking to other entrepreneurs and then mind mapping, brainstorming, exchanging ideas.

I am not one to keep my cards, like, close to the chest.

If somebody asks me a question about how do I do this or how to.

Have you ever done that?

I'm an open book.

I am happy to share how to do things.

And I'm, and I'm.

But I'm also not afraid to ask.

If I don't know how to do something, I'm the first one to ask somebody else that, like, hey, you look like you're good at that.

Come here.

Help me.

And I think that also helps to, you know, build the business and build the confidence.

And, and that sense of entrepreneurship or that sense of philanthropy does help because we can't be just chasing the dollar.

Yes, we do have to make our mortgage payments.

Yes, we do have to eat and we have to keep the lights on.

But showing that extra level of kindness and going that extra mile, it comes back tenfold.

And people will refer you.

They'll know exactly when you're going through some.

Sometimes people are going through stuff and they're like, oh, I know somebody who can help you.

I know exactly who can help you.

And then connect.

I get a lot of text messages or just connections.

It's like, hey, so and so is doing this.

Can you help them?

And even if it's not anybody that's going to bring me, like, big dollars, you know, I've, I, I've, I'm working with somebody right now.

She is a single mother who is moving here from out of state, and she's like, jen, I cannot buy a house because I'm working on my credit.

I'm recently divorced, but I can.

You just, I just even don't even know where to look for an apartment.

Not what I do, but I'm like, sure, I can help.

You know, Beautiful.

I love it.

Yeah.

You know, and to your point there to, to wrap up.

This has been an incredible discussion, ladies.

I think a lot of value, as we said, we are, we are trailblazing here.

And a lot of value as we wrap up with the focus on those superpowers I want each of us to state what our superpowers are.

One superpower that we can offer to the woman right.

That's coming up behind us.

And for me, I would say my superpower is to show you what is possible for you when you remove the self imposed barriers, the culturally imposed barriers, and when you build a foundation of trust and belief in yourself that allows you to step into whatever it is that you envision for you.

Because we've worked through all of those limiting beliefs.

And you build this foundation that will take, take you further than you ever imagined possible with your tribe and with the ongoing investment of your own personal growth, expansion, and capacity.

So, Tameka, what is the superpower that you offer to the woman 10, 20 years behind you, who's looking to you as tomorrow a woman 50 and over.

What would you say to her is your superpower that got you to where you are?

I think for me, again, purging the old mindset of what you should be, who you are.

I'm from New Orleans originally.

I'm a statistic in many ways.

Right.

Even in my family, I took a different route.

I segued from my hometown and I moved to Orlando, Florida in my 20s to start my career.

So I would just say be a risk taker.

Take those risks, especially when you were younger.

I had an opportunity to move to the uk.

I didn't do it because of fear.

I came from a family where you stayed in this box and you did what you were told and you don't stray away from that.

You're crazy, you're impulsive, which is what I've been told.

Right.

But my impulsivity springboarded me to be so successful in my career.

And I also had to give back to certain family members because of that success that I took that I have from being impulsive.

So I would say purge the old thinking, step into a new.

If you are a spiritual person, you gotta have, you have to be grounded.

Right?

I'm huge on spirituality.

I have a relationship with God, so I, I incorporate that, that into my everydayness.

Right.

And then fake it till you make it.

And, you know, sometimes, especially being an entrepreneur, we got to step out on faith and we just got to do it.

It may not make sense, but you got to do it right?

And, you know, and this is my favorite, and this is what I preach in my business.

Outsource.

Outsource, Outsource.

As professionals in our field, we can do what you can't in minutes.

Yes.

Yeah.

Beautiful.

Thank you for sharing that.

Absolutely.

Jen?

Yeah.

So what I would tell people that are, what, 20 years behind me, getting ready to start.

Absolutely.

Believe in yourself, but sit down and think about what you really, what really brings you joy, right?

And you know, people say, well, what's, you know, brings you happier, what brings you joy.

But the difference between like happiness and joy is like within joy, you're feeling fulfilled.

Even in times when you're down, you can still feel joy with what's happening in your life and what's going on.

So sit down and think about what brings you joy.

And when you find that and you nail that down, then go and do that.

Have people around you who are.

I like to think about, like you mentioned earlier, Tamika, there's people around you, whether they are in your current work environment, whether they're in your family or your friend circle or even they're not really close friends, but somebody who's honest with you that you can trust, you should have.

The people that are around you, you should think of them as your personal board of directors.

And if there's people around you that you would not consider to be on your board of directors, then they need to get off the table.

The people that are at your table are your personal board of directors.

They are the people that are to going, going to advise you.

They are the people that you're going to go and ask questions to.

They are people that you're going to brainstorm with.

You're going to say, hey, I have an idea to run past you.

Tell me what you think.

Those are people that you trust.

And sometimes they're all family members, sometimes they're all friends.

Sometimes it's a combination and sometimes it can even be an old colleague that you maybe only touch base with two.

Or three times a year.

That's okay.

It's just having people around you that you trust their opinion because they are going to have, because you know that they have nothing but the best intentions for you.

So that basically narrows down to have people around you who are not selfish.

Love it, right?

Yes.

Yes.

So my example is to.

Or my, my purpose is to be an example of what's possible to those women behind us, right.

When we step into our boldness, when we implement those boundaries, when we have our board of directors and when we just tap into our own badassery, right?

That's what carries us through.

We are women, we are powerful, we are accomplished, and we are unstoppable as we are redefining life after 40.

So thank you both so much for being here.

Tamika, with Porter Financial Services.

Jen Ramirez, the Lake Wylie relocation specialist.

And I am Amy Watts of Amy Watts Coaching and consulting.

Thank you for joining us.

Step out into your superpower season.

Yep.