Cut The Tie | Success on Your Terms
1st - Define your success on your terms.
2nd - "Cut The Tie" to whatever is keeping you from that success
Cut The Tie is not just a podcast; it's a movement. Hosted by Thomas Helfrich, this highly impactful show features short-form interviews with remarkable individuals who share how they redefined success by boldly cutting ties with fear, doubt, bad habits, toxic environments, and limiting beliefs. You'll hear exactly what they cut, how they did it, what it felt like, and how their lives — and the lives of those around them — changed forever.
Each episode is inspirational, motivational, and — most importantly — actionable. You'll gain real strategies and mindset shifts you can immediately apply to your own life and career.
Plus, every day, Thomas drops solo short-form episodes designed to fire you up, challenge your thinking, and remind you that the only thing standing between you and your potential... is the tie you need to cut.
Join our free community at facebook.com/groups/cutthetie to connect with others on the same journey, and subscribe to our growing YouTube channel with over 1 million subscribers at youtube.com/@cutthetie.
Own your success.
Cut the tie.
Change your life.
Cut The Tie | Success on Your Terms
“I’m Done Being Shy”—Why Averi Drummer is Owning Her Voice and Vision for the Future
Cut The Tie Podcast
Episode 272
What if your personal story—full of family, faith, neurodivergence, and creativity—was your greatest business advantage? In this episode of Cut the Tie, Thomas Helfrich sits down with Averi Drummer (aka Siena Averi Feruzi), a womanist author, coach, and special education advocate who is building a life and business on her own terms.
From Spelman College to poetry, coaching, and special ed classrooms, Averi shares how cutting ties with perfectionism and self-doubt opened the door to confidence, creative ambition, and the launch of her new Bag Lady Financial Wellness coaching series. If you’ve ever waited to feel “qualified” before taking action, this episode is for you.
About Averi Drummer:
Averi Drummer is a Christian womanist author, coach, special education assistant, and founder of the Bag Lady Financial Wellness series. A graduate of Spelman College and the eldest sibling in a neurodiverse family, Averi brings lived experience, compassion, and creativity into everything she does. Whether she’s helping women with special needs families navigate identity or coaching aspiring creatives toward confidence, her mission is clear: to uplift others by using her voice and platform for change.
In this episode, Thomas and Averi discuss:
- Cutting ties with perfectionism and imposter syndrome
Averi shares how she overcame the belief that she needed years of experience or accolades before she could coach or create. - Building a purpose-driven business from scratch
From nonprofit roots to affiliate marketing, Averi walks through her journey to financial freedom and creative leadership. - Representing neurodivergent and Black women in business
Averi opens up about growing up in a neurodivergent household and how Spelman College reshaped her identity and mission. - Manifesting abundance through mindset and community
Affirmations, coaching programs, and spiritual practices have played a vital role in Averi’s entrepreneurial path. - Launching books, building confidence, and helping others grow
With novels, poetry, and coaching on the horizon, Averi is designing a future that empowers both herself and her community.
Key Takeaways:
- You don’t need permission to start.
Stop waiting for credentials or approval. Start where you are—with what you have. - Perfectionism is a trap.
It's a form of procrastination rooted in fear. Action beats overthinking, every time. - Representation matters.
Being a neurodivergent Black woman in business is a powerful act of leadership in itself. - Coaching is about connection.
You don’t have to be “perfect” to help someone else grow—you just need to show up authentically. - You are the brand.
Whether you’re writing poetry or building a movement, your voice and lived experience are your biggest assets.
Connect with Averi Drummer:
🌐 Website: siennavferuzi.gumroad.com
📧 Email: sienna.v.feruzi@gmail.com
Connect with Thomas Helfrich:
🐦 Twitter: @thelfrich
📘 Facebook: Cut the Tie Group
💼 LinkedIn: Thomas Helfrich
🌐 Website: www.cutthetie.com
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀 Instantl
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Welcome to Cut the Tie podcast. I'm your host, thomas Helfrich. I'm on a mission to help you cut the tie to whatever it is holding you back, so you can become the best version of yourself and maybe just become the best entrepreneur you can become. And our mission here is found through listening to guests on their missions, of what they've done and how they've gotten through it. And today I'm joined by Sienna Avery-Ferruzzi. You're the longest, coolest name I think we've ever had in the show, sienna. Thank you so much for joining. Why don't you take a moment introduce yourself and tell us what you do and a little bit about who you are?
Speaker 2:Okay, it's good to be here. I'm a Christian, published womanist, author, coach, creator and educator, and I like standing up for ethnic women and children with special needs rights.
Speaker 1:Well, and tell me a little bit more, like, get into that a bit. How did you develop the passion for that, Like you know? How did you become the person you are from that journey?
Speaker 2:I help teach special ed right now. I'm the oldest of four and all of us are neurodivergent and my brother has Down syndrome, one of my sisters has autism and we all have a different perspective on things. My sister and I have ADHD and I went to Spelman College. It's kind of a family school for us. It's in Atlanta, georgia, and it's a women's HBCU, so it's a historically Black college. It's the top HBCU in the country and, after going to a mostly white high school and being around a lot of Eurocentric ideas, it was very eye-opening and very supportive going to Spelman because there was a lot of Black beauty and Black pride campaigning and education going around. So it helped me like have a better understanding of how diverse and talented and amazing Black people and Black women are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and at least in the U S right, for for many, many, many, many years no one knew that. And right, and and his in the recency of history it's only still pretty recent, so by you know, it's a great school it's I mean, I'm in Atlanta here. It's a fantastic place to give opportunity, potentially where it wouldn't have been otherwise. I'd say it that way way because it's it's has a focus for who it's promoting and who should be participating, and I think that's I love that stuff where you see opportunity actually create itself and and people have created this or any other opportunity. So in your world, like you said, you teach special needs. You have a book. Tell me why people maybe work with you, or, and do you work with people privately? Or tell me kind of how your, maybe your side, hustle your business or just what you do every day works okay.
Speaker 2:So every day I'm a full-time teacher's assistant, um, and when I'm at home I write and learn a lot more about business and I'm improving my pretty new website and I've started teaching some individuals more about writing and how it can help them impact their resume or brand and overall brand and identity. And I've worked a lot with different nonprofits growing up and I want to apply that here. I want to start working soon with different companies and nonprofits, especially if they're involved in helping women, especially women who have special needs, family or kids.
Speaker 1:Who are you going to be five years from now?
Speaker 2:Five years from now. Five years from now. Five years from now. I want to be a much more well-known author and coach and I want to have a lot more time freedom and be able to work more with different organizations and have commemorated several different organizations with magazines or books each year, several different organizations with magazines or books each year. And I want to have more poetry books and my first novel or novella out, because I'm working on a novel that's going to be sci-fi and related to like aliens and a novel that's going to be about Black people in the near future getting reparations and like the drama between them and their families and different white people and their families and communities you know I love is the wizard of oz and the metaphors of color and being different in the show it would.
Speaker 1:they made it so well done in such a poor way. I really did, I knew I just we can go down that path if you like, but in a 15 minute podcast. I want to come back to something first. We'll do that one offline and people have to pay extra to hear that. But I have a question for you. In your journey through school, what was, or just today? And I always ask this question like this where go back to any time in your journey here. What tie did you have to cut? What was the one you identified that I've got to start doing this or stop doing that? Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:That's what I wrote down. So I've learned I need to cut ties with the idea that I have to have different accolades or years and years and ages of research to be qualified enough. I've already done plenty of research over time and I need to just step out on faith. It's still a work in progress, though. Step out on faith. It's still a work in progress, though.
Speaker 2:That's why almost every morning now I'm doing more affirmations related to my health and like money manifestation and abundance, and I'm listening more to different coaches on YouTube and Spotify and different websites related to that, because I know like since early childhood, I've had like negative, automatic thoughts that can still, like affect the way I look at money or business and things today. So that's why now I'm creating the series the Bag Lady Financial Wellness ebook series and starting to do the coaching and helping raise awareness on different issues, and I recently joined Amoya Shante's affiliate program as well, since she's a money manifestation coach I've been following for several years for several years and you can gain access to her three different new academy programs through my link, which I can send to you.
Speaker 1:Nora, I like affiliate marketing. You got to make money. I like it, you got to do it. I mean, listen, one thing you talked about in the future is what you want to become. What was missing from that is you want to be financially free. You want to be able to have work option as you see it, not as someone tells you. You have to report up, and I think that was like an underlying vision was you want to be successful enough on your own to have the freedom to create what you want to Free. That's a big piece. You got to make enough money to get there.
Speaker 1:So it sounds like today you're already doing that. You're like thinking okay, I need to get some abundance mindset. I need to change my thinking. I need to surround myself with individuals who know how to think like this and be like this. Uh, even you just come into the podcast. So you got. I want to start promoting myself and getting comfortable talking about what I want to be, and that manifests once you talk about it. So I love, I love, I like what you're doing a lot and I love the fact that you've taken the initial steps. A lot of people miss. They focus on the altruistic and forget you do make money along the way. What was your moment? I always ask the question like what's the aha moment? When you're like, yeah, I don't want to be working as a teacher's assistant five years from now. I want to. I want to get in and be me and be known as an author, a successful author that makes money, want to get in and be me and be known as an author, a successful author that makes money.
Speaker 2:I think it's just been a progression. I mean, I grew up already being very inspired by different authors like Octavia E Butler and Maya Angelou, but the last few years I've been listening more to different podcasts and successful creators and they're always saying it's okay to start kind of in a mess and start without having a dozen different qualifications, as long as you start putting yourself out there and have a team or mentors to guide you. You can figure out along the way, which has helped me because I'm still trying to get rid of like the perfectionism and realizing like it's okay to not have it all perfect and together when I'm starting out.
Speaker 1:There was. I'll give you a moment of perfectionism, and perfectionism is a form of procrastination which is tied to these fear excuse cycles of life where you make a fear. You're like, oh, it's gotta be perfect for I will. But there really is. You're afraid of something. There's someone judging you. You're afraid of whatever it is. There's math that's funny and ancillary to this that exists. The math is the Schwartz child ratio and if you look it up, it is the math that determines the event horizon of a black hole. It says, hey, now you're in the black hole and the closer you get to that is analogous to the closer you are to being a perfectionist. And the problem is, once you enter the black hole, no one can save you. It slows down and it's endless time. You'll never get out. So avoid going inside the black hole and avoid it at all costs, because there's no coming back, no one coming back, no one can save you.
Speaker 2:I didn't know.
Speaker 1:Okay, it's Neil Degrassi Tyson. I think was the, was the lead nerd in charge of getting me to think through that one a little bit. But you should look him up. He's amazing and he's coming to Atlanta to speak on science. He's one of the best speakers in the world. He's going to be the Fox heater. I recommend it. I don't an affiliate link, but I should because he's awesome. All right, um, he's a science guy, he's a nerd. Um, yes, hope you know him. I mean he's pretty cool. Hey, so what's been the impact? Since you kind of realize in your moment you see the tie you needed to cut, the perfectionism, you know other things that the path you wanted to go, what's been the impact in your life, your business, your family, your relationships? Describe it.
Speaker 2:I think it's allowed me to do more networking and outreach and I think that's helped set an example for my siblings and cousins, because they're doing more outreach over time and I'm trying to just grow my website and podcast of each out here that's the impact.
Speaker 1:Like is the impact? Then let me ask you differently and then re-answer places, the impact being more like I've had more clarity, more purpose, um, less stress, like you know, you've like, I want to so think about someone listening to this, who's like, who's like you. You're trying to help tell them what it did for you, what it freed for them, for you for taking the steps you've. I want to so think about someone listening to this, who's like who's like you. You're trying to help Tell them what it did for you, what it freed for them, for you for taking the steps you've taken to improve who you are and where you're going. So let me I'll ask the question again what's the impact been since identifying, you know, the tie and having that moment? What's been the impact of the work you've done to improve yourself?
Speaker 2:to improve yourself. Oh, I think it's definitely been. I've become wiser and more confident in what I have to offer and who I am, how I identify as an artist and a leader. So it's given me the chance to take on more leadership and to network better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're finding success. It sounds like you're taking the first steps of finding success. The success doesn't happen. You got to build it through a network. You got to build it through knowledge and people and execution, and I won't call them failures, but learnings. You know, that's how you do it. Okay, let's do some rapid fire questions, but first I want you to give advice to someone who's like you in as many ways as possible. You'd like it to be, but someone listening to this, who's five years ago. They're basically you. They are where you are now. What advice would you give?
Speaker 2:them. Don't be afraid to ask all types of questions, like there's no dumb question, and try to talk one-on-one with different influencers as much as you can, whether it's in the chats or with Zoom. If you can get a Zoom or phone call a couple times at least with the main influencers you look up to, that can give you a lot more guidance and clarity on some things that's really good, I just timely yeah, just pretty, pretty consistently, and things will come around.
Speaker 2:Some things take longer than you'd expect, but they will come around you can't lose sight of it can't be aimless rapid fire.
Speaker 1:Are you ready?
Speaker 2:okay, yes, all right who gives you inspiration oh gosh, oh, so many people, um, I would say, the main ones right now are amoya shantae ashley, shepherd with shut publishing, and portia mystique steel, who also is um a writer and speaker and creator. You strive to be like them yes, they're very wise, but still like down to earth about their business savvy and their creativity, and they've had a lot of outreach on youtube, facebook and different platforms.
Speaker 1:So, yes, I'm trying to get to be more like them just be like them, because, remember, they're already taken, so you only can be yourself. Yeah, definitely. What's the best advice you've ever received?
Speaker 2:Okay, I would say the best advice I've gotten in a while has been to start big with who and what you reach out to for funding. But start small with your niche before you start to um spread out and grow it. You want to get pretty defined with your niche I agree with that.
Speaker 1:Definitely, definitely. Don't own a space so you can prove a model. That's, that's, very good advice. Who gave that to you, by the way? Oh, thank you who gave you that advice?
Speaker 2:oh, um, it's been multiple influencers, I think, um, it's been l. It's been a couple of my mentors yeah, I'll have to give that to you, but it's been multiple podcasters and creators that have been in this live and online.
Speaker 1:Good, you bind to the influencer. I like that. You listen, you read, you consume a lot of information, so which book do you think is a must read for an entrepreneur?
Speaker 2:10X is easier than 2X by Dr Benjamin Hardy. I'm finishing reading it right now and it's really good.
Speaker 1:What's the, what's the main thing you got from from that book?
Speaker 2:Oh, I mean, he just says it again and again, he just rephrases it that 10x is going to get you to where you want to be quicker and more efficiently than trying to hustle and work your butt off, like doing it only at like one and a half or two times the size or speed. If you find different tools and leaders who are able to get you to 10x or 100x it, you're going to reach your goals a lot more quickly and easily.
Speaker 1:I haven't read that one. I will put that on my list of people to listen to. Do you have technology right now?
Speaker 2:Do I have technology I rely on?
Speaker 1:Or your favorite one. What is your favorite technology?
Speaker 2:Honestly, I just I use my phone. I use a combination of Google, youtube, what Zoom, spotify and Cloud. My AI has been Claude lately. I'll go there to answer all types of questions about relationships and different advertising or business steps I need to take. That's good.
Speaker 1:I like that. If you had to start over today, any time period, you pick the time period what would you do differently?
Speaker 2:If I started over, I would learn how to reach out to people more in my own unique ways and how to better heal from and manage that ADHD and talk one-on-one more often early with influencers and mentors instead of being shy and waiting in the shadows, and I would look into more investors and funding opportunities earlier on.
Speaker 1:If there was one question I should have asked you today, but I didn't. What would that question have been and how would you answer it?
Speaker 2:Why do I want to do coaching along with the writing? I guess?
Speaker 1:That's a good one. Why would you want to do?
Speaker 2:both I enjoy also encouraging people and helping them grow, and I want to improve my networking and time one-on-one and with groups of people.
Speaker 1:I have a follow-up question.
Speaker 2:Why aliens? Why not? Oh, I haven't really done sci-fi before, but I I like watching some sci-fi movies and reading some of the books. Um, yeah, I love octavia e butler and I was like, okay, I want to do something like her, but not not exactly the same yeah, you can't because she's taken. Yeah, she's taken and from what I've seen, she writes more so from a historic and slavery perspective, and I don't want to focus necessarily on the days when we were enslaved. I want to talk about today and the future more often.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, tying a historical piece to a fictional novel helps make it seem real right and it helps ground it's. You know, it helps create a grounding of it. My final question, maybe before we do a shameless plug for you, is do you think we came from mars?
Speaker 2:oh no, you never know we could have come from mars as bacteria oh no, no we came from here.
Speaker 1:You never know, we could have come from Mars as bacteria. Like you know, mars had water blowing, probably, and then I'm a fear. Maybe we're like oh, we got to get off this Plants dying and they said we'll just shoot the bacteria and see what happens. Shot it over Landed here, take out those dinosaurs later. It's probably not not gonna make the final cut. Just be fair, all right, shameless plug for you how, who should get a hold of you and how should they do that?
Speaker 2:okay, um, I would say um, young ethnic women who enjoy learning from different perspectives and reading poetry should check out my website or reach out to me. My email is siennavferuzzi at Gmail, sienna with two N's and Feruzzi's F-E-R-U-Z-I and any organizations that like supporting causes for ethnic women in need, especially women or family of those with special needs. I would love to do a collaboration or create a book or artistic project with them, and I have some links and my website here I can text or email to you. My main website now is on Gumroad. It's siennavferuzzigumroadcom.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Sienna. Thank you for joining today. I appreciate it. I loved it.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Do you want my complimentary coaching? Call link.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, and we'll put all these in the show notes, but go ahead and give it. What is your con you know? So this is. This is another one. So how should people get a hold of you and who you know? Where do they do that? What's what's your complimentary offer for them to do?
Speaker 2:$13 to $28 on up for more time on the call. This is on the Gumroad website. It's cnavferuzzigumroadcom. Slash L slash E-R-G-X-C-H for the complimentary call.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Thank you for coming on today. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Thank you, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:You're welcome. Everybody listening. Listen, get out there, go cut a tie to something, hold new back. You know. Take a moment to follow the podcast on Apple Spotify and if you do this YouTube thing, hit the subscribe. Get out there, go unleash your entrepreneur. Become the best version of yourself. Listening to the Cut the Tie podcast.
