The Confident Entrepreneur With Jennifer Ann Johnson
Jennifer is a multifaceted entrepreneur while also actively involved in her community. She owns True Fashionistas (Florida’s largest lifestyle resale store), CooiesCookies, Pink Farmhouse (online store), and Confident Entrepreneur, which encompasses her podcast, blog, motivational speaking, and coaching business for women entrepreneurs. Jennifer is an inspiration to other women business owners - showing it's possible to be successful in business while also making a difference and giving back to her community. Jennifer lives in Naples FL with her husband and twins.
The Confident Entrepreneur With Jennifer Ann Johnson
Building a Tribe, Not Just a Network with Dr. Elizabeth Stroot
Leading your business can be isolating—when there’s no one to share your thoughts with, it’s easy to feel alone at the top. Dr. Elizabeth Stroot, founder of Core Wellness and Physical Therapy, joins us to explore the power of building an entrepreneurial tribe.
With over 20 years in health and fitness, Elizabeth highlights how true sisterhood supports both wellbeing and success. She distinguishes between networking and tribe-building—where your tribe is a space of safety and authenticity, not just strategy.
The pandemic reshaped how we connect, prompting deeper intentionality. Elizabeth shares journaling tools to uncover what kind of support you truly need and offers moving stories, including her experience navigating a traumatic birth, to show how the right tribe shows up when it matters most.
Her advice for new entrepreneurs is clear: keep it real. Trust your gut and nurture the connections that feel genuine. This conversation offers grounded strategies for building a sisterhood that empowers, uplifts, and truly gets you.
Visit us at jenniferannjohnson.com and learn how Jennifer can help you build the life you dream of with her online academy, blog, one-on-one coaching, and a variety of other resources!
Picture this you're at the helm of your business, steering through choppy waters of decisions, challenges and triumphs. You look around and realize, man, it's pretty lonely up here. Does that sound familiar? Today we're tackling a topic that's rarely discussed but universally felt in the entrepreneurial world the isolation that comes with leadership and their critical need for sisterhood or a tribe at the top. Today we welcome into the studio Dr Elizabeth Stroot. Dr. Stroot is the founder of Core Wellness and Physical Therapy and she brings over 20 years of health and fitness expertise to her practice. With a doctorate in physical therapy, she specializes in orthopedic conditions, particularly neck and back, also headaches and pre and postnatal issues. Her commitment to holistic wellness extends to her personal life, prioritizing fitness, organic nutrition and family time, and she resides in the DC metro area.
Jennifer Johnson:We'll dive deep into the unique challenges that women entrepreneurs face as they climb the ladder of success. We'll explore why building a strong network of like-minded women isn't just a nice to have. It's essential for your personal sanity and your business growth. From finding your first entrepreneurial bestie to cultivating a powerful circle of industry leaders, we'll map out strategies for building your tribe at every stage of your journey. We'll discuss how to overcome the competitive mindset, the art of vulnerable leadership and the power of collective wisdom. Whether you're a solopreneur feeling the weight of isolation or a seasoned CEO looking to strengthen your support network, this episode is your roadmap to building a sisterhood that will uplift, challenge and champion you. Let's dive in Welcome.
Elizabeth Stroot:Thank you. I'm so excited to be here with you.
Jennifer Johnson:I am too because the topic of tribe building has been on my mind for a long time and again, it's something that we don't often talk about. We know we have to be in the right circles and everything, but really is it defined for any of us?
Elizabeth Stroot:Yeah, it isn't, and truly I think it's an ever-evolving concept. I might have a definition of what that means in this season, but I guarantee you, in a month, three, six, a year, my needs are going to change and the needs of the people that are in my tribe are going to shift, and so the dynamic is it's ever evolving.
Jennifer Johnson:It is Now. Do you have a time in your entrepreneurial journey that you felt like this, that you just felt isolated, you felt alone, that you felt like this, that you just felt isolated, you felt alone.
Elizabeth Stroot:Yes, I think it happens quite often. Actually, I think particularly when you are navigating the day-to-day needs of a brick and mortar business. You're forward-facing with patients, both in a clinician's role but also in an administrative role. You're navigating relationships with your peers, with your fellow clinicians, so there's a lot of giving of yourself Right, and there's a moment that just sort of you know it washes over you and you think I'm really in this alone. You know there's no one in this moment that I can just transfer all of my thoughts and feelings to, and they can sort of take the helm Right and steer my boat for a while, and so the best option is to build those relationships with other like-minded or similar seasons women.
