Episode #57: Interview with Tamra Andress

Hey friends, ever wondered how to make your business feel more like YOU? Join me and Tamra Andress as we chat about aligning passion with purpose in entrepreneurship.

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Show Notes:

• Tamra Andress, a remarkable entrepreneur and spiritual guide, shares her journey on health, spirituality, and entrepreneurship on the Better Than A Pill podcast.

• With her background as a bestselling author and keynote speaker, Tamra's insights are featured in top publications like Forbes and USA Today.

• Tamra is the driving force behind the Messenger Movement Podcast and FIT in faith press, empowering Christian leaders to share their message in the marketplace.

• She emphasizes the deep connection between physical health and spirituality, drawing from her own experiences with nutrition, exercise, and rest.

• Through her nonprofit, The Founder Collective, Tamra focuses on uplifting and supporting marketplace ministers.

• In her entrepreneurial journey, Tamra prioritizes helping others align their business with their true selves, emphasizing the importance of serving authentically.

• Tamra offers a quiz to help individuals identify their profit identity, guiding them to leverage their unique gifts in their entrepreneurial pursuits.

Key Takeaways:

• Tamra Andress highlights the vital link between physical health and spirituality.

• She empowers Christian leaders to share their message through her various initiatives.

• Tamra stresses the importance of aligning business endeavors with one's authentic self.

• Listeners can uncover their profit identity through Tamra's quiz, helping them serve others effectively in their entrepreneurial ventures.

Transcript:

Welcome back to the Better Than A Pill podcast today. I'm so excited to have Tamra Andress on as a guest and Tamra is a six time number one, bestselling author and counting. She's been featured in Forbes USA today, Inc, Rolling stones, LA weekly, and many other well known publications. She's a keynote speaker and also a top podcaster.

She has her own podcast called the messenger movement podcast and two other shows. She is a serial entrepreneur who works with high capacity Christian leaders to become millionaire messengers and share the good news. She's wildly in love with the words and the word and through her publishing company, FIT in faith press, she catalyzes messengers in the marketplace by building Business tree through publishing, podcasting and platform development while keeping play at the core. 

Her nonprofit, the founder collective, focuses on ordaining and sustaining marketplace ministers. 

Wow. I know let's all take a breath. Okay. All y'all need to know is I'm a beach baby at heart. I love to chase the sunshine.

I've got two kiddos and I'm a wife of 12 years and I'm a daughter of the King. So I I. I think bios are great, but I'm listening to it and I'm like, nah, nah, nah, nah, zoom fast. Let's go. I'm excited to connect with your community today. And I will tell you since our, cause she had an episode on my podcast too, you guys have to go back and listen to it.

It was incredible. I have actually referenced that podcast. So many times in the last couple of weeks about people who are newly just being diagnosed with some of the similar things that you've walked through. And your story has been a hope story to many people. And so your podcast is such a pivotal thing for people walking through and, and specifically better than the pill.

I am such an advocate for. Oh, thank you so much, chairman. I was grateful to be on your show and I'm so glad you're here today. And I know you have your, your bio does say a lot and I'm not going to just sit here and say, I mean, you're, you're amazing. You're doing a lot to help this world and spread the word of God.

And so we have a lot to talk about today and you know, it's just like, okay, so. So we're going to talk a little bit about health, spirituality, mindset, whatever else comes up, right?  So let's start off a little bit with the health part. Tell me a little bit about your physical health and how that plays a role in your spiritual journey.

Yeah, that's huge. I was just on our weekly discipleship call that we have with Soap Into the Community and we were actually talking all about health and it's so interesting how different people come into this revelation at different seasons of their life, right? Some of the people that are talking are well into their 50s, some of the people are in their 30s, and they've never ever addressed this.

And so I'm wildly grateful that my health journey started when I was really young. I remember eating pineapples and cottage cheese as the household snack, right? We didn't have the cupboard filled with all the goodies in the box. And my parents were like original Gold's.  from back in the day on the West Coast and they were bodybuilders and you know, they drank 12 eggs for breakfast or so my dad did.

