Lifestyle Business

Written by: Lorraine Twombly

Published:

To start, here’s an introduction by Ralph Twombly, since it was his idea to start a business:

“Being successful in business for a long time makes you appreciate the journey. Self-employment is empowering, inspiring, rewarding (if you are doing something you love) and sometimes downright scary. And, it is a wonderful privilege. With that in mind, I wanted to write a few words to share the journey. Anyone who has experience owning their own business will be a part of the journey into the future -- especially those who create businesses that provide autonomy and independence as well as interdependence.

No one said it was going to be easy and I’m glad they didn’t lie to me because it is not easy nor for the faint of heart. What you’ll read is a look back and a look forward to the rest of the story. It’s a love story and like all love stories it is full of ups and downs, moments of anger and fear, and moments of confusion and clarity. It’s also about moments of spectacular joy, caring and true passion wrapped around living true to a value. A value we discovered, adopted, and live by. It’s the combination that makes it all worthwhile. Join me for the journey ahead. It’s been a hell of a ride.”

As I reflect on our lifestyle business, I feel fortunate that the work we do is not work at all! Why? Because the benefits are creative freedom in our work, the fun and celebration for every success, and the fulfillment it provides to run an effective organization that focuses on positive influence and motivation, accountability, performance excellence, and all aspects of emotional intelligence and leadership.

Here’s a definition of a Lifestyle Business I found from Google’s AI:  “A lifestyle business is a company established and operated primarily to support the owner's desired income level and lifestyle, prioritizing personal freedom, flexibility, and work-life balance.” 

The major reason we love our lifestyle business is because it enhances our lives to do the best we can, encourages our  independence for autonomy, and, most of all, we desire to leave a legacy of great leaders who care about their employees and their communities. Our business of organizational and leadership development is by far the best career move we have ever made.

Ralph and I started our business in 1995, and we’ve been grateful for the gradual success these last 30+ years have brought us. We’ve met so many positive and inspiring leaders, which has been the best outcome we could have ever imagined when we began to structure and manage all the details of self-employment.

Little did we know the impact we would make on so many, simply by facilitating the best leadership practices we could find throughout the world. We’re happy to say that there is a high percentage of inspiring leaders who have participated in our programs and we are proud of them all!

It’s not easy owning a business, nor will it ever be, due to keeping up with the many changes in our economic environments. There’ve been times when we thought, “Well, this may be the moment in time where we need to regroup and figure out a way to sustain, revisit, and change some of the ways in which we do the work.” We’ve had to regroup at least four times in the last 30+ years. So far, each of those times worked out well, and we constantly remind ourselves not to take our eyes off the ball.

To continue, I feel a need to point out that I’m worried about leaders’ emotional health going into 2026. Lately, we’ve been researching how the state of the world’s emotional health is, and we found a Gallup article that has some incredible information about it. It’s fascinating and a bit worrisome!! There’s an uncertain future looming and negative emotions are high. Business leaders worldwide are worried and stressed out. Many experience physical pain, sadness, and anger. And the above negative emotions are much higher than they were a decade ago.

In our small corner of the world, we see a strong interest in positive leadership. Many leaders want to do more for their employees. They are making sure there’s enough money in their budgets to help their employees learn as much as they can to succeed in their careers. Leaders are taking more time to mentor and coach, as well as delegate, to help employees fulfill their career dreams.

We’ve noticed the best in people, and we tend to think that folks who are interested in learning are the ten-footers in our circle of organizations we work with. We are gaining momentum and our future so far looks bright when we look ahead and see how many leaders we’ll have the privilege to be connecting with.

In our lifestyle business, we believe in the power of positive energy and focus. Our world may not seem all that positive today, but we all can make the world a better place in our circle of family, friends, and co-workers if we:

• Breathe
• Listen with genuine curiosity
• Have conversations focused on understanding and empathy
• Make decisions with positive intent
• Focus on being flexible
• Assume a positive thought instead of a negative one
• Are mindful of our thoughts before we react
• Purposefully make positive connections
• Create a culture of forgiveness and tolerance, even if…
• Allow people to make mistakes without judgments
• Lead with love!

As our future looms, we may want to consider different ways to sustain our lifestyles. There seem to be new technologies that force us to change how we work and earn money. There are thousands of ideas out there!! We as a people have always found ways to learn new techniques moving forward. I feel strongly that we’ll find ways to build, serve, and help people through creativity, emotional intelligence, and resilience!!

We may fail or make mistakes along the way, and I’ll never forget this quote by Albert Einstein: “Failure is success in progress!” He’s framed failure as a step toward achievement. It’s a growth mindset when we allow failure to be learning experiences, and it’s something we emphasize in our work.

We are an imperfect people and, if we strive to look inward and outward with the above bulleted intentions, we’ll be closer to a world in which positive leadership prevails. People care and value the same things…peace, love and understanding!

Thank you for reading!

Lorraine Twombly