Today we’d like to introduce you to Tanja and Jennymelva.
Hi Tanja and Jennymelva, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
One evening, we talked late into the night about life (we tend to do that!). We reviewed our past jobs, our multiple career pivots, and our search for wellness along the way. We identified that we’d both been in a place of burnout and had vowed to find the right balance between work and life. It wasn’t until later in that conversation that a light bulb went off! Why didn’t we learn to cope with burnout at work? Why did we have to search for coping mechanisms on our own? Why isn’t wellness more integrated into professional settings? We decided to do some research on this concept of merging wellness and work and discovered it’s just not out there. Fueled by this idea, we exchanged excited texts back and forth over the next few weeks. Finally, we made a commitment to bringing it to life! We got together for a few intense brainstorming sessions, really solidifying a foundation for us to work off of. From there, we created our mission statement, values, strategic plans, and products with a clear understanding of the impact we are looking to make.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Following through with the original concept has been a smooth road. We see it so clearly and know there is a need for this kind of work. We started off with a common vision for what kind of organization we were looking to build and came into this with similar values. We both value a healthy work-life balance, respect each other’s boundaries, and support each other’s wellness. These things might not always look the same for the both of us though. We have had to learn to be aware of our own expectations, compromise, be flexible, and hold space for tough conversations, and holding each other accountable when needed. We’ve both grown as individuals and put our personal effort forward to communicate, be vulnerable, and build trust with each other. In many ways, we are not only building this company together but truly pushing ourselves into the self-work that we are hoping to accomplish with so many others through our leadership coaching.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
There are so many similarities in our professional backgrounds. We both have outside-of-the-box career paths. From working aboard cruise ships to being a private cook to consulting career counseling, and entrepreneurship, we have covered valuable work experience in diverse settings. We’ve faced adversity in our lives had to start over, recreate, and rebuild from time to time. One of the most impactful similarities that likely led us to Emerge is poor leadership. We have both dealt with the deception and disillusion of feeling unsafe at work and want to change that trajectory for others. We spend most of our lifetime working! We spend the majority of our time with coworkers! Our lived experiences have taught us to stand up and advocate for healthy work environments, and we cannot look away from that. We want to make work a better place for everyone, and we believe this starts with change on an individual level.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out.
One thing we would recommend to anyone starting a business is to invest time in getting to know your team. We’ve worked a lot on our relationship as business partners. Even though we started this on a solid friendship, we have incorporated team building into our regimen. Our relationship is different now. As business partners, we require more trust, transparency, and commitment from each other. You have to make sure you create space to cultivate that; it doesn’t just come with the title of co-founders. Another thing that has helped us a lot is acknowledging that we are navigating life and its challenges alongside the challenges of starting a business from the ground up. Having the freedom to show up to a meeting “as we are” has been a huge blessing. There have been times when we put the proposed agenda aside to support and care for each other. This has allowed us to have some of our most productive meetings because we were able to release the burden we carried into the meeting and work productively from a much more calm and supported place.
Pricing:
- 1-1 Coaching $4,500
- Department Coaching $8,200
- Company Coaching $16,000
- Monthly Community Workshops $250/ participant
Contact Info:
- Website: www.emerge-leadership.org
- Instagram: emerge.leadership
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmergeLeadershipDevelopment/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emerge-leadership