And so knowing this, and, and that was really how I was raised was like the traditional pyramid style eating. But I had 16 years of gymnastics that I was also endeavoring as a physical realm to my health. And that kept me very conscientious. Right? Conscientious because I am inside of what is essentially a bathing suit, right?

On a consistent basis. So just being really mindful, like I'm, I'm a young girl. You can only imagine this is when MTV came out. This is when magazines came out, you know, 17 magazines and all of those. And I am a young girl growing into my body for the first time and dealing with things that I had been actually.

Just shown at a very young age, which is both, I had some sexual abuse trauma that happened when I was young. And also was exposed to pornography at the age of between five and six. And so all of those things combined, health being presented in a good way confines people of a certain age. sport that has a large requirement of discipline and then some traumatic things that we're exposed to that I think society at large doesn't often talk to, especially as women that by the time I was in my twenties, I was really living my life for the Barbie sized, you know, expression of what my body should look like.

So dealing with all of those variable pressures some positive, and they've been such a gift to my life and learning discipline from gymnastics and learning discipline from my parents and what is healthy and how to eat, but moving on into some of the more you know, crucial pieces that ended up Blanketing me from a place of shame around my body.

So I dealt with a lot of shame situations, so much so that I wanted to adjust my body medically in order for me to have that perfect figure. And I was still, you know, working out in that season. And really when you think about it connected to spirituality, my Physique and my body as a woman, my temple, if you will, was being presented as an idol.

I had idolized it and I thought that that was what love really was from the lens of a man. And so it really for a long time, was really detrimental. Specifically in my twenties and even into my marriage and going through motherhood and watching that body change happen I really dealt with a lot of difficulties mentally  Postpartum was not the traditional postpartum It was more more postpartum because of my own Idolization of my body and being like I'm out of my body right now.

I'm out of my soul. This is not who I am, who thinks I'm beautiful, let alone my husband. And so I went on a spiritual journey with my body about eight years ago. And the Lord literally called me back to the gym and he had me completely shift the way in which I was focused on creating the vessel that God had gifted me versus this skin.

the world expected me to have, and it's been a really healing journey, and I'm so grateful to my body that it has sustained me through, but more so grateful to God who sees me as so much more than what my body is. Yeah. Yeah. Because I mean, we've talked about this before. We have that in common that, you know, that, that, that level of having shame or, you know, and that's not of God.

Yeah. Not at all. And I think that's what a lot of people carry. I mentioned that conversation that we were just having and the variability of ages. Most people, especially if there's weight issues. Positive or negative, right? Underweight, overweight, it's connected to a level of shame. And so my shame was underweight.

I never dealt with being overweight. But that underweight was because I felt shame around my body connected to so many things that I had done and also things that had been done to me.  Hmm. So, the underweight, explain that a little bit more. What do you mean? Well, I think the fascination that people have is like emotional eating, right?

I never dealt with anorexia or bulimia, but I was so conscientious of the mirror and what I felt like in my own skin. And so just really the obsession that my underweight body became and the shame that I carried connected to that. I think a lot of people just think that if you're overweight, you carry shame, but it's both and.

Oh, I see. So what you're saying is because, so you wanted to put on weight. No, no, no. I wanted to be small. I wanted to be smaller than my body frame actually was meant to be. And I carried shame around the fact that I knew I was overweight. focused on my body too much and that I was doing it for all the wrong reasons.

I never felt, I never got to be comfortable even with my physique, the way that it was in people idolizing it the way that they did. Yeah. Yeah. But you, that makes sense. I wanted to make sure I was hearing that. Right. Yeah. Yeah. And so you had a lot going on though. So you think about, and God has probably led you in this direction and a lot of people listening today and myself included can understand that when we have trauma. 

That's that's a big deal right there huge and we do things to protect our bodies in many ways Right,  and I think this is where we know biblically like that. God has redeemed even that Right? He's like, he's literally redeemed. He's given us a new heart. So your heart of stone, which is often connected to your physique, is something where your pounds are connected to a scale, they start to shed and or they start to be added to depending on what spectrum you're in.

