Cultivating Learning Lessons On The Journey To Success

Converting trials into triumph with Tiana Sanchez.

“Like wine, people must be cultivated and given time to reach their full potential.” That’s the quote you will see on the LinkedIn page for Tiana Sanchez, CEO and Founder, Tiana Sanchez International, LLC.

It’s not an accident that Sanchez chose that quote to use as her LinkedIn page headline. She wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth.

Sanchez isn’t a graduate of an elite university, yet she is called on to speak at esteemed California universities such as University of California, Los Angeles; Stanford University; California State University, Los Angeles and University of California, Merced. In 2018, Tiana Sanchez International was named Best Executive Coaching Program of the Year by HR.com, yet she holds no MBA in Organizational Development or Training Design. Today, Sanchez is an Amazon #1 bestselling author and corporate trainer but admittedly, she didn’t wake up this way. Like many of the clients she coaches and trains, it took time for Sanchez to turn into the successful business owner she is now.

Kerry James Photography»

Her’s is a story of growth, development and cultivation that comes not from the circumstances of her childhood but from her response to those circumstances. Using her innate intelligence and curiosity, Sanchez mined her experiences to shape what she could control—herself and her future. A native Californian, she credits her mother and grandmother with starring roles in her story of ‘cultivation’. Sanchez considers her grandmother, who owned and operated a baby sitting/childcare service, the first female entrepreneur/business owner she’d ever known.

No matter the obstacles in her personal life, Sanchez found her focus in other avenues, with several learning lessons that became a keystone moment in her ‘curation’.

At 16, Sanchez went to work for fast food company Hot Dog on a Stick, where she became manager at the ripe old age of 17. Her time there served as formal education in organizational culture, leadership and entrepreneurship. The next chapter found her working in banking where Sanchez experienced a stellar rise through the ranks. Her pivotal moment came when while interviewing with the bank’s CEO for a promotion, her response to the question “Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?” was, to “be a trainer and a speaker”. She made those words her reality 90 days following her recession-era layoff in 2011.

With savings from her Hot Dog on a Stick days, Sanchez bootstrapped her new business, took multiple professional development and certification courses, developed allies/partnerships and built her business. She practiced with friends and leveraged her allies’ existing platforms to launch her coaching business. Her first client? Hot Dog on a Stick.

Tiana Sanchez International, LLC, is the product of a pivot Sanchez made five years ago. To better scale, she updated the company’s model to focus on managerial leadership development. Sanchez recognized that many companies promoted people prematurely. She identified the pain point it caused and focused on designing and implementing training to alleviate the issue for clients. Her business has remained unaffected by the recent coronavirus pandemic as her vision was always to create streaming content and move more of her business online. She implemented it in 2019, sold two clients, and hit her Q1 and Q2 2020 goals before the first case of COVID-19 was announced in the U.S.

Sanchez continues to segue from chapter to chapter, to learn, develop and be cultivated. To her “Success is incremental. There are great wins throughout each journey, and each should be recognized and celebrated as they occur.”