Tanya Tarr {Inspirational Women}

Negotiation Coach

Words by Jess Hagemann Photos by Eric Morales

Tanya Tarr wears many crowns. A regular contributor to Forbes, over the past two years her reader-friendly articles on equal pay and negotiation have amassed her a huge Twitter following, which Tarr used to launch her executive coaching business, Your Edge Coaching, in 2017. The pivot came after almost two decades spent managing political and labor movement campaigns in Washington, D.C. and Texas.

Through Your Edge Coaching, Tarr primarily helps women and people of color practice the art of negotiation at work, at home, and at the Capitol (think salary increases, family relationships, and bids for political candidacies). According to the seasoned strategist, negotiation can be defined as “trying to understand what a person needs, what their problems are, and how to solve them.”

“If you can do this,” she asserts, “you can close any deal.”

“Good” negotiators articulate their value in a given situation, explicitly outlining how their actions have, for example, generated revenue for their company, or persuaded a diverse group of people to “hold a common vision and execute toward an outcome.” They also take “social assets”—more intangible resources like reputation, respect, and integrity—into account, remembering that “more than just a competition, negotiation is a form of leadership useful at any stage, whether you’re just starting out, or a founder, or C-suite.”

Tarr’s concurrent position as VP of North America for advantageSPRING simultaneously allows her to serve whole companies in need of negotiation training, helