THE WILD RIDE CALLED ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Omg. What do I want to say.

Here's a little synopsis of this wild ride called entrepreneurship:

I've been a coach since 2004 .... and over these 13+ years my business has had many "brands", has offered many different programs, and had countless evolutions. Countless!

2004-2006:

Ok, so, right out of the gates, I messed up. I named my business "Transition Coaching & Event Planning". So wrong. Here are a few of the *many* reasons this was "off brand": 1.) I kept getting phone calls from people asking me to plan their wedding. lol. Having to explain time and again that it's a coaching company and not a wedding planning company was my first clue. :-) Plus, I soon realized: 2.) that 'transition' really isn't fun or something that people are eager to sign up for, 3.) the few clients who were willing to overlook my terrible business name and work with me, and I, were having *far too much fun* for transition to remain the focus point and the "brand" of the work I do, and 4.) I came to realize that I would inevitably ask the same question, "What's the dream here?" and this sent us in a whole new and wonderful direction.

2007 -2013:

After asking for guidance about what my new business name should be, one day I woke up in the middle of the night knowing exactly what to change it to: "Create Your Life!". It was right. My business took on new life, with inspired idea after inspired idea. I wrote a curriculum for a 5-week Dream Circle group program. I attracted private clients who were ready to dream their life bigger and create their life to be something they couldn't wait to get up and out of bed for in the morning. And in 2008, I started hosting my annual Dream Party. Come as you aspire to be' was the tagline. For 5 consecutive years, 100 or so people came to this weird and wonderful event, folks dressed in ways that represented their 5-years-from-then self. They crossed over 'the footbridge to the future', they acted and inter-acted as if it was 5 years into the future, celebrating all the dreams that had come true in their life. They wrote letters to themselves in the shed-sized Time Machine art installation that I hired some RISD students to build for me (the first year, the paint was still drying as guests arrived) .... And 1-year later I mailed them their unopened self-addressed letter along with an invitation to the next Dream Party, of course. plus size short wedding dresses ;-) The Dream Circle evolved too .... into what is to this day The Dream Acceleration Program, a comprehensive online program that I couldn't be more proud of.

Create Your Life was my growing baby and I was delighted by it. And thanks to the virtual nature of my work, and my growing virtual team, Create Your Life was serving clients from as far as Spain, Israel, New Zealand, Canada, Costa Rica, and all across the US. A lot changed in my life over this period of time, but my work was consistent and an aligned extension of who I was - and who I was becoming.

2013-2015:

Short story, while I kept at it and never for one moment adored my clients any less, I started to feel like something wasn't quite right. Like something that used to fit me perfectly was no longer exactly right. Like I was outgrowing myself. Ever feel like you've outgrown yourself?

It's important to note here that, in 2012, I completed a unique Masters degree program: Holistic Leadership. I credit this program with sparking several new ideas within me, many of which I integrated into my coaching work and into how I facilitate my programs and how I train others to do so. This Holistic Leadership degree taught me new and expansive models, perspective, and approaches to powerful leadership -- the kind of leadership that people are eager to follow -- and it watered many seeds within me. I happened upon the program, but by no coincidence, I believe.

While MA behind my name is great and all ... as a devoted entrepreneur, I really didn't have any expectations or intentions of this MA being a career-maker in a resume-kind-of-way. I simply found the coursework so enriching that I stayed with it, inching my way through the program. At the end, I felt no need to attend the graduation ceremonies, but my mom insisted - she wanted to be there. So, when they called my name, I walked the stage to receive my diploma and I was truly caught off guard by how emotional crossing that stage was for me, a significance that went far deeper than any piece of paper. It represented a personal threshold.

(They say retrospect is always 20-20, and I see now how this threshold set the stage for my 2013-2015 "it doesn't quite fit anymore" phase.)

2015-2017:

By 2014, my soul was really itching for something new. One way I scratched the itch was to move - from lil' Rhody (a place I love and always will) to the DC area. A wise friend of mine who witnessed me on the cusp of this decision said, "Tara - there's no wrong answer. You love Rhode Island, and you can stay. Or, you can move to a new place." She likened me to a plant: "You're a perfectly good plant in a perfectly good pot. But if you repot, you'll grow." I decided to re-pot, and in 2015 I moved to just outside DC.

I danced like crazy. Unlike 'lil Rhody where there's typically only one salsa night each week ... in DC, I could dance every night if I wanted to. And I wanted to about 4 out of 7 nights. :-) I met some wonderful people (one of whom I live with now) -- but DC didn't feel like "my place". The vibe of politics infused so much of life there. Generally speaking, my experience was that people there live more in their head and less in their heart (than I want to at least). It wasn't my forever home. As a nomadic soul, no where really is. :-) But it turns out that DC wasn't my "more than 2.5 years home". lol.

BUT - the international vibe really spoke to my nomadic soul. It ignited something within me - something that had always been there. The DC infusion shed new light on parts of myself. Had I not moved there, I am convinced I never would have had the inspiration for Nomadic Leaders.

While in DC, in addition to Create Your Life, I launched Nomadic Leaders with the vision of offering a coaching program for laptop leaders - something that would bring travel, community, and coaching together. But, I was challenged by having two brands: Create Your Life AND Nomadic Leaders. My energy felt "split" and neither one was getting the attention it deserved.

Then, in 2017, along with my boyfriend Carl, I finally made the leap into Nomadic Living. One of the best decisions I've ever made. (And, I'm now excited about helping others do it too, of course.) :-)

2018:

So then, about a month ago, much to my dismay, it became clear ---> I am the brand. I am the common denominator. I got clear that Create Your Life & Nomadic Leaders needed one home: in me, Tara Sage.

Ugh. (was my initial thought)

I sighed.

I didn't want to have to re-create, yet again.

I resisted it for about 48 hours.

And then, the clarity of HOW to bring the two together into one cohesive, it-can-grow-as-I-grow, I can pull together the best aspects of each into one 'home of awesome' that will be better than the two .... followed. I saw that I'd be better able to show up fully in service, because my energy won't be "split" and it'll always fit just right because .... I am Tara Sage Coaching and Tara Sage Coaching is me.

Amen. ***(If you read this far, please give a "like" so I can bow to you.) <3

Ok -- all this to say, I am SOO excited to share .... my shiny new all-in-one brand and website: www.tarasagecoaching.com

Ever feel like YOU've outgrown yourself? If so, we should chat. :-) Either way, hope you'll check out my new site and pass it along to someone you know that you think would be well served by it/me. xo

HOME Want to live BOUNDLESSLY and dream your life BIGGER? Eager to CREATE a life you don’t need a vacation from? Ready to go from surviving to THRIVING? Want to START or GROW your dream business? Longing for the FREEDOM to travel and…tarasagecoaching.com