Her Story
About Tanya
Dr. Tanya Burgess is the founder of Soul Sound Sanctuary by Tanya, LLC, a sound healing and wellness practice she established in 2024 following her retirement from 37 years of government service. As a Sound Healing Practitioner, Wellness Practitioner, and Reiki Master certified in 2025, she facilitates sound baths and offers business coaching to small business owners, drawing on her MBA in Organizational Leadership and Doctorate of Education in Transformational Leadership and Change from her academic background that also includes a Bachelor of Science from the University of Phoenix. She maintains additional credentials as a Massage Practitioner, Realtor, and Notary Public, and is recognized in Who's Who in America for her contributions as a servant leader who supports others in discovering their leadership capacities.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Tanya
01What do you attribute your success to?
I come from a long lineage of powerful, strong women who've endured a lot of trauma, and have come out on the other side of it. And so, I contribute my strength from my mother, and then I contribute, you know, my sensibility and my, I would say, comical nature to my father, because he was just very fun-loving. And, you know, I'm very loyal to those who, you know, are... I love. I just, you know, so I contribute a lot of who I am to my mother and my father, but also to, the lineage in which I came from.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I think being true to who you are as a leader, but I, you know, the best advice that I can give is, you know, good leaders don't have to lead from the back, because if your people are supported, then they are generally, I believe in Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Generally, if they feel supported, they will do their absolute best for you. And, you know, trust is not given, it is earned. So, as a leader, I think that leaders should always move with integrity. You know, working and being honest. And, you know, and absolutely just really allowing people to see that you're not perfect, and that you may have blind spots, but, you know, you can be corrected just as you provide correction.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I just tell women to believe in your absolute self, and you do not need external validation. You have to really learn how to go within yourself. validate your self and understand your worth, and move in purpose.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
For me is, just having access, as a Black woman. So, you know, it's a questionable time in the world right now, where there seems to be a lot of anti-Blackness, and, you know, rising above that for people to see your value and your worth. is extremely compromised at this time, so I appreciate when I receive the opportunity to come into a room, without having to come in cloaked with, feeling like I am... inferior, because I'm not.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Honesty, integrity, morals. And I just believe in living in my absolute highest level of truth, you know? I... yeah, those are my values.
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