Tiffanie: Push for more.

In this episode, Kristin speaks with entrepreneur, coach, and speaker Tiffanie (she/her) about what it means to rebuild your life when the version you've been living no longer fits.

From leaving a religion and an early marriage to walking away from a successful corporate career and advocating for herself through a breast cancer diagnosis, Tiffanie shares how each turning point became an opportunity to redefine success on her own terms. Together, Kristin and Tiffanie explore identity, self-trust, and why living "fine" can sometimes be the biggest obstacle to building a life that feels truly aligned.

If you've ever wondered whether you're allowed to change your mind, start over, or choose a different path, this conversation is a reminder that reinvention isn't a failure, it's part of becoming who you're meant to be.

How to get in touch:

• Tiffanie Janowitz on LinkedIn
• tiffaniejanowitz.com

Transcript

Kristin 0:03

Welcome to Everything Counts But Nothing Is Real, a podcast about careers, detours, and the absurdity of work. Here we explore the twists, the pivots, and the tiny choices that shape our work lives with humor, feminism, and honesty. I'm your host, Kristen. Let's get into it. Hello, and welcome to Everything Counts But Nothing Is Real. Today's guest is Tiffany, she her. Tiffany's story resonates because it bridges strength and vulnerability with execution. She's rebuilt her life multiple times, walking away from relationships that no longer aligned, leaving a belief system that defined her identity, navigating entrepreneurship at high levels, and advocating for her own survival during breast cancer when concerns were initially dismissed. She doesn't just talk about resilience. She teaches people how to rebuild after life forces a reckoning. Her story gives permission to question, courage to choose differently, and tools to move forward with clarity instead of fear. Welcome, Tiffany.

Tiffanie 1:02

Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.

Kristin 1:04

Of course, I'm so excited you're here. And honestly, like just those few sentences of your bio is like, okay, yes, you are embodying the everything out spirit.

Tiffanie 1:14

Yes, there's been a lot of just rebuild, re, you know, reshaping. And boy, isn't that what life is about. It is, but how many people kind of are in denial of that? Oh, so many. I think, I mean, and if we're honest, like change is difficult for most people. And so when we get challenged with like something as big as an identity rebuild, like diving right into that, you know, and that is difficult for a lot of people. And that's when you get to decide if you're gonna dive into the trenches or if it's gonna eat you alive, you know?

Kristin 1:44

And I think that the denial part for most is that it's gonna happen, right? We're gonna have moments where where life changes, but the denial is that it's real. I think or that it's like allowed and it's common. I think sometimes when you're going through it, you're like, I'm the only one who had to rebuild at this age. I'm the only one who's ever gone through this. I'm such a failure. When in fact, it is just part of everyone's life. Yeah, absolutely. Incredible. So, can you tell us what what do you do? What do you do for a living? What do you tell people you do for a living when you're like at a party?

Tiffanie 2:14

The gold question there, right? So, in essence, I teach people how to shift from living in just that fine space and I teach people how to build their own version of freedom. I do that through the vessel of personal development and business development coaching. But ultimately, the end goal is for me to be able to give you all the tools to be able to create your own version of freedom. I mean, wow.

Kristin 2:40

We all need that. That's I can't wait to hear more. And I can't wait to hear more about the lessons in life that led you to this place. But first, I like to start with our childhood selves, where we came from, our astrology, if that's a thing that you care about. Uh-huh. Um, because I think that really does often set us on a path to where we sort of end up.

Tiffanie 2:59

Do you have any reflections? I could not agree with you more. I think that especially when we're talking about, you know, the shaping years, the most influential years of our lives, when we really take a look at like what was happening for you in that time frame, what did life look like? Who was surrounding you, just like what you just described, there are so many things that are happening subliminally, you know, and and subconsciously to our decision making, the way we have confidence to, you know, so many different things. So, anyways, when I reflect on mine, I had a great childhood. Um, I have two parents that are still together. They just celebrated their 50th anniversary. So, in in that aspect, I couldn't have asked for a better, loving, more safe environment for me to grow up in. And I know that I know how lucky and rare that is to be able to report such a like beautiful home dynamic. Uh, you know, but there are there were some outside factors in my childhood that now as an adult uh were challenging. I mean, I grew up here in Utah, so I grew up in a very dominant religion and one that taught some really good values and instilled some good foundations in my life. But there were also ones in that same religion that didn't resonate with me. And that was really the first time I had to like hop into the wrestling match. And I didn't do that until I was 21 years old. And that's when I was like, hold on, is this my life that I'm living? Or is this because I've been going with the flow and checking the boxes and all of that kind of stuff, you know? And and so when I when I reflect back to like early childhood, there was beautiful things that were happening, but there were also things that I then had to go and re-challenge and like rewire in my brain.