And it's done so through the lens of your identity. If you're a female listening as a daughter or your identity as a son. sun and that is, there's nothing more beautiful than being in the freedom realm of being aligned and whole in your health versus striving in your health.  Absolutely. And it's like, you know, what you're describing is in a sense of the idol, something that's mastered you.

Yes. Oh my gosh, yes. Right? Yes. And I've, I've learned to master. Thank God. But for a very long time, it mastered me. And I think it masters a lot of people without them ever actually bringing language to that. I don't think they even know it. Right. Right. And I know for myself included, just with the whole eating and exercise.

piece. It was the surrender. The surrendering part is what brought me to God, which has brought me to love my body. Right. And that's what I'm hearing you share as well. Yeah. And you know, like a really small piece to that Carrie in the surrender piece, when I told you that Jesus kind of lured me back into an environment to work out.

First off, it was a women's only gym that really helped heal me versus going to some places where it was coed. That was one thing. And secondarily, you'll. And you will find when you go into gyms the music that they're playing is not actually safe for your heart and it's not actually good for your mental health or your emotional stability.

If there are lyrics that are not honoring you as a woman and so much music, it, it literally, it's disgusting. It demonstrates an element to self as a woman that is being ridiculed, that is being sexualized. That is being marginalized. And so when I went, though, I didn't get to control the sound system of what was happening in that women's gym.

I would go to the classes and to the trainers that allowed me to have an expression without those words being recited. And the crazy thing is, I knew almost all of the words, right? I was raised in that era. So I knew all the words and that even made me so upset with myself. Self and with culture, because we were memorizing words that are defaming the body that God created in its perfection.

And I have a hard time, I think people here can too, like they're like, I'm terrible at memorizing phone numbers, or I'm terrible at remembering names, or I'm terrible at memorizing scripture. And here I am, and I know the words to every terrible song from the eighties and the nineties and the two thousands.

So when I shifted that ability that those words were no longer gonna penetrate my spirit and I was gonna have a new song in my spirit and in my head, literally repeating, there were songs that would come on and I would just be like, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. And I am telling you, it is a game changer when you can get in an environment that is like speaking life over your body rather than death.

Yeah. And especially, I mean, I had not thought about that because, you know, a gym is just one place where you can take care of your body physically. Right. But now  you're bringing it up and that totally makes sense to me. Cause now I'm thinking in my experience and being in gyms that they do play that type of apple bottom jeans, the whole world is looking at her.

Right. It's terrible.  Yeah. That is such a great point. And I never, I didn't think of that, but I can see that, like, you know, what do I, okay. I know for me, what do I listen to today? If I have to listen to music, it's not going to be that, it's typically K love or something uplifting, right? For the soul.

And that's motivating. Yes. But yeah, putting it in that mindset. So you have the You know, a lot of problems, a lot of things going on, but the music is not helpful when you're also trying to renew your mind and you're getting these messages sent to you, right? That's what you're saying. Well, and think about that.

Like you're in a gym and, and you might go to a co-ed gym if you're listening to this and this song is coming on and you might not know the lyrics or you might have been able to write it correctly, in your mind and spirit. But what about the husband of somebody else who's in that facility and that they're now just. 

And they're now looking to you as something different than you're intending it could have nothing to do with you And so to me, it's just a safeguard. It's also a respect piece to my husband and I am not an advocate solely. I have shifted and gone to a co-ed gym again but they don't have any lyrics in their song and I love that.

I think that that's really cool. So like, you really only need the beat, right, to stay on pace, to stay on rhythm, to get energized by. And so I just want to encourage people to think outside of the box about what is actually affecting your body and words. As we know, when we look in the mirror and we speak death over our bodies, words really do matter. 

They do. And like the work is, you can speak to this too, is when you hear the lie, turning that around immediately, I am beautiful. God, God has made me, you know, I'm wonderfully created. I mean, having to really shift that. And did you have to do that? I'm going to imagine a lot as well. A lot. And honestly, Carrie, even just this last month, I've gone through a little bit of a health challenge and I'm coming out of it.

I've had varicose veins that I've struggled with since I had my second child. And I went and got the procedures on them because the blood pooling in my leg was just driving me insane. And it was the first time I had been running regularly and I was really enjoying it, but it was affecting my body in a way that I couldn't sustain.

