Unbreakable Mind & Body

Scratch That Itch: A Story of Career Pivots and Personal Growth

• Tiana Gonzalez • Episode 6

Share episode

Have you ever pursued something you thought was the answer to the curiosity you carried inside, only to discover it wasn't meant for you? That's the journey I explored and share in this deeply personal episode of Unbreakable Mind & Body.

After putting my online fitness brand to sleep, I dove headfirst into construction—an industry I'd always been fascinated by. Three jobs and 16 months later, I found myself processing the disappointment of multiple career setbacks. From hellish commutes to toxic environments and misleading job descriptions that promised "flexibility" but delivered 24/7 expectation, these experiences confirmed what was NOT right for me.

Some of my most valuable discoveries came to me through elimination. Summer of 2024 was a summer of uncertainty, and it became my sanctuary—bartending at a friend's restaurant, lounging by the pool, and giving myself permission to grieve a career path that didn't work out. This breathing room allowed me to reconnect with what truly brings me joy: in-person fitness and nutrition coaching.

This podcast itself represents this philosophy of authentic exploration. Unlike most content today, I'm not creating in an effort to inundate you with marketing. The Unbreakable Mind & Body podcast is simply a space for genuine connection and conversation. 

Whether you're contemplating a creative project or considering returning to a previous industry, remember: if you have an itch, scratch it. If it disappoints, let it go. If it's amazing, keep going. Our paths aren't meant to be perfect—they're meant to lead us exactly where we need to be. What, if any, unexpected direction is calling to you?

Check out Rachel Pesso:

Website: https://rachelpesso.com/

Rachel’s branding quiz: https://rachelpesso.com/quiz/

Instagram: instagram.com/rachelpesso

Send us a text

Connect with Me!

Instagram: www.instagram.com/tianasmindandmoves

Website: www.unbreakablemb.com

Email: info@unbreakablemb.com

Join the newsletter:

https://unbreakablemb.myflodesk.com/jwxbj7vz3l

Disclaimer: This show is for education and entertainment purposes only. This is not intended as a replacement for therapy. Please seek out the help of a professional to assist you with your specific situation.


Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Unbreakable Mind and Body podcast. I am your host, tiana Gonzalez, a multi-passionate, creative storyteller and entrepreneur with a fierce love for movement. This is our space for powerful stories and actionable strategies to help you build mental resilience and elevate your self-care practice. Together, we will unlock the tools that you need to create an unbreakable mind and body.

Speaker 2:

Welcome back to the show. As of this recording, we have hit 129 downloads, which I am thrilled about, between the various streaming platforms. That includes Apple, spotify, the web browsers and a few other places where you can hear the episodes of the show. I went live six days ago, so this is exciting. I also know to stay very grounded and humble and not get too caught up in the numbers. I am a numbers person and I also know that it is very important for me to allow process to take place. I am in new territory. I know very little about podcasting and I am learning as I go. One of the things I recently learned in a Facebook group that I joined as a newbie. I figured why not? It's important for me to connect with others and to learn and connect and potentially host guests on this show and be a guest on other shows, and I learned that I have been doing something a little bit technically off, so I am fixing it. However, it's going to impact the first five episodes of the show. Oh well, you live and learn. At least I figured it out before I recorded episode six.

Speaker 2:

One of the comments that I read in this community is that the first 100 episodes are really just trial and error. Don't take it too seriously. It's all about sharpening the pencil and figuring out what works as we go along. Now I did go back into my archives and my archives are a mixture between files on my MacBook, files on my phone, files on my external hard drive and, most especially, all of my spiral notebooks. Oh you know I am a notebook girl. All of my spiral notebooks. Oh, you know I am a notebook girl. So every year I usually buy a very big spiral notebook with either three subjects or five subjects and it's got all sorts of things in it and post-its and short fiction stories and diary entries and project ideas and so on and so forth. And when I'm working with a coach or a mentor, all of my notes for those programs are in these notebooks. And wouldn't you know?

Speaker 2:

In August of 2021, I did a rebrand for Fit by Tiana, which is my first brand. She's sleeping right now. We're not really sure what we're doing with Fit by Tiana right now. We're not really sure what we're doing with Fit by Tiana and I'll explain in a little bit. But Fit by Tiana went through a rebrand in 2021 and it is really cool to look back and see where I was at the time and look at the different iterations of the business from a color logo, website feel sort of perspective, from a services and offerings and infrastructure. The brand was always evolving and it was a hybrid business for most of the run, with a short period of time being exclusively online from 2021 until spring of 2023. And then I decided I was going to go back into a different industry and put the online fitness on hold for a little bit. The online fitness is still on hold. Fitness is not on hold, but the online part is. I am back to coaching in person exclusively and I am the happiest I have ever been with my work.

Speaker 2:

So I wanted to talk about branding a little bit, because our culture, our society we have certainly evolved and more and more and more you see people branding themselves because now they have a platform, they have an audience. What's really interesting is to see people thinking of themselves as personal brands and not as people. So when you think of yourself as a personal brand, my question is well, what is your offer or your service, or what are your goods? What are you selling? What's been cool about this podcast project is I don't have the answers to that just yet have the answer to the most important question about branding, and that is how do I want people to feel?

Speaker 2:

We all have our favorite brands. Just sit for a second and think about it your favorite sneakers, your favorite clothing, your favorite bookstore, furniture store, bookstore, furniture store, online store, restaurants I mean, when you really sit back and think about it. We are inundated with marketing from the moment we open our eyes until the moment we go to sleep at night. Everywhere you turn is an advertisement of some sort, it is a promotion of some sort, and often, if it's done well, you don't even realize that you're being sold to, and it doesn't mean you have to buy something, but you can be sold something and not realize it. The container looks like for French fries from McDonald's. I think most of you know exactly what that looks like that small little red cardboard container that the fries are standing up in. If you get the small fry, it's the little white like wax paper bag with the grease coming through the paper, maybe like some salt falling out of it. I love those things and I haven't had them in a very long time. Or maybe it's your favorite pizza, or your clothing, or your fragrance or your makeup. I mean, the list goes on and on and on and on.