Kristin 4:43

Yeah. That resonates with me a lot. I'm originally from Texas and there's a different dominant religion there. But same same, same. Um, and so is that the in your bio, you know, you reference leaving um a belief system. Is that part of it? Yeah.

Tiffanie 4:59

Yep. When I was in my early 20s, again, like I just kind of I had gone with the flow. I had gotten married right out of high school because that was just kind of what you did next in the town that I grew up in. It was like, well, I'm a woman. And so college is like, if you go, that's great. If you don't, that's great. So I started going and then I got married. And then like I really just woke up in a state of mind one day, and I was just like, oh my gosh, I really do feel like I'm like living this life that isn't mine. And so that was the first time that I had to go head to head with that. And I wrestled with that of, is this marriage even in alignment? Is this person that I have committed myself to? Do we have the same value system? Do we have the same dreams? And by dreams, we can have different dreams, but are they parallel to one another? Are we going in the same direction? And at the end of the day, it was a no. And so that was when I had to make my first very bold move and bold choice as my own individual self, leaning on nobody but myself of okay, so Tiffany, what are we gonna do about it? And that was the very first time where like I had to use my own voice. I had to have the courage to do that and know that it's gonna be okay, that it's gonna be painful and you're gonna go through the trenches right now, and there's gonna be some lonely moments for sure. But if you don't use your voice, things are gonna get even lonelier. And that wasn't a route that I was willing to go through.

Kristin 6:22

Again, that resonates because I I too was married at a young age and and I remember at a certain point, still young, being like, wait, is this forever? Like I have to live like this forever, forever.

Tiffanie 6:35

Um yeah, is this my life? Is this what I'm gonna be at doing until like I'm gray and old and I don't think this is it?

Kristin 6:43

Yeah, I yeah, and I just I remember looking at older couples and being like, I can't. Yeah, yeah.

Tiffanie 6:50

It can't be me. And it for me, it wasn't because things got hard and I didn't want to stick in the hard. That's not what it was for me, but it really was like in a marriage, you two should be able to support one another in the growth that is in front of you and in the dreams that you have, and you should dream bigger than than you know possible. And it just wasn't like there was some core fundamentals that were not lining up. And I'm so grateful that I was able to understand that earlier than later. Yeah, that's incredible and brave. Thank you.

Kristin 7:26

I'm very impressed. So at this age, you know, you're a young person, you're navigating some belief system changes. What were you doing for work and how was that being impacted?

Tiffanie 7:37

So I was in, I was in college still. I was also working um simultaneously. I was actually working in medicine. So I was working in the medical field. I thought I wanted to go down the medical route because I really wanted to help people. And so being a doctor was a dream of mine. I had stifled that though, because I was like, oh, I can't be a doctor and a mom. And it's really important to me to have kiddos. And so I'm gonna squash this dream of being a doctor. I wish that my future self would have been able to come to me at that moment and say, you can do both. You don't, it doesn't have to be one or the other. You're gonna have to prioritize some things. But, anyways, you you know what you know at that moment. So, um, so yeah, I was in college. I was like, okay, well, then I'm gonna go to PA school instead. It's a shorter route, and I could still be in medicine and I can still help people. And so I continued on through college at that point. But yeah, that's what I was doing at that time of life. And it was a really interesting place to be in college when you're married super early and then going it through a divorce super early and rewriting your identity with, you know, the things that we're talking about, like religion and and just, I mean, these are shaping, this was shaping my entire self at that point.

Kristin 8:51

Yeah. And, you know, it's hard, especially at that age, it's hard not to look down the road and feel like, what does this mean for my whole entire future? Oh, yeah. So much ahead of you.

Tiffanie 9:01

Oh yeah. At that time, I was like, I viewed it as like this big black mark on my life, you know, like, oh, this is so shameful. I have to now say that I've been divorced. And, you know, and it's like, okay, that's one way to look at it. That's a piece of my personal development and work that I really had to put in to understand. Like, that didn't have to be looked at as a shameful thing. It's actually a superpower because I can understand exactly what went wrong or what I exactly, you know, like what I do or do not want to repeat, you know, just like any trial that we're given. But at the time, it's like it felt like everything. It felt like doomsday.

