“One of the most important things I tell all of my clients is to appreciate your own progress.” This is one of many tenants that life coach and entrepreneur, Terraine Jones, not only lives his own life by but uses to guide both of his businesses. Whether it be making meaningful connections through 40 Options or creating beautiful designs and remodels through S.U.N. Designs, for Terraine it is all about getting people the things they need, spiritually, emotionally, or physically, to strengthen themselves and their families.
As a life coach and owner of 40 Options, Terraine promotes constant positivity, motivation, and the desire to change amongst the variety of his clients. With a degree in finance he received during his time in the military, a lifetime of experiences behind him, and his passion to inspire others, Terraine offers a listening ear and thoughtful, unbiased advice on how to locate, obtain, and enjoy happiness. “At the end of the day, I tell my clients: happiness is a choice, so choose happy.” Whether it is setting financial goals and helping them stay on track, working through feelings of self-doubt, or providing support during difficult life transitions, Terraine dedicates one hundred percent of himself to the clients he is working with.
Terraine’s model for conducting business as a life coach is different than most, giving real freedom to his clients to get their thoughts of their chests in the time that they need. “I never liked the concept of giving clients just one weekly thirty minute or hour-long appointment; when I speak with clients, I want them to know they matter, and my time is their time.” Terraine will clear his whole day for a single client and if he receives a call while working on a project for his other venture, S.U.N. Designs, he makes it a point to ensure the client is in a safe headspace until he can establish a dedicated time to deliver the support they need.
After putting together a “life formula” that brought him happiness and success, Terraine has strived to bring the same to his clients through accessible one on one appointments, online self-help books, and monthly seminars within the community. With a focus on self-development and self-improvement and the idea that poverty can be defeated, much of Terraine’s writing and seminars are about pushing people to take ownership. Terraine often teaches that through self-control and shifting your mindset, understanding your abilities and not being so hard on yourself, anyone can create opportunity. “Clients must create their opportunities instead of hoping they fall in their laps. A hope is good, but it has to be nurtured and fed, also.”
His own success with S.U.N. Designs, he reflects, was structured in a similar way. Furniture building has always been a passion of Terraine’s, though he never envisioned it turning into an enterprise that would bring in money. When a storm was coming in Winter 2017, he had to make a choice, to buy a new pair of boots, or to buy a drill and a saw to get started pursuing his passion. “The choice was simple. The winter and the storm would pass, I thought, and when it did, I’d still have my saw and my drill. I was ready to get started, I chose pursuing this opportunity and pursuing happy.”
When Terraine started building furniture, he gave a lot of his pieces away as he built up his portfolio. People looked at him like he was crazy for giving away his work, Terraine noted, however, he said he has always wanted to give his creations to families in need to help them complete their homes. At the same time, those pieces would go on his website and over time it became easier to consult with someone when they wanted to commission. Naturally, by following another one of his own mantras “creativity is my imagination’s proof of concept” the business grew, and he found himself taking on new, larger projects and even remodeling houses.
“I truly live my life by that concept. At the end of the day, I just believe in helping people and providing a decent service, because the reality is when I’m dealing with a client, be it for 40 Options or S.U.N. Designs, what they need is going to get done anyways, it doesn’t have to be me.” Terraine feels it is a privilege each time he is chosen for a job or reached out to by a client. “It goes beyond an exchange of funds, there’s an exchange of trust whether I’m working on someone’s home or their finances.”
A focus on customer service and satisfaction is the key to success for Terraine. People like interacting with somebody who cares about their stuff as much as they do, and Terraine makes it a priority to keep his customers involved and clients engaged at all times. “I have always had a burning desire to help people as much as possible and I have found a way to do that here in this community.”
Terraine’s inspiration behind 40 Options and his determination to help others stems from his wish to honor his late cousin Cori. Growing up, Terraine did not want to be limited by his environment and his cousin often told him how he just knew that Terraine would make something happen for himself and more importantly, make positive impacts on other’s lives. Though his cousin tragically passed away in 2011, Terraine still carries those words with him to this day. “Because of him I put the work in and molded myself to become a better person and in doing so, I learned how to truly teach others to do the same.”
The most common practice he shares with his clients is to always be the first person to congratulate yourself and the first person you celebrate with. He instructs his clients to do as he does: make a list or a schedule and try to check off as many things as they can for that day. “The key is not to tyrannize yourself, if you can only do six out of ten things on the list, that’s a sixty percent completion rate and tomorrow your goal is to get to even just sixty-one percent.” According to Terraine, self-congratulation is a sign of maturity and he reminds his clients to take a moment to exhale and celebrate the progress they have made from yesterday to today, no matter how small.
For Terraine, the knowledge that he has been able to help people grow emotionally or financially is the most rewarding. Providing unbiased advice in his appointments or his seminars, Terraine has located his own happiness. Through teaching others how to maintain control over their choices, he has helped many clients from Brooklyn to Binghamton dictate their own life narratives. By looking at self-control as a form of expression, Terraine hopes to provide his community with the understanding of how to navigate any situation in life.
Terraine truly believes that he has found the good life here in Broome County. “I love this community and giving back through these free monthly seminars and by providing my services means the world to me. I have found happiness in that, and for me and my clients, happiness is everything.” Broome County is the perfect location for him. Having grown up in Brooklyn and spent some time in the military, moving to Broome County just made sense. Terraine says Broome is at just the right pace for him, his family, and his business ventures, quiet and peaceful with a community that truly supports one another. Now, Terraine is looking forward to seeing S.U.N. Designs and especially 40 Options grow as he releases new books and expands his seminars within Broome and beyond. Visit his website 40Options.com to read his books, stay up to date on his seminars, and find assistance in locating your happiness.
Terraine Jones is a proud part of why #BroomeisGood