Tina Wells is a renowned thought leader in the retail and marketing industries. She is the founder and CEO of Wellspring Studio, a consultancy dedicated to empowering underrepresented founders, from concept to product launch. Before Wellspring, Wells honed her skills for five years, developing and introducing products and brands exclusively at Target stores. She is the author of over 20 books, including series The Zee Files, Honest June, and the Stitch Clique, as well as the Elevation Approach book and workbook. In 2021, Wells was inducted into the American Advertising Foundation’s Hall of Achievement. She is a 2017 Henry Crown Fellowship class member within the Aspen Global Leadership Network. To learn more about Tina, visit www.tinawells.com.
In a recent WIE Suite Masterclass, Tina Wells dismantled one of the most persistent career myths: that success requires picking one lane and staying in it forever. For Wells, who began her career as the "millennial whisperer" in marketing and has since expanded into authorship, retail brand development, coaching, and investing, the idea that diversification equals distraction is fundamentally flawed.
"Diversification is not distraction," Wells stated firmly. "Diversification is designed range, and that's what I really want to talk about today. The most resilient careers are portfolio careers." What she offers is not permission to scatter your energy across disconnected pursuits, but rather a strategic framework for building what she calls "multiple expressions of one core mission, connected by skills, values and points of view."
Wells structures her portfolio around four distinct pillars, each serving a specific purpose in her overall strategy.
Core Work serves as the anchor. For Wells, this is Wellspring Studio, where she helps founders bring ideas from concept to product launch. This core work emerged from her Target partnership, where she gained unprecedented access to senior retail leadership.Rather than simply capitalizing on her retail success, she focused on codifying her learnings to help other founders avoid mistakes.
Amplifiers expand visibility and reach beyond what core work alone can accomplish. Wells' partnership with TikTok Shop, where she mentored 15 women in their SOAR program, exemplifies this pillar. "I can only work with so many clients in Wellspring studio that feels good to me," she acknowledged. Amplifiers allow her to serve broader audiences through courses like her retail business accelerator and founders framework, providing access to her expertise even without direct engagement.
Assets represent intellectual property and investments that generate value over time. This includes her books, course content, and equity stakes in companies like 13 Lune. These assets work independently of her direct time investment while still aligning with her values and mission.
Experiments create space for exploration without long-term commitment. "Broadway investing a few years ago was an experiment to see, do I like this? Does it work?" Wells explained. This pillar allows for learning and discovery while maintaining the flexibility to adjust based on outcomes.
Wells evaluates every opportunity through what she calls the Elevation Approach, a framework centered on four considerations.
Energy requires realistic assessment of what each commitment demands. "I want to know that I have the energy to do the things I want to do and to really show up the way I want to show up." She emphasized that this represents significant personal growth: moving from excitement-driven decision making to thoughtful consideration of what sustainable success actually requires.
Seasonality aligns activities with natural rhythms. Wells connects this to literal seasons: winter for planning and introspection, spring for launching and networking, summer for rest, fall for harvesting results. "An event, for example, like SXSW, is great because it's the time where my body and my energy are aligned with being out and about," she noted.
Values ensure alignment with core beliefs. For Wells, this centers on a powerful conviction: "I really believe that the world is a better place when women are making money, and when women are stimulating and growing the economy and putting that money back into the economy in such smart ways."
Expansion without erosion protects existing achievements while exploring new territory. Wells illustrated this with her middle grade fiction: she may not write another Honest June book, but she maintains relationships with current readers and remains open to film or television adaptations that could extend the brand without requiring new book manuscripts.
Wells identified three essential systems for sustainable portfolio careers.
A decision system creates clarity around yes and no responses. Her framework question, "I help [blank] do [blank] by [blank] across [blank]," forces articulation of the through line connecting disparate activities.
An energy system establishes boundaries, rituals, and recovery practices. When Wells was traveling 300,000 plus miles annually, rituals became "incredibly important and incredibly grounding." These practices maintain performance without depletion.
A narrative system explains the work coherently. "Stop listing roles, start telling a through line story," Wells advised. Her narrative: "I started innovating in CPG when I was 16 years old. I am still innovating and still in CPG 30 years later." This framing connects youth marketing to retail brand development to founder consulting as points along a single trajectory rather than disconnected career changes.
For leaders navigating executive careers, entrepreneurship, or the space between, Wells offers both permission and structure. Permission to pursue multiple expressions of expertise. Structure to ensure those expressions reinforce rather than fragment professional identity. And ultimately, a vision of career design that treats work not as a ladder to climb but as a portfolio to curate with intention, wisdom, and an unwavering commitment to impact that extends far beyond any single role.
