Her Story
About Tamara
Tamara Monteon is a bilingual English-Spanish communications professional, creative, and entrepreneur with more than four years of experience supporting mission-driven brands and nonprofit organizations through digital strategy, storytelling, marketing, and systems development. After graduating from college in 2019, Tamara initially planned to pursue a career in law, preparing for the LSAT while working at a law firm. The events and perspective shift of 2020 prompted her to reconsider that path and explore how she could combine her desire to serve communities with her creative skills. Her early nonprofit experience as a resource navigator, particularly helping Spanish-speaking community members access legal resources, led her to become a Spanish legal interpreter and translator and eventually introduced her to the communications field.
Tamara continued building her professional path through entrepreneurship, first expanding her language services and later launching a virtual assistant business supporting lawyers and nonprofit organizations. By sharing her entrepreneurial journey on social media, she developed a growing client base across the United States while expanding into social media, digital communications, and marketing. She ultimately transitioned into nonprofit communications, building a portfolio and taking on communications-focused roles, including work as a communications officer. Today, through Semillas Creative, which she founded in 2022, she provides communications consulting and creative services focused on social impact. Her work includes social media strategy, branded content, newsletters, digital assets, marketing, executive support, event and project coordination, workflow development, systems, and automations.
Tamara approaches communications as both a creative discipline and a tool for accessibility, connection, and organizational effectiveness. Her bilingual background and early experience supporting Spanish-speaking communities continue to shape her belief that information should be understandable, accessible, and relevant to the people it is intended to serve. She is also passionate about authenticity, community, collaboration, freedom, and meaningful impact, and she hopes to create opportunities to mentor others as she continues growing as a communications professional, creative, and entrepreneur. Her career reflects a willingness to question conventional definitions of success and demonstrate that meaningful work, creativity, and entrepreneurship can coexist in a purposeful professional life.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Tamara
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to being willing to explore, adapt, and build my own path. My career has taken several unexpected turns, from initially pursuing law to working in nonprofit services, becoming a Spanish legal interpreter and translator, building a virtual assistant business, and eventually transitioning into communications. Each experience helped me develop skills that continue to shape my work today. I have also learned to recognize the value of hands-on experience and to keep learning, experimenting, and growing even when I do not have a traditional background in a particular field.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
One of the most influential people in my professional journey was my first supervisor as a communications professional, who later became a mentor. She gave me the freedom to learn, experiment, and make mistakes without feeling that I had to be perfect. She also encouraged me to call myself a graphic designer even though I did not have formal training in graphic design. That encouragement helped build my confidence and allowed me to recognize and embrace my creative abilities.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would remind young women that everyone has their own journey. I learned not to compare my work or my creative style with other people. When you are following a creative path, it is yours, and you get to decide what it looks like. People choose to work with you because of your story, your “why,” and the way you approach your work. My advice is to keep going and trust your own path.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
There are significant challenges and opportunities in communications, particularly within nonprofit and social impact organizations. One challenge is navigating a rapidly changing digital environment while keeping communications accessible, authentic, and connected to an organization’s mission. There is also pressure to constantly demonstrate expertise and credibility, particularly for professionals who enter creative and communications work through nontraditional paths.
At the same time, there are growing opportunities for professionals who can combine strategy, creativity, technology, and storytelling. I see communications not only as a creative function, but also as a system that can improve how organizations connect with their audiences and operate internally. My experience across digital marketing, social media, content development, executive support, automation, and workflow design allows me to work at that intersection. My bilingual background also creates opportunities to approach communications from an accessibility and community-centered perspective, ensuring information is understandable and relevant to the people it is intended to serve.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Community is one of the most important values to me. I value collaboration and see the people I work with as partners rather than simply as a boss-and-team structure. I also value freedom—the ability to express myself, pivot when needed, and work in partnership with others.
Authenticity is equally important to me. I want to show up as the same person at work and at home and to make sure that the work I take on reflects who I am and the projects and causes I genuinely want to support. Ultimately, I value work that allows me to contribute to my community while creating meaningful impact.
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