And I'm either sitting in a chair all day, podcasting like this, or I'm Standing at events all day and sometimes that doesn't correlate to blood pooling I need to be doing both and I need to be propping my feet and as a mom and an entrepreneur and a New puppy mom as you heard like I can't keep my feet propped all the time, right?

And so I went through this month-long journey of every single week. I had compression tights on and I was unable to move like you were not allowed to elevate your heart rate. I couldn't even go walking. And I'm like, this is impossible. I couldn't lift more than 20 pounds. This is totally opposite than my regular routine because regular fitness is inside of my schedule as a part of my mental health journey.

And so I was even in this season after already defeating those things, thinking like, okay, I love my body. I'm grateful to my body for the healing that it's doing. And then I don't necessarily have to be out running a marathon, which I'm not a marathon runner. Kudos to anybody who is in order for me to.

feel okay in my skin. So you mentioned beautifully that a part of our health, only a part of it, a very small portion in fact, happens inside of a gym atmosphere. Even when we're moving, there's also the kitchen. And so how can I then parallel those pieces and not be upset with what's transpiring in my, my physique in that way, if I parallel it in the kitchen.

And so obviously nutrition is a huge part of it. Yeah. Yeah. Of course it is. And you know, like what you just said too, just taking a step back, is that why you do your physical exercise? And I know for myself too, a lot of it is for the mental component, releasing anxiety, you know, it can reduce depression, all those things to help lift your spirit.

So you know, what we feed our bodies is just as important as how we choose to move them. We are created to move, right? And then we, if we look at all these pieces as nourishment. All of them, right? All of them are nourishing our souls. Our, the whole thing, it's, we're not separate. Our mind's not separate from our bodies.

I say this all the time. I know that you relate, right? Yeah. So it's just as important to, you know, what we're putting in our body. And so what, what's important. What, what helped you? What, what, what did you do? What are you doing nutritionally? So I am, I'm not a yo yo fad diet person. I did get involved with an organization called E2M.

It's called eagerness to motivate. And anytime I am a part of any organization, I'm, because I'm an entrepreneur, I'm also looking at it. Like with the deeper roots of like, how did this email marketing sequence work? And how did they do the marketing to get 200? And they have like 230, 000 people in their Facebook group.

It's wildly active. And so I'm like, wow, this is incredible. That's literally why I was invited by my sister. She was like, you should come because the program is awesome, but you should also come because you're going to be blown away by their success. systems and their strategies and the way that they encourage their people.

And it's amazing. Cause like just what you're saying, it's not just the physical workout, it's the nutrition side, it's the mental health side. So there's mindset coaches, there's faith based coaches inside. So they're training you up spiritually and it's the powerful understanding that alignment is the, that's wholeness.

Alignment is health. And one season, just like the season I just walked through, one season is going to look different in your alignment, and it's not about balance. So even people who are very much advocates for well balanced meals, Eh, what does that actually mean? I can eat as much bread as I do broccoli? 

No, not really. And so it's processing out alignment based in the season that you're in and giving yourself grace In that season to know it might look different this time around than it does the next time around than it does the next time Around because we're ever evolving and our stress levels are ever changing and our environments are always changing i'll tell you my favorite favorite places that I go is specifically when we, my family travels internationally a lot.

I take retreats internationally with people and, and bring women around the world because they don't often get outside of their own, you know, small circle inside of their communities. And people are shocked by how well other countries eat and how holistically they eat. And there's no boxes around the entire time they're there.

Everything is homemade. And that is a possibility for all of us. And we don't have to fit into what has been commercialized to us, what has been marketed to us as quick, easy, because nothing about my health, my wealth, or my eternity is quick and easy. And so as I've come to know that it's also how we prepare, how we get into our kitchen, how we cook for our children, what snacks they have exposure to.

And so we're very much about landscape design.  Wow. That's great. And so tell us again, what's the name of the, the E two? Yeah. E two M Eager to motivate. It's out of Charlotte, North Carolina.  Oh, I have to look that up. Thank you. Yeah. Really cool. Awesome. Yeah. So I like what you say, I like what you said.

