Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Tyeler Viel of Houston

Tyeler Viel shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Good morning Tyeler, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: When was the last time you felt true joy?
The last time I felt true joy was this summer on my family’s property deep in the remote Trinity Mountains of Northern California. Our place is completely off the grid, solar powered, surrounded by pine dotted hills, with the Chancelulla Mountain rising up behind a quiet golden meadow where our house sits.

In July, all my sisters and their kids gathered there for a week. With no Wi-Fi or television, we were fully present. We cooked meals together, wandered the woods looking for the mysterious Big Foot or bear tracks, sat by the creek listening to water move over the rocks, and cooled our feet in ice-melt streams. We scavenged for the giant, bright-green elephant ear plants that grow along the creek brank to wear the perfectly formed hats on our heads to block the hot afternoon sun. The kids rode in wagons up and down the dirt road searching for “gems” the white rocks that sparkle in the sun. We hiked to our old mining claim where my great-great-grandfather once panned for gold, spending hours discovering our own unique treasures scattered around the dilapidated, crumbling cabin from an old horseshoe buried in the dust, a handful of rusted railroad spikes leftover from the early logging and mining days, and a tarnished silver pot that we imagine once brewed someone’s first cup of morning coffee long before any of us were here.

At night, we sat under a sky full of stars, listening to coyotes and the occasional owl. It was simple and grounding time together away from the pace of everyday life, reconnecting to what really matters.

That week was true joy for me: being with family, sharing the same experiences our ancestors did, giving our kids those memories, and returning home recharged and centered.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My career began with a simple fascination: understanding people. I earned my degree in psychology, continued into a Master’s program, and built a foundation rooted in human behavior, connection, and communication. That grounding launched me into people-facing roles where I found my stride, helping scale high-growth companies by driving business development, elevating brand awareness, and building authentic relationships in communities across the country. My work became about more than growth; it became about truly seeing people, understanding what motivates them, and bringing organizations and communities closer together. That path eventually brought me to the vibrant, electric city of Dallas in 2014.

Dallas is a place that hums with energy, it is full of innovators, builders, and visionaries who never stop creating. It’s a city where collaboration thrives, where any given week you can wander into a workshop, a conference, or a pop-up gathering and walk out with new ideas and new people to build with. I had the opportunity to support a new event starting up in Dallas, Founders Live- an interactive pitch competition that gathers entrepreneurs together, gives them a platform, and lets the audience decide the winner. I also started a women’s leadership networking community, created as a space for connection, encouragement, real conversations, and celebrating the moments that often get overlooked. It became a place where women could support each other professionally, personally, and creatively.

Currently, I’m working with a Texas-founded organization headquartered in Houston, a company expanding statewide and nationwide with a deep commitment to learning and development. In many ways, everything in my career has built toward this chapter where I am supporting employees through training programs centered on emotional intelligence, self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and communication. I work with leaders how to recognize hungry, humble, people-smart talent and transform their people into strong, confident managers who stay, grow, and elevate those around them. It’s meaningful work in a high-growth environment where systems and processes are constantly evolving, and maintaining a strong, community-driven culture is both essential and intentional. I’m helping design curriculum that levels up our people, fuels growth mindsets, and creates a measurable ROI on investing in human potential. Alongside that, I take on a small number of coaching clients to support their goals and personal transformation.

At the core of everything I do is a single throughline: I have the ability to genuinely understand people without judgment, with full presence and help them navigate toward clarity, confidence, and growth. That’s the work that lights me up.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
As a child, I believed that something was “wrong with me” because learning and speaking didn’t come as easily to me as it did to others. I had a learning difference that showed up in my speech, hearing words and then knowing how to say them felt like two completely separate steps. And being an identical twin added another layer: my sister and I had our own language, as many twins do, which only deepened the auditory and speech challenges we were working through.

Speaking up in class felt overwhelming. Kids laughed when words came out wrong or didn’t come out sounding anything like they were supposed to. We were kept inside at times during recess to practice and pulled out of class for speech therapy, and with that came an unspoken message that we weren’t as smart, that something about our brains wasn’t “right.”

It took years and the patience of mentors and teachers to rebuild that confidence. The irony is that both my twin sister and I grew into careers that require public speaking. She’s on mainstream news in Los Angeles, and I spend my days teaching, presenting, and leading in front of others. We still mess up words. We still laugh at ourselves. But now we ask for help when we need it.

What I no longer believe is that mispronouncing a word or learning differently makes me “less than.” I’ve learned to give myself grace. I’ve learned that intelligence, connection, and courage show up in far more meaningful ways. And most importantly, I’ve learned that missing out on opportunities because of fear is far more costly than ever saying a word wrong.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
You’re not broken, your path is simply different. Speak up anyway. The words will come, and the world needs what only you can offer. As Seth Godin says, ‘You don’t need more time, you need more courage.’ Be brave now… your future self is proud of you.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
Where smart people are getting it wrong today is in the gap between what they say they value and what they actually do. I’ve worked with CEOs and C-suite leaders who are incredibly smart in their domain: visionary, strategic, brilliant thinkers. But brilliance doesn’t build trust. Behavior does.

I often see leaders talk about caring deeply for their people and investing in culture… then believe that a monthly birthday cake in the breakroom checks the box.

It doesn’t.

Trust is built through reliability, showing up when you say you will, being in the trenches with your people, remembering what matters to them, not just what matters to you. It’s the small, consistent follow-through that creates the psychological safety teams rely on.

And here’s the part most leaders overlook:
When a major shift or unexpected change hits and a leader says, “Trust me…”
…if they’ve been reliable, accountable, and consistent all along, their teams already do.
No convincing required.

Smart leaders sometimes forget that trust isn’t a memo. It’s a habit.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What will you regret not doing? 
I would regret not creating enough experiences with the people I love. It’s so easy to get swept up in work, social media, or whatever distraction is right in front of us and miss the moments that actually matter.

I try to focus on what I call “sparkle moments,” the small, ordinary experiences that become the memories we carry. Like taking a walk with my son and searching for the most beautiful heart-shaped leaves scattered along the path—brilliant reds, oranges, and purples.

Or packing a simple picnic and hiking up a trail just to sit under the trees.

Or the little weekend trips that reset us and pull us back into what’s real.

Those experiences, tiny or grand, are what I’ll remember.
And they’re what I’d regret not making enough time for.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyelerviel/
• Other: https://tyelerviel.medium.com/