Tiffani Purdy wears different hats as an entrepreneur. Besides owning Human Design with Tiffani, she is also a marketing strategist and a “Human Design Expert.”
At Human Design, Tiffani Purdy “helps entrepreneurs get seen and sold the easy way, using their Human Design.”
The clients love Tiffani Purdy and Human Design “because of her actionable, down-to-earth perspective and the fun, inclusive atmosphere she cultivates for her classes and workshops.”
When she started out as an entrepreneur, Tiffani Purdy was just looking for a way to support her new baby without leaving the house for eight hours.
Shortly after starting Human Design, Tiffani Purdy “found a passion for helping the people with big ideas for impacting society in a positive way to get started the easiest way possible.”
In 2020, Tiffani Purdy launched Human Design’s “signature program.” She began to “include more one-to-many, classroom-style experiences.”
By changing the strategy for Human Design, Tiffani Purdy became able to “teach everything I’ve learned about being a solopreneur and marketing yourself to large groups of people who never thought they’d need those skills.”
However, Tiffani Purdy didn’t coast through entrepreneurship. She had even wanted to quit before reaching her breakthrough moment. Her daughter was about to start school, and she thought about going back to work as an employee.
But she didn’t give up on Human Design. Tiffani Purdy loved being an entrepreneur, and ultimately found success.
Check out more interviews with successful solopreneurs here.
Along the way, I found a passion for helping the people with big ideas for impacting society in a positive way to get started the easiest way possible.
Jerome KnyszewskI: Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Tiffani Purdy: When I got started in my entrepreneurial journey, it wasn’t because I had some grand plan to change the world.
It was because I had a brand new baby, and I refused to believe I had to leave her for half of the day to make good money.
Along the way, I found a passion for helping the people with big ideas for impacting society in a positive way to get started the easiest way possible.
Jerome KnyszewskI: What was the “Aha Moment” that led to the idea for your current company? Can you share that story with us?
I was still working most with clients one-on-one when COVID hit last year.
There were so many people suddenly at home, out of work — in a very similar situation to where I was when I started freelancing five years before COVID.
It was in April 2020 that I launched my signature program and shifted my work to include more one-to-many, classroom-style experiences, so I could teach everything I’ve learned about being a solopreneur and marketing yourself to large groups of people who never thought they’d need those skills.
Jerome KnyszewskI: Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
Tiffani Purdy: Right before that “breakthrough moment” last year, I almost gave up. My daughter was about to turn 5, and I knew she’d be in school soon.
I thought about going back to work for someone else and how easy it would be to know I how much I’d be getting paid and when that money was coming.
Ultimately, I am too attached to the lifestyle I’m afforded as an entrepreneur.
I love being able to set my own hours and to take spontaneous trips and to choose the people I work with.
When I asked myself if I could ever really go back to answering to someone else and having another person set my rate of pay, the answer was a hard no.
Jerome KnyszewskI: So, how are things going today? How did your grit and resilience lead to your eventual success?
Tiffani Purdy: Today, my business is bringing in an average of $30k cash every month, with about 70% of that being pure profit.
I have two regular part-time contractors, and I am building a team of facilitators to host my signature program’s live class that comes around for virtual attendance four times a year.
In less than a year, our signature program has served over 200 students all around the world. It’s been a wild ride!
Today, my business is bringing in an average of $30k cash every month, with about 70% of that being pure profit.
Jerome KnyszewskI: Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
Tiffani Purdy: I distinctly remember setting myself up for my very first webinar.
I didn’t have fancy webinar software, but I really wanted to be official and have the webinar hosted through my URL.
I made a new page on my WordPress site, set up a window that was supposed to let me stream through YouTube, and found some chat application I could embed underneath for interaction.
I’d marketed the event for a week or so on my social media channels and through my email list.
For being my first webinar with a very small audience at the time, I was surprised to see we had close to 100 people on the guest list.
I sat down 10 minutes before the webinar was scheduled to begin, set up my ancient Acer laptop with my $20 USB-microphone I used every week to record my podcast, and when it was time to go live…my sound wasn’t working.
In front of over 50 people, I started having a panic attack because I couldn’t figure out what wasn’t working properly.
I closed my laptop, called a friend who is also a business owner for a pep talk, then sent an email to my list telling them we’d have to come back for take two the next day. I
had a couple of people unsubscribe and be super critical; most people were very understanding and came back the next day for the webinar.
I laugh about it now — because everyone experiences some kind of tech issue at some point. No one is perfect.
The people who criticized me for having a tech issue? They’re probably not running businesses now. It takes courage to fail for you to take the action that leads to success.
It takes courage to fail for you to take the action that leads to success. Tiffani Purdy
Jerome KnyszewskI: Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Began Leading My Company”? Please share a story or an example for each.
Tiffani Purdy:
- You come first. Something that should be obvious (but unfortunately is often conditioned out of us) is the need for you to be happy and healthy, first and foremost.You can’t create, give, or share something fantastic when you’re in an energy deficit. Take care of yourself first.
- Fun in crucial. I don’t know about you, but I grew up seeing a lot of adults doing jobs they didn’t like.They were working for the weekend, and that’s just what people do, right? Wrong! When you create while you’re inspired, happy and fulfilled, you’re in flow.
And bonus: The people you want to help feel it, too.
- Do it your way. Don’t get suckered into thinking there’s some kind of business model and workflow you can download from that IG guru and bam!You’ll be swimming in cash.
What’s great about this though is that you get to figure out what works for you and create from that space.
- Keep it simple. Start where you are!Comparing yourself to that other coach who seems to be everywhere isn’t helpful — you don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, like if they have a team or if their strategy is even working.
Instead of trying to do #allthethings, start simple and build from a space that makes you feel good.
- Identify and reinforce your boundaries. Entrepreneur life is such a huge transition from 9–5 life.There’s no one telling you when to check in and out.
There’s no one telling you to go on your lunch break. It’s up to you to create limits and to enforce them.
Other than working in flow, this is the biggest secret to keep you from burning out.
Jerome KnyszewskI: How can our readers further follow you online?
Tiffani Purdy: You can follow me on Instagram @humandesignwithtiffani; and you can subscribe to my podcast, Seen and Sold, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.
Jerome KnyszewskI: This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!
Tiffani Purdy: Thank you for having me!