We're changing. We're going to go through phases. And, and, you know, that being said, some things may be permanent for some people and changes may, they may need to make, you know,  you know, they may need to stick to just depending on what, what that is. But I think that the level of that it's individualized, that we're all created differently is, is something I'd like to drive home because what works for one person and doesn't necessarily work for the other person.

Yeah, I've been intermittent fasting now for eight years, and for about six of those years, I was really regimen, like I maybe would break the fast, as far as the cycles, I was on like an 18 or 20 hour fast every day, and I would maybe break the cycle twice a month. And now I am in this place where I'm like, you know what?

Like I can give myself more grace. My body likes it actually, when I break that sequence. And so I generally do it twice a week now. And I'm just mindful of, like, what do I need in this season? And breakfast is my favorite. favorite. I love breakfast so much. And so I, I just had an egg with my lunch because I just, I love breakfast foods and I encourage other people like, don't follow that because it worked for me.

Like follow that because it's right for you. And it was an exposure point that I needed in that very critical time of my health and wellness. For me to be able to release some things that I had been like, literally, coached that I needed six meals a day or that I needed all these things and that's all I knew.

And so I am very much an advocate for breaking cycles and that's spiritually, emotionally, mentally, right entrepreneurially is like, get out of what you think works. And because I promise you, there's another layer to it. And level to a better cycle and a better system for your life. And so trying something new and sometimes that's something new for me.

One of my biggest struggles has been rest, like just letting yourself rest. Right. And so, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That, that resonates. Yeah. We definitely are on the same wavelength, but that is something that is so important. We had a sleep expert not too long ago and just, I mean, it's, it's hard for me. Yeah, but you know, that's, that this, but you know, the slowing down is good, but I, I don't know about you.

I'm not a napper,  so I love naps. Love it so much. I admire you and I admire people that can do that. Yeah, I do. Because I was like, wow, I just wish that I could do that.  . It's, it's, well, and I'll tell you, I had a, like, I have a story just in my neck. journey, honestly. So in that same season that I was telling you about in my twenties, I was so depleted emotionally and I was living life so void of fulfillment.

And yet I had run at that point, nine different businesses, two, which were still active. One was a global business. I was working from sunup to sundown. I also had two kids under the age of two and I was married. So like I was totally out of alignment. My priorities were completely wrong and I was sleeping on average, when I was taking a nap, three hours at a time, in addition to 10 ish hours at night.

And I found later after giving up gluten, after intermittent fasting, after all of these different things and healing a lot of emotional healing, that my. The response mechanism to stress was to flight, right? You know, fight, flight, freeze or fawn is another one. And I was a fighter. I wanted to run away.

And so what better place to run to than comatose and not being in your body or in your mind, really you're sleeping. And so now I have the gift of being able to take those 20 or 30 minute power naps. And I. Literally feel like I just slept for four hours and I'm like, let's go I'm ready for the rest of the day.

And I am also super regimen in my nighttime sleep I always get at least eight hours a night So I'm in bed by 930 up by 430 or 5  Falling asleep with my babies every single night and I treasure my sleep But I do it not because I'm running away from something but because I'm preparing for Living and being awake in my life rather than sleeping through it Yeah.

I do the same thing. That's excellent. Yeah. That sleep routine is key. Getting to bed and that's good to hear. Like you're somebody else that's getting up that early, right? But get it. But you go to bed early too. So there's the payoff and you are a serial entrepreneur. So, I mean, I know that you have a lot that, you know, physical health, you've shared, you know, you're definitely on a spiritual journey and your work.

Tell us a little bit about that in your entrepreneurial journey. Like, I know you're working for God and, you know, tell us, tell us about that a little bit. Yeah. So it was actually after this like three year  hiatus, it's really referenced as like the hidden years where I, I pretty much quit everything besides being a mom and a wife.

And I'm so grateful that I chose to do that. And that is really when I started to learn who God was, who he is, who I am through his eyes. And what does calling mean and what does " purpose mean? And what is identity? I had no idea what these things were. And it was also when I first got my business coach.

