Koffee ChitChat
Koffee ChitChat
Beyond the Screen: Faith, Business, and Authentic Connection
The Elite Belles of Atlanta join us to discuss how they're building a community of over half a million ambitious women through faith, fun, and business. These seven faith-driven entrepreneurs share their journey of creating positive content while staying authentic in their individual pursuits.
• Dr. Tanisha Bowman shares how she started the Elite Belles through a simple social media post asking who wanted to create content with her.
• Most of the women weren't close friends before forming the group, yet they've created a powerful bond through shared values.
• The Elite Belles emphasize "clean energy" on social media, proving you can create engaging content without negativity.
• Faith serves as their foundation, guiding business decisions and keeping them grounded through challenges.
• They discuss their day trip to New York City, including appearing on a Times Square billboard.
• The group previews Season 2 of their content, promising to showcase more individual personalities.
Follow the Elite Belles of ATL on all social media platforms: YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
- “That’s it for today’s brew of inspiration on Koffee Chitchat. Take what filled your cup today and pour it into someone else’s life.”
Hey y'all. Hey, it's your girl, paula, with another exciting episode of Coffee Chit Chat. We have a few exciting guests in the building, but before we get started, let's shout out the coffee of the week, which is a nutmeg spice coffee. Make sure you try one. So today, chit Chatters, we have some powerhouse women in the building, the elite bells of Atlanta. These ladies are faith-driven entrepreneurs, creators and leaders who are keeping it real about life, business and everything in between. With a community of over a half a million ambitious women, they are bringing the laughs, the motivation and the sisterhood energy we all need, from turning social media into a space of light to reminding us to smile through the grind.
Speaker 1:The elite bells know how to inspire while keeping it authentic. Let's welcome them to Coffee Chit Chat. Hey, hey, hey, yay. So we have about four or five ladies and I'm just going to go around the horn, as we used to say when I was in the military, and let everybody introduce themselves around the horn, as we used to say when I was in the military, and that everybody introduced themselves. So come on, ladies. Who wants to be first? Hello, hello, hello everybody.
Speaker 2:My name is Tanisha, dr Tanisha L Bowman and it is an absolute pleasure to be here. Awesome, hi, I am Siobhan Booker and I am so honored to be in the room. Yes, I'm happy to have you.
Speaker 3:Hey, my name is Tyronica Carter and I'm excited to be here and, as always, to share the space with my lovely elite bells of ATL. Okay, Absolutely.
Speaker 4:Hey, ladies, it's April Beverly. I am also excited to be here and looking forward to our chitchat.
Speaker 1:All right.
Speaker 1:Good evening, good evening, beautiful ladies. My name is Dr Tashana Richardson, aka T Rich, and thank you so much for having us. You are so welcome. I'm so happy you guys are here. So we're just going to jump right into our chat and anybody can answer. We're just going to go ahead and ask you guys just a few questions. So we know that you guys are known for mixing faith, fun and business. How did this vision first come together? So the vision first came together by, basically, first of all, as I always say, for everything, prayer. So this is Dr Tanisha speaking.
Speaker 1:I absolutely love social media. Okay, I love social media, I love creating content, I love sharing my testimony, I love inspiring others and I love to remind people to smile seriously, make intentional laughs every day. So, in the midst of doing that, I've been doing content now for, I think, since about 2017, 2018. And I was sitting down one day and like, okay, god, what can I do next? What could be exciting? And I was like you know what, being that I love to collaborate with women. This will be a great opportunity if I can grab a group of women and we can collaborate, connect and create content together, especially women with different personalities, and so I just did a simple post on social media, because I love social media. So I was like, how else would I get people on social media to have fun with me on social media besides posting it on social media?
Speaker 1:So I did a post on social media one day. I was like hey, who wants to create content with me? And I think we started out with about 17. I don't know if you all remember that, but we had about 17 strong, and here we are now the faithful six. So several women commented on the polls. We got together and we began to create content. Okay, well, that's awesome. Any other lady want to collaborate as to why you decided to join the Elite Bounce? Any other lady want to collaborate as to why you decided to join the elite bands? Don't be shy. Don't be shy. This call will chit chat. So we chatting it up.
