Get to KNOW Terrie Reeves: Charlotte Spotlight
Terrie Reeves is the founder of Empower Health America, a research and evidence-based health advocacy company, as well as a KNOW Charlotte Featuree.
She focuses her time and energy on Organization Development Consulting, Public Speaking, Coaching, and facilitates Train For Life® Empowerment Workshops and Retreats to inspire individuals, teams and organizations to THRIVE.
To inspire positive change, Terrie created the Train For Life®assessment, a self-reflection tool and the Train For Life Method, a holistic coaching model. Both invite individuals to take inventory of their life and help guide them through the change process. Terrie believes that you can only achieve in your life what you can envision in your mind.
Her company’s mission statement reflects the philosophy and intention behind her work, “to transform lives, communities, organizations, and the world by encouraging self-study and empowering mindful action.”
She holds many firsts titles from her life and career. She is the oldest of 5 siblings, and was the first in my family to graduate from college. She served as a White House ambassador for the first National Physical Fitness Day, and as a result, she and her partner performed their winning National SportAerobic routine for President Bush at the White House.
She was the first on-air host in Charlotte to cover holistic health on TV 7 years ago, and she is the oldest female to win Dancing with the Stars in Charlotte. She was also part of the launch of the first only Carolina Panthers NFL franchise in Charlotte.
“As I process the word first, it fits my personality, because I like to respectfully challenge the status quote, and believe it is important to stay open to new possibilities. Last but not least, one of my proudest accomplishments, was being the first in my family to launch my own business. I am the Founder of Empower Health America (EHA), and our vision is “To transform lives, communities, organizations, and the world by encouraging self-study and empowering mindful action.” Not a modest vision, but worthy of pursuit. How am I making this vision a reality? First, I am passionate about what I do, I partner with amazing like-minded people, and this vision is at the center of every decision I make. I am a consultant, speaker, coach, facilitator, and I develop evidence-based programs on health, well-being and personal empowerment, and you will see EHA’s vision in everything I do.”
We, The Know Tribe asked Terrie the following questions and you will see many of them answered in her story.
· What have you learned along the way?
· How has this contributed to your career and success?
· How do you Lift + Rise?
“My journey backward and why I do what I do.
Your life’s experience, the people you spend time with along the way, your genetic wiring and the many dimensions of your life impact who you are today. So pausing and journeying backward is a great way to put your life into perspective.
My Story… the authentic and vulnerable truth
A few career highlights: I have worked in the health industry for over 25 years and have 15 + years of experience in corporate wellness and population health and organizational change management. I have been fortunate to help organizations institutionalize intervention strategies focused on improving well-being, engagement, and human performance. I have launched 2 health advocacy companies and have held executive positions at several health management organizations.I was part of the launch team for Elegant Bride Magazine and the NFL Carolina Panthers, and I worked in Manhattan for Vogue Magazine during the era that inspired the movie The Devil Wears Prada. I am a three-time National Sport-aerobics Champion, and I have facilitated over 10,000 hours in yoga, meditation, and mindfulness training. I was an ambassador on the first White House National Physical Fitness Day team, co-stared in a kickboxing video with boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard and was an on-air host for News 14 promoting health and total well-being for over 5 years. I am an avid health advocate and I love public speaking and facilitating programs on empowerment, readiness to change, holistic health, and overall well-being in the private, public and non-profit sector.
I launched Empower Health America (EHA) in 2015, but what was my motivation to dedicate my life to helping people thrive, and what was the catalyst that inspired me to launch Empower Health America?
I could credit my decision to the decades of research I have conducted in and around health and well-being, but the true motivation came from a deeper place. It was my life struggles. I am grateful for the many wonderful opportunities and blessings I have experienced in my lifetime, but I have learned more from the adversities than I have from the successes. Looking at my life you might say what adversity? However, somewhere early on I lost my way. I was the oldest of 5 children with 3 half-brothers and 1 half-sister, my mom was married 3 times and so was my dad. Needless to say, being part of a fractured family, moving constantly, attending 7 different schools growing up and living in environments that provided very little emotional support or stability created a foundation built on quicksand. I made most of my decisions from a place of fear. I became fiercely independent, hyper responsible, an over-achiever, self-critical, and a person who was eager to play the role of caretaker and peacemaker. These traits were a toxic combination for me, which led to low self-esteem and a hard-fought 15 year battle with an eating disorder. I did not like myself or my life for a long time and when I paused to look at my reflection in the mirror my internal dialog was painful to listen to.
