Influential Woman · Antihunger Advocate and Lived Experience Consulting

Tamika Moore

Lived Experience Expert Consultant, Community Partnership Group

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Bachelor's degree in Risk Management from Westwood College Cert Two financial licenses Member Community Partnership Group (co-creator and founding member)

Her Story

About Tamika

I've been on my own since I was 17 and was homeless for quite a while. I lived a really difficult life at first, and that's what pushed me in the direction of fighting for other people. I've been in sales forever - I got into sales as soon as I left home at 17. I worked for Liberty Mutual as a senior level national outbound broker for 6 or 7 years. When I applied there, so many people tried to discourage me, saying nobody gets in there, it's harder than getting into Ivy League schools. But I didn't put my degrees on my resume, just my experience in sales, and the lady who interviewed me said I just looked so different, my vibe was different, so positive, and she had to have me. Within my first month on the sales floor, I broke two records and got two promotions. They moved me from the base sales floor all the way up to the top sales team within the company - there were only 52 people nationally on that team. I once sold 15 policies to one household. When I got older, I took time to heal from things I went through because I knew what I wanted to do with my life was help people. When you enter this type of work where you tell your story, you have to heal first, or you can break in front of a lot of people.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Tamika

01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

Be yourself and have fun. When I was training at Liberty Mutual, I was taking everything so serious and I was so nervous. The lady who hired me came in while I was on the phone trying to get sales, and she asked me what I was doing. She said, 'Just be yourself and have fun, that's why I hired you, okay? I don't want to hear some shit anymore.' And I was like, okay, cool! And it works - when people know it's you and that's what's coming through, that's what they're gonna be trustful of. I broke two records within my first month of being on the sales floor just by being myself.

02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

Believe in yourself. It took quite a bit of time to get to where I am, to be able to have the strength to speak in the rooms that I speak in and to tell my story. You have to learn discernment. You can't let people walk all over you just because you're in the position you are and they're in the position they're in. A lot of times they can think they're better than you or whatever, and you have to come into the room with confidence and know who you are and stand firm in that. Know that what you have to say is important, just as important as what anyone else has to say in that room. People will try to snatch your confidence in a second. People with lived experience are subject matter experts, and you need to treat them as such. Whatever it is that you're asking them for information, you need the information, that means they're the expert, so just respect them that way. And pay them that way, too.

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