The Goal Digger Podcast | Top Business and Marketing Podcast for Creatives, Entrepreneurs, and Women in Business

877: Meet The Entrepreneurs Who Turned Pain Into Purpose (And Are Changing Lives)

May 12, 2025

Tambra Wiswagu, a life coach for women over 40, and Shell Chapman, founder of Akoya clothing, dive deep into stories of resilience. They discuss how personal struggles, including cancer diagnoses and identity shifts, catalyzed their entrepreneurial journeys. Tambra shares insights on redefining purpose during life's challenges, while Shell reveals how Akoya was born from the desire to provide comfort for women undergoing treatment. Their conversation emphasizes the transformative power of community and turning pain into meaningful action.

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ANECDOTE

Tombra's Identity Awakening

In 2020, Tombra lost her corporate job and realized she wasn’t living her true calling.
She started podcasting and coaching, focusing on identity as the root of purpose.

INSIGHT

Purpose Evolves in Cycles

Purpose changes with life seasons but your calling is fixed.
Embrace cyclical living: release limiting beliefs, align with purpose, then activate it.

INSIGHT

Life's Four Seasons

Life has four seasons: preparation, planting, proliferation, and passing.
At 40, many get serious about legacy and stop merely preparing or planting without conviction.

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Have you ever heard a story so raw, so real, that it physically stopped you in your tracks? The kind of story that makes you put down your to-do list, take a deep breath, and remember why you started this journey in the first place?

May is National Small Business Month, and while I LOVE hearing from the headline-makers and household names, today is about something even more special: real stories from real listeners of this podcast.

These are the kind of women who tune in while they’re juggling kids and client calls, who build their dreams during nap time or after their 9-to-5. They may not have gone viral, but what they’ve built? It’s powerful. It’s personal. And it matters.

Tonbra, Maris, and Chelle didn’t just build businesses… They built something beautiful from heartbreak, identity shifts, and unimaginable challenges. From cancer diagnoses to grief to reinvention, these women turned their hardest chapters into platforms that now help others.

If you’re walking through your own hard chapter, or even just need a reminder of what’s possible on the other side of pain, this one’s for you.

And hey, if you want to be part of this kind of community I’d love to invite you into the Goal Digger Podcast Insiders Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/goaldiggerpodcast/

Goal Digger Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/goaldiggerpodcast/

Goal Digger Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goaldiggerpodcast/

Goal Digger Show Notes: https://www.jennakutcherblog.com/national-small-business-month-stories

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