We were lucky to catch up with Tara Garrigan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tara, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

Vacations of any kind are incredibly helpful for everyone’s mind, body, and soul. Over the years, I haven’t always felt that I could actually take vacations, but because I always notice such a difference in my abilities when I’ve had time away to refresh and reset, I’ve been making vacations a priority. What I’ve been starting to do in my business that I’ve been finding maybe more helpful is to take “planning weeks.” Twice a year, I set aside a week to solely focus on my business. Especially as your business is growing, it can be difficult to account for how much time you’ll need per project to “clean up,” before you jump to the next thing. Think of it as a spring cleaning for your business. You’d be amazed how clear it makes you feel and how much healthier your business is for it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My business grew from a need for creative small businesses to have a helping hand. As an artist & designer who loves collaboration and organization, I’ve found new ways to use these talents to help other creative folks effectively do what they love. Our focus is on managing projects and creating systems. We also assist with design, illustration, and copywriting.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I have had to pivot so, so many times. But I’ve also probably done so when it wasn’t needed, perhaps out of habit. My takeaway is to try to be ready for whatever is thrown my way by being well-rounded, but the bigger lesson for me has been that staying in one place and keeping focus is the best way to move myself in the established direction that I’ve been looking for.

We’d appreciate any insights you can share with us about selling a business.

Lesson: always get it in writing. If you feel that someone is finding every excuse in the book, avoiding you, and the like when it comes to establishing a working relationship (aka contract), then it’s not worth pursuing. I definitely learned this lesson the hard way. I should have been able to sell my half, but instead, I left a partnership with not just nothing, but debt on top of that. It took me quite a few years to get back to where I started.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tmgcreative.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tara_garrigan/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-garrigan-63014b21/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBtHbhjuq7mZ4DCk8M6N0Ug?view_as=subscriber
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits
Shaye Garrigan, Lucy Hewitt, Robert Catanese