We had the good fortune of connecting with Tee Marie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tee, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
For so many years I was not living my life for me. I was living for everyone else around me. As a child and a teenager, I did what my parents wanted me to do. Not too long after graduating high school, I fell in love got married, and gave birth to my first child and lived every day for her and my husband. As the years went on, I had more children and became the main support system for all of my husband’s accomplishments. In 2018 I decided it was time for me to find my identity and live for me! I did this by writing my first book, “Live. Love. Learn. A walk through infidelity, love, and acceptance.” I have always loved writing but for some reason, I stopped doing what I loved. Once I completed my book, I felt a sense of accomplishment that nothing else in life had given me up to this point. As I shared my book with others, I learned that there were other women that shared my feelings and could relate to my story. So, I decided to start a business where I help women to find happiness in doing what makes them happy while taking care of themselves as well as their families.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As I embarked on starting my own business, there were other avenues of the business that I needed to learn. Along the way, I acquired a knack for web design. I created my own website and all of my marketing materials to promote my upcoming book release. I started promoting myself and began to receive inquiries about who I had designing my content. When I answered, “me”, the clients started pouring in. What sets me apart from other web designers is the passion that I have to make sure that the job is well done to the clients’ satisfaction. I do this by having systems set in place and treating every client the way I would like to be treated. With every client that I acquired I learned something new and used it to help me improve for the next client. Before I knew it, I was receiving referrals from satisfied clients and my business seemed to grow overnight. One method I used to overcome my challenges was to not take things personally. When you are running a business it’s important to maintain a business relationship. That doesn’t mean that you cannot be friendly, it just means that you take your personal feelings out of your business decisions. The thing that I would like the world to know about my story is that I take my business very seriously and I make sure that the proper time, attention and detail is given to each and every project. I am very passionate about what I do and I care about each of my clients’ success.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Our day would start with eating breakfast at the Flying Biscuit on McLendon Avenue. The food there is delicious and healthy. After breakfast, we would walk through Little Five Points to shop and just take in the sights of the city. For lunch, we would eat at the Caroline Bakery near the historic Fulton Cotton Mill. Then we would rent bikes to ride the Atlanta Beltline. Since we would be hanging out for an entire week we would probably order in on the first night. Throughout the week the restaurants we would visit would include, Pappadeaux, Pappasitos, The Juicy Crab, Seasons 52, Cheddars, Karen’s International, and Nana’s Chicken and Waffles. We would definitely visit the King Center, The Fox Theatre, Ponce City Market, and visit Centennial Olympic Park. The other museums we would visit would include the High museum, the trap museum, and the Civil Rights museum.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate this shoutout to my good friend Tonya Yarbrough. Throughout my entire process of deciding to focus more on myself, she was there! She offered support when I was at my lowest point and we have been close friends for going on 16 years. I would also like to recognize my husband for supporting me to write about the sensitive topic of infidelity. From the time I shared with him my goal of writing a book and putting in the work, he was with me every step of the way. Jasmine Womack and her Author’s Bootcamp provided a tremendous amount of support as well when it came to the writing process. I am still in contact with the authors today because of the Bootcamp. I feel like there were many people collectively that I can thank as well, but I simply cannot mention them all. I am grateful to all who have been a part of this process with me.

Website: www.authorteemarie.com
Instagram: @authorteemarie @teemariedesigns
Facebook: Author Tee Marie
Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCy6kDQALZxD6rb461jgXk7Q

Image Credits
Photo cred: @treywalkerstudio, @dwsstudio