My story may pale in comparison to most, but what we do have in common is we have all dealt with adversity at some point in our lives. Adversity showed up like a brick wall and I couldn’t figure out how to get around it. The sadness remained for a long time, like an airplane circling the runway with no place to land. I did have a ray of hope which I found through exercise. It was my happy place and it seemed to quiet the noise in my head, which gave me temporary relief from my negative thoughts. However, the healing process didn’t begin until I divorced at age 36 and was introduced to yoga and meditation. I believe they both changed the trajectory of my life. I learned how to pause, to be present in the moment and to feel. Yoga and meditation gave me the hope and confidence to change the way I viewed myself and the world around me. The change process is hard but not impossible. We all have the capacity to make changes in our lives and we don’t have to stay stuck in unhealthy patterns of thinking or behavior. I know because it took me a long time to give myself permission to pause long enough to process through the pain, to figure out what was important to me and that I deserved to be healthy, happy and whole. I continue to take hits along the way but it is easier to stay the course because I trust myself. Today I stand in my power because I know my truth; I make intentional decisions that align with my core values. I choose hope, not fear, love not hate, and faith rather than self-reliance. I choose to live from a place of abundance not deficit, to be grateful, not judgmental and to hear “yes you can” “rather than no you can’t”. My own experiences and challenges have helped me realize that many facets of my life impact my health and happiness. My ability to pause and to stay awake to the things that bring me joy is the way I choose to navigate through life.
When your path has been dark and you find the light, you want to help others do the same. This is the reason I do what I do.”
Success is such an extensive term, how do you define it for yourself?
As it relates to work: Being able to make a positive impact on the world, by doing something you love with like-minded people. As it relates to life: The capacity to pause each day to check in with yourself, to stay grounded in gratitude, awake to the things that are important to you, and to spend more time doing them with the people you love.
What’s one piece of advice you’d share to females trying to do the uncommon and become firsts in their field through awards, entrepreneurial journeys, etc.?
Don’t be afraid to let go of the familiar, to step beyond what is comfortable, and to trust yourself and the process. Respectfully challenge the status quote, and believe in yourself and your dreams. “You can only create in your life what you can envision in your mind.” – Terrie Elizabeth Reeves
What does honoring women mean to you and how can we continue to strive towards acknowledging more women and the work they are doing?
I am going to answer this question in a more philosophical way because I think there are some fundamental things that we can do to support one another. We live in a fast-paced, competitive world that can cause us to feel physically, emotionally and mentally out of balance. As women, we need to stand together united, support each other, and remind one another that we don’t have to be superheroes, that perfection is an illusion, our best is good enough, we don’t have to go it alone, and that pausing daily to practice self-care is critical. When we are individually healthy, happy and whole, we can come together and accomplish the extraordinary.
Terrie dedicates the Dare to go Deeper poem she wrote to all the women who need to hear these words.
Dare To Go Deeper
Dare to go deeper because you can, see your potential because it is possible, and believe in yourself because you are powerful.
Practice self-care daily and take intentional pauses throughout the day to connect with your thoughts and feelings. Show yourself and others compassion through your words and actions and learn from the lessons life teaches you. Practice the art of letting go, live boldly, laugh often…and always be true to yourself.
Keep a playful spirit so you can embrace new things freely, an open mind so the doorway to possibilities is always wide and an open heart so you don’t miss an opportunity to love yourself and others.
Live intentionally from a place of gratitude, don’t judge, be curious, align your passion with your purpose and pause often to celebrate this beautiful journey called life.
Find your truth and it will light your path to peace and happiness.
“Light the world up by being uniquely and authentically you.” – Terrie Elizabeth Reeves
To engage with Terrie, connect with her through her:
And, if interested:
- Check out her podcast called 2 Scoops of Inspiration where she co-hosts this podcast with the #2BeAmazing Cel Smart, a Know Tribe sister. They produce a new podcast every week and the information shared is designed to help you pause and consider new possibilities for your life.
- She writes a weekly newsletter called, Work Wisely – Live Abundantly Click the link to sign up.
- She created an online assessment that invites you to examine your life across the 15 dimensions. The integration of the dimensions represent a holistic health model that she developed called, Ideal Being®. Email Terrie if you’d like to take it. treeves@empowerhealthamerica.com
You can also find Terrie on page 48 of the KNOW Charlotte Book.