And I knew at that point that I was meant to help other people step fully into their dreams. But I knew with an amazing deposit that the Lord gave me that it was in a totally different order than the world teaches. And so I teach a three part methodology that is before brand and business. And I did this wrong.

I did this so wrong. I went right after the business. I went right after the money. And then I was like, okay, let's formulate this brand. How do we want it to look? What is it going to present? Well, who is it for now? I could do all of that and it has nothing to do with me, right? No identity is infused in that.

I'm just an ideator and a machine, but it was this amazing conversation that I had with my husband during that hiatus, that hidden season time. And he asked me the question, What are you passionate about? And remember the nine businesses, I've done two since then. So the nine business this time, and he, I had no words, Carrie.

I didn't know what I was passionate about. And he likes to lean forward, eyes open. And he's like, we just spent our life savings. for the last decade on something you're not passionate about. And he starts going down all the different businesses and asking about all the different realms. Are you passionate about maternity?

Are you passionate about fashion? Are you passionate about all these different things? And I'm like, no, no. And I'm like, hold on. Like, let my brain think, let me sit with this really big question. This is like a lifelong question. And I ultimately came to the fact that I love people. Like, I'm passionate about people, and if I can help other people thrive, then I know that I'm going to not only sustain my own personal well being, because that's what servant leadership is about.

It's about serving other people, but also it's going to expand them and their territories. And so that's really what I went on mission doing, is to help people expand their God dreams and to live in the fulfillment of their life. But first, identifying who they are. And who's they are getting well with their soul so that they're operating from a place of overflow rather than a place of depletion.

And they're not living that hustle hard mentality. They're not living for the weekends. I love Mondays. They're like my favorite day of the week. And I want other people to have that passion for what they show up to do and that they get to do it with style. I have such energy and integrity. Integrity is a huge part of everything that I work on.

So out of there, now let's create your brand. Then let's create your business because you are your brand and your business is your purpose. And so it all is synchronous, just like our mind, our will, our emotions, our body, and our spirit. Yeah, no, that makes sense. And wow, that's great. I mean, you're doing what you love now.

And you're helping people with a very important part of health and wellness, and that is their spiritual component because like a lot of functional medicine doctors, we just, I mean, we just had one last week. I mean, healing occurs at that level, emotional,  spiritual, right? And so we don't want to overlook what you're doing.

I mean, this is amazing. We need more entrepreneurs like you.  I'm trying. We're working on it. We've got a whole movement going, so join in, Carrie. You're doing it too.  I am, and I agree 100 percent with what you just said. It's like, I am just my being, right? We're here and there's no branding. It's just here.

I'm here. I'm me, right? Or, you know, what we're doing. We're called to serve. And, it's beautiful. I agree with you too. Like. helping people. That's why we do this podcast, you know? So, wow. Oh, Tamra, this has been great. You have shared some amazing insights with our audience. You're an amazing person. I'm grateful that you could come on here today.

And I just want to let the audience know that you can learn more about Tamra's work. Everyone, if you, I'm going to put these links in the episode today. There are two links. There's one for a quiz that she gives. And also you can go to TamaraAndris. com.  Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And the quiz is really cool because it's connected to what I just shared, which is the profit identity.

And so is how you actually identify with the gift that God has given you and how you actually make a business out of it, profit from it. And profit doesn't always just look like finances. There is also an overflow of fruit. But when we talk about just from the bio of a millionaire messenger, you have way more in your hands resource wise than you And so it's identifying what, what is that identity for you that you should step more fully into.

And I've seen people cry after taking this quiz. I've seen people shocked. Like I just read their mail. And it's been curated after five years of development with business and entrepreneurs who are like, they're trying to figure it out. And I can basically. It's almost a prophetic element of pinpointing what is their superpower, what they are not leaning into, and how they should utilize that to build a business.

So whether it's speaking, teaching, hosting, building community it kind of alludes to all of the things that are our spiritual gifts. Wow. This sounds like an amazing quiz. I know I'm going to take it. Yeah, it's fine. I can't wait to hear what you are. You'll have to tell me.  Awesome. Well, thank you, everybody.

Remember, we do new episodes every other week on Wednesday, and I look forward to having you join me then.