Speaker 3:Well, I'll say I I decided to join because you know, I'm always looking for something positive, you know, with women and everything, and I knew, if Dr Tanisha was heading it up, that I knew that it would be something that would be fun and spectacular. And just to see where we're going so far we've. It's been an amazing journey and I'm so glad to have said yes to the opportunity.
Speaker 1:Awesome, awesome, that sounds great. Any other ladies? Are you all ready for the next question? Great, any other ladies? Are y'all ready for the next question? Who is that? April, do you want to say?
Speaker 4:something. Yes, so I decided to join because of who Asked Me. So Dr Tanisha. She is incredible on and off social media and I've seen her around Henry County several times and I thought it would be an incredible opportunity, and what I believed to be has come to fruition. So I'm really excited to be a part of the Elite Bells and I look forward to what we do going forward in the future.
Speaker 1:Awesome Now. Were you ladies connected before the Elite Bells? Were you guys like friends? Not?
Speaker 3:really Not everyone, oh wow.
Speaker 1:Okay. Yeah we had done several films before some of us had met the other person. Actually, yes, okay, that's interesting. That means that you guys, the Faithful Six, were meant to be right Because y'all had a good connection. Yes, yes, we had to change the narrative of the number six, okay, okay. And then you have all these women I'm sure that's like a lot of you guys followers. Uh, you build a community of over a half a million ambitious women. What do you think resonates most with them about your message?
Speaker 3:I think what resonates most with the women of community of women that we've built is just our relatability. You know, we are wives, we are moms, we are just women, period. Rather, if you're in business or if you are a woman that's just looking for positivity and inspiration, I think our relatability has really helped build that community. I think our relatability has really helped build that community. That's what we want to. You know, connect with the people and give to them is letting them know that, listen, it's just everyday life.
Speaker 3:Sometimes you have to cut out all the noise of just the world and your day to day. Life's no forced energy between us. I really love that because, like you said, a lot of us just really are meeting as we collaborated on this journey. So there's no forced energy, we're genuine and it's just clean fun amongst women. I know a lot of times people want to see the cattiness, but you know we have built our community just off what you said just ambitious women who are looking for just clean energy and women who can show you that through all the you know noise of everyday life, of mom and wife and just being a woman working, that we can just have some genuine fun, genuine connections and just keep inspiring others to do the same. And just keep inspiring others to do the same.
Speaker 1:I love that, especially when you say clean energy, because it's just so important for women not to be catty like that, you know, let's stand united Because, like you know, like Taz saying, we're all, most of us are mothers and we are sisters and we are friends. So I love that, that clean energy, right, it's so important not to be um catty can y'all see my shirt. Can y'all see the back of my shirt? Are you sure it is?
Speaker 3:that's a little catty shot, paula. She threw it in there.
Speaker 4:She threw that I just after the whole nice speech, like like are you? This is what we do.
Speaker 1:So go ahead, girl. Okay, guys, faith is a core part of your identity. How does it guide your decision-making as entrepreneurs and leaders? That's a great question. Can I get that answer so honestly? You know, faith is everything for me. It's. You know, before I make a move, before I do anything, you know, I need something that's going to hold me accountable, something to make me peaceful about the decision that I make. Also, having faith keeps me real and it, you know it, gives me the space to know that. You know, what I'm doing is really bigger than me. I love that and this. This is Dr T Rich, right? Hey, I'm getting it All right. Hopefully I know everybody's name before it's all over. Yes, and anybody else want to talk about faith?
Speaker 4:for me, faith anchors me, um, it keeps me from drowning. It keeps me from going too far, to the left, to the right. It is really that anchor that drives everything I do as a mother, as a wife, as a sister, as a business owner. Everything I do starts and is founded and rooted in my faith. So that is my guiding light. I would not be here if it were not for God. So that is my guiding light, right there, no mistake. I love that.
