Life & Work with Shelli Tripp-Norvell of FRANKLIN

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shelli Tripp-Norvell

Hi Shelli, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Many would say I’m a coach masquerading as a therapist. For me it’s not only about helping to change unhealthy patterns of thinking, it’s also about moving people forward in their lives. I love what I do. I love working with women in their own recovery and emotional empowerment. This passion comes from my own place of disempowerment which overshadowed a large portion of my life. Disempowerment and helplessness is the road that brought me to where I am and what I do. My personal story of abuse and overcoming that trauma gives me credibility and real expertise with the women I work with. They know it comes from a real place.

After my divorce in 2011, I did whatever it took to survive. I was a substitute teacher at my kids’ schools, cleaned houses and worked on my certification as an integrative health and wellness coach and nutritional chef. Coaching my clients in their journey of wellness, I quickly realized that I wanted to dive deeper into their stories in order to help them resolve their own personal trauma. But, I did not feel I could adequately serve them. This was frustrating. This led me to pursue my masters degree in professional counseling. As a single mom in grad school in Williamson County, I struggled. But, I made it a priority to show up for both of my teenagers in their daily lives. This is the same season I worked three different part time jobs. There were days I would let my son take my car to school and I would walk to work. Other days, he would drop me off at class on a Saturday, go to his basketball practices and pick me up afterwards. It was a rigorous three and a half years. But, I graduated and completed the necessary licensures and supervisions. Eventually, I was able to begin my own private practice and contract my services at a local clinic. I am here today because of my determination, grit and the support of my closest friends and family. It’s been a wild ride. Now, I own my own practice, Thirty Three Tribe. I am also completing a memoir which highlights my own childhood abuse and how I overcame the trauma it caused. I’m also creating a women’s intensive weekend to help navigate them along the same path to freedom I intuitively navigated myself. The first intensive will happen around the first of the year.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
As you can tell from the above details, the road has been far from smooth. My biggest roadblock was my own emotional health. While I was definitely strong and resolved, I was also fragile and easily disregulated. I suffered internally with each hurdle I faced. Adjusting to divorce, meeting my kids’ new step mom, making ends meet, providing for all my children’s needs and seeing my own therapist took enormous emotional and physical energy. There were many days I thought I was not strong enough to make it. But, I had no other option. While I was in graduate school learning about the modalities of therapy and family systems, I became enlightened about many of my own failures as a mother and a wife. This awareness could have easily taken me out and caused me to quit. But, in the end, it only made me fight harder for my own mental health. This is why, when I tell my clients I know the map to freedom, I really do know the path out of the chaos. For certain, I took some wrong turns along the way, but those experiences are now translated into real help for others.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
While I am a licensed helping professional and empowerment coach, I am also a writer, communicator, and podcaster.

As a therapist and coach, I specialize in women and trauma. I love coaching women out of their victim consciousness to places of emotional empowerment. The women I work with are women in recovery from relational harm and/or women suffering as a result of strained relationships with their own daughters. You can hear my own story of my relational strain with my now adult daughter in my podcast, That’s What She Shed.

As a creative, I write and communicate from my personal experiences to inspire other women in their own stories of self empowerment and freedom. As I mentioned, I’ve written a manuscript (currently being edited) which explains my personal story and journey in overcoming relational harm, childhood neglect/abuse and childhood sexual abuse. I’m not sure when it will release, but it’s on the way.

I love to communicate hope in creative ways. This includes writing and podcasting. The goal in all of this creativity is to tell my story and show other women the way to freedom. Like I mentioned, I have charted that map. Harnessing my creativity to help others is a central joy.

The thing I am the most proud of is my relationship with my now adult kids. This includes the legacy I am leaving them as an emotionally healthy mother and friend. I am also very proud of the practice I have built. Many doubted it would ever happen. This includes me. I started my private practice in the middle of covid. I also left an established agency and a full client load. But, I was personally depleted and unfulfilled. Those who worked with me told me I was crazy for leaving a “sure thing” in the middle of a pandemic. But, I left and started building. Eventually, the clients found me. I am so proud of Thirty Three Tribe. I am also proud of the clients who have put in the work and attained emotional freedom from their own story and failures.

It’s my conviction that my own experience of walking out to my freedom, even before I began graduate school or had a private practice, is part of what makes me an expert in my field. More importantly, it’s what allows me to connect so deeply with the experiences of my clients.

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
For me, the biggest lesson from this crisis (and many others in life) is that I cannot control most things. Control is an illusion. So, when I can learn acceptance in all situations and do my very best within the core values which guide me, there’s integrity. Being authentic to me, my beliefs of self, my world view, and acceptance (and acceptance does not always mean agreement) kept me in a space of peace amidst the chaos of the Covid Crisis.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shellinorvell.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirtythreecoaching/
• Other: https://linktr.ee/thirtythreetribe