Jennifer Johnson:Very true Similar seasons because so many people are at different areas of their journey in entrepreneurship.
Elizabeth Stroot:Exactly so, I would say, even before I had my children who were about to be four and six, it was a very different dynamic of the women I was wanting to be around to, like you know, play ideas off of and just offer support, because they could relate to navigating the busyness of the schedule and being pulled in different directions. And then you add motherhood and it's that's changes everything.
Jennifer Johnson:It really does everything it does. At what point did you really make the realization that you needed to have a tribe?
Elizabeth Stroot:Absolutely in 2020. I think by virtue of. I was pregnant in early 2020. My father was diagnosed with cancer. All the impact of the pandemic around the world super isolating when you're used to being around people all the time and all of a sudden everything kind of comes into this very narrowed group of people, limited time with one another because we want to get back to our safe space. All of that. That's when I felt like I needed to consciously make the connections more impactful, not just like have people on speed dial and people I text, but dedicated time to be with particular women.
Jennifer Johnson:And our world definitely got smaller during that period. Like you say, like everything kind of just. You know, you were just around a very small group of people whether it's who you worked with or it was your family and that even made it more polarizing, I feel like.
Elizabeth Stroot:Absolutely, absolutely. It became clear how individuals' boundaries were important to to know and acknowledge and respect them. But then it also perhaps wasn't what you needed at that time. So let's say I have a girlfriend who you know, her, she and her family, they left the area, they went to another state for a good chunk of that year. Well, that means she wasn't in proximity for me to have access to her and and that that bond was different. Of course it would be. Yeah, so it just. It just challenged, um, what had become the norm, and we got more creative. We started using apps like Marco Polo or we used the audio feature on text instead of just putting letters to the screen. It just evolved?
Jennifer Johnson:You're right, it evolved and it changed all of us. Yes, it certainly did. Now you mentioned something about I think you said the word network or something of that nature. How do you differentiate your true sisterhood or your true tribe of your entrepreneurs and I guess it doesn't just need to be entrepreneurs but how do you determine that in relation to the, I guess, differentiate between a network of people and a tribe, because I think they're two different things. A network, I would agree.
Elizabeth Stroot:I agree. So the network I think of, there are not just personal benefits of those connections. There are usually business benefits. There are connections that can be made that benefit someone's professional growth.
Elizabeth Stroot:Mm-hmm the tribe. The tribe just, it feels yummy, it feels safe. You can be your most authentic self. You don't hold back certain elements of yourself. And a tribe, also in my mind, doesn't have to be like, oh, I've got this core four group of women right. It can be my tribe with this person and this person and this person, but I know who. My tribe is Right Versus the network doesn't have that same intimacy to me. It's still very personal. It can even be intimate from the standpoint of we're vulnerable on a business level with each other or even in a community level, but this is like the heart is in the tribe.
Elizabeth Stroot:I was actually telling yeah, it just that's where the sisterhood vibe really starts to come alive for me. I was talking to one of my core people just the other day about how I had been asked to go to the gym by a dear friend of mine. She wants to come work out with me. Wonderful Years ago I would have been like that is so great, like, yes, let's go do that in this season, right now. That is my sanctuary space where I need to decompress and it's not a time when I want to be talking or connecting. I need to decompress and it's not an. It's not a time when I want to be talking or connecting. I need to be resetting myself.
Elizabeth Stroot:The woman that I was sharing this story with if she had asked me to work out, it would have been a no brainer because she's part, she's part, she's part of the tribe. That, yes, because it doesn't feel like I hate to say it doesn't feel like work, but it feels easy and it feels like there's just as much of an opportunity to give and pour into her as there is to receive her pouring into me. You don't have to entertain her Not at all, it's natural. You don't have to. And it's not work. You don't have to entertain her. Not at all. It's natural you don't have to. And it's not work you don't have to entertain. That's a perfect way to think about it.