Speaker 1:I love that. That's why I like having you guys on here, because everybody seems to be so rooted in faith, because that is that, that's me. Before I started the podcast, I was like, ok, god, it is for me, you got to show me a sign, I do something, because I don't want to just start something. You know, and it has lasted for like this is season 12. So I was like, ok, I know I'm from God. Yeah, yes, that is amazing, congratulations, thank you, thank you. I was sharing that with Ty, I think, a couple of seasons ago. Now I have people reaching out saying, hey, can we be on Coffee, chit, chat?
Speaker 3:I'm like, hey, that's how you know it's ordained for you to do what you're supposed to be doing. I've enjoyed watching your seasons transpiring on both, so I'm really proud of you, thank you so much.
Speaker 1:That means a whole lot. Ok, guys, social media can feel heavy sometimes. I know we all feel that. You know we're here promoting your business, yet you've turned into a space of light and encouragement. What's your secret to keeping it real, to being authentic? What's the secret it it real, to being authentic? What's?
Speaker 2:the secret? It's Siobhan and I'll answer that question. And yes, that's true that social media can be heavy, but for me, I use my platform to bring hope, to bring encouragement. You know, I've been through some tough seasons in my life and one of my platforms is surviving domestic violence. But I show you that you can survive, you can thrive and you can continue to live in purpose after the abuse. My platform is used to uplift people Even in the moments when you're just sitting in pain. I take my platform by faith.
Speaker 2:If you stay grounded in faith, faith will heal you. It will heal you. I just lost my mom a little over a month ago. I'm sorry to hear that. Thank you, and I want to share my testimony with people that you don't have to wallow in that pain, because an idle mind is the devil's playground and if you stay in that depression and in that dark space, that's where he's going to play. But if you uplift yourself in God's word and inspirational music anything that's uplifting it will change your mindset.
Speaker 2:So for me, I just keep posting happy things, even when I'm sad. Yeah, I'm truthful Like yeah, I'm sad today, but guess what? God woke me up this morning. He gave me another day to get it right. And it's my faith. Your faith will heal you. You have to know that your faith will heal you quickly if you trust them, and one of the scriptures that keep me is Psalms 143, 10. And it's teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your spirit is good and it leads me into the land of uprightness, which is uplifting. So we just have to take social media and make it uplifting. You see all the fighting and the catnips and all of that where elite bells of ATL come into play. We show you that we have fun, we inspire others and we don't have to curse and drink and club and twerk. No, no, no, no, no. We do business for the.
Speaker 4:Lord Okay.
Speaker 2:So that's what we're all about and that's what I use my platform to let you know that you don't have to stay in that dark place. Come on out that dark place and get into this light, the light of the. Lord Okay.
Speaker 1:Okay, I love that. Now, you guys I think I remember seeing yes, so you want to talk a little about I love that place, I'm there, but you guys want to talk a little bit about your experience there? Yes, sure, so we had been talking. First of all, it's six of us, right? So all of our schedules are crazy. Let's just say that all of us are super busy.
Speaker 1:You know, we're bosses, we're moms, we're wives, we have ministry, we have the elite bells, and it is so challenging for us to get a day in of absolutely do nothing without working, because, of course, even though we're filming and it's great, that's work. So we just kind of kept saying we got to do something, we got to go somewhere. And after I tricked them into going to the farm, I knew that this was going to have to be an amazing something. So we were just all kind of sitting around one day and kind of thinking of something to do and it was like you know what? Let's do a day trip to New York. So here we are now. We're ready to do a day trip to New York. So we have people like Siobhan who's going to say let's go, we have people like Tyronica that's going to say okay, what are we?
Speaker 1:a husband there. We have people like Regina's like, okay, I don't care if we go or not. We have people like Kinky who's saying, okay, I'll go if y'all go. And then we have people like April who needs 20,000 details in order for us to make this trip happen. So after all of those personalities got together and said yes, we decided that we were going to go and do a day trip. And when I say we had a ball, we had a ball. It was a lot of rain there that day.
Speaker 1:That's the part that people didn't get to see, so a lot of our content we didn't get to do, but we made the best of it. One of the most special moments for me was, long story short. They decided to surprise me, and one of the people, tyronica, know that I'm not really easily surprised because I'm always surprising somebody.
