Influential Woman · Professional Training and Coaching
Cara Harms
Founder and CEO / Trauma Informed Coach / Author, Renewed Perspectives
Columbia, MO 65202
Her Story
About Cara
Cara Harms is a trauma-informed coach, speaker, author, and consultant dedicated to helping veterans, first responders, and leaders build resilience, heal from trauma, and lead with greater intention. As the founder and CEO of Renewed Perspectives, she empowers individuals and organizations through holistic coaching, leadership development, and workplace consulting that integrates emotional wellness, mindset transformation, and practical strategies for lasting personal and professional growth. She is also the host of The Super-Human Resilience Project podcast, where she advocates for mental health awareness and trauma-informed leadership. Harms brings decades of frontline experience to her work. She began her career serving five years as a military police officer before joining the State of Missouri corrections system, where she spent 28 years in progressively responsible roles, including crisis intervention, hostage negotiations, training, and curriculum development. Her extensive experience working in high-pressure environments exposed her to the realities of cumulative trauma while strengthening her expertise in communication, conflict resolution, and human behavior. Following her retirement from corrections, she transformed those experiences into a mission of helping others navigate adversity with resilience, compassion, and renewed perspective. In addition to her coaching and consulting practice, Harms is an accomplished author whose work includes self-help books such as Dear Anxiety, We Need to Break Up as well as several novels, including Cold Harbor and Veil. She also serves as a mentor with Warriors' Ascent, supporting veterans and first responders living with post-traumatic stress and other invisible wounds. Through her writing, public speaking, coaching, and advocacy, Harms continues to champion trauma-informed care, emotional resilience, and people-centered leadership, creating safe spaces where individuals and organizations can heal, grow, and thrive.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Cara
01What do you attribute your success to?
I contribute much of my success to my Mom, who taught me one of life’s most valuable lessons: how to make the best from the hand you are dealt. She showed me that circumstances do not define you—your choices, your resilience, and your willingness to keep moving forward do. Through her example, I learned the importance of finding strength in challenges, seeing possibilities where others see obstacles, and making the most of every opportunity. Her wisdom, perseverance, and ability to face life with courage became the foundation that helped shape who I am today.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Do what makes you happy. And when it no longer makes you happy, find something else that does.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Be strong enough to stand on your own, wise enough to recognize when you need help, and brave enough to ask for it.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges facing trauma-informed leadership today is that, while the hashtag and ribbon have helped raise awareness, many leaders still struggle to understand what it truly looks like in practice. For too many, trauma-informed approaches were never modeled for them, so they were never given the opportunity to see how compassion, curiosity, psychological safety, and understanding can transform the way we lead.
This is why it is essential that we focus on creating action—not just awareness. We must equip and empower the next generation of leaders in our communities with the knowledge and skills to make trauma-informed leadership the standard rather than the exception. By changing what is modeled today, we can create a future where trauma-informed leadership becomes the new normal.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Forget perfection, it doesn’t exist. Just do the best you can do and always be willing to learn and expand yourself.
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