TRIBE TLC
Healthy Living Network Cultivates Community, Not Competition by Michelle Bense
W
e talk quite a bit about community here in the pages of Natural Awakenings, but Fairfield’s healthy living community has been in the nurturing hands of Beth Leas since 1997. A practitioner of Reiki, Jin Shin Jyutsu, integrated energy therapy, meditation and more, Leas began what started as a small group of local holistic Beth Leas practitioners because she believed that they could better serve the community together. Today, that group is known as Tribe TLC. In the words of Leas, Tribe TLC, or the TLC Community, is “a vibrant and growing community of holistic practitioners and wellness entrepreneurs who provide healthy living resources for the community”. Currently about 120 members strong, Tribe TLC is about support, collaboration and connection between healthy living professionals in the Fairfield area and beyond. The idea for TLC started while Leas was doing her energy healing work out of a spare bedroom. A self-proclaimed introvert, she was comfortable working this way, but it was not the best way to grow a business. “My clients had life challenging illnesses, and I 14
Fairfield & Southern Litchfield Counties
was often referring to other practitioners,” explains Leas. “I was thinking, it would be nice to have everything under one roof.” Leas opened the TLC Center in 1997, which held her private practice as well as workshops from members—chiropractors, naturopaths, holistic professionals and more. This continued into 2017, when the Center celebrated its 20th birthday in Norwalk. The next week, the landlord sold the building. “It was the best thing that ever happened to the TLC community,” Leas laughs. “I knew I could either recreate TLC Center in a new space or take the cue from the universe and hit pause—see what else was in store.” She moved her private practice elsewhere, and started hosting monthly networking gatherings out in the community—in a Norwalk restaurant and various members’ offices in Fairfield County. “It was kind of like when you put a goldfish into a bigger container, and the goldfish grows miraculously to fill that space,” Leas says of the group’s shift. Tribe TLC began growing much faster, with more members, events and opportunities. She replicated the Fairfield County group next in Westchester County, New York. This spring, TLC also expanded to New Haven County. Being able to connect virtually has helped the growth and connections in ways Leas did not expect. “Before COVID, I wouldn’t have considered the pivot to online networking. But it works really well. There are things I like better about Collaboration is encouraged online networking,” she says. over competition The groups now use a hybrid model, with a standing monthly networking event online. This helps members participate even when it’s harder to meet in person, but keeps the face-to-face connections very much alive. This warm and friendly community is more than just networking. The group Networking made fun focuses not on competition, but collaboration. Leas says that Tribe TLC has members of all kinds, covering many vastly different areas of work, but all with an understanding of a holistic point of view. The group includes energy healers, massage therapists, psychotherapists, coaches, hypnotists—but also financial advisors, attorneys and more. Many members share the TLC Members host events at their same modality or profession, offices. This one is at Sticks and Stones but rather than working to Farm in Newtown.
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