Speaker 1:So they decided to get together and do this little silly skit. That I didn't understand at the time and even when I was trying to do the skit I'm not trying to make this long, but even when I was trying to do the skit, even though it was Tyronica's skit, I'm still trying to be bossy, I'm still trying to tell them how to do the skit and I'm like April, you better be excited and you know.
Speaker 1:I'm just carrying on Like if we're going to do this we're going to do it right, because this kid don't make sense to me. But in the midst of that, they surprised me with a gift card and oh, I should have brought it down here. I don't know what I was thinking. It's on my dresser. Y'all don't even have it in my office, but this very nice heart with a puzzle in it are so important to me because that means somebody is thinking about you. So we did a couple of things. We had a lot of things planned we didn't get to do, but we did a couple of things. We had a ball and we are actually looking forward to our next trip, which you will see coming up soon that April is working on. So I know I took up a lot of time, but anybody else want to say something?
Speaker 3:I just want to know. You left yourself out. You talked about everybody else. You know who Tyronica wanted to know where to eat, and April wanted to know all the details, and then Tanisha who what?
Speaker 1:Yeah, who, what, who put it all together? Tyronica put the itinerary together, thank you. Thank you so much, but yes, we had a ball. And then, of course, I was able to surprise them, and that was a lot of work behind the scenes and in front of the scenes, but I was able to surprise them and we were on the billboard.
Speaker 3:So that was a blessing In Times.
Speaker 1:Square, In Times Square. That was so cool. I said they just having a ball.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes I love to see women. You, you know, you line it like that. We, just, like I said, you're spreading light and joy, because you never know who is behind that screen that me might have, you know, may need that light that you guys are shedding. Or you know some encouraging word that you guys are, even though it may be, uh, in a comical way, that helps people, you know, smile that day it does.
Speaker 1:And we also have one of our mishaps at this moment, probably our first one, and that's why I was turning around to show this extra shirt that I have, because April's name was spelled wrong on the shirt and for me it wasn't a big deal, it's just a name, no big deal.
Speaker 1:You know your name. But then that's when I got a chance to learn April but I can't get my words out. But I got a chance to learn April because for her that was a very big deal and I had to even learn to respect that, because what's not big for me doesn't mean that it's not big for somebody else. So we had a whole fallout at the airport and I'm like, girl, just wear the shirt, just be like I don't want to wear the shirt. And we got a lot of feedback on that particular piece of work from both sides, and it was good to see the view of both sides, because some people were like me, it's no big deal. Some people were like Tanisha is not your friend and she don't know how to spell your name, so we have all of that.
Speaker 1:So we have to take all of that. Maybe it was a mistake, but I get it, because a lot of people do not like when you spell their names wrong. So, paula, would you have wore the shirt? I probably would have, because I just wanted to wear the shirt and it's not your name if it's not spelled right.
Speaker 3:I just can't imagine her not having a problem with her name not being, because she's already now trying to correct us on saying her name. So, yeah, exactly. But that brings us back to, like, the relatability of it. That particular skit in particular was you know, it was so many comments and it was so many people who related to it and again, it was the way it was done. You know it was the way it was done. You know it wasn't. It was done in a you know, hey, I don't agree with this.
Speaker 3:And you know the interaction between tanisha and april was still clean and it was still, you know, um, you know you can show your disagreement and hey, I don't want to do that, but you can do it in a respectful way. So everything that brings drama doesn't have to be dramatized. You know what I'm saying I think that one was really good to show people that hey, okay, they the real deal, you know, they don't have to do all that nastiness in order to disagree respectfully.
Speaker 1:Therefore disagree, respectfully. And still come to judge mental right Come to judge mental.
Speaker 4:Do not require chaos.
Speaker 1:Therefore, yes, also sauce. So every entrepreneur has a keep it real moment. I think you guys might've just shared that I was going to say can you share a story when things didn't go as planned? How did that become a lesson or a blessing?
Speaker 4:So yeah, I was letting her finish, I'm sorry, oh no.