Kristin 9:37

Yeah.

Tiffanie 9:37

Yeah. I I understand that. After college, where did you land? So comically enough, I finished college. I finished in my health education degree. I was gonna get ready to go to PA school. And then I ended up taking a little breather, as people occasionally do, taking a gap year, whatever that, you know, whatever that looks like for people after you graduate and before you go on to grad school. And I moved over to San Diego for a year. And when I moved over there, I ended up landing in investments.

Kristin 10:07

Wow. Okay.

Tiffanie 10:10

So when I first, when I was very, very first in college, I was like your classic little bank teller, and I had dipped my toes. Numbers have always been very easy for me. It's just like, you know, numbers make sense to me. I did that at the very beginning of college. So then I was like, when I was taking this break, it was an opportunity that landed, and I was like, well, I'm over here, kind of just taking a breather. Why not? And then it sucked me in for 15 years.

Kristin 10:32

Wow. What was the role that you landed in those early days?

Tiffanie 10:36

So I went back into banking as a personal banker and then quickly started talking to an investment team that was like, hey, there's more. Let's get you out of the retail space and get you into investments. So I took my investment exams and those were so gnarly. And then I worked with a a really high uh elite team in the private bank. I ended up moving back here to Utah and worked over here with wealth management and had a killer group of advisors that I worked with.

Kristin 11:08

So that is really impressive. I'm interested to know what kinds of things you might have experienced along the way that led you to entrepreneurship.

Tiffanie 11:17

Right. I know. Like, where how did we land here?

Kristin 11:20

And like I'm sure you like saw some things and I wonder if you did. Yeah.

Tiffanie 11:24

So being, I mean, being in corporate America for that long, there are so many observations that you make from being this tiny fish in a massive sea to like, does my voice really count? Can I make a difference here or can I only make a difference with this team that I'm operating with? And and what I found was like, okay, the principle of what we were doing, obviously investments and making money, growing your money, that whole principle is a life skill. That's necessary. Everybody needs to know that at some capacity. But what I found myself really observing was where my fulfillment was was when lives were being shifted dramatically. You know, when I had a really high-playing family that like came in and they were already, you know, generations of trust funds and everything, like that is an incredible scenario and an incredible way to like be able to multiply money for these families. But when I have someone that also comes in and I'm able to shift their life dramatically, that their literal version of every day just changed because of some education and because of different ways that we were able to allocate their funds and everything. That's where I was, I was then like leaving my days in those moments, being like, oh, that was awesome. Like that stuck with me to be able to see that real change. And what I found from that was like that was the fulfillment and the help. That connection from person to person was the help and the like when I described in medicine, I wanted to be a doctor because I wanted to help people. At the end of the day, it was the helping people. It was the connection and changing lives that I really wanted to do. And so I was like, okay, does that have to be done through medicine? And at the end of the day, absolutely not. It's not just in the container of medicine. That's a beautiful outlet of it, but that's not the only place that I had the opportunity to do that. So I actually remember like coming, coming home from work one day, years later. I was, I'm now um married to my beautiful wife. And and I cannot remember if we were quite married yet or if we were just engaged. But anyways, I came home from, and and mind you, I was I had a really good setup there as far as like I was making good money. From the outside, it looked like things were perfect. I had great, like a great amount of PTO. We were traveling a ton. This was before COVID. So we were traveling like crazy and um and I was making good money and everything, but I still just kept coming home being like, I just like I think I meant for more because it's this outlet of helping people that I want to do. And I came home and I looked at my wife Mandy and I was like, hey, um, I'm gonna quit my job. And she was like, what? Oh man. But here's the thing with my beautiful wife is she is like our relationship is built so firmly on trusting one another's like judgment and vision. And we're really big on like energy and alignment, of course. And so she like, of course, her first like knee-jerk reaction is like, huh? You know, but then when she's like, okay, like where's this coming from? Tell me more. And I had gone through another life-altering moment around that time. My Grammy had passed. And my Grammy was a really, really special woman in my life. And this was my mom's mom that I'm talking about. And she was living with my parents for the the year leading up to her passing. And I had the opportunity of being there when she passed. For the weeks prior to that, I was really hands-on with just caretaking for her and being part of like that human connection again. And I I think what it did was like it threw a little disruption in my life because I was out of like my corporate grind for a few weeks because I was really unplugged and present with my family. And it gave me this different like fulfillment and satisfaction that I was like, uh, I actually need to create more time. I need to be more available to be able to do this anytime. And while my great amount of PTO was allowing for that, I didn't want someone else dictating that for me any longer. So that was kind of the catalyst. And and we when we peeled that back a little bit, she was like, okay, so then what's next? And I was like, I have no idea.

