Publishing Secrets

It’s Time To Stop Hiding: Learning Financial Literacy & Healthy Family Communication with Tamra T. Bush

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Episode notes

In this episode, you’ll also hear:

• How Tamra broke out of cycles of abuse and financial illiteracy – and how she’s using what she learned to empower others
• How to nurture positive family communication that strengthens the bond between parents and children
• The importance of understanding how much you don’t know
• Tamra’s advice for those who feel called to share their message, but hold themselves back out of shame or fear of being in the spotlight

 

Be sure to read all the way to the end for important resources and links!

 

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of figuring something out, is there? You know – that lightbulb moment when everything suddenly makes sense. You’re excited and relieved, because you’ve finally arrived at the answer. But then what? 

It’s important to not only celebrate what God has done in your life, but then to pay it forward and help others who are seeking those same answers. Tamra T. Bush is a living example of this. She looked back over her troubling childhood and decided she had to find a different way out. And once she’d figured out the answers, she made a commitment to help others by shortening the learning curve. Now, she helps people bridge family communication gaps and better equip the next generation. 

Like Tamra, you too can share what you have learned with others. Not only will you help them grow, but you’ll also show them you’re genuinely concerned about their welfare and not just your own goals. 

Breaking the Cycle

Tamra’s mission began with the realization that a severe lack of resources and access to information in her childhood had created an environment where there was no hope. Tamra grew up in a violent home, and many of the arguments and domestic abuse she witnessed were based on money. 

Watching the adults in her life struggle without knowing how to improve their own situations stuck with Tamra as she became an adult herself, and she knew she had to do something different. Her search for some way to break the cycle led her to the finance industry: “I knew that there was something wrong, but I didn't know what and I didn't know how to get to it. But I knew it was about money. And so I said, ‘Okay, let me go work for a bank.’ And that's what started me on my journey.”

But Tamra’s turning point really came when she met someone who showed her a very different path – one Tamra hadn’t even realized could be an option. This woman made her living by helping people start businesses, and Tamra was surprised to learn just how much people were willing to pay for this service. 

At first, Tamra was skeptical about the line of work – and even felt a little cheated not to have known that a career offering services in the form of education was possible. “I think it impacted me because I realized that there's something else out there besides the hourly wage,” Tamra recalls. “And so I was resistant in the beginning. But it really opened up my mind and got me thinking that maybe I could sort of do the same thing.” 

From there, Tamra says she was like a sponge, soaking up every bit of information she could find to improve her life. And now she is doing the same thing, teaching others the very things she needed to learn. 

Positive Family Communication: The Key to Raising the Next Generation

That theme of taking her own experiences and teaching others from it is carried on in Tamra’s latest book, THE CHEAT CODE : A Mother's G.P.S For the Love of Her Son. “I remember being a young person wishing that I had a bit more guidance in my life,” Tamra says. “I made a lot of mistakes, as we all do, because we're human. But I just wished that there was an adult that took the time out to teach me some of life's lessons.” 

Through this book, Tamra hopes to give her son what she never had: information to help him understand life’s questions and avoid making similar mistakes to the ones she did. Knowing she may not always be there to guide and support her son, Tamra wrote her book to be a legacy she could leave behind – something her son can refer back to when he encounters questions and hard choices, even after Tamra is gone. 

But the book isn’t only a valuable resource for Tamra’s son. It can also help parents who want to ensure their children grow up to be responsible citizens spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and financially. 

The key is open and honest family communication. As the saying goes, education starts in the home. But Tamra wants parents to understand that the younger generation today faces an environment that is very different from the one their parents grew up in. There are new kinds of outside influences and experiences that parents can’t understand without having productive conversations with their teenagers. 

Through opening lines of communication with her own son, Tamra has seen a huge difference in their relationship: “There was a period of time where he would just isolate himself, and I would have to constantly go and chase after him for conversation. But now that those lines of communication are open, he comes to me. I don't have to chase him anymore.” 

Teach Your Children Where They Come From

According to Tamra, there are two big reasons family communication is important:

1. Your child needs to know who you are as a parent 
2. Your child needs to know who you are as a person, so they can understand their lineage

Discussing your family history with your children helps them understand you and your perspective, and also certain traits that have been passed down to them through DNA. That’s why Tamra says if she could have a conversation with anyone, living or dead, she would choose to speak with her grandfather, who passed away when she was very young. 

“I want my son to be grounded in the fact of knowing who his family is, who his parents are,” Tamra says. “Those conversations are going to help him to be better in touch with his feelings, his attitude, the way that he maintains relationships, how he speaks to people, his level of confidence – there are so many things that go into having those important conversations with your teens. It's literally going to sculpt them into what type of adult they are, and how they go out and interact with the world.”

