This week, I talk with Tina Tower, founder of Her Empire Builder, a membership community helping women start and scale online course businesses. Tina’s journey to success has been anything but straightforward. She launched a tutoring center at 20, built a franchise that nearly broke her, and sold it in a deal that taught her some tough lessons about business and burnout.

We dive into what she learned from scaling too fast, how to avoid the potential pitfalls of selling a company, and how she transitioned from a high-stress business to running a wildly profitable $2 million-a-year company—with less stress and more joy than ever before. If you’ve ever wrestled with balancing wealth, meaning, and a lifestyle you truly love, this conversation is for you. Let’s get to it!

In this episode:

(00:00) - Intro
(02:52) - How a toy bear became a symbol of Tina's entrepreneurial journey
(04:29) - Tina's chaotic childhood and leaving home at 14
(06:58) - Discovering Tony Robbins and rewriting her story
(13:00) - Tina's mindset shift from survival to entrepreneurship
(16:05) - “If you can dream it, you can achieve it”—or can you?
(19:00) - Hustling to stay afloat
(22:19) - Hitting rock bottom and facing failure
(31:00) - Scaling too fast—when growth becomes a trap
(36:00) - When success feels like a burden
(39:43) - Selling the business—a deal that was too good to be true
(46:10) - Running away to find herself again
(52:05) - Accidentally starting a seven-figure business
(01:01:00) - What it’s like running a $2M/year business without burning out
(01:04:20) - Letting go of overworking
(01:09:00) - Choosing success without sacrifice
(01:13:00) - When ambition clashes with contentment
(01:18:00) - Realizing success doesn't mean burnout
(01:23:45) - Barrett's approach to coaching
(01:34:36) - What makes Tina world-class?
(01:34:54) - Tina's most beautiful future
(01:35:47) - Who Tina is becoming

Get full show notes and links at https://GoodWorkShow.com.

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@barrettabrooks.

From Burnout to Balance: How Tina Tower Built a $2M Business—Without Breaking Herself