Speaker 2:

We all have our favorite brands, and what's interesting to think about is, sometimes your favorite brands may not necessarily be the best. They might not be the most expensive, most luxurious or the highest quality, but it serves you well. You enjoy it. There is something about it that is a good experience for you, and so when I'm looking at the notes and the exercises that I did with my friend, rachel, shout out to Rachel Pesso. She helped me with my first logo and business cards and website for Fit by Tiana, and she also helped me with my rebrand in 2021. So, looking at this exercise that she put together, their questions are incredible, because it's less about your favorite font or colors. It's more about how do you want people to feel when they think of your brand? How do you want people to feel when they look at your website or when they're reading your posts or looking at your images on social media or consuming your videos? What is the vibe? And that's really what's important. Now. I shared earlier in this episode that I put Fit by Tiana to sleep for a little while. I don't know what I'm doing with that I may revisit it or I may just let it be. I still have the domain name and, of course, if I wanted to, at any moment I could create a digital offer, fitness-based, and use Fit by Tiana. I just don't really think that's the direction I want to go in right now.

Speaker 2:

But in 2023, I went back to construction and for a period of about 16 months, I worked at three different construction companies. The first one was a hellish commute to JFK International Airport, which is not physically far from where I live it's about 32 miles but because of traffic it was brutal. That gig lasted about eight months and I got let go because the company lost a contract. Supposedly they let me go, as well as a few other people, I don't know. I was very disappointed, but que sera sera? The second construction job was with a small outfit local to me, which I thought was going to be amazing All sorts of beautiful spaces for luxury. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good fit. It was a little bit of a toxic environment. And then the third company was again a hellish commute. Great compensation, treated me well in the beginning.

Speaker 2:

However, sometimes you sign a contract in invisible ink, and what I mean by that is if you're looking for a job. This might be helpful advice when you see things in a job description that say flexibility, work remote from time to time. That may not be all it's cracked up to be. Sometimes having a flexible schedule could mean you're expected to answer calls and emails 24, seven right. Being able to work in various locations could mean you might be expected to go out to a remote site hours away from home and use your phone as a hotspot to do work and freeze your butt off in your car in the parking lot of an abandoned site waiting for somebody to meet you there. Maybe I've had experience with that, I don't know. I'm just sharing a story.

Speaker 2:

But the reason why I'm saying all of this is because I thought that that's what I wanted. I thought I wanted to go back to construction. I thought that this was going to be it. I was pumped. I was excited to be learning new things. I was excited to be back in an industry that I had always intended on. Getting my foot in the door, I went to engineering school. I love the creative process. I love building things. I love learning how things work. I like taking things apart and putting them back together. Sometimes there's a piece or two still left after I put the thing together. So I might not be perfect, but those things weren't meant for me. Those experiences were meant to show me confirmation that that is not what I'm meant to be doing and the future is still a little gray. The future for Unbreakable is not really clear right now.

Speaker 2:

I know I want to share stories with you. I know I want us to connect. By the way, if you check the show notes, you can reach out to me if you have a question or if you would like me to talk about a certain topic. There's a couple ways you can reach out to me. So check the show notes for that information. But I don't have a big business plan. I don't have this whole idea of funneling you from here into something else and then selling you. I'm not trying to advertise anything. I just want us to have conversation. I want this space to be one of the spaces where you're not being inundated with sales and marketing and ads, because what's more important to me is that you feel good in this experience and that it's memorable and that you feel seen, heard and there's a connection.

Speaker 2:

If the Unbreakable Mind and Body podcast turns into something big. That would be great, that would be awesome, but that's not the intention. Right, this very second, right now. This is about us. I'm recording this in my apartment on top of a bunch of blankets and some throw pillows around me to absorb the sound. You probably could hear my neighbors out in the hallway every once in a while. It is what it is.

Speaker 2:

So, if you have a creative project and you're thinking about starting it, what's stopping you? If you're thinking about going back into an industry that you were once in but you feel like you have some unfinished business, what's stopping you? It's not going to be like it was last time. You're different. It's just like how after months of some uncertainty and I had a fun summer Let me tell you, 2024 was awesome.

Speaker 2:

I spent most of my time at the gym or by the pool at the gym, and I was a bartender at my friend's restaurant. I had the summer of my life, but I also knew it was temporary. I also knew that I had to get my shit together and I did. That time allowed me to process. I grieved, I got over the trauma of the three construction jobs in a row that didn't work out for me.

Speaker 2:

Do you know how disappointing that is To think that you want something and to put forth so much effort and it didn't work out, and to put forth so much effort and it didn't work out, not once, not twice, but three times. Yeah, I had some processing to do and then eventually I figured out what was meant for me was in-person. In-person fitness and nutrition coaching, and I am loving every minute of it person fitness and nutrition coaching, and I am loving every minute of it. I have an amazing team, I have support, I have structure and my clients are awesome. If you have an itch, scratch it. If it's disappointing, that's okay, let it go. If it's amazing, keep going.

Speaker 2:

Thanks so much for being here. I really hope you enjoyed this episode. If you enjoyed and you want to hear more, please subscribe to the show by hitting that follow button, and you can also get in touch with me. Look at the show notes. There's a couple of different ways. You can follow me on Instagram and threads, you can email me directly or you can send me a text in reference to the show. If you have a question that you'd like me to answer on a future episode or a topic to touch on in a future episode. I'm all ears. See you on the next one.