Seize.
Evolve.
Live Forward.

Meet your coach
TARA KOWALSKI Ma, BA

Certifications in E.I 2.0, Business Management, Adult Education, Mediation, Conflict Coaching, Death Doula.

Change brims with loss, expectation, hope and joy. It’s like a river, that ebbs and flows and makes its way out to sea. And we're like a little raft that’s bobbing on the surface on our journey to open water. If the river has weak banks, there's no structure for the water to flow and our raft ends up beached, isolated, stuck in the mud and the mire.

Hi, I'm Tara and I build river banks. I offer services, training and growth moments that help people and organizations get to the open waters, the place of growth, accomplishment and fulfillment. Together we will work on developing a vision for change, overcoming inertia and building maps so you can take action and seize into your full potential, confidently and authentically.

The open water is calling. The sea is teeming with possibilities. Are you ready—and willing—to get in the boat?

"A country or culture may value rugged independence, but the reality is that we all depend on many things for survival, success, and happiness, from the air we breathe to the kindness of strangers to the infrastructure of civilization.

- Rick Hanson, Ph.D."

"The wound is the place where the Light enters you.
- Rumi

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there."

"P.P.G....positive, present, grateful.
- Jory Faibish, my soul brother, 1953 - 2019"

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
-Viktor E. Frankl"

"The most important question any [person] must decide for [her/]himself] is whether or not [s/]he lives in a friendly or hostile universe.
- Albert Einstein"

"My purpose is to empower and advocate for the human condition – evolving and actualizing the culture of individuals and organizations – supporting living forward and with love. To be a witness and guide in the awe of change is humbling and inspiring. Thank you for trusting me in your journey.
- Tara Kowalski"

"Dear old world', she murmured, 'you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you. L.M. Montgomery"

"www.resiliencysymposium.org"

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there.
- Rumi"

Screw the eggshells
Coaching Services

Grief

Find the tools work through grief. Whether you’re mourning the death of somebody close or a spiritual loss like losing a job, business or friendship, it's when you get in the boat that you unleash your inner resiliency into the open waters.

Leadership

Navigate your team to open waters. To do that, you'll learn to optimize your entire leadership system, using integrative approaches and engaging employees at all levels to share the change process.

Conflict

Conflict competency is a core skill to living confidently and successfully. Learn to resolve conflict, manage resistance and restore the damage left by unresolved conflict. It's time to stand up and show up to the rich opportunities that come when you lead conflict forward.

Culture

Uncover the dynamic forces that are at play in your workplace, allow your internal culture to align and synchronize as a well-bodied system within the organizational culture. Through formal and informal coaching systems, you'll grow as a team by learning to paddle together down the river.

Additional Services

Get in touch

Consultation

How do we evolve both our successful and crappy places to reach new and better achievements?

Interested in working with me? It all starts with a consultation. This is a quick discovery call for us to get to know each other, assess the situation and determine whether we’re a good fit for each other.

Over the course of the call, we’ll work to identify:

• The primary issues that you're experiencing and need to change

• The parties that are involved and additional support that might be needed

• A prospective plan to achieve what you want to see

I collaborate with and support: Negotiations Collective, Maslow Leadership, Cory Weeds, Brenda Froese, Dina L, Stephanie Potter.

Mentoring

How do we give people voice and choice in becoming their own agents of change?

If you’re looking for an experience to enhance coaching, mentoring might be the right fit for you. Mentoring has a different essence than coaching—it’s much more practical, involved and insightful. It’s about being in the space with you, modelling behaviours and observing the truths first-hand, and provoking insight with feedback. With mentoring comes the freedom to be messy and to fail. I come in as a neutral facilitator to help find your voice and properly communicate your needs.

Mediation

How do we create a space where people are willing to have these difficult discussions together?

Mediation is a formalized process that involves two parties who are in great conflict and need a documented outcome with the help of a neutral, unbiased facilitator (that’s me). Together we work on outlining in a formal document the resolution the parties agree to.

I also offer facilitation services. When two or more people in an organization have common goals or values but face conflict due to their styles, experience or communication. That's where facilitation comes in, to get them in the same boat paddling together. This tends to be less formal and supports growth and alignment to the team and the objective.