Speaker 1:No, I was going to say I'm sure that you know having that conversation can lead to this question, so we'll let Miss April talk and so I am.
Speaker 4:as the ladies have said, I'm one of those individuals who love details. I'm a writer, so I pay attention to the details. I love things that fall into place. It needs to be A, b, c, d, e. It cannot be F A, c, d, e or I go a little ballistic. That is why that situation with the spelling of the name was a lot for me, because I, when you don't spell my name properly, that is not my name at all and that's just how I was raised. April with an I is not who you are. It's April with a Y.
Speaker 4:So throughout this time with the elite bells and throughout business, it has been a lesson and a blessing for me to kind of remove some of those restrictions from my life, to do like okay, things are going another way, it's time for me to pivot. I'm actually in a pivot right now. In the middle of my business, I built a very successful seven figure sales writing agency that I'm now pivoting into AI software. So that's a lot. For me. It's different. I've been running my business as it was since 2011, but I'm learning to just be able to go with the flow and that is a blessing, because when you understand that things don't have to always stay the same to be successful. Things don't always have to stay the same to be right. Things don't always have to stay the same to be imperfectly perfect. Then you open yourself up to possibilities and opportunities, like joining an incredible group of women like this and just allowing yourself to be open to more opportunities because you're not forcing yourself to be so rigid and things to go as they are planned.
Speaker 1:Oh, that is awesome. I love to hear that. Go girl. Anybody else want to comment? I think April kind of summed it up. Yeah, I think she summed it up, and I think that we're all able to help each other, because I'll take April, for example we are day and night, but I love her organization, I love how she handles business. You know she loves that I'm funny and I'm hilarious, so we're able to, you know, feed off of each other with that, as well as some of the other ladies on here. And it goes back to your question about faith. It's only faith that can keep us together, because all of us on here are totally different. We're all totally different in our own way, but the faith of knowing that God has put this together is what's keeping us together, that's awesome I love it, and it just kind of brings us right on to our next question.
Speaker 1:Sisterhood seems to um feel everything that you guys are doing. How do you balance collaboration with the individual journeys that each of you are on, because I know that each, each one of you are on a different journey. How do you balance that collaboration?
Speaker 2:well for me, it's my outlet. I look forward to it because life be lifing, work your business and I don't have time to have fun. So when I get with the elite bells of ATL, we have fun together with our skits. And I told Tanisha when I first joined this is my outlet, because I get to laugh when I'm feeling down, I get to be around successful women that inspire me. Because when I first joined I'll be honest here, I'll be very transparent I was a little threatened. I was like I don't know if I fit in. You know I'm, you know I'm a little bugetto. Okay, I don't know if I fit in, but I'm just going to be me. And they welcomed me in, they loved on me and we all mesh well with our different personalities and I believe that we learn a little from each other as we the more we be together. I love it, it's my outlet, it's my fun, it's clean. I got a new sisterhood, they accept me as I am and I can't ask for nothing else.
Speaker 1:That is so awesome and it sounds like this group is helping you as much as you're probably helping another person that may be watching you guys. So that's great, awesome, awesome. So what advice would you give to women who want to learn something of their own, but maybe feel overwhelmed, or maybe they think you're underqualified? What advice would you give them? I think that's a great question for all of us. We're keeping it short. I'll go first. You still can. That is what I rock. That is what I represent through my nonprofit organization, brocan.
Speaker 1:Nothing is impossible. If you are still here, if you still have breath, you still have purpose. One of the young ladies that couldn't be on tonight, she's our one that's not into social media as much and through this outlet now she's posting videos and reels and she's doing skits and things like that, and I've known her forever. So even when she told me she wanted to, I was like you, sure, but seeing that to say it's never too late to start something new, you know. So don't be, don't focus on what it is that you see around you, don't focus on your past, don't focus on what it is that people are going to say. Just know that if you are still here, purpose Awesome.
