This is Natalie, your host. Before we kick off, I wanted to share a content warning here. In this first episode, I’m going to share the origin story of the Tipa Revolution. As part of that story, I will be talking about my experience living through a major natural disaster. If you prefer to skip this story, feel free to jump ahead to the 10-minute mark.
And with that, I hope you enjoy this first episode.
It was a normal Tuesday afternoon. I'm in a meeting with colleagues when the walls start to shake. Stopping mid-sentence, I look at my colleague and mouth, “What is that?” In my mind, I'm going through the possibilities. I’m thinking: a plane, a train, a bomb, a terrorist attack. Who would attack Haiti?
As the intensity of the shaking started to pick up, it became clear we needed to get out of there. There were about 15 of us in the top floor conference room, and we all scurried to the stairwell, only to realize that the doors to get down from the third floor were jammed shut.
After what felt like an eternity, the shaking stopped. We forced the door open and ran down the stairs. As I crossed over the threshold, I was welcomed by the outstretched arm of my colleague, who looked at me with such fear and relief in his eyes as he started to pull me and others out of the building.
And when I finally looked up at him, I saw that he was covered in dust and white powder. And then I looked around. Every familiar landmark was barely recognizable. I clasped the hand of my colleague, and as we looked out onto the place we called home, taking in the unimaginable, our faces said it all: What just happened?
What we didn’t know at the moment is that we had just lived through one of the worst natural disasters on record—a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that would eventually claim over 200,000 precious lives.
What I also didn’t know yet was that the response and actions of one of my colleagues in the wake of this disaster would give way to profound wisdom and inspiration. This wisdom and inspiration would not only impact the lives of many, but also shift my worldview and alter the course of my life over the next decade.
This colleague, Paul, showed me how to put an age-old universal piece of wisdom in action. He showed me the power of tipa tipa.
I'm Natalie Domond, and welcome to Tipa Revolution: The Podcast. In this space, we explore the power of tipa—of taking small, intentional steps to move through just about anything life may throw your way. As someone who is deeply experienced in being overwhelmed, we’ll look at how to move through uncertainty, doubt, and overwhelm to more alignment, inner peace, and meaningful impact; one intentional step at a time.
This is Tipa Revolution: The Podcast, and Season One is my story.
I'm back in the courtyard of my office building, and my attention starts to turn toward my husband. Cell phone lines were down, so we couldn’t reach each other. I didn’t have any kids at the time, so he was my family.
I partnered up with my colleague, whose home was on the way to mine. We wanted to help each other find our loved ones. We started by car, then by foot when the roads were no longer passable. We eventually made our way up the mountain, and after six hours, I found my husband. Our apartment had collapsed. Our car was crushed. But we were physically okay, and we were able to seek shelter at a friend's home.
We pulled a mattress outside and curled up on it, not knowing where to go or what to do. We held each other and tried to rest, hoping that the nightmare would soon be over.
And as the sun rose the next day, so did some glimmer of hope—but the nightmare was far from over. As I looked on to this city from the place I was up in the mountains, I could see down onto the city and the area where I had been at the time of the earthquake.
This beautiful, vibrant city I had come to call home—it was barely recognizable. The tragedy, devastation, and suffering were painfully evident and continuing to unfold. And I started to feel this surge of anguish, shock, sadness, fear. I felt frozen, paralyzed, overwhelmed.
The magnitude of the need was massive. In that moment, I knew I had to do something. I wanted to take action that would match the magnitude of the need, but I wasn't sure how or where to start.
Around the same time, on the other side of town, my colleague Paul was also facing overwhelming odds. Paul was just climbing out of the rubble of his collapsed four-story apartment building. And while I was struggling to figure out what to do—he found a way.
Paul was my 24-year-old colleague at the micro-finance bank where I worked in Haiti. He was passionate about our mission and developed a reputation for having really strong relationships with his clients.
On the day of the earthquake, Paul’s apartment collapsed with him inside. Nearly 24 hours later, his neighbors were able to rescue him. At that moment, Paul had a choice. He could have done what many of us were doing—what I was doing: let the gravity of the situation overwhelm him.
Instead, Paul did a remarkable thing. He met the magnitude of the problem—a moment of overwhelming odds—in a profoundly simple way. He grabbed a makeshift cane—a stick—and he took his first step.
And step by step, he walked to the home of his first client to check on them.
Then, step by step, he walked to the home of his second client and knocked on that door. And he continued, over and over—step by step, door by door, house by house—until he had checked on each and every one of his clients.
The steps Paul took that day had a huge impact. For months afterwards, stories and thank-yous poured in from his clients, who shared how seeing Paul that day brought them hope in a moment of uncertainty and despair.
Because of Paul, they knew they were not alone and forgotten. That hope inspired Paul’s clients to take their first steps. From finding a tarp for their roof, picking fruit from a tree to pool with neighbors, or just telling their children for the first time that they truly believed they would be okay.