Kristin 15:45

Gosh, but that's like it's comforting to hear you say that to again normalize the fact that like you had you knew you had to leave, but you didn't know the answer.

Tiffanie 15:54

Yeah. So I mean, I did like I contemplated, do I want to go back into medicine? I was looking at every angle because I knew where I was was now like now I was operating in that state of fine. And when I describe that to people, like that state of fine is when things are okay enough, but there's not a catalyst to force change yet. And I found myself living in that. And I was like, uh-uh. It was the same thing as when I was 20. I was like, oh no, I'm back to that. Like I'm living in another state of like complacency. And I refused to be in that. But I had no idea what was next. I just knew I was meant for more. Yeah.

Kristin 16:33

What did you do to discover what was next?

Tiffanie 16:36

I started talking to everyone. And I was, I was lucky at this time to have some different outlets in my life. Corporate America wasn't my sole identity at that point. I was teaching group fitness because fitness is a big foundation in my life. And so I had this community built through group fitness, and I had community built through like my social circles, and I was on a few different boards at that time. So I had some different outlets that my soul identity wasn't just sucked up in this advisor role that I was holding. And I'm so grateful for that because that allowed me to then say, okay, if the investment piece of it is not it, then where is it? And I got to go look at, okay, these boards that I'm on. What is it about philanthropy that I'm loving? What is it about group fitness and the health side of it that I'm loving? And I just, I kind of went into an exploration phase where we had set ourselves up financially at that point that like we had the room to do so. And this is where preparation, I think, is so key in these moments that you and I are describing that are inevitable, they are inevitably going to come, right? These like break stomping moments where either we're going to rewrite a new identity voluntarily or not.

Kristin 17:57

Yeah.

Tiffanie 17:58

The moments come when you feel that. And if you've prepared in different ways to set yourself up in like the different pillars of health. So I'm not just talking about financially or physically or anything, you know, but if you've done some preparation, then that lets you navigate whatever that stopping moment is much easier, smoothly. And it doesn't go without the exploration and some of the darkness from it, but it brings a little bit more clarity. I think it trims the chaos, I guess is what I would say.

Kristin 18:30

What kind of advice would you give to someone who knows that they need a change, but also knows they need a little bit of a runway? Like what kinds of things would you want to put in place?

Tiffanie 18:39

So the runway I would first advise people on is like to really turn that lens from the outside, turn it back inward. I believe that, you know, in those shaping years that we were talking about in our younger self and everything, we're really taught to like take that lens and focus it outward. And that's what we were taught for a very long time. I'm seeing a change as I work with people, as I observe, as I do my, you know, my own research and everything. I do think that we're seeing a little bit of a shift as far as like it's not looked at as such a selfish act to invest in ourselves and in our well-being, you know? But really like turn that lens back inward and really take inventory on what is your like, I mean, and we're really gonna get simple as far as like what do your habits look like? What are your, what do your day-to-day choices look like? Who are you surrounding yourself by? And you can make it easy by like going through the different, you know, the five different pillars of health and even like throwing a grade on them or throwing a one to ten on it, where it is today versus where you feel like that could go. And then you can make some small adjustments. I know that's really honestly where I advise people to do. Don't go big right out of the gate. You're setting yourself up for failure if you go big right out of the gate, you know? But look at the small things because those are what adds up. So, what I mean by that, so like I I mentioned the financial aspect, right? And I had given myself a financial runway to be able to go on this exploration. And what I meant by that was like my wife and I were living in this teeny tiny apartment downtown Salt Lake, and it was $900 a month. The rent was so cheap. Wow. It was old. We were like crammed in there like a shoebox, but it gave us the freedom to really be building up the financial freedom that gave us either the ability to travel whenever we wanted or go, you know, we got to say yes when we wanted to because of the sacrifice on some of the pieces of our lifestyle, you know, and you and you hear that like trim your lifestyle, like you got to trim that down to have a bigger life down the road. And that was really, that really rang through for us at that time. And we didn't know it that I mean, we at first we were just doing it so we could go and travel all the time. And then we were really grateful we did it when this came up and we were like, okay, do we have the runway to do this? And it was a yes. And thank heavens we did because it unlocked an entirely different piece of our lives. So when I talk about that and I say, like, we had created this financial freedom, I'm not telling everybody to go live in a tiny little apartment, but I am telling you, like, be aware of where you're delegating your energy, your resources, your time, your mind, all of these things, like be aware of what you're giving away. And that will quickly allow you to trim in areas that don't deserve your energy or your resources, you know. I mean, I would say we consume a bit more in this culture than ever before. And if we would look at that, and and I don't just mean monetarily, like that is obviously a thing, but I we also we doom scroll, we watch a lot of TV, there's a lot of consumption as a whole. And if we would just be a little bit more aware of that, then a little bit more can go into your reserve tank.

