ELA is Founder and Managing Partner of The Trivista Group, a strategic communications consulting firm that she founded in 2003, a professional speaker, host of the On Air with Ella podcast and a founding member of CHIEF Washington D.C..
Learn more about Ela here:
Name of your business, website, social media handles
The Trivista Group: https://www.trivistagroup.com; https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-averett/; On Air with Ella, https://www.onairella.com/blog; IG: https://www.instagram.com/onairwithella/
If you are an entrepreneur, what motivated you to start your own business?
My desire to work outside the confines of rules and structures created by others, the need to support myself, and a high tolerance for uncertainty. I realize now that this must also be accompanied by an unwavering belief in one’s own resilience. It’s never “I can’t fail.” Instead, it’s “I can survive any outcome.” When we release the need to avoid failure, we open ourselves to great possibility and adventure.
What does success mean to you?
I equate success with freedom. The world would have you believe that success is an accumulation of things (wealth, possessions, power), and as such, we can become beholden to it. For me, it is a feeling, not a state of being. Success is the feeling that you are having impact by engaging with the world as your true self, at a cost that you find feasible – even enjoyable. For me, true success is the freedom to chose what I do, where and with whom I do it – and, ultimately, to create opportunities for others to experience the same.
What is your mantra or favorite saying? (If it’s a known quote, please let us know who said it first!)
Arthur Ashe: “Achieve Greatness: Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
If you could teach the world one five-minute lesson, what would it be?
Life is iterative, not linear. Sometimes we must experience the same lesson more than once, but what you might experience as failure is never a return to zero. Truly understanding this frees you to make mistakes and encourages you to take bigger leaps when success is not guaranteed.
What does women’s empowerment look like to you in action?
The most powerful force in the world is women working together, women celebrating one another, supporting one another, amplifying one another. Nothing can compete with the power of women coming together. Nothing can compare. We are a force of nature, and our greatest power is as a collective of women who want to lift one another. In doing so, we empower ourselves.
What would you tell 19-year-old YOU?
You have everything you need. Do it now.
What will 86-year-old you want you to know TODAY?
You have everything you need. Do it now.
Does anyone call you by a nickname? What is it?
Ella, ELA, “Eeelah,” but never Liz.
What is your favorite place for our audience to reach you?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-averett/
What is your favorite quote? (It can be yours or from someone that you look up to.)
Hidden talent counts for nothing. – Nero