Speaker 1:And we'll just kind of keep going who wants to be next? I think what's important is finding people that believe in what you believe in. You don't have to do business with everybody, because your business is not everybody's, and so when you find a tribe, you know, like Elite Bills of ATL, our number one goal is to support one another. We all are a collective, but we're all individuals too. So when you find people that believe in you, there's nothing that you can't do. So you have to be careful who you share your dreams and your goals with, because either it's going to you know, everything rises or falls based on who you're connected to that circle.
Speaker 2:Awesome, I was going to say I'm sorry, I just started calling names.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, go ahead April.
Speaker 4:So for me, it's definitely a real, recognized, real situation, and what I mean by that is your realness would attract, will attract people who are real to you.
Speaker 4:Y'all don't have to be like-minded, y'all don't have to feel the same way on different issues, you don't always have to agree, but when you're a real and you show your real personality on social media, off social media, you will attract other people who will be open to sharing their personality with you as well. I was walking through the grocery store the other day this is really short and someone just told me her whole entire life story, how she had to go home and she wasn't feeling well, her feet hurting. Instead of the third that comes with having a personality to show that you are open to other people, show that you have a heart, show that you're caring, show that you can feel other people's emotions. So when we're talking about sisterhood, that's what's important. You can be blue, purple, green, you could be from the west side, the east side, whatever, but that realness is what's going to unite people and keep you together Awesome.
Speaker 1:I know Ty has some good information for us.
Speaker 3:First, I was going to say April, were we in the same grocery store? Because this lady literally just did that to me yesterday while I was standing in the line at Publix to get a salad and I was like, oh okay, and she talked the entire time. But yeah, that is so true.
Speaker 3:I just want to say that the only one that can disqualify you is yourself. If it's inside of you, if you have an idea, if you have a thought, it's already ingrained within you the ability to do it. And so I'm hoping and my prayer for Elite Bells of ATL is that we again continue to inspire and show others that through trial, error, failure, success, peaks, valleys, whatever it is, you can overcome and accomplish anything, no matter at what age. You know, I like the fact that we are all beautifully seasoned women in this show that listen, we have fun, we can get down, we keep up with the trends and anything that it is that you have, that you want to achieve, you can do it. Don't disqualify yourself, because you're the only one that will be holding you back and keeping you from doing what it is that you want to pursue.
Speaker 1:That's great advice. Guys hear that chit-chatters Don't disqualify yourself.
Speaker 2:What I got to say is good friends, true friends, will accept you for who you are, right In the different seasons in your life. So be true to yourself, be who you are. So be true to yourself, be who you are and you'll know if you're in the right circle and God gave us women discernment, intuition and you'll know. So always make sure that you stay true to who you are and I believe if you're true to who you are, you will attract the same back to you. That's how I feel about that.
Speaker 1:Be true, be real, be authentic, be you. I love it. So, looking ahead, what's next for the elite bears of the ATL?
Speaker 2:Traveling.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Make sure you mute it.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, I said my whole thing. I said it again invite me and make sure you're muted.
Speaker 2:Oh my god, I said my whole thing.
Speaker 1:I said baby you will have to come and see invite me we can do that traveling coffee.
Speaker 1:I like that. Season two is on the way. I will say that we've just wrapped up our first amazing, successful season. Season two is on the way. I will say that we've just wrapped up our first amazing, successful season. Season two is on the way. One of the things that you will see is more of our individual personalities on this season. So be prepared for that, because it might be a little fun. Um, that's what I'm looking for fun and clashing is clashingashing a word. We might clash a little bit, okay, professional, okay respectful, but you're going to see some personalities in season two, but y'all going to keep it cute All right, we're going to keep it cute, y'all to keep it cute.
Speaker 1:We're too cute not to keep it cute. All right, beautiful Black queen, yes. So how can our listeners follow you guys, elite Bells of ATL, on all social media platforms, that is, youtube, tiktok, facebook and Instagram? Okay, and we'll make sure we put it on our Facebook and Instagram how they can follow you guys. Okay y'all. The quote of the week is every woman's success should be an inspiration to another. We are strongest when we cheer each other on, and that is by serena williams. Make sure you tune in next week for another exciting episode of coffee chit chat.