Jennifer Johnson:But I love how, how you put it. It also is like and I know this is going to sound weird like a, like a warm, snuggly blanket, a tribe. Yes, yes, you know it's yummy, it's whatever. Yes, yes, you know it's yummy, it's whatever. It's like, you know you're blanketed in that feeling that you want to feel and be around those people.
Elizabeth Stroot:Yes, yes, as you were saying that I also. There's also this counterpoint of you know, that opening scene of Wonder Woman or all the Amazonian women. Okay, so, in the beginning, there are all these women that are incredibly fit. They're in their like battle gear. That is also a tribe and an element of how I think about the tribe. These are also the women that, like, when stuff is hard, they're ready to rally, they're ready to tell you the hard truth when no one else is gonna tell you the hard truth, when no one else is going to tell you the hard truth. That, like you know, you got to pay attention to this, cause I see you kind of spinning out. They can just be very real with you so snugly but also firm, cause it all comes from a place of love and admiration for each other. Tough love, tough love. We need it sometimes.
Jennifer Johnson:We do and we don't realize it all the time. I was literally having this conversation with somebody because I was in a spot where I felt like I knew what direction I needed to go but I was letting something hold me back. But I didn't really realize I was letting something or someone hold me back, but somebody else saw that in me and called me out on it and again it was part of my tribe.
Elizabeth Stroot:Yeah.
Jennifer Johnson:And when they called me out on it, I went. When sometimes, when you say something, you can be thinking it in your head and it makes sense. Yes, you verbalize it to somebody who's in your tribe. They poke holes in it and go repeat that. Do you know how silly that sounds? And that's an aha moment.
Elizabeth Stroot:Yeah, yeah. And how did you feel in that moment receiving it from that person.
Jennifer Johnson:Validated.
Elizabeth Stroot:Beautiful.
Jennifer Johnson:Because ultimately, at the end of the day, we're all human. We want validation and we do get that from our tribe. Yeah, yeah, we just want to know that we're seen, we're heard, we're understood. And that's what I think that does for us. Now, how did you go about, or how would you suggest someone who doesn't really know do I have a tribe? How do I know if I have a tribe or no? I don't have a tribe. How do I find a tribe? How do I know if I have a tribe or no?
Elizabeth Stroot:I don't have a tribe. How do I find a tribe? I'm a big fan of journaling. I'm a big fan of putting your thoughts and feelings down on paper. As a way to explore that, I think if we just have the self-talk going or we kind of have somewhat loose conversations with people about like well, how do you define that? What does that look like? Do you feel like to you?
Elizabeth Stroot:We oftentimes cherry pick other people's idea of tribe and then make our own little you know puzzle of it, but that's not necessarily a genuine reflection of what it is. We need Such a good point. So it's like and this is where social media can be great we can cherry pick ideas and that's lovely. But just because you see another person that maybe you identify with, you're like she's my people and like she does this, so that probably is going to work for me. We might be missing an opportunity to really dive into what the best version of ourselves would want. So I like the idea of thinking about ourselves six months, one year, five years down the road. And I do this two ways. Either we're looking at her, that version of ourselves, and saying what does her tribe look like? Like what has she's been working on this. What? What was important to her? Is she doubling down on family time? Is she doubling down with, you know, this group or that group, her book club, her Whatever makes sense, and writing down some of the attributes. What is it that I bring to a tribe, what are strengths, what are gifts, what are some unique abilities I have that I would like to bring to other people? So, acts of service, being of service to other people, and then what is it that I could really benefit from receiving and what kind of dynamic would be necessary for me to feel like I am giving and I feel safe to receive and I can play into this nice symbiotic dancey thing that we need to do in the moment, thing that we need to do in the moment, the other, the other fun journaling exercise for me is having that distant version of ourselves Send us a postcard. Yes, and you, you know you, you visualize, you're writing down.
Elizabeth Stroot:Oh, I went to my mailbox and I took the, the. You know the handful out, and on top was this postcard from the. You know the handful out and on top was this postcard from, and you see the picture and what the picture looks like. For me, it's always Italy, it's something, it's something European, and it's like hey Elizabeth, it's like I'm here's what I'm doing, here's what I smell, what I see what. Maybe I just tasted here's who I'm with, see what. Maybe I just tasted here's who I'm with. And for this topic, it could be remember when you were thinking about what kind of tribe would really suit you and you would like to be a part of. Yes, here's what that looked like. And so we're, we're kind of changing how we go at it and I think you get two different answers. But how beautiful is that? Now you have an even bigger net to cast.
