Last year Tamara Stallings inspired and motivated conference attendees with a simple sentence, “It’s okay to have a job but it’s not okay to have a job you hate.” She is a career stylist and the type of woman that dispenses wisdom during every conversation. Grab a cup of coffee and get to know Tamara just a little better.
How did your earlier career choices lead you to where you are now? I am and have always been eager and thirsty to understand my calling. Each portion of my journey has given me pieces…..crumbs if you will towards my unique destiny. My job was (and still is) to follow the bread crumbs. It has been a marathon…not a sprint. Yes, exhausting but if you’ve ever ran a marathon before (I’ve run 8) half marathons), even though you are tired, you don’t quit. You can’t quit. The last 20 years as an HR professional has exposed me to the many challenges that organizations and individuals face. Along the way, I found myself supporting the organizations that I worked for but I also found myself concerned about the people who show up for work every day. I found that many people were wearing masks. They were unhappy and it showed up in their work. The bottom line is, we have choices about the work that we do, about our happiness and if we choose to honor our true calling. I simply help you answer the phone.
What career mistake has given you the biggest lesson? Believe it or not, working for bad managers. I have had the pleasure of working for and with really nasty, broken people. Lol. It was not pleasurable at the time, but the lessons that I’ve learned along the way, has helped me to be a better leader. See, I inherently believe that people want to do a good job and that people want to achieve success, so as a leader, my role is to help facilitate that. I block and tackle and set my team up for success and they in turn go above and beyond for me. Leadership is reciprocal.
What is the biggest risk that you’ve taken? The biggest risk I’ve taken, is making a decision to move from Los Angeles to DC during a Howard Homecoming football game. I’d never been to DC, but in that moment in 1997, during the 3rd quarter, I was CRYSTAL CLEAR that God was calling me to Pivot, so I did. I went back to LA, sold my stuff and was back in DC two weeks later. Three degrees and my own company later…..
What is the biggest challenge to achieving success? The biggest challenge can be YOU. Getting out of your own way is always a struggle. We often over think things, doubt ourselves and sadly convince ourselves that we can’t achieve success in our calling. Every day, you have to look in the mirror and say “that’s a lie, I am more than capable.”
Who are you without your accolades? I am a happy wife, a pug mom to the best pug in the world, a wanna be athlete, a unpaid comedian (for now) and relentless when it comes to helping others achieve real success.
Register today for the 3rd annual Work Your Package Women’s Conference at www.workyourpackageconference2016.eventbrite.com