Women in Business Highlight: Robyn Tanner – Reinventing Dreams Through Writing

Robyn Tanner

From networking events to beach time to workshops, this summer has been full of connection and inspiration. Even with the hustle of running events and projects, I made time to sit down with some incredible women for our Women in Business Highlight series. These conversations remind me why I started EmpowerHer Ventures in the first place: to amplify the voices of women building their dreams, pivoting when they need to, and chasing goals that build empires.

This month, I’m honored to share the story of Robyn Tanner. Her journey is about courage, letting go of what no longer fits, and finally embracing the dream she’s carried since childhood.

Burning It Down to Start Again

In April, Robyn made a decision that would scare most entrepreneurs: she walked away from her thriving coaching and speaking business. After nearly a decade of growing from a gym owner to a high-performance coach, she realized she had outgrown the very dream she once fought to build. The spark that once drove her wasn’t there anymore.

Rather than clinging to a business that no longer aligned, she shut it down…decisively. She gave notice to her clients, dissolved her LLC, and told herself she wasn’t going to keep living halfway. That kind of bravery isn’t easy, but it became the turning point that set her free.

Robyn is candid about how hard it can be to walk away from something you’ve built. Her fitness business, for example, had once been her entire world. She sacrificed comfort, relationships, and even her own health to build it from scratch, and for a long time it defined her. But eventually she realized success without fulfillment is still a trap.

Instead of fearing judgment or clinging to old identities, she sees starting over as an act of bravery. “You have to have the guts to walk away,” she says, “and start over at the bottom without shame.”

What most people didn’t realize is that her heart had been somewhere else all along. Robyn had always been a writer. She had written her first book as a little girl and continued writing stories and ideas throughout her life. She’s already published a self-help book, The Machete Mentality: The Fight For Your Future Self. But while building businesses, managing clients, and speaking on stages, her own creative work sat on the shelf. It took the courage to “burn it down” for her to finally pick it back up. Now, she’s taken the leap into being her authentic self and going back to her childhood dream of writing.

Rediscovering her Childhood Dream

The shift into writing didn’t come by accident. On what seemed like a routine consultation call, Robyn met a woman who was looking for mentoring. At the end of their conversation, the woman casually mentioned she needed a ghostwriter. That single moment unlocked everything Robyn had been holding back. Within days, the woman became her first client, officially launching Robyn into her new chapter.

It wasn’t just about getting paid to write, it was about aligning her work with the thing she’d always wanted to do. She had spoken about resilience, reinvention, and fighting for your future self for years. Now, she was finally embodying it.

Written by Robyn Lynn

A Name That Feels Like Home

For Robyn, stepping into her identity as a writer wasn’t just about changing careers, it was also about reclaiming her name. After years of being known by married names, business names, and brand names, she wanted something that felt true to who she had always been.

She chose to write under Robyn Lynn, her given name. It’s the name she carried as a child, the name she had when she first began writing stories in third grade, and the name that still feels most connected to the little girl who dreamed of becoming an author.

That decision wasn’t simple. Robyn had been well-known in her community by her former last name, which was tied to her fitness business and her identity as a transformation coach. Letting go of that name meant letting go of the reputation she had built over years of blood, sweat, and sacrifice. She chose to strip away the layers and return to what felt authentic.

Her new business name, Written by Robyn Lynn, reflects more than just her professional direction, it reflects her personal reclamation. It’s her way of saying: this is who I’ve always been, and this is who I’m becoming.

As she explains, “All along, I’ve been this writer. The only thing that’s stayed solid through all the pivots and reinventions was Robyn Lynn. So that’s what I’m going with.”

A Cinematic Approach to Storytelling

Now, Robyn channels her experience into ghostwriting, developmental editing, and her own creative projects. Her clients are leaders, CEOs, and visionaries who have lived through adversity and want to turn their stories into books. She specializes in pulling out the “real story” …the parts many people avoid sharing but that hold the power to transform others.

She likes to craft stories as a film, weaving in dialogue, tension, and emotional highs and lows so readers feel like they’re living the story alongside the author. It’s not about creating another leadership manual that sits on a shelf; it’s about capturing the raw, the resilience, and redemption that make people lean in and keep turning pages.

Motivation and Legacy

At the center of Robyn’s motivation are her children. Having grown up in a family marked by illness, addiction, and cycles of giving up, she was determined to break that pattern. Walking away from unhealthy environments and choosing her own path wasn’t just for her - it was for them.

Her kids have watched her start over more than once, and rather than hide those pivots, she’s made them part of her teaching. She wants them to see that dreams matter, that self-respect matters, and that it’s okay to fight for something better. “I refuse to settle,” she says. “I’ll go down fighting for my kids, for my dream, and for myself.”

Already, she’s seeing the impact. Her son is a budding YouTube creator with tens of thousands of followers, and both of her children are growing up with the confidence to chase what excites them.

Advice for Women Entrepreneurs

Robyn’s advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is direct and from her experience: do the thing you already know you’re meant to do.

For years, she built businesses in fitness, coaching, and speaking and while each chapter had value, they weren’t her true calling. Looking back, she sees how every step prepared her to become a stronger writer. Coaching taught her how to dig deep into someone’s story, hold space for their truth, and pull out the parts that mattered most. Fitness taught her resilience and courage. Speaking gave her confidence and presence. All of it now fuels her work as a ghostwriter.

But she doesn’t sugarcoat the process. Robyn had to quit her own business with no clients lined up, no website, no social media strategy and start over from scratch. That leap albeit petrifying was the leap she needed to become Robyn Lynn again.

Hearing Robyn’s perspective is invigorating. She mentions, it’s harder to keep showing up every day for something you don’t want than to face the fear of starting over. As she puts it, the uneasiness of ignoring your dream will wear you down far more than the challenge of chasing it.

What’s Next

Robyn has big plans for her next chapter. She’s building a full roster of ghostwriting clients while also offering developmental editing for writers who need help shaping their stories. She has seven books outlined for herself, with the goal of securing a deal with one of the Big Five publishers. On top of that, she’s submitting screenplays this fall for film and TV consideration.

Her ultimate goal? To become a respected ghostwriter and screenwriter whose name appears on book jackets, TV credits, and movie screens with the words “Written by Robyn Lynn.”

Where to Find Her

You can learn more about Robyn’s work at robynntanner.com or on Instagram @writer_robynlynn. Reach out to her for your next story yet to be written…by Robyn Lynn.

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