Paul started a ripple effect. And in the days after the earthquake, when the story of Paul and others like him who took small steps started to spread, they inspired others in our organization to start moving—each person taking their own little steps.
So, we're back at the moment where I am looking over the city. And feeling very overwhelmed.
A day later, the phone rings. It's my organization's CFO calling for us to convene at the central office. Turns out she had heard about Paul and it helped to spark her action. She told me someone was coming to get me and that brought me hope and sparked action, and I washed up and left the house. We gathered at the central office, a group of employees, and we started to salvage what we could.
I was able to access the internet and activated a sort of phone tree via email to start and check in my team that was spread throughout the country.
And we got together in the courtyard and we held hands. And we sang, and we prayed. In the weeks and months following the earthquake, we went on to accomplish more than I ever could have imagined.
Paul's story and actions catalyzed so much hope and action during an incredibly difficult time.
In the following months, I thought a lot about the overwhelm that I had experienced and that so many others did that day, and how Paul found the courage to grab a walking stick and knock on that first door.
I thought, what did he know that I didn’t? How did Paul find the strength and courage to do what he did?
So one day I asked him.
He said to me, “Tipa, tipa, madame.” Step by step, madame.
He didn't allow himself to be overwhelmed or paralyzed by the many steps ahead of him. He just took it one intentional step at a time and knocked on that first door.
And one door led to two, which became three. And you know the rest.
That is the origin story of what eventually became The Tipa Revolution. It was the first time I came to experience the power of small steps to get through incredibly hard times. The seeds were planted that day, but it took many years before my sense of how profound and revolutionary this wisdom was really took root.
If you're interested, you can check out a talk I gave while at business school called Tipa Tipa: The Wisdom of Step by Step. It was in 2014, four years after the earthquake. And this was the first time I really reflected on and gave a voice to the significance of this wisdom.
We'll be sure to link to that talk in the show notes.
In preparing the talk, this is when I felt the concept of tipa tipa deepen to a new level of resonance. And I started realizing that it was more universal, deep, and ancient than I had previously understood.
Wherever I looked, I found evidence of this wisdom in every language, culture. I became a little obsessed—talked to friends who speak Swahili.
They said, “Yes, Pole Pole, step by step, little by little.”
Spanish-speaking friends: Paso a paso, poco a poco.
My husband's native language of Wolof, originally from West Africa—they say Ndank Ndank.
My mom who is French-Canadian, would say petit à petit.
Everywhere I looked, I found an equivalent phrase or notion to convey this wisdom.
And through these reflections and explorations, I felt my inner knowing just welcome that wisdom as truth.
And that’s when I realized: Tipa tipa is not a way—it really is the only way.
So, little did I know that this concept that was now taking root would guide me through the most profound transformation of my life—both an inner one and an external one. A true revolution.
One that would guide me to a radically new way of living and being in the world, and ultimately lead me on a journey I didn’t even know I needed. A journey of coming home to myself.
And that’s what we’ll venture into the rest of this season—what The Tipa Revolution has looked like and brought about in my own life, in the hopes that my story might spark something in you, just as Paul’s did in my life and the lives of so many.
To wrap up, I want to share this quote that has been deeply meaningful to me over the years. A dear friend shared it with me after I shared some stories of choices I made when I was younger—around which I felt a lot of shame.
And she offered this quote by Katherine MacKenett, which says:
Now, every time I witness a strong person, I want to know: What darkness did you conquer in your story? Mountains do not rise without earthquakes.
That quote not only allowed me to hold myself more kindly and gently in that moment, but I have continued to marvel at its relevance when thinking about literal and metaphorical earthquakes I’ve felt in my life.
What emerges when we claim the hardest, darkest, earth-shattering moments and experiences of our lives and we rise from them? Harnessing the wisdom of the experience and using that to strengthen and fortify ourselves. Little by little, inch by inch, step by step—we become these mountains.
Haiti literally means mountainous land. So, how fitting that from the darkness of this literal earthquake, deep wisdom would rise through Paul—that would go on to strengthen and fortify many.
Before we wrap up, I’d like to turn it over to you and invite you into some moments of reflection regarding what may have come up for you in this episode.
As a reminder, we have a guide to accompany each episode. We’ll include a link in the show notes. And the guide will include a summary of the wisdom discussed from the episode and also the reflection questions.
So feel free to grab that—or just to hit pause if you need some space to reflect.
So, the first question is:
What is the story of Paul—and the wisdom of step-by-step—bringing up for you?
What’s one way you’ve seen the wisdom of tipa tipa play out in your own life?
What is one experience or situation of overwhelm, difficulty, or uncertainty that you could apply tipa to right now?
In thinking about Katherine MacKenett’s quote, what—if anything—resonates with you about this idea of mountains rising from the earthquakes and dark moments of your life?
And that’s it for today. Thank you for being here, for joining me on this journey.
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with someone you love. You never know what it might spark in others. Until the next time.
Tipa. Tipa.
