60 seconds with tiffany tate: “community is your greatest asset.”

In 2023, Tiffany Tate decided to bet on herself and left her corporate job to go all in with her at Career Maven Consulting, which she founded in 2017. Since then, she’s grown what was once a part-time endeavor to a national leadership development firm supporting organizations such as Wake Forest University, Novant Health, and Spectrum.

And a major part of Tiffany’s success is that when you meet Tiffany, you don’t forget her. She’s smart, kind, and articulate but what makes her memorable is something else: it’s her authenticity.

Tiffany shows up in life and in business as no one else but herself. Whether in-person or over Zoom, from the stage as a keynote speaker or sitting next to you in the audience, she’s no one else but Tiffany Tate. 

We’re excited to share Tiffany Tate with you today.

– toth shop team

toth shop (ts): You graduated from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program (!!!!). How did that experience impact your identity as a scaling CEO of Career Maven Consulting, and what was your biggest takeaway regarding business growth? 

Tiffany Tate (TT): When you’re building a business, it’s easy to get caught in the weeds of daily operations. This program gave me the opportunity to step back and look at the future of the company more objectively with rapid feedback from business advisors and peers. My biggest takeaway regarding business growth: what got you here won’t necessarily get you there. To truly scale, you have to give yourself permission to focus on big strategic visioning and new opportunities as you move toward what’s next.

ts: A lot of your time is spent coaching others and building communities. What was it like for you to step back into the seat of a student and peer in the GS10kSB program? 

TT: It’s refreshing…and a little humbling! I am constantly pouring energy out and holding space for other people in my work and in the community. I’ve learned that it’s critical for my personal and professional wellbeing to be on the receiving end as well. Being in a cohort with other brilliant, driven business owners in completely different industries reminded me of the magic of peer learning circles. Removing the pressure of “being the expert in the room” allows you to be curious, ask hard questions, and be vulnerable about the challenges you are experiencing. While it was a rigorous program, it also recharged my battery in a way I didn’t know I needed in this particular season.

ts: Your signature keynote is called “Decide and Do Good Work” – which also happens to be the title of your upcoming book! What inspired this idea? 

TT: The inspiration came from many years of coaching and facilitating career and leadership experiences with professionals across their career arc in my practice. Too often, talented people wait for permission or “perfect” timing before taking decisive action to move forward. 

Decide and Do Good Work is rooted in the power of agency and intentionality; it’s a call to action for mid-career professionals to stop waiting for the stars to align and instead, make a conscious choice (Decide) to align your talents, interests, and values with meaningful impact (Good Work). 

There’s an organizational component to the framework as well that speaks to what organizations and talent leaders can do to build workplace cultures that work for mid-career professionals, but for individuals who read the book later this year, I hope to empower people to take ownership of their career story and recognize that the best work happens when we get clear on what we want and go after it every single day. 

ts: As the original Career Maven, what’s your go-to advice for people navigating the job market right now? 

TT: My go-to advice right now is to stop relying exclusively on the “spray and pray” approach to job searching, or just throwing resumes into the abyss of online applications. The job market is wobbly and noisy right now, so managing burnout is key and requires focus on clarity and connection as much as possible. First, get crystal clear on your value proposition as a candidate. What problems have you solved for organizations? Second, activate your network before you need it. Build relationships and make sure the people in your professional ecosystem know what you do and what you’re interested in. Most opportunities are attached to people (who are also attached to people), so community is your greatest asset in a challenging and noisy market like this one. 

ts: Every person we interview answers this same question last – Mile 18 is generally considered to be one of the hardest miles in a marathon. You’re hitting a wall. You’re forced to dig deep. What’s mile 18 in your line of work, or at a point in your career, and what do you tell yourself when you find yourself in the middle of a mile 18? 

TT: In my line of work (leadership development, outplacement, and talent advisory), but particularly as a startup founder… Mile 18 is definitely the messy middle. It’s that point where the excitement of a new launch or project has worn off, but the finish line is still too far away to see. Exhaustion might creep in, or imposter syndrome may try to rear its head because you’re kind of split-brain all the time. You’re facing clients now, while also building an organization and focused on what’s yet to come. When I hit a wall, the first thing I tell myself is “rest, don’t quit.” Hitting a wall doesn’t necessarily mean failure; it usually means you are in the middle of doing something really hard and worthwhile. I try to stay rooted in my why (the impact I want my team to have on our clients and the world), and I lean on my own mentors and coaches to help me see around corners. Not one person is successful entirely on their own, and acknowledging when you need support or a moment to breathe is usually how you find a little extra endurance to keep going.