Six years ago, Tamra Andress decided to start helping big dreamers launch their own mission-driven businesses. Seeing that some of them could quit their full-time jobs to pursue joyful lives as entrepreneurs, she realized there was a greater depth to the faith-driven training she was offering. Though it was fun to teach systems and operations and strategy design, Andress felt that since the root of any business is its leader, there’s value in focusing on not only professional growth but also personal development.
As an author and podcaster who has faced burnout in her career before, Andress encourages entrepreneurs to learn to operate from rest—a lesson she was forced to learn herself. Rather than following the traditional “work hard, play hard” style that many claim to be the key to success, she began approaching life with what she describes as a “rest well, activate well” mentality, channeling self-care into something that allowed her to regain the grace necessary to maintain her resolve.
“Entrepreneurship doesn’t have to be linked to burnout, broken homes, blaming or broken banks,” Andress says. “Instead, it should be linked to joy and servanthood.”
Business and faith
Andress’s philosophy is centered on helping others. She believes that, through the law of reciprocity, the more one gives, the more one can receive. This tenet guides her as she aims to help entrepreneurs with their businesses.
One way she hopes to do this is through her coauthored and curated anthology The Joy-Full Entrepreneur: Solutions, Signs, and Wonders, a book published by her company’s publishing house, F.I.T. in Faith Press. In this title, Andress and her F.I.T. in Faith community—composed of both seasoned and budding faith-based entrepreneurs—share their experiences in business.
The anthology highlights how businesses can thrive while being rooted in faith through a combination of biblical wisdom and innovative strategies, she says. By sharing their perspectives on business and faith, Andress and her coauthors hope to help others succeed.
Plans for the future
Looking forward, Andress wants her publishing company to become a household name within the next few years. She also hopes to see her three podcasts become top-ranked around the globe and speak to women’s groups, churches, universities and corporations.
In addition to these aspirations, Andress envisions her non-profit organization, The Founder Collective, launching a Founder Academy that will be an accredited opportunity for not only ordination but also entrepreneurial activation. She would also like for her fashion line HALO by F.I.T. to eventually expand and employ women abroad to help fund their entrepreneurial endeavors.
Andress believes these goals, along with others, can be realized if she joyfully abides by her true purpose—helping people rather than fixating on all the tasks. She says she has achieved her ambitions to the fullest through dedication, obedience, a philosophy of kindness and a commitment to servanthood. Through her work, she wants to help others do the same.
