Her Story
About Tara
I turned professional when I was 14 and have been traveling for tennis for many years. I stopped playing professionally last year at 35 and transitioned into coaching, and now I'm moving into facility management. I represented Great Britain in the Billie Jean King Cup, which is one of the biggest team events in the world for tennis. I've also played all of the Grand Slams, which I think is a pretty cool achievement - not very many people can say that. I trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy for many years, and he was my coach and a huge influence on my life. He always had encouraging words and stressed to never give up. Now I'm the racquet sports manager at Maratoglu, Indianapolis, which is a new club set to open in August. Patrick Maratoglu is a huge name in tennis who coached Serena Williams and Coco Gauff, and he's opening tennis and Padel facilities across the United States. I'm super excited to be heading up this huge project. My responsibilities include managing construction, permits, and finding the right team to represent us. It's different from what I'm normally doing because with tennis you're kind of all by yourself, but now I get to manage a full team.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Tara
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think basically just always trying my best in everything that I do, regardless of if you fail or if you succeed. Just putting 110% into every single activity or foundation or project that you're doing. I really think that's what has made the difference for me throughout my career.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I received was from my coach Nick Bollettieri at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. He was a huge influence on my life and always had encouraging words and kind words. He always used to stress to never give up, and I think that had a big role in how I grew up and how I lived my life.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell my younger self to just believe in myself and really let myself know that everything is gonna work out for the best, one way or another. That's what I wish I had known earlier in my career.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think there are always going to be challenges within managing a huge group of people and keeping your relationships with all of these people. So I really think that it's important to nurture those relationships and keep your team very close to you, and really work together to solve all the issues within the organization.
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