Training

How do we foster an environment to ignite and metabolize lasting growth?

Training is a helpful way of supporting change. People like to grow and training provides language, insight and structure that supports creativity and confidence. Training has additional benefits when packaged with coaching, mentoring and structural supports to apply the training.

Here are some of the courses and topics I offer training on:

• Building a Resiliency Plan

• Improving Communication Skills

• Growing Emotional Competency

• Mastering Conflict Resolution Strategies

"Tara is a dynamic coach and mentor. She brings positivity, insights, grit, and courage to even the most challenging conversations. Tara is my co-facilitator of choice when working with large and complex teams.

- Victoria Johnson, certificated facilitator for LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®"

"I have had the pleasure to team with Tara many times over the past nine years. She cares about people and achieving success together. Her enthusiastic style is engaging and fun. I can always count on her as she is reliable and meets timelines. Her multidisciplinary education with her varied work experience makes her a real asset not found in most other consultants. I look forward to the opportunity to work with Tara again.

- Raina Siou"

"I enjoyed working with Tara as a colleague. She is just so genuine and pours herself into supporting people in their growth to make living meaningful. She is gritty, real, creative and generous in naming the need and moving forward with courage and accomplishment. Tara is fearless: she will talk about the stuff most others don’t want to talk about, things like loss, grief and growing from that to a future with less loneliness, more understanding, and growth.

- Patrick Aylward, Author The Collaborative Path"

"Personal conflicts at work often have a roots in other places. You helped me and get out of my own way Tara. I feel cared for, more awakened and confident in all spheres of my life. Tara, words cannot express how grateful I am!

- Véro, Federal Government Employee"

"The most beneficial part about engaging this process was that it allowed me the most control over what that resolution would eventually look like. I went from rejecting my workplace and anticipating the loss of career family to reconnecting to a career and purpose that I cherish. I found home again.

- Government, Anonymous."

"Tara is amazing! She definitely listened and helped guide me through my thinking. After a great deal of loss in my world, I was searching for something to fit where I wanted to be. She encouraged me to pursue my passions. She helped me understand what really spoke to who I am. She asked the appropriate questions and challenged me to keep moving forward. Tara’s guidance helped me begin 'Wild Camps' and fulfill my need for service. I am grateful for her support and will continue to enjoy discussions. Thanks Tara!

- Al Nutini, Wild Camps"

"I just wanted to say I feel much more confident after speaking to you. It was hard work and you helped me reclaim myself Tara. I am grateful to you.

- Government, Anonymous"

"Tara was dynamic trainer, knowledgeable and has a great understanding of group dynamics.
- Anonymous"

Corporate events
Keynote Speaking

Are you looking for a keynote speaker to provide insights how organizations or individuals can better learn to navigate change? In the past, I’ve spoken on some of the following topics:

• The Gratitude Virus

• Living Through Disruption: Befriending Grief and Loss

• The Pain of Formal Processes: Take Control Back

• Making Room For Paradoxes

• The Problem Isn’t The Problem

• Victim, Villain and Hero…And The Other Way

Book Me For A Speaking Engagement

“If you are working on something you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed, The vision pulls you.” Steve Jobs

I am a vulnerable, creative and imperfect speaker that values the learning process. I listen to stories, make sense of patterns and messages, and organize complex ideas in simple, digestible ways. Listening involves hearing the messages (verbal and nonverbal), processing and evaluating the “noise” or “music,” and then responding out loud. I am inspired by the awe that comes from relational conflicts and change. To acknowledge how people live through disruption, I tell stories to help people see, seize and stand in their future, knowing they are not alone and capable of living forward. I am a coach, cheering you on in different ways and one of these ways is keynote speaking.

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Let's book a consultation

You’ve made it this far, so let me ask you: are the rivers of change in your life carrying you to open water? If they’re not, I can promise you one thing: you’ve got strength that you’re not tapping into. I know that getting in the boat can be scary but if you have pain, fear, hope and you are ready to do the hard work , then I am your facilitator and companion.

Be bold and reach out because life is too precious for you to be spending one more minute feeling stuck and alone in the mud.

Seize. Evolve. Live Forward.

Meet your coach TARA KOWALSKI Ma, BA

Screw the eggshells Coaching Services