We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tara Lane. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tara below.

Tara, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

What started out as a group of four women has grown into a full fledged networking and instructional organization with both sponsors and members within our networking platform.

More about THE SISTERHOOD:

Shotgun Sisters was founded in 2015 by Tara Lane, a former sporting clays shooter and business development professional in the CRE/AEC industry.

Sporting clays shoots and tournaments are common business
development opportunities in the AEC industry and often industry
women aren’t comfortable or able to participate because they lack
familiarity with shooting, handling guns, and the sport itself. The group
meets monthly and seasoned members and trained instructors offer
assistance and instruction as needed, so all skill levels are welcome.
Shotgun Sisters provides a comfortable environment for women to
shoot; from beginners developing a comfort level to experienced
shooters sharpening their skills. This enables them to be on a level
playing field with their male colleagues and competitors as well.
After the shoot, everyone stays to eat, laugh, and network. The
result is an exceptional group of industry professionals, sharing a
common interest, networking with each other, developing business
opportunities, professional relationships, and friendships.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I was literally thrown into a situation at an industry clay shoot and had never shot sporting clays before. I had fired shot guns before at stationary targets a few times but had never shot sporting clays. I thought to myself if I’ve shot before even a little bit and need additional assistance, I can’t imagine someone trying this who’s never held a gun before. Sporting clays in our industry was incredibly male dominated and to a certain extent still is but that’s slowly changing. Taking sporting clay lessons from some of the world’s and country’s best trainers helped me create a customized training program to safely introduce women in the commercial real estate (CRE) and architectural, engineering, construction (AEC) industries to the sport while providing a unique networking opportunity. I’m so proud of the women who have not only grown their personal and professional relationships but have become empowered learning a new sport out of their comfort zone. Some of these women who participate regularly are getting quite good and I’m honored that I’ve helped them on their journey. We’re excited to expand into other states as well with this organization to benefit even more women. We hold events each month outside of our monthly networking shoots. In 2022 we held a joint networking event open to both men and women on the rooftop of Ponce City Market here in Atlanta, a crawfish boil, a river tubing trip, as well as Volunteer Day for Meals By Grace. Volunteering and charity is very important to me and Shotgun Sisters. We’ve supported American Kidney Services, CMAA Scholarship Fund, and our upcoming Charity Banquet and Gala will be supporting My Sister’s House which provides emergency housing to battered women and children in times of crisis. We’re also holding a Suicide Awareness and Prevention Event with a professional speaker which is a very important and timely topic.

I was very honored to have just been nominated let alone win a Titan 100 Award for the state of GA for founding this group and for what we’ve done for both the members and the community. I have said many times that I may have founded the group but it’s the women who make the group.

https://www.titan100.biz/georgia-titan100.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

We’ve been fortunate as our group has grown organically. Members enjoy the camaraderie, empowerment, mentorship and benefit personally and professionally from Shotgun Sisters so they bring other members to our group so we have no need for Marketing or campaigns to gain new members. I think that’s a strong testament to our organization and our members.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

We always want to ensure that our members and guests feel welcome and included when they attend our events. This is paramount in remaining true to our brand. Staying in touch outside of our events is critical as well. Most of my business in the CRE/AEC industry working for Contour Engineering as Director of Business Development has come from Shotgun Sisters which is fantastic. We also try to have more of a personal touch than your typical industry organization. An example is during the pandemic we offered to assist anyone having financial difficulty. No one required our assistance but if every member donated a few dollars we knew we could help someone struggling if needed. There was also time when baby formula was scarce and a member’s daughter was struggling to find it for her child. Shotgun Sisters came to the rescue. This organization will do anything personally or professionally to help its members and I think that’s what sets us apart and builds brand loyalty.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shotgunsisters.org