Meet Tamira Samuel | Nonprofit Executive Director
We had the good fortune of connecting with Tamira Samuel and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Tamira, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I think what has helped my build my reputation within my market is three things: A). My policy and education experience B). Ability to prioritize values, relationships, and connections with people – particular my team and coach them to success C). Strategically problem solve, vision cast, build and sustain within an organization. While my nonprofit work with local and state officials is a mixture of direct/indirect, I have experience as an appointed commissioner, lobbyist, a policy fellow, an associate, writing opt-eds, providing public commentary, analyzing policy for loopholes, building community coalitions of trust with stakeholders – several of the the things necessary to implement effective policy. When I engage in the work, our partners, directors, and leaders know that I’ve been there. I’ve done the work in more than 20 states now and I’ve failed, made mistakes, made people upset, or didn’t get a policy passed. That type of credibility matters. Second are people – which is really number one. There is not any form of work through an industry at any given point of the day that DOES NOT function off of relationship. For an example, a significant chunk of clientele for most business owners comes from word of mouth. This is powerful because what it signifies is that people do business with people that they can trust or have an established rapport with. I believe that by starting with people first – who they are, their stories, their value system, and their vision – you have the North star of why you are doing what you do. We are servants in the work that we do. This is regardless if you’re an attorney, a doctor, construction worker, manager, hostess, hairstylists, etc – you are providing a service to someone. You can’t truly be in service to someone unless you know who they are. My first initial 10 minutes of interaction is always rooted in – who you are and what makes you the person you are. This gives me the groundwork for who I am supporting, advocating, coaching, or collaborating with. Lastly, I’m a problem solver. I actually don’t use the word problem; I use the word opportunity because every situation that we are faced with rather in business or personal – we have an opportunity to respond in a certain manner. While some people immediately come with solutions, I attempt to strategically think about context, the people/humanity at stake, least disruptive approaches, questioning, and perspective – do we really have a problem? What I’ve learned is that 50% of the time, in business we don’t have a problem, we have points of tension that are uncomfortable because we’re tasked with decisions that we don’t want to make. For an example, being over budget. It’s really easy to view the term or word budget as limit. But what we are attempting to identify is priority. A budget is simply a list of priorities in which we are steward of. When we are over budget in our businesses, organizations, and companies we have to think about what am I saying yes to with the resource of money. That’s not a problem, its a tension a constraint. This mindset or approach has helped me to demonstrate not only success with ULF, but also in my consultant work with clients at TNTP and for TASE Consulting.
Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The road has not been smooth, but God’s hand has always been there. Major struggle for me was navigating a sense of abandonment. My father was killed before I turned a year old. So I spent some time with a lot of questions and wonderings between both sides of my family trying to understand him to understand me. Additionally, it didn’t help in many instances being the only kid without a dad in the picture or the only black student in some of classes. While I had tons of love and support around me, sometimes appreciating myself and this part of my journey was tough. I also think having important role models and examples of people with similar values are vital to have the courage and mindset to pursue particular goals. In 2008, I didn’t see a lot of black administrators in education and if I did, they spent a lot of time in one position rather than gaining a depth and breadth of skills that would better position them to be more effective campus and system leaders. The same and even less so in policy. When I was in Nashville Metro there were only two other department directors and I was the only black intern. Then when you step foot in a room with 50 of the city’s leaders; judges, attorneys, chief of police, numbers were abysmal. So you take a step back and start examining yourself; Is this meant to be? Do I have what it takes? Where are the coaches and mentors to help me improve myself to be in those spaces to have more leaders become chief decision makers? I’d also be remised to say that being Miss Black Kentucky USA and navigating the Glamour Magazine Top 10 College Women Competition and USA Today Academic College teams were eye opening. You see how other college women are approaching their collegiate years and future. You also have to navigate insecurities. I remember when I spent six months preparing for Glamour Magazine someone at my college said, “Hey do you think they are going to pick a black girl from the South from a state university?” At that moment, I went back to my upbringing and the questions I had been asking myself and said, “Why not! Why must I always have to have a model to be a model. The spring before my senior year, Glamour named me to their Top 22 list. Again – this isn’t about the achievements themselves, its about the constant struggle we all face in saying to God if this is what I’m called to do-can I do it? Why are people telling me I can’t? I’m always reminded of both Ester and David’s journeys in the bible. Ester competed against hundreds of women to win the King’s favor to free her people. She had to look past the insecurities, doubts and look inside – she was chosen to free her people. David, the shepherd boy called upon the Lord to defeat Goliath. That’s essential life – we will have struggles, doubts, insecurities, and even seek validation in the process-when instead, we should be focused on our purpose in serving and helping others. That focus will surpassed everything else. When I was working to help co-found one of the charter schools in Houston, TX our team didn’t acknowledge the challenges, we acknowledged that there were black and brown families who needed a school that loved and embraced them.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take my best friend to do a quick run on Buffalo Bayou and then for a morning pilates’ class at Rice Military on Memorial Drive. We will grab a quick breakfast at Harry’s. Other stops include shopping for Uptown Park, The Galleria, and Katy Mills. After midweek 0shopping we would visit Brennan’s downtown for brunch with a few of my close family and friends and head over to a massage for Alira Spa for deep tissue massages. Lastly, we would catch either a concert/show and city excursion on the weekend.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I don’t know what I would have done without having the village and upbringing that I did along with the continued success in my adult life. I want to give credit to my mother, Bonita Cole, grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, church family, close friends, my college professors, aunts, and advisors throughout my entire career as well as the teams and orgs that I have led that trust me to show up as a leader each day.
Instagram: @tamirasamuel
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamiracolesamuel/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tamira.cole
Other: https://www.urbanleadersfellowship.org/our-team
Image Credits
Michael Carr Photography Al Torres Photography Amanda Creations Photography World Leaders Magazine Fortune Review Magazine
Nominate Someone: ShoutoutHTX is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