Kristin 21:57

That's so real and such good advice. So So fast forward to today, can you just tell us a little bit about what your what your daily work looks like?

Tiffanie 22:05

Oh, I wish that my daily work one day would look the same from the other. But smoking like a true entrepreneur, I mean, there are days when like I'm glued in front of my computer from sunup to sundown, and it's just one of those days. There are other days when I'm taking my four-year-old little boy to the park for a few hours during the middle of the day. But that's the whole purpose of why I've stepped into entrepreneurship to be able to delegate my time. Um, and so I I honestly like I dictate it however I need to around my family. I shape my whole, my whole schedule around my family. And that's why I did it was so I could be present for our life, be present for the moments that, you know, because for us, time is is one of our core values spent with our family. There's nothing more precious to us. And so to be able to unplug and go do that and stack my days how I need to, like that is one of my pillars of freedom. And I know that that's different for everybody. And that's the beautiful part of defining freedom is it is different and it can be different. And that's great, you know. But for me, um, it's being able to do that. So one day is not like the other. There are some days, you know, like I said, that are just busier than others, but I'm currently running three different businesses and a home and being a wife and a mom. And it's I I am living my definition of freedom. So, and that's truly why I feel on the mission that I am to be able to help people understand that you can too. It's just defining that out and then reverse engineering it.

Kristin 23:40

I love that. That's excellent. And congrats on this to on getting to this point in your path. I know there's so much more to come, but uh it's really, really cool. Thank you. Can we transition to the lightning round? Yes. All right. What was your very first job you ever had? And what did it teach you about work?

Tiffanie 23:59

My very first job was at Zoomy's, the old store. Very alt. Yeah. And what it taught me, the funniest part. You know what? I actually would have to say that I had an earlier job now that I'm thinking of it. That was like my first independent job. But if I'm really truly thinking about it, I had a job when I was much younger. My mom worked in a dental office when we were, when we were younger. And um she hired us kids to come clean the dental office and teach us like work ethic when we were a lot younger. So technically that was my first job. And there were some really beautiful lessons that we've that we've pulled from that as a family. We talk about them actually still to this day. But my first independent job was that clothing store company. But what it taught me was, and this is so funny, I've this is the first time I'm saying this out loud was the power of like using my voice and showing my personality because I had to do that in the interview process. You had to get really creative in the interview process and you had to let your personality shine, and that's what got me my job.

Kristin 25:06

Wow. That's a great lesson to learn as a young person. Yeah. That's so fun. What is the best or worst piece of advice you've ever received?

Tiffanie 25:17

The best piece of advice that I have received was the advice that I got from the nurse practitioner that ultimately saved my life a few years ago before my journey with my breast cancer. And and the advice that she gave me was if the answer that you receive is not in alignment, push for more. There's always a different answer. Oh, wow. And that was ultimately what saved my life because I was getting answers that weren't in line with what I was like feeling in my body and and they weren't resonating. And thank goodness that she gave me the courage and the advice to do that. Cause obviously that saved my life. We didn't get you, we didn't go fully into that. But you know, for those listening, I went through a full, a full breast cancer journey from that advice. Um, and that wouldn't have been uncovered if I wouldn't have pushed for more. So that was the best advice that I've ever received. The worst advice I've ever received, I mean, the worst advice I think is when people are just like encouraging you to stay small. You know, like if they say, like, oh, your life looks great, just keep going. Just keep on the path that you're on if you are feeling like there is something more. Um, so honestly, like the worst piece of advice you could receive is taking advice that doesn't resonate with you, whatever that may be. That's excellent advice.