Because Tamra is so passionate about helping parents have these vital conversations with their children, she’s built her business for the purpose of helping parents open those lines of family communication and also – especially in terms of finances – pull their family together to function as a unit. “The family unit is the most powerful entity on the face of the planet,” Tamra says. “And so collectively, if you're looking to build wealth, the family unit is going to be the number one thing that's going to help you achieve that.” 

But not only that, Tamra also believes that functioning as a healthy family is the way to begin healing past trauma and other issues. Those kinds of experiences build up barriers and keep family members from trusting each other, and working together toward a common goal, so it’s important to have conversations and learn to trust one another again. 

“The idea is to get us working together,” Tamra concludes. “We're better in numbers, but when we try to go it alone, we can only go so far.”

You Can No Longer Hide

Although this topic of family communication and equipping younger generations has been near to Tamra’s heart for many years, she didn’t anticipate writing a book about it – or about anything, for that matter. She prefers to stay behind the scenes and encourage others who are in the limelight. But though she felt comfortable staying out of sight, God had other ideas. 

In 2018, Tamra heard the Holy Spirit telling her she could no longer hide. When she tried to brush it off, He sent people to her to tell her directly that she should write a book. It took time, but Tamra eventually listened and obeyed. 

Tamra says the main reason it took so long was that she simply didn’t want to be seen: “I'm my biggest critic. And I don't see things that other people see. People see things in me that I don't see. And so I had to be constantly reminded, ‘Look, you have a message. It's time to get out there and start speaking to people.’”

As Tamra listened to God’s prompting, she realized that, while there was a lot of good information out there, something was missing – and she could share that missing piece. 

You Don’t Know Everything

In the process of working to get her message out into the world, Tamra decided to join our Christian Authors Network podcast tour, and she says one of the biggest lessons she’s learned during this time is that we don’t always know as much as we think we know. 

“What you have in your head does not necessarily translate to paper,” Tamra says. “It doesn't translate to marketing, and it doesn't translate to reaching your audience. We know what we know, but what does that look like to someone else?” Just as open family communication is essential to helping parents and children understand one another, it’s important to communicate with your audience in a way that speaks to them. 

As Tamra has learned, marketing is a unique language. You may think you’re communicating your message well because you know your material, but other people may see or hear what you’re saying in a very different way. We have to learn to communicate in a way that is attractive and clear to the audience we’re trying to reach. 

Now, Tamra is no longer staying behind the scenes. Instead, she’s stepping out, being bold and confident, and has put together some powerful resources to help her audience not only set themselves up for success, but also equip the next generation. 

One of those resources is her free webinar, which teaches families how to take their existing revenue and circulate it internally within the family unit before it leaves, creating a financial ecosystem that’s similar to how banks operate. “We're going to teach you how to profit from your own money the same way the bank's profit from your deposits,” Tamra explains. 

Have Those Conversations

Maye you, like Tamra, had a troubling childhood and a lack of healthy family communication that resulted in trauma. And now you’re being challenged to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to step out there, be bold, and come out of hiding – but there’s still a big part of you that doesn’t believe you can, so you’re fighting yourself and trying to stay in the background. 

If that’s you, Tamra’s word of advice is, first, don’t be ashamed, because it’s not your fault. Help is available, but, as Tamra says, “you have to open up to someone and have that conversation. And don't sweep it under the rug, because it's unhealthy. Expose it for what it is.” Abuse can come in many forms, so it’s important to identify and understand what has happened to you, so you can get the right kind of help.

Next, Tamra advises forgiving yourself often and developing a practice of seeking God and creating moments of peace through prayer and meditation. 

And finally, understand and acknowledge the worth you have as a child of God: “You are worthy of all of God's gifts and his abundance, and no one can ever take that away from you unless you allow them to.” 

 

BIO

Tamra T. Bush is a woman of God, wife, and mother who takes great pride in being an instrument of change for others. Her deep knowledge and over two decades of experience in the financial industry have made her an invaluable asset to families that want a better life. She's passionate about empowering families so they can have the economic foundation necessary to look towards their future with confidence. Tamra understands that this isn't just a matter of money, but also communication and support systems for when things get tough. That’s why she strives to make a difference on both sides: providing education while helping parents communicate more openly with their children in order to reduce anxiety or depression.

 

CONNECT WITH TAMRA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TamraTBush

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tamratbush_official/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TamraTBush

Website: www.tamratbush.com

Watch the “How to Profit from Your Own Money” Case Study and Be the Hero of Your Own Story at https://tamratbush.com/credit/

 

Connect with Fellow Authors and Learn about the Podcast Tour: http://christianauthors.net/fbgroup