Voice Notes is one of our recurring features. We take you inside the online brand presence of a business owner we think you should know — through a dozen evocative sentence-starters.

Abby (Chief Voice Bureau Officer) says:

I’ve been watching Tara Sophia Mohr’s career trajectory for the past few years. I was first drawn to her calming, grounded presence (and a site design that reflected it) but stuck around for her wisdom, depth, and thoughtful take on how women show up in society today — at work and in our personal lives. Tara is my very favorite kind of teacher — she’s a thinker with heart. Three years ago, when I was first offered the opportunity to become an affiliate for Playing Big, Tara’s virtual program for women, it was an immediate yes. Today, as my business and my life have expanded in all sorts of ways I never expected, my internal yes to this program is even stronger.

For me, and for many of the intelligent women in The Voice Bureau’s readership, Playing Big (high Power value, much?) is a natural fit. It’s NOT necessarily about world domination, crowning yourself queen, or climbing any socially-validated ladder of success. (“Playing big” is none of these things, to me.) Playing Big is about allowing yourself, as an independent human being, to acknowledge what you want — regardless of size or scale or prestige factor — and go get it. It’s about personal power — being at home with your yes — not about wielding power over others or participating in the socially-endorsed success machine. It’s about learning how to stop undermining yourself, address your inner critic, and develop a framework to get your message out there — whether you’re advocating for human rights, designing a new business, or making fiction-writing a priority in your weekly schedule.

I’m thrilled to offer you Playing Big again this year, and below, an interview with the woman behind the program.

(The link above is our affiliate link, which means if you click it and enroll in Playing Big, we’ll receive some thank-you monies from Tara for helping her to spread the word. There’s absolutely no pressure to buy through this link.)

Tara Sophia Mohr, Coach, Writer, and Teacher

Tara Sophia Mohr is an expert on women’s wellbeing and leadership. A coach, writer, and teacher, she is the creator of the global Playing Big leadership program for women. Visit here to get Tara’s free guide, the 10 Rules for Brilliant Women Workbook. Find her on Twitter: @tarasophia

The worst business or branding advice I ever received was:

Don’t worry about making your site beautiful. A simple free site is more than fine. (That may be true if your target market is 20-year old male engineers, but it wasn’t true for me! )

I knew I’d ‘come into’ my writing voice when:

I decided to write for me — for my own joy of writing — rather than to get gold stars or praise from anyone else.

My lifestyle, in 3 words:

Tea, dogs, dance.

I do the work I do because:

I believe visionary, creative women playing bigger is a huge part of what’s going to create a more humane, loving world.

The best moment in my work week so far has been :

Opening up the Playing Big program for registration, feeling the exhilaration of that, and the gratitude for getting to do this  — this! — as my work.

An unlikely source of creative inspiration for me is:

Tap dancing. I just started taking lessons. I thought it would be incredibly fun, and it’s even more fun than that.

One thing I know for sure about my Right People is:

They are grappling with their own playing small, and I can help.

The best compliment I’ve ever received from a client is:

There are many that really touched me, but I always smile at this one: “This Tara is a coach who combines psychology with spirituality. She is fiercely intelligent without being a dry academic, and she is also very much in touch with her intuition and inner wisdom, without being inaccessibly new age-y about it.”

On social media, I find I get most triggered when I see:

Generic or simplistic content getting a ton of attention. It’s a weakness in me — it drives me crazy and makes me feel bad. Working on it. [Abby’s note: Me, too!]

I can never get enough:

Reading great books about psychology and spirituality. Right now I’m reading all of Cynthia Bourgeault’s spirituality books. They are rich and delicious.

If my clients only hold onto one piece of advice from me, I hope it’s:

Question the voice in your head that says, “I’m not ready yet.” You are more ready than you think you are.

My brand is all about:

Deep breaths, self-trust, going deeper, self-actualization.

What I really wish you could see about yourself is:

You are an expression of the sacred, and you light up the world.

In the comments, we’d love to hear:

What’s your experience with the idea of playing big, in your business or your brand? I’m interested in your take.