Alright, this is going to get a little
personal, but it’s my birthday so I
can cry if I want to… right?
But don’t worry, there’s a happy
ending so read on...
I want to tell you all a little story about the last 9 months, and NO the big reveal is not that I’m about to have a baby. Although much of this started when I first got pregnant with Axl in 2017. For the past few years, I had been solely running my business, Tabrizi Productions, and it was a struggle. I didn’t fully know what I was doing. Yes, I had the skills to make videos and connect with my clients, but as far as growing a viable business... I was pretty clueless. Things were more or less moving in the right direction, but at a slow pace that wasn’t sustainable for my Bay Area lifestyle. I got into debt. A LOT OF IT. Things were looking pretty bleak. I even considered throwing in the cards and settling for another job where I could, at the very least, make debt payments and have a steady paycheck again. Where life would be, well, more predictable. But was that enough for me???
In September 2017 (almost exactly 2 years ago to this date) I got pregnant. Business had been moving along, debt was disappearing at a sloth-like pace, but now I had the biggest responsibility of all looming ahead of me. I was about to be a mother!! A parent!! Another human being was about to start relying on me. Something had to change. Something about having this tiny human growing inside me triggered me to become more disciplined and focused with my work. And that was the first year I really started to see the benefits. Business started rolling in on the regular. I was able to invest in some marketing. Things were starting to really pay off. And by pay off, I mean pay off my debt. I wasn’t fully able to enjoy the fruits of my labor just yet. I wasn’t able to save money or re-invest in my business. I was still living paycheck to paycheck, more or less. Thank goodness for my husband Ashton’s emotional and financial support or I would have never been able to pull any of this off as quickly as I did.
And with business finally feeling legitimate, our son, Axl, arrived. There was a huge adjustment period of finding a work-life-mother balance while also trying to maintain who I AM as a person—and at first, I wasn’t all that successful. I gained a lot of extra weight and felt unmotivated to fix that. Business was moving along, but my portfolio of clients was limited. I was in constant fear that with one client pulling out would mean the end for Tabrizi Productions. Something had to change, and it needed to be bigger than a workout, a cold-call or a new diet. That change was in mindset. And this is where I want to get into the last 9 months.
Earlier this year, I got to know Lia Pinelli. She’s a weight loss and life coach, but more importantly she's grown her business successfully while simultaneously balancing motherhood and a job in education (like a badass)...I was skeptical of the term “coach,” but she inspired me to give it a go.
If you’ve seen me lately, you probably noticed I’ve shed some weight (25 pounds to be exact) and, WHOA, I’ve been through a total mind-fuck, but in a GOOD way. You see, working with Lia didn’t only teach me tricks on food and intermittent fasting, but she opened me up to transform into the person I WANT TO BE. What’s more, she showed me I have total control over achieving that. Lia also introduced me to a fantastic podcast called “Being Boss.” Listening to that first episode on a long drive home from visiting family, my brain felt like it had been cracked open to a whole world I hadn’t previously realized existed. In this world, creative entrepreneurs (just like me!) were going through the same struggles. Needless to say, I was hooked. I still am. I started listening to at least one of their episodes a day, and still do!
I met with the fabulous ladies behind Being Boss and a dozen more badass women on a trip to Guatemala. I started buying business books, and scheduling accountability calls with my real estate girlfriend Jennifer Dean to discuss new ideas and insights. Most importantly, I started Doing The Work. Where was all of this 5 years ago, when I first branched out to do my own thing?? In fact, it had been there all along—only I hadn’t been open to it yet.
So where am I today? I may be 25 pounds lighter physically, but I’m 50 pounds heavier in knowledge, curiosity and so much expectation for the future. I’m waking up early every morning to read and taking an hour in the middle of my day to go workout. I’ve never felt more focused on the business I’m building for my family’s future. And most importantly, I really like who I’m becoming.
And that leads me to my big reveal. A part of this process was realizing that my business was my brand. And when you choose Tabrizi Productions, you’re choosing to work with Farran Tabrizi. Before, that wasn’t the focus of my brand. So after much debate and a not so successful DIY attempt, I enlisted top-notch branding team Curious & Co. to help me revamp my brand. I am now revealing the new brand for Tabrizi Productions. I’m still producing awesome video content—but I want to help fellow baddasses who are ready to grow their business by taking that next step of investing in themselves by telling their stories through video (#videostorytellers). This new brand is much more than just a sexy website with a kick-ass logo (though those are delightful bonuses). This new brand reflects my personal growth over the last 35 years and embraces my story.
So without further ado, allow me to share with you one exciting byproduct of my inner transformation...
