6 minute read
Dream Financial Services
By Laci Ollison Photos by Lechelle Jackson
For Talisha ‘Tee’ Birdsong, it really is all about the money. As a mindset and money coach, the 26-year-old Nashville, Tennessee native has decided to use her expertise in finances to help other people of color repair the credit, start businesses, and establish generational wealth. Tee, who currently resides in Richmond, VA, is the founder and CEO of Dream Financial Services. The business aids individuals who are looking to fix their credit as well as start a business or gain more knowledge about personal and business finances. She is also known as a mindset coach.
Advertisement
“I believe if you shift your mindset your money shifts,” Tee said. “So, I help people get on top of their finances and help them with whatever they’re struggling with from a financial standpoint.”
Through her company, Tee helps individuals and families by providing workshops, courses, and one-on-one coaching. “In a lot of my programs, you get way more than what you pay for,” Tee said. “I’m big on educating and I always pray that my students and my clients don’t have to end up in my program again unless they’re a referral partner.” The inspiration to start a financial services business came from her past experiences. “I lived a pretty sheltered childhood. When I got in the world, I did everything under the sun and eventually ended up messing my credit up,” she says.
Eventually Tee’s decisions caught up with her. She experienced eviction after eviction, repossession after repossession. By the time no one would lend to her or allow her housing, Tee had to shift some things because she also had a son at the age of 18. It was at this time that Tee realized she needed to do something different. “I decided I had to fix it because if not we were going to be homeless. I made the conscious decision to take hold of my finances to provide a better life for me and my son. I started changing my budget. I started applying for stuff and doing what I could do that made sense for what I made,” she says.
Continued on the next page
Once Tee altered her own credit and finances, she realized that she could potentially assist others. “After I saw that it could help me, I wanted to do that for other people,” she said. “It’s a better life when you’re in a better financial state versus when you’re not stable.”
Tee said that she wanted to help people see that financial freedom was closer and more attainable than they believe. “I wanted to help people get there because the biggest thing is that it seems so far-fetched that you don’t know what to do or how to do it, but it’s really just a hand grab away.” Talisha understands that it only takes small lifestyle changes to get started in paying off debt and creating financial freedom. She states that, “Anything is possible. If you buy lunch every day or if you buy extras, it’s just a matter of wanting it. A lot of people think they can’t do it because of the cost. But if you think about how much you spend in eating out, or on gas for extra trips, you probably have the money you need to get started.” These are the principles that she teaches to her clients. The same principles that helped some of her clients achieve major results.
“One young lady was a part of every single program that I did. And not only did was she able to start a business in the middle of a global pandemic, but she was also able to buy a house and purchase a car with no money down and 0% interest rate,” she says.
In 2020 alone, Tee was able to assist 100 individuals and families with purchasing their first home. And according to her, this is just the beginning. “I want to put brown women in position. That’s where I think we lack. We have many people that compete but not many that come together to show you it really is possible.” Talisha hopes to be an example to black women that they too have the potential to be successful. “That’s what I do daily. I teach women of color that we can have anything that anyone else has, we just have to have the knowledge,” she says. However, Tee says that people have to be willing to ask for help when they need it. “It’s just a matter of learning how to not be afraid to ask. Pride is a big thing with us. We get so afraid to say we don’t know that we never get the chance to learn. And if you break that pride and say hey, I don’t know and find someone who does, you won’t know how easy it actually is,” Tee shares.
Although she has a passion for business, Tee still encounters some difficulties in being an entrepreneur. “It’s a challenge especially in the industry that I’m in because I find myself wanting it more than some of my clients sometimes,” said Talisha. “With this being a full-time thing for me, it caused me to step out on faith. And one of the things that I’m paying attention to now that I am a full time entrepreneur, is you find yourself being very passionate about helping people fix their credit, about teaching them finances, about helping them build a business, but if they don’t really want it, you end up getting burned out and you end up getting stressed out because you want it so much better for some people who don’t even want better for themselves.”
But Tee also finds joy in helping clients who didn’t think they could be help. “It’s also about those clients that come to me and say, ‘I didn’t think I could be helped.’ To see those people who thought they were so far-fetched learn how to reach their financial goals is absolutely amazing.” The future looks bright for Talisha. She recently made six-figures in her business and helped two of her students make six-figures in their businesses as well.
If you would like to learn more about Dream Financial Services, please contact Talisha directly. h
