I was not supposed to end up here.
I was born to a teenage mother in Newark, NJ. We were on food stamps and welfare. I was raised by a tribe of women — my mother, my grandmother, my Godmother — who had far less than they gave me.
Throughout my life, every time I said I wanted more, someone had a reason I shouldn’t. Why go back to school? Why isn’t nursing enough? What do you need a doctorate for? That’s too expensive.
I heard some version of that question for twenty-five years. I didn’t listen. I got the degrees.
Nursing. Then psychology. Then a master’s in counseling. Then a doctorate. Then becoming an award-winning CEO, and a seat at tables nobody in my family had ever been near.
So when a woman sits across from me and says quietly that she wants something more — and that she feels ridiculous for wanting it — I am not sympathizing from a distance. I know that exact feeling from the inside. I did more. I got more.
What thirty years actually looks like
I started a career in maternal and child health nursing. Then pharmaceutical research. Then every level of behavioral healthcare, from crisis to therapy, where people arrive on the worst day of their life. Entrepreneurship. Then leadership at every stage of my career. An only child, and a natural-born leader.
I have sat with people in every kind of trouble a person can be in. I have also run the organization that cared for them — the budgets, the staffing, the board, the bad weeks.
That combination is unusual, and it is the reason this works. I know how people change, and I know what it feels like to carry a job that does not switch off.
My credentials, in full
- Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)
- Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
- National Certified Counselor (NCC)
- Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS)
- Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), Florida — licensure actively maintained
- Registered Nurse (RN) — license actively maintained
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) — Certified; a therapy used to resolve trauma
- Certified Jungian Sandplay Therapist
- Usui Reiki Master — a Japanese energy healing practice
- Former Adjunct Professor, Nathan Weiss Graduate College, Kean University
- CEO
- Member, Forbes Nonprofit Council — Inaugural and Current Women Executives Leader
- Co-host, The Welloff Podcast
- Numerous awards and accolades
- More than thirty years across healthcare, behavioral health, and entrepreneurship
I have been mentoring women my whole life. Most of it never had a name.
I was raised by women who didn’t have much and gave me everything, every day. Whatever I have built sits on top of what they handed me, and they never expected anything back.
So I have spent thirty years handing it forward.
I have hired women who did not yet have the diploma the job asked for, because I could see what they were going to become. I give my business cards to cashiers who mention they are studying psychology, and tell them to call me. I supervise clinicians formally, as an Approved Clinical Supervisor. I have taught at the graduate level.
Helping women rise is not a line I added to a website. It is most of what I have done with my career.
Coaching is that same instinct, with the volume turned up. Fewer women. Far more of my attention. And the freedom to go as deep as the work needs to go.
What that means for you
I am not a consultant you retain. I am someone who has decided to be invested in how your next chapter goes.
I will listen to your story — your wants and dreams. I will tell you the truth. I will hold your confidence and copilot your plan. And I will be genuinely celebrating you when it works. And it will.
I met Tara during a time in my life when I felt deeply disconnected from myself. My work with her has been such a meaningful part of my healing journey and has helped me find my way back to who I am.
Tara has an incredibly warm and genuine presence that immediately makes you feel safe, almost as though you’re sitting with someone you have known and trusted for years. With her, I feel truly heard, accepted, and acknowledged, while still being gently encouraged to look deeper and continue growing.
I’m incredibly grateful for the compassion, guidance, and steady support Tara has given me. Working with her has made a profound difference in my life.