Today we’d like to introduce you to Terra Bohlmann.
Terra, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I always had an entrepreneurial spirit but it was hidden at first. I had an unconventional childhood. My mom owns a barbershop in my hometown in central Illinois. I saw her work hard every single day so I learned my work ethic from her. My dad was the lead singer of a rock band. I grew up doing my homework while the band practiced for their next gig in the next room. Needless to say, it was never boring in my household.
Growing up in a town that revolved around the local tractor company, my main goal after high school graduation was to work there. As soon as I could, I got my first job. Then, quickly a second job through my high school co-op program at a chemical company where I was told that I was “really good on the computer.” I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go to college or just get a computer job with great benefits… so I did both at the same time.
I worked full time (yes, at the local tractor company) and went to college full time. While working at the tractor company, I was blessed with the most amazing mentors who saw me bigger than I saw myself. They helped build my skills, grow my confidence and to pinpoint my next steps after graduating with my business computer systems degree from Bradley University. This small, town midwestern girl moved to big-city Chicago to start my corporate career.
And… I got married to my now husband, Darin, who worked as an engineer for (yep) the same tractor company where I worked in college. We then moved back to my hometown a few years later and I became what I learned was “the trailing spouse.” We started our family had had our first son.
Like so many other working moms, that’s when I struggled with the whole “do I stay at home with the baby” or “do I go back to work?” I tried to stay home for three months but it wasn’t for me. I went back to work and later entered the consulting world. There were two things that I loved working in consulting. #1 Solving complex business problems and #2 Mentoring women.
I loved the work that I did but with consulting comes long hours and lots of travel (which I love) but didn’t bode well with a young son and twin babies on the way. I knew I had to make a change. I started reading a lot of books and set forward on a path to find my “life’s purpose.”
Little did I know that purpose was already in motion but I didn’t know it. (That’s how it usually works, right?) Combining my love for business and mentoring women, I knew that I was put on this earth to help raise the standard of how women entrepreneurs were viewed in the world. Why women entrepreneurs? Because I didn’t want women to have to struggle with “do I stay home to raise my kids” or “do I go back to my corporate job?”
My solution was to do both the best you can. High achieving, driven women entrepreneurs are a rare breed and I wanted to help make them even more successful. I resigned from consulting and started working with women entrepreneurs. That was almost a decade ago and I am still a business coach for women entrepreneurs. Guess what? I found out that your life’s purpose comes full circle when you stop forcing it.
My purpose was already in motion and now I get to solve complex business problems and mentor women entrepreneurs to higher success. I am aligned exactly how I am supposed to be.
Has it been a smooth road?
Building a business never goes like you plan. You have to block and tackle the obstacles along the way. Growing my business was no different. Like many other women entrepreneurs, I struggled with “perfection paralysis” and the fear of failing.
I found the more that I got into action, the more opportunities opened up. That’s the real secret sauce… is just get moving and don’t stay stuck waiting for everything to be perfect because it never will be.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My company, Navigation Forward, is a coaching company for high-achieving women entrepreneurs. We are a different type of business coaching company. My signature program, The Concorde Coaching Program, is a 12-month hybrid coaching program that combines individual coaching with group coaching.
When a woman entrepreneur starts in the program, the first thing I do is get all the information and goals she has about her business in her head and into mine. I then create her custom, Business Map™, which is a 50+ page business strategy and how-to-guide to run her entire company.
Once we have the map in place, it’s time to put it into action. The Concorde Coaching Program is packed full of private coaching, group coaching, a private community of like-minded, high-achieving women from all around North America, weekend masterminds in great cities and monthly revenue accountability.
I also do live-events in Houston twice a year and sell a done-with-you project-based program called Now Boarding Clients for women entrepreneurs who just need to get clarity on their signature offer and know how to sell it over and over again. I am proud of where my company is after almost ten years.
It started as a baby and had to learn how to crawl, walk and then run. I truly believe if I didn’t go through my own business journey, I wouldn’t be able to coach my clients to be where they are today. I still wake up every day and pinch myself that I get to do what I love and it doesn’t feel like a job.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
In my opinion, there is no greater city than Houston for women entrepreneurs to thrive.
We have the best networking, live events, industries, and diversity. No matter what your passion is, Houston is a place you can call home.
Contact Info:
- Address: 8524 Highway 6 North #143 Houston, Texas 77095
- Website: www.TerraBohlmann.com
- Email: terra@terrabohlmann.com
- Instagram: @TerraBohlmann
- Facebook: @TerraBohlmannBusiness
- Twitter: @TerraBohlmann
Image Credit:
Traci Ling Photography, Victoria Garcia Studios and Light & Matter Photography
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Pam
May 17, 2019 at 3:18 pm
So proud if you ! Keep up the good work .