Jennifer Johnson:Right.
Elizabeth Stroot:So that, as you're moving about the world, you can say, hey, that does resonate with this idea. I should maybe spend more time in that book club. I really like those women, even though we don't talk about the book, Right.
Jennifer Johnson:And I love what you said. I mean, it's all beautiful what you said, because so many times we do look at the comparison stuff. We look at social media, for example, and we see people in different parts of their lives not necessarily our part that we're at in our lives with their tribe and, like you said, cherry pick, basically regurgitate what they're doing and going oh I like this person what they're doing, this person with their, so on and so forth, but it's not serving us because that's not what we necessarily need. We think we do because we saw it need.
Elizabeth Stroot:We think we do because we saw it. But journaling, yeah, and to your point, like it is what we, what we, we need it, like we need to be validated and seen, and I think it's a testament to how disconnected we all can feel at any given moment, that we like we want it, we want it so bad, we want it now. We want to give it all hit and they're like give it all of it, all of it, and I feel like that just makes us keep spinning our wheels, as opposed to like just be marinated in a little bit marinated, reflected. How do I, how do I feel when I'm with so-and-so where? Who am I with when I feel the most comfortable and confident? And whatever, pick and confident and pick your descriptors, right, right, who am I with? What am I doing? How do I get more of that?
Jennifer Johnson:So an interesting little part of this is, as women a lot, and not just women in nature competitiveness, because women can be very competitive. Not saying that guys can't because they can, but sometimes women can be extremely competitive. How do you, let's say, someone's in your tribe and they start becoming something that you're not about and you're not interested in? How do you navigate something like that?
Elizabeth Stroot:Such an important question. Such an important question. Such an important question. In most instances, I'm more competitive with myself than I am with other women In business. I am a firm believer there is enough to go around for everybody, and I love the fact that I am not everybody's cup of tea. Yes, and for the people where we do have that jive and that whatever, whether it's a client, a patient, a friend we can just keep it moving. And, like you know, I want, I really want the. I want the best for everybody.
Elizabeth Stroot:If it's someone in the inner tribe, I usually have to check myself first. Right, it's not so much that like I don't like what they're doing or like, oh, she's doing that I need to distance myself. It's like, hang on, why am I having that reaction? Hmm, why is that rubbing me the wrong way? Or like, why did that make my ears perk up? And now I'm looking at her differently.
Elizabeth Stroot:I need to check myself first and once I've done that, there's usually a very clear answer. It usually has everything to do with me and nothing to do with her, especially if it is a woman in my like. That is like a soul sistery tribe type. Um, the other potential there is that maybe it's time for our season to take a little bit of a hiatus relative to that part of life, because that's okay too, right? Yeah, I mean my high school girlfriends. It's amazing to me that, like my closest high school girlfriends, I mean thank god for Facebook or I would have no idea where they are, but it has been interesting to have relationships evolve with other girls I knew in high school also thanks to social media and all these other things, that we now use Marco Polo messaging once or twice a week. So you just don't know when the seasons are going to change.
Jennifer Johnson:And I wholeheartedly agree with that, because there are people from high school that were a year ahead of me or behind me that I never hung out with, never even thought about. And then you do see him on Facebook and you make a connection and all of a sudden you know those two years or that year in high school was huge.
Elizabeth Stroot:Now, as we're older, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, and, and it and it, I think for women, I've always thought that it was very natural to be tribal with other women. Now, I went to an all girls school from preschool to senior year, so, like, maybe it's kind of conditioned into me also. But you know you, you find a resonant point in another woman and you're like yes, like our tribe has this kind of this, what should we call? It's like a, like a radius around it, like we've got our, we've got the friends that are in like this orbit and then the next orbit in, and then another, and then there's like. Then there's the like the nucleus, yes, yes, exactly. But and it is fun to make these connections with people that you're like wow, when we were 18, I mean you were cool and all but like now you are, now, you're all that we're sharing recipes.
