Nice to meet you, i'm tara.

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After three decades reporting on drinks, dining, and destinations as an internationally recognized journalist, author, educator, and speaker, I’ve shifted my focus to a new assignment: transforming the culture of hospitality to one that prioritizes mental and physical wellbeing in the workplace.

The goal? To build sustainable lives and careers for individuals while driving higher profits and stronger retention for organizations.

With backend assistance from my own support team, I teach staff how to build resilience and prevent burnout and stress, and I train managers to reduce absenteeism and turnover, improve teamwork and customer service, and increase long-term profitability—using proven strategies rooted in both ancient wisdom and modern science.

While I’ve long reported on the intersection of gender and beer—most notably as the beer and spirits contributor to Forbes—my specific focus on workplace wellbeing emerged during the pandemic. That’s when the cracks in hospitality’s workplace norms began to let in some light; I covered their intersection with the world’s renewed cries for social justice and the #MeToo movement’s long-overdue arrival in the brewing industry.

As a longtime advocate for women in F&B, I wrote the book A Woman’s Place Is in the Brewhouse: A Forgotten History of Alewives, Brewsters, Witches, and CEOs (2021), which won first place from the North American Guild of Beer Writers. As a result, I’m often asked to speak and lead in the workplace culture space, and I feel deeply called to share my knowledge and experience with the industry I call home.

When I’m not out championing positive change in food and beverage (or yelling at everyone to MEDITATE! NOW! :woman_in_lotus_position::skin-tone-3:), I design and teach beer, spirits, and durable career-skills courses at Wilmington University. I also give keynote speeches and contribute as a featured expert to entities like Food Network, BBC News, Molson Coors, Heineken, and the Smithsonian. I manage events and media communications for beverage producers, suppliers, and associations, and I’m a certified BJCP beer judge. Since 2010, I’ve volunteered with the Pink Boots Society and, in 2011, I founded New Jersey’s first beer education group for women.

I grew up spending winters in Puerto Rico and speak fluent Spanish—well enough to have hosted a weekly Spanish-language segment during my time as a TV news broadcaster. I studied art, politics, and society in Paris as a Tufts University undergrad then earned my master’s from Northwestern University, where I interned as an on-air congressional correspondent in Washington, D.C., for NY1.

After years of relocating for school and work, I happily put down roots on the Camden, NJ, riverfront in 2005. From the house I share with my partner and our cat, we can watch the fireworks burst over Citizens Bank Park when the Phillies win one at home.