Influential Woman · Leadership & Operations Consulting

Tamara Asselta

Founder & Principal Consultant, Stratas Consulting

Portland, OR

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree West Virginia University (1 year Degree Organic Chemistry) Degree University of Maine (Communications Degree) Cert Google Product Certification Cert Adobe Product Certification Cert Salesforce Certification Cert Leadership Certifications Cert Project Management Certifications Member Micmac Tribe (Native American Tribal Registration)

Her Story

About Tamara

I've been in my industry for roughly 15 years, and it's been very eclectic. I've played a lot of different roles - anywhere from a QA scrum master, to a project manager, to an analytics manager, to director of large consulting teams with engineers and data scientists. I've been able to play a lot of different roles along my journey. For the last 6 months, I've been working on my own consulting business, Stratus Consulting. I made the decision back in November to fully take on this journey because I was getting a lot of requests from previous clients and referrals to do some side work. My day-to-day now is helping small business owners or startups that are in a place of growth, and they're trying to create their operations or process around things they've been delivering, whether it's through products or through services. Now they're at a place where what was working for them when they were a team of 25 isn't maybe working for them when they're now a team of 50 plus or 100 plus, and they're looking for more established workflows, more improved operations. Maybe they have people who were once individual contributors who are now becoming leaders for the first time. I come in and help either lead the team building that's now going to scale, help them implement operations - processes, standards, templates, things like that that help improve their workflow process. I also help with coaching leaders who are maybe doing that for the first time or just want to scale and improve their leadership or management style. I've started to focus on small businesses or mid-size-level businesses that are women-owned or women-led. I'm definitely attracting more of that niche market, and it's been really rewarding. I'm helping a lot of these women get the support and guidance they need to build companies, build teams, and sometimes just being a better leader and being a soundboard for them when they're making decisions and doing some leadership coaching.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Tamara

01What do you attribute your success to?

I think a lot of it's probably been how I grew up. I grew up in a pretty tough environment. I had a single mother who was very young and didn't really know what she was doing, and I think, in some ways, I kind of had to parent her a little bit along the way. What that gave me was a lot of independence. Some people have that kind of situation happen, and they turn it for the negative, but I took it in a different way - I don't want to have that kind of environment. I want to create a positive place where people feel safe, a place that has growth. So I think along the way, I just always kept looking for that in my career, like, what is the next thing I could do that will bring me joy, or that could get me in a place that I can grow? As I moved through life, and I moved through different choices, I always tried to make sure that I did it because of that.

02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

The best career advice I ever received was from a previous boss and mentor of mine who said, 'Always be authentic. When you're moving through life, when you're moving through your career, make sure you're staying true to yourself. Because if you follow what matters to you, you'll always be making the right choice. As soon as you start making choices that don't really align with your morals or your goals, then you're going to start to get to those places of being burnt out or not feeling like you're on the right path.'

03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

Lean on your network. Become friends with other like-minded women. Touch base with them, be genuine. And don't climb the ladder without supporting others with you along the way, because those people remember that you supported them, that you showed up with yourself, and you were kind, and you were thoughtful. That's really gonna get people very far. So, choose your network, and choose it wisely.

04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

I would say AI has changed the game quite a bit. In the negative light, AI is making people have to re-evaluate the type of role and skill sets that they provide to clients. On the plus side, if you're somebody like myself, who already is a very strategic mindset, and is more about leading the charge and building the people who are behind the products, then you have a little bit of a step up. Because AI can't really replace the strategy consulting side, it's more filtering out the day-to-day tasks. Where I see the positive of that is now there's more room and time to be innovative, and have critical thinking, and be strategic, because now you're not having to do some of those maybe more basic, day-to-day administrative tasks. I think there's a lot of alarms up right now for AI, and I think, in some cases, for very good reason. But I think what it's really presenting itself is a way for us to pivot how we show up.

05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

Helping others, truly. I think helping others, having tenacity and being direct, but also kind. I think sometimes people think you can't be both, you know? You can't have a strong will to do something and also be kind, and I think that's silly, I think that's foolish, I don't think that's true. I think there's a way to move through life where you can be direct, help others, be honest, and if you are kind, and you have empathy in that process, you'll gain a lot of trust along the way.

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