Tend & Restore™

Tend & Restore™ is for Black women at every turning point.

First, the name behind this one: Tee Leaves™. That's Tee, T-E-E, like me (I'm Tracy, Tee for short), not tea in a cup. Tee Leaves is the company where we leave behind what no longer serves us and listen to the Tee Leaves within, so we get clarity and direction, and design the personal and professional life we desire and deserve, rooted in who we really are.

I made Tee Leaves with a Black woman in mind. I was that Black woman. I needed to save myself. I needed clarity, and I needed direction. Now it's made with Black women like you in mind, and Tend & Restore is everything Tee Leaves is, centered on you and your needs, and open to everybody.

Tend is the personal life: your whole self, and the foundation under it. Your wellness and your well-being. Your rest. Your faith and your spirit. Your identity: who you really are, under everything the world told you to be. When something is heavy, healing it. When you're thriving, keeping you thriving, because a garden doesn't get tended because it's dying. It gets tended because it's worth keeping, and tending is how it stays in bloom.

Restore is coming home to yourself and designing the professional life you want. Restore isn't only fixing what's broken. It's rest after a week you gave everything to. It's getting back what the last few years took: your rest, your confidence, and your living. It's self-discovery and life design, so you know who you really are and build from it. And it's your professional life, designed with intention: you don't have to work for somebody else. You need to be shown what to do, and here you are. We see a future filled with founders, so you learn how to solve problems, how to build products and services that solve them for people, with AI as your team, and how to build them so they meet the needs of all that you serve.

And equitable innovation, which is how we do all of it. The world wasn't built with you in mind, and some of what's out there won't work for you. So you learn to solve your own problems and get what you need, even when nobody built it for you. And when you build for others, you build it so it meets the needs of all that you serve.

Why we exist. At a turning point, most of us lack clarity on two things: what to do with our lives, and how to live them, personally and professionally. The onus has been on you to figure that out alone, and that's not right. We give you the tools to go from uncertainty and confusion to clear, aligned direction across every part of your life, so you can create and live the life you desire and deserve.

A turning point isn't a bad thing. It's a choice. Sometimes it's a layoff, a pivot, or a big decision. Sometimes you're thriving and you want to keep thriving. Sometimes you're tired, and you're ready for rest. And sometimes you just wake up one day done with the mask and decide to live your life on purpose. Either way, you get to choose what happens next, and it starts with being willing to show up as who you really are. Leaving behind what no longer serves you might mean leaving behind being an employee, or living on autopilot. Listening within might be God for you, or your intuition. Something is pulling you: preferences, desires, beliefs, and passions, some you haven't even discovered yet, because the world buried them under rubble. You get to be the author of your own life.

Made with Black women in mind. If you're not one and it still speaks to you, you're welcome here. Tee Leaves, the company, is for everybody.

Tend & Restore™ is a Tee Leaves™ brand, created by Tracy Easter, founder and CEO of Tee Leaves.

About Tracy. Tracy Easter is the founder and CEO of Tee Leaves, the company behind Tend & Restore. She is one of the 600,000 Black women displaced from work. She is a life and human experience designer and coach. For 27 years she has built products that solve real problems for people, at Google, Garmin, and her own companies. She holds two master's degrees (human-computer interaction and design), a degree in education and biology, IDEO U certificates in design thinking, business innovation, and human-centered insights, and a Continuing Education Certificate in Jungian Psychology. She has taught design and technology at the college level. She builds Tend & Restore the way she builds any product: by studying what people need and making the tool that meets it.

Your first 60 to 90 days after a job loss: seven checks

First, ask yourself four things: Am I safe? Do I have somewhere to stay? Is there food in the house? Can I see a doctor or get health care if I need to? If you are in danger right now, call 911.

1. Dial 211. If the answer to any of the rest is no, call 211. It is free and private, and it connects you with help near you for food, housing, utilities, health care, jobs, and child care. It is open 24/7 in most areas. 211.org.

2. File for unemployment. Unemployment is money while you are out of work. Each state runs its own program, and you file in the state where you worked. The first check often takes 2 to 3 weeks, so file as soon as you can. Find your state at CareerOneStop.

3. Start with Medicaid. Medicaid is free or low-cost health coverage for some people with low income, and the rules are different in each state. You can apply any time of year, at HealthCare.gov or with your state Medicaid agency. Do this before you look at COBRA. HealthCare.gov: getting Medicaid.

4. Know your HealthCare.gov window. Losing job health coverage opens a special window to sign up. It runs 60 days before and 60 days after you lose it. Help paying is based on what you expect to earn this year, not last year. HealthCare.gov: coverage after a job loss.

5. Look at COBRA last. COBRA lets you keep your old job's health plan for a time, if you pay for it yourself. You have 60 days to choose it, and it can cost the full price, up to 102% of what the plan costs. Look at Medicaid and HealthCare.gov first; they may cost less. If you choose COBRA and then drop it yourself, that does not open a new HealthCare.gov window. U.S. Department of Labor: COBRA.

6. Apply for SNAP. SNAP is food money on an EBT card. Apply in the state where you live, the same week you file for unemployment. If you are approved, benefits count back to the day you applied. Some adults may face a 3-month time limit unless they work or train 80 hours a month. These rules changed in 2025, so ask your state SNAP office what applies to you. USDA: SNAP eligibility.

7. Call about student loans and other debt. If you have federal student loans, call your loan servicer and ask about an income-driven repayment plan, which sets your payment by your income, in some cases as low as $0, and about deferment or forbearance. Private loans have their own rules, so call that lender too. For other debt, call your creditors. A nonprofit credit counselor can set up a debt management plan. Federal loan lower-payment options · CFPB: credit counseling.

The full plan, with the steps, the deadlines, and a one-folder checklist, is in the free Tend & Restore™ Safety-Net Survival Guide.

And tend to you. If you are hurting, reach out to 988, any time. It is free and private. 988lifeline.org.

Tend & Restore resources

• The Safety-Net Survival Guide (PDF) with the Safe, Housed, and Fed check
• Your First Week: a voice note from Tracy (MP3)
• 1:1 coaching with Tracy

For educational and informational purposes only. This is not medical, legal, financial, or tax advice. Program rules change and differ by state, so always check your state's official government website or office before you decide. Facts checked against official government sources on October 22, 2026.