Elizabeth Stroot:we're sharing playlists, yeah.
Jennifer Johnson:Have you had a time where your tribe or maybe it's ongoing that your tribe has really changed your business or had a direct impact on your business?
Elizabeth Stroot:Yes, I immediately think of the tribe of women that work in my practice. When my when my daughter Zoe was born, I had a somewhat traumatic birth and she was in children's hospital for a two week period of time. And when you, when you are running a business as an individual, you don't have business partners, you don't have a whole crew of management. I was fortunate enough to not have to have the worry of what's going to happen while I am, heart and soul, over here with my baby as she's trying to survive. Over here with my baby as she's trying to survive, and I I really believe it's because of the rapport and relationship that I built with them leading up to her birth that it was. It was automatic that they. They just jumped on it. They were equal parts concerned with me and her and my husband as they were, for we just were at the Clinton. We're making everything flow. I didn't worry for a second. That was my heart's getting goosebumps just thinking about that.
Jennifer Johnson:It's beautiful that it works like that. It's beautiful when you can create that on the front end, knowing that you have this tribe and you don't have to worry. I mean, I went through something similar when my husband was in the hospital, didn't?
Elizabeth Stroot:worry.
Jennifer Johnson:Because I had a tribe. It's my work tribe. Yes, you know it's different than my friend's tribe, but they actually genuinely cared and it it makes the rest of your life easier.
Elizabeth Stroot:Absolutely and and feeling in it together about something, whether it's work or it can be a variety of other things. I think that puts an ease and a and an element of grace on the heart of the entrepreneur, of the business owner.
Jennifer Johnson:Absolutely.
Elizabeth Stroot:Everything's going to be okay.
Jennifer Johnson:Right, I can hear it. I can hear that song.
Elizabeth Stroot:Exactly.
Jennifer Johnson:What would you suggest to entrepreneurs who are just entering their journey about tribe building?
Elizabeth Stroot:Keep it real. Keep it real, like, be true to yourself. You know, sometimes I think we're told we should leverage connections and relationships with certain people because someone else sees the benefit. You know, maybe a you know, a friend or a mentor is like, you know you really should connect with so-and-so because they blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. If that feels right, cool, take the hot tip and run with it.
Elizabeth Stroot:But if you're not spending time in self-reflection to be like, am I still being true to like my, my mission and my why of why I'm starting this business or why I'm writing this book or why I'm doing this podcast, I, I think it can very subtly take you off target and off track over time and it and it's slow and it doesn't feel like it should be a whole lot, or maybe we justify that it's not such a big deal. But I think you have to keep it real with yourself and connect with people that from the beginning, there's this resonance. You feel there's this resonance. You feel it Like, I think, trusting your gut, fortifying that that connection, yes, it, it has not steered me wrong. I mean I'm, I'm also a woman of faith. I, I think there's um, you have to build those muscles.
Elizabeth Stroot:I love that Of trust, of trusting yourself, and the more you do it, the easier it becomes. And I'm doing it just because someone else told you to or you know that was their business model. So I should connect with that person and just use that playbook. It's not people are going to know, people are going to sense that like and in her playbook she it feels like a franchise. There you go and they can be successful. And if that like gets it done for you, do it. That's great, that's great. But if you are someone that feels very um, heart driven, purpose-filled, passionate and, like you, you know what you want to do and you have to create it. So it feels like a bigger hurdle. Maybe you really have to stay. You have to stay dialed in so that you just stay the course and it grows authentically.
Jennifer Johnson:I think that's really great advice, Definitely great advice. I have so enjoyed our conversation today. I feel like you're my sister from another mister Is that or a mom?
Elizabeth Stroot:Yeah, totally, totally. What is that?
Jennifer Johnson:saying it is that there's just a connection.
Elizabeth Stroot:Yes. So, yes, see, we have a tribe now we have our own little tribe.
Jennifer Johnson:It's our tribe. I so appreciate you being on. If our listeners would like to get a hold of you, how can they do so?
Elizabeth Stroot:They can go to corewellnessleadershipcom, and you can find all the different ways to connect with me on social media or send me an email. I would be very excited to hear from anybody that wants to continue this conversation or start another.
Jennifer Johnson:Fabulous. Thank you again, thank you.
