Meet: Tijania Goodwin!

Introduce yourself and profession to our readers:

Tijania Goodwin is an educator, certified event planner, life coach and mentor from Philadelphia.  She has been educating and mentoring students of all ages since 2005 and is currently working at Lincoln Technical Institute in Philadelphia.  Tijania is a certified event planner and the owner of “Events 2 The Tee” which is an event planning company founded in 2011 but has re-launched in 2016. She attended West Chester University for her Bachelor’s Degree in Health Sciences with a minor in Sociology as well as Saint Joseph’s University for her Master’s Degree in Health Education with a concentration in Community Health. Tijania is a well-rounded person who enjoys living life and meeting new people.  She also loves that she can be advocate for healthy living both mentally, emotionally and physically.  Tijania has a passion for empowering women to be the best they can be no matter what obstacles comes their way. So while doing that, she created a women’s movement called “A Queen’s Voice: Tapping into Your Inner Self.”  This movement empowers and pushes women to tap in, focus, transform and listen to their inner voice.  She lives by this great quote, “Your mind is a powerful thing.  When you fill it up with positive thoughts, your life will start to change. So tap in!”

What inspired you to pursue this area of interest?

For my event planning business, I have always had an eye for planning and coordinating things if it was at work, church or at school.  I just really loved to create awesome events whether it was a birthday party, a graduation or a Youth Department workshop at my church.  Meet new people and networking is everything in this business.  Being social has really helped me in this journey that I have taken to become an event planner.  Once I had completed so many events, I decided that I would just go ahead and start my own business.  I discussed it over with some family and my best friend and they told me to just go for it. Even though life happened and I had to stop for a little bit, I still had the belief that there was still hope for my business to flourish.  I have met some awesome people and I am forever grateful. I am still learning every day because trends are constantly changing. My ultimate goal is to become an international event planner.  Now for my life coaching and mentoring services, I just love helping and advising people.  My own family and friends always come to me with issues they may be trying to overcome or trying to figure out if they are facing a life-changing situation.  I share no sides and always play mutual.  Even though I am coaching my clients, it is still a learning experience for me as well.  I take this very seriously because lives are being changed through every person I come in contact with.  I love what I do and have a PASSION for it!

What advice would you share with those interested in a similar pursuit?

The advice I would give to someone is be willing to step outside your comfort zone to accomplish the goals you set for yourself.  Life is full of trials and tribulations.  You want to be that person who overcomes obstacles by tackling them in FAITH instead of tiptoeing around them in FEAR.  Figure out your worth and know that all things are possible especially when you believe in yourself!  Networking is also important.  Relationships are the catalyst for success.  People do business with those they like and trust.  Serve as a resource to help others including yourself succeed.  Lastly learning how to take creative criticism played a part in this as well.  Take every criticism and apply it to your business because it will make the next event or life coaching session to the next level!  

Discuss a professional challenge and how you overcame it:

A professional challenge I have had was when I decided to do event planning not just as       “something to do because I liked it” but as an actual business.  It was like an on-boarding professional challenge.  I knew that in order for me to be a successful planner I needed to get certified, quickly understand trends and adapt to a new culture and new people.  I had to increase my awareness about the business and what it entails.  This required continuing research on how to build a big and better brand for myself.  I also had to accept change.  I knew that all  what it takes to succeed in any new situation is a matter of learning new ways of working and most importantly, letting go of old ones even if they’ve driven your career success up until now.  

What is next for your brand/business in 2017?

I am currently creating my websites for both my event planning business and life coaching/ mentoring services.  I am also in the process of creating a male version of “A Queen’s Voice” platform entitled “Discovering the Alpha Male: I am King.”  We want to launch our first all-male empowerment/networking event July of 2017 in Atlanta!  So not only am I doing events and providing services for my clients, but I am also doing events for myself to empower others!  2017 is going to be great so stay tuned!

How can readers connect with you online and through social media?

​People can reach me for Event Planning: FB and IG @ Events2TheTee
Life Coaching/Mentoring: IG @AQueensVoicePHL