7 Questions with Playing Big’s Tara Mohr

Tara Mohr wants you to play bigger in 2012 than ever before.

I interviewed her about it here as she opens registration for Playing Big, a women’s leadership and professional development journey.

Tara Mohr is someone I always have my eye on. I love watching how people craft their online platforms, and take considerable notice of those who manage to weave their inner journey into their brand, teaching, message, and offerings in a way that’s seamless and free of precociousness. Tara is one who does this well. {In other words, she shares her life with her audience in a way that’s not just here’s more about meeeeeeee!}

Tara Mohr — poet, Huffington Post blogger, women’s leadership development coach — is back for the second year with Playing Big, an intensive group coaching experience for women who are ready to embrace their voice in a bigger way and put it forth into the world. She has ample experience at doing this and the heart of a teacher. As a Playing Big affiliate, I endorse this program and think it’s a great fit for many of you in my reading audience who are ready not only to play bigger in the interconnected aspects of entrepreneurial life and personal development, but are ready to approach publishing your work in greater ways.

Here are 7 questions with the fantastic Tara Mohr:

1.} Tara, my readers and clients often struggle with the element of ‘voice’ in their online platform — what voice is, how to know if they’re ‘in’ their own voice when they’re creating content. What do you know about voice that you’d like to share with them?

Each of us can access a state of being where our natural voice flows forth freely and powerfully. I believe it’s worth the effort to get to that place. It is so joyful to share your true voice in the world. And it’s so effective — from a professional point of view — to express a clear, strong voice in the marketplace. For me, I always find there both incredible fulfillment and a huge audience response when I write a Huffington Post article where my voice really comes through. Those articles I write with good information but without much voice fall by the wayside in a world cluttered with so much information.

For many women it does take effort to re-access our voices, because we lost our voices along the way. I certainly did! But I found there were particular ideas and tools that helped me get my voice back — and now that’s what I teach. I am on-fire-passionate about making sure as many women as possible got these tools. That’s why I do what I do.

2.} When you are really feeling the power of your own voice, what does that look, sound, or feel like to you?

It feels like yirah. In ancient Hebrew there are two words for fear. The first word is “pachad” which means “the fear of projected or imagined things.” This is our usual fear — worries about worst-case scenarios, about embarrassing ourselves, about being challenged. Most of us feel some pachad when we start sharing our voices authentically in the world: “Will they laugh at me? Do I sound ridiculous? Am I qualified to say this?” 

The second ancient Hebrew word for fear is “yirah.” This is the word used in the Old Testament whenever people encounter something sacred. When Moses meets the burning bush, he feels “yirah.” Yirah is described as a kind of trembling awe we feel when we are in the presence of the sacred. It is also described as “the fear that comes over us when we are inhabiting a larger space than we are used to.”

When we share our authentic voices, we feel yirah, because we are in the presence of the sacred: our own authentic voices are the sacred.

For those reading, I invite you to start looking for your own moments of yirah – that fear-like feeling they feel when they inhabit a larger space in the world than they are used to, or when you touch the sacred ground of your own true voice.

3.} What led you to create Playing Big and please give us a character sketch of the woman it’s designed for.

I saw, from my own life and from my work as a coach, that so many talented women were really holding back in sharing their brilliance with the world. I wanted to change that.

I knew from my own experience that to play big, you need inner transformation and tactical skills training. I have an MBA and a lot of experience on the tactical side of playing big. But I am also a coach and a personal growth teacher who works with people on the inner side of playing big. So I created a program that brings together both. Both are really needed for women to play big: the inner work and the outer work.

The woman it’s designed for knows she wants to play bigger. That could mean a literal playing bigger – reaching more people in her work. Or it could be an inner shift – going for her real dreams, creating passions, or desires. The women in the program are in business, the social sector, and the arts. Many are entrepreneurs, but some work in larger companies. What they share, more than a demographic, is a common sensibility: they are smart, committed to enriching the world for the better, and they feel a longing to play bigger.

4.} What did you learn from last year’s Playing Big that influenced the way you changed or redesigned some aspect of this year’s program?

I am very committed to offering quality, effective programs, so I partnered with a PhD expert in program evaluation to really evaluate the impact of the program. The evaluations were overwhelmingly positive. Most of the changes we are making are logistical about how the journey can run as smoothly as possible. One of the changes I’m most excited about is that this year there will be an option for participants to also purchase on-one-on support with me or with one of my favorite coaches, Amy Kessel. This is exciting because it means women can complement all the group learning and content they will be absorbing with some focused individual support when they need it!

5.} Who’s really playing big out there, in your opinion? Whose voices do you admire and drink deeply from in the space?

Playwright and actress Anna Deveare Smith, former Global Fund for Women CEO Kavita Ramdas, and coach Martha Beck. In their own way, they are each continually taking huge risks, showing up in the world with authentic voices, and changing their industries.

6.} Clients come to me for brand editing and copywriting, and for 2012 I’m developing products to teach indie entrepreneurs how to develop their own voice in the marketplace — to hone skill sets needed to write more powerfully for their own entrepreneurial realm. Yet some women will still choose me to write their copy rather than write it themselves. Can ‘playing big’ and working with a copywriter to develop your voice go hand in hand?

Absolutely!! In fact, I think I’ve really supported my own playing big by getting professional help. I work with a publicist and a coach — both of whom invariably see things differently than I do. They get me out of my own fear-based decisions, my own self-imposed limitations, and my false stories. My business has moved forward leaps and bounds because of their contributions.

7.} Role reversal: what question would you like to ask my readers? We’ll invite them to respond in the comments. :)

I would love to know what Playing Big means for them in 2012? What does it look like?

Over to you, reader: what does Playing Big mean for you in 2012? Would love to hear from you in the comments.