Today we’d like to introduce you to Tara Baxter.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Tara. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I moved to San Diego eight years ago. Fresh out of college and at the height of the recession, I drove here from Colorado with two suitcases and nothing else. Not a job or a place to live. Within four months of moving here I landed my first career job as a temp employee environmental biologist commuting to Los Angeles, and by my one year anniversary, I had managed to land a full-time position as a biologist at a company based here in San Diego. But truly, my story didn’t really take off until January of 2014, when I unexpectedly learned I was going to be a mommy. Unsure if I even wanted children, I admit it did take me a while to get on board with the huge life changes that were ahead of me. But, I mentally rearranged my goals and priorities in my head and knew that I needed to find a way to be the kind of mom I wanted to be, but not give up on my aspirations and identity.
Without my son, it may have taken several more years, if ever, for me to take the leap to become an independent biologist, but with the overwhelming drive, that I know all mommies out there reading this can relate to, to be with my son and create a schedule with supreme flexibility, I did just that and quit my job at the end of 2015. I established a sole-proprietorship and started working as an independent biologist at the beginning of January 2016, and provide environmental consulting services throughout Southern California. It was a nerve-wracking start! Fieldwork is pretty slow in January, but with the United States Fish & Wildlife permits for the California Gnatcatcher and Quino Checkerspot Butterfly under my belt, work started to roll in by mid-February, and I ended up having a successful field season (roughly mid-February to mid-June), and luckily, continue to do so.
Being an independent biologist with a predictable “busy season” allowed for me to not only make being a mom my first priority but also allowed for me to invest time into my other passions, including writing and yoga. In 2016, I became a certified 200-hour yoga instructor and have been teaching yoga ever since. Just this year I also became a certified 95-hour children’s yoga instructor and having been trained through Asanas for Autism, my children’s yoga certification has an emphasis on special needs individuals. This year, I have launched Little Bird Yoga, where I offer yoga classes for adults, children, and special needs children. My classes range from corporate yoga, where I travel to various companies that provide wellness services to their employees and teach the employees in the morning before their work day or on their lunch hour, to pre-school aged children where I am currently working with Yoga Adventures for Kids and other local pre-schools to bring yoga into their classrooms, and even have launched an Airbnb yoga experience in Balboa Park! I am very excited about this new venture, which is definitely my passion project!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I wouldn’t say it’s been a smooth road, but I have been lucky enough to be surrounded by amazing support systems that have helped tremendously. One of the biggest challenges is the capital needed to get up and going, and then waiting to get paid and replenishing those funds. That period in between can definitely be where a lot of great attempts at venturing out on your own can stumble and fail, so if I were to give advice for anyone looking to do the same, it would be to start out doing what you know. I am a biologist by trade and had years of experience before striking out as an independent, and those networks and contacts I had made and established were absolutely invaluable; every project and client I have contracted has been through word of mouth. Those are the types of things though that just takes time, so patience is key. It sounds glamorous and tempting to do your own thing straight out of college, but depending on what you plan on doing, you may be robbing yourself of getting acquainted with well-established networks and communities and more importantly, on-the-job experience.
Like I said earlier, the period between putting up the money to get going and then waiting for the payout can make for really lean times, so for me, having gotten going as an independent biologist first where I already had strong contacts, a supportive community, and a lot of the equipment needed, it made things easier, relatively speaking at least than if I had immediately struck out to be a yoga instructor where I needed a lot of capital for the multiple trainings, equipment, and had hardly any contacts in the yoga community. A good support system, patience, and a lot of well-intentioned motivation and ambition are all key ingredients for striking out on your own and making an honest go of it!
Please tell us about Little Bird Yoga.
As a biologist, I specialize in wildlife with a primary focus on birds (yep! I’m a total bird nerd!), where I conduct bird surveys throughout Southern California surveying for endangered or sensitive avian species such as the California Gnatcatcher, Least Bell’s Vireo, Burrowing Owls, and Golden Eagles, to name a few. I also do work related to wildlife, in general, and am fortunate enough to say I really do spend a lot of my days chasing butterflies. Ok, not chasing them, but looking for a specific type of federally endangered butterfly called the Quino Checkerspot Butterfly. It’s populations have seen a steep decline due primarily to habitat loss from development.
As I mentioned earlier, Little Bird Yoga is my new venture get off the ground this year where I plan to or already am teaching in a variety of settings including one-on-one special needs sessions, adult groups in corporate wellness settings, outdoor children groups and pre-schools, and those traveling to San Diego through Airbnb Experiences. As a yoga instructor, I have a pretty down-to-earth teaching style. It is a huge pet peeve of mine when an instructor adopts a mystical drawl to their voice as soon as they enter the studio, or feels it is their duty to help you decipher the meaning of life in those sixty minutes you share together on your mat. So, I leave a lot of that stuff out of my classes and instead put a ton of focus on safety and educating my students as to what they are doing and why they are doing it, all while sprinkling in some teachings of the many concepts and philosophies behind yoga. I am willing to travel to where my students are, whether that’s at a school or an office, and show them that you really can incorporate yoga and all of its amazing benefits into your everyday life. As I mentioned earlier, Little Bird Yoga is my passion project and working with the special needs community is where my heart is. My hope is that someday my yoga path will incorporate the two more seamlessly, and Little Bird Yoga is certainly laying the groundwork for that!
Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
I put a lot of value into my relationships, whether they are my personal relationships, client relationships, or relationships with my students, having the emotional intelligence to read how the people around me are feeling and being able to communicate with them effectively makes a world of difference in the business world where trust and connections hold a ton of weight. Reading material from researchers like Brene Brown or The Gottmans helps provide a lot of insight, as well as watching presentations like Amy Cuddy’s or Carol Dweck’s TED Talks are all also super beneficial. Being a huge fan of TED, I also religiously listen to the TED Radio Hour podcast, which I always find so intellectually rewarding and informational, along with other NPR podcasts such as How I Built This and Fresh Air. For yoga-specifics, I love reading Rebecca Pacheco’s blog OmGal, and I am always referencing her book Do Your Om Thing.
Contact Info:
- Email: taralittlebirdyoga@gmail.com
Image Credit:
Rachel McFarlin Photography, Tara Baxter
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