We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tara Lassiter a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Tara, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Is there a lesson you learned in school that’s stuck with you and has meaningfully impacted your journey?
10th grade was a rough year.
9/11, deaths in the family, and navigating the transition from Jr. High to High School made life a cobweb of confusion and uncertainty.
But if I knew how to do anything, I knew how to impress a teacher. So when my world got scary, I turned to schoolwork to give me the reassurance I desperately needed.
I’d met with teachers after school before, usually to commend me on some project or essay I’d completed, so it didn’t alarm me when Ms. Murphy asked me to meet her after school.
I greeted her cheerfully, beaming as I awaited her acclaim.
But her silence, lack of smile, and cold demeanor…I instantly knew something was off.
Silently, she handed me a pencil and sheets of paper with prompts scribbled in the headers.
I began to write. First, a short poem, then a summary from the last chapter I’d read of All Quiet on the Western Front.
She’d watch me answer the prompt, eyebrows furrowed with frustration and scrutiny, then ask for a different option when her writing didn’t meet her unstated standards.
Finally, I realized it, she’d thought I’d been cheating.
After an hour of having me write on demand failed to give her any evidence, so she told me I was free to go, leaving me with one comment:
“No one likes a show-off,”
Those five words soaked me with shame.
Was I showing off?
Or was I just doing what I loved to do?
I carried that shame through adulthood, always holding back and closing in, careful not to be too much.
Nearly two decades later, I comforted my daughter with the words I wish I’d had back then, “Not everyone’s going to be your friend, but stay true to yourself, and your people will find you.”
My most fruitful professional and personal relationships have stemmed from me being myself when everyone else wasn’t. Now, I pride myself on sharing my stories and giving others permission to do the same without judgment.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I had the privilege of spending over a decade on air at QVC.
A client sold $1 million of body butter in an hour, and I thought there had to be more in store for me than “human mannequin.”
Life at QVC was a crash course in sales. I studied the most successful brands and hosts and gave myself an at-home MBA through books and courses.
In 2020, the modeling and acting industry shut down. I knew it was time to put my marketing skills to work.
I gave myself permission to play, trying projects of all kinds as a copywriter and digital marketer. I’ve dabbled in HTML & CSS, and learned everything from Facebook ads to funnel building. It wasn’t until I said yes to ghostwriting a nonfiction book that I knew I’d found my sweet spot.
These days, I help founders and executives stand out and build personal brands by sharing stories.
The reality is we’re more than “experts.” Education and service are at the core of every good leader, but great leaders take things a step further—they uplift and inspire. Storytelling is our most powerful tool for impact.
I start all clients with a strategy session, “The Thought Leader’s Lab.” In 2-4 hours, we complete exercises—some rapid fire and some deep dives—to help them nail branding fundamentals like positioning and messaging. A few days later, I deliver their “Authority Atlas,” a guide to establishing their authority in a way that leads them to their unique goals, be they speaking, authorship, or funding. The Authority Atlas details three focus areas: Contacts, Conversations, and Content, to eliminate guesswork as they build their brand.
With the Authority Atlas, a founder or executive has the tools to write their own thought leadership content or hire someone else to do it for them. If they choose me as their ghostwriting partner, I have a week-long VIP program, “The Echo Protocol.” With an asynchronous conversation that fits around leaders’ busy schedules, I craft 12 pieces of authority content for LinkedIn, newsletters, or articles to provide a steady stream of insights over a quarter.
I want all leaders to know there’s a difference between showing up and showing off. Your personal brand is the key to capturing opportunities. There’s a ceiling on success when you live in the shadows.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
When I started modeling, the only diversity was in hair or eye color, with deeper skin tones sprinkled in to appease the masses. As our collective culture shifted, I saw models of all heights, sizes, and hair types embraced and celebrated.
I’d like to see the same in the professional world.
We’ve come a long way from exclusively white and male C-Suites, but more work must be done.
Diversity of experience and thought contribute to better business performance—87% of Fortune 500 companies with female CEOs reported above-average profits, compared to 78% of companies without a female CEO.
Still, women-founded startups account for less than 2% of venture capital funds.
I want to help build brands that can’t be ignored for the good of all of us.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
I’ve found most business leaders think marketing means social media, ads, or SEO.
Those are all tools for reach, but they offer little control and leave us at the mercy of algorithms.
They also lack humanity.
The most effective strategy for me growing my clientele hasn’t been the latest trend or tactic.
It’s been conversations.
Showing up, sharing stories, and inviting others into deeper conversations has an unmatchable ROI.
As a marketer at heart, I’ll always explore what’s new, but I’ll never mistake my most valuable asset—people.
I challenge any business owner wanting to grow their clientele to get out of their heads and into the real world. Ask questions, attend events, offer support, and show what you know. With each exchange, you’re planting the seeds of a fruitful network.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://taralassiter.com
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/taralassiter
Image Credits
Shay Walker Photo