Kristin 26:32

Wow. What is your most embarrassing work story?

Tiffanie 26:36

I'm embarrassed to share it now as a leader. However, it turned out to be a very shaping moment for me. And it's it's embarrassing because I didn't use my voice in this moment. So again, it's all goes back to that like self-advocacy, right? And like trusting your voice, trusting yourself. There was a moment I was in a partnership a while back, and there was a moment that we were having a meeting with a gal that worked for our company, and it was not a pretty meeting. My partner was crossing some pretty gnarly lines as far as like professionalism was flying out the window and disrespect was coming in quickly, and I didn't speak up. And for me, that's my most embarrassing work moment and not in a comical way, in like a I can't believe I didn't say something when I knew that that should have stopped. It was like, it's like those moments that you're like, why isn't anybody doing something about this, you know? And I should have. And I I course corrected as soon as I centered with myself, you know, but it was one of those moments. It was also a defining moment as a leader, though, because I quickly observed like that is something I will never do and execute as a leader, is like what I just witnessed happen. Um, so, anyways, it gave me a moment to really connect with that individual because it I I really had to like take ownership for not speaking up. And and it gave me the chance to grow from that and and understand like how it got there as a leader, how I can make sure that that doesn't happen again. And also it like firmly shaped what I will execute in my own leadership and teams, if that makes sense. Yeah, I mean, yes. So I wish it could be like a comical, embarrassing moment.

Kristin 28:24

No, but it's got such a good lesson. So I think that's important.

Tiffanie 28:27

Yeah.

Kristin 28:28

What is your socially acceptable work vice?

Tiffanie 28:31

My cat comes in here and yes, is like a little comfort. I've I really shouldn't also like just box it into my cat. I have a cat and a dog at this point. Um, and they just come in here and sit at my feet. And it is, I work remotely, and it's just a comfort that nobody else knows it's happening. It's under my desk, you know. But it's like a comfort that's like I'm at home, but I'm also I gotta be a powerhouse too, you know?

Kristin 28:57

Yes, the balance of that. I almost always have a tiny chihuahua in my lap. Yes. Um, and so I'm like doing serious work and there's a tiny napping chihuahua.

Tiffanie 29:07

I know. Every now and then you'll see like a tail go by, and I'm like, oh, there he is.

Kristin 29:13

Just keeping it real. Uh-huh. Um, what's something about your job that sounds impressive but isn't actually that glamorous?

Tiffanie 29:20

Uh, I mean my title alone. Like I my title is a CEO of a company. And while there are some really cool parts of it, like it also comes with massive responsibility. And that can be glamorous on some days. It can be really cool on some days, and it can also be really, really freaking heavy. So it comes in ebbs and flows.

Kristin 29:41

But yeah, I mean CEO is like that. Sounds so huge. But it's also a lot. Um, and final lightning round question is do you fix typos in casual communication? Uh, I do. You sound ashamed.

Tiffanie 29:57

But you know what? It's I couple it with our lovely technology. Like when your iPhone pops it up, and then you're like, oh yeah, you can select the quick fix, you know? Oh, yeah, that's helpful for sure.

Kristin 30:09

Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. That was very fun. I have one last question. Yes. What would your advice be to someone who feels off track right now?

Tiffanie 30:18

Oh, my my advice would be to first of all identify what true alignment looks like for you. And to identify that, you need to be really hyper-aware of what your core values are. And when I bring that up, your core values and discovering what that is is not a quick process, but it is one that when you put in the work to really identify that, every decision you make from there on out for the rest of your life becomes a lot easier because after you've put in the work to really discover that and really define that out for yourself, then it becomes a point of like, it's it's either a yes or a no in alignment. And if it's a no, it lets you lift the emotional decision out of there. And it just lets you make a logical decision of like, oh, it didn't, it doesn't align. So it's a no. And if it is a no and it still feels like it's something that is like continuing to come back in your life, or if you're finding yourself in a in a crossroads and can't quite identify like how to get out of that, get really curious and stay curious and peel that onion back multiple times and continue to ask why and what do I need to learn from this? And when I say why, I don't mean it in like the why me type of a thing, but I mean like, why is this happening? What do we need to learn? Let's get deeper. Like, and I mean like seven, eight, nine, ten layers deeper. Because when you keep continually digging and and really like just throwing it back, you know, then then that's when you get to the real meat of things and your most beautiful aha and growth moments are waiting in that deeper work. That's such good advice.

Kristin 31:59

I know that it will resonate with our listeners. I hope so. I'm really grateful. How can people find you?

Tiffanie 32:05

Um, I'm over on Instagram, just Tiffany.janowitz is my handle. And of course, I'm gonna throw a little spelling, uh, a spelling wrench in there. It's not Tiffany with the classic Y. It'll be it's Tiffany with an IE. I'm sure it'll be in the show notes, but um Tiffany.janowitz over on Instagram or even my my website's also Tiffany Janowitz and LinkedIn.

Kristin 32:26

Excellent. I will link those in the show notes. Um, and I really appreciate you. This was so fun.

Tiffanie 32:31

Yeah, it was wonderful. Thanks for having me on. I loved the conversation. Thank you.

Kristin 32:40

Okay, this is another one of those episodes where so many things, basically everything she said, resonated with me so much that it's hard to find a thread to pull at because it's kind of all of them. So we'll sort of start at the top with the several identity crises that happen. And it really reminds me that like as we figure out who we are and where we want to be and what we want to do, we are allowed to have multiple identity shifts, multiple identity crises, leaving a religion, leaving a marriage, leaving a professional path that we were on or thought we would be on. She sort of did it all. And each time was like such a moment of growth that she really approached with such appreciation and grace rather than panic, that I think that level of calm spoke to me in a way that felt really permissive. Like we are really allowed to keep doing this. You don't have your one time to change your mind and then it's over and you can never do it again. I'm also really thinking about the idea that fine is one of the most dangerous places to live. I think that this is a, you know, this is a concept widely accepted. We think about this a lot, but we don't often articulate it. So when we're not miserable, we're not thriving, we're fine. Every day is fine. This is where we really lose ourselves. This is where we lose those pieces that are so central to who we are and what we're doing and what we're trying to accomplish. And how do we get back to that and find happiness? And we think about like what more is there. I also really appreciated her talking about it's okay to sort of build up a runway before taking the leap. I know for me, I hear a lot of stories of people just sort of quitting their jobs and figuring it out, and that leaves a lot of the story out. There's probably a lot of hardship that follows, a lot of like scary times that follows. I know so many of us don't have the kind of stability to just walk away from something in the moment without having a plan or without at least coming up with a bit of a runway to help us make it through to the next side. So I really like the idea of a runway not just being financial, but it can be emotional. It can be your community and the ties that you build outside of your work identity. Those all feel like really good anchors that sometimes we don't really hold on to as tightly, but those are our runways. That's how we make it into the next phase as we make deep, meaningful changes in our lives. So overall, I think that a lot of what she said, again, this was recorded months ago. And in the months since I started, you know, going through my 41st year, sixth house perfection year for anyone who cares about astrology like I do. That is a year focused on your daily life and your health. And also, this is when I started writing on Substack. This is where I started on Substack thinking about the ways in which all of the things come together, my daily life, my community life, my podcast life. These are the this is just my home for my random thoughts. And so if I look back at some of that body of work and I think about where my head has been when I think about my practice of hope and my daily walks that I talk about in the essay called The Water and the Rocks, I'm really grappling with the idea that we don't build meaningful lives by being perfect or by having certainty. We build a life by paying attention and being present. And sometimes things don't fit, and sometimes we notice ourselves, and sometimes we notice the birds that cross our path on our on our hypothetical walk that we take every single day. So I just really think that everything she talked about, and I think that her philosophy in her business and in her coaching around finding your core values really like accidentally showed up in some of my like internal personal work that I've been doing over the last couple of months. So basically, this was really fun and it felt really meaningful and personal. And I hope that you enjoyed it. I hope that you find, you know, yourself in these reflections, as I always hope. I think that us sharing our stories is the most human thing we can do. And right now, what we need is humanity. So thank you for listening. Thank you for being here. Come find us at everything counts pod on Instagram, on LinkedIn, everythingcountspod.com on the internet. And I'll see you next time. Thanks for listening to everything counts, but nothing is real. Remember, even when nothing feels real, everything you do counts. Capitalism may be absurd, but so are we. And on that note, well, it's been real. Don't forget to subscribe. I'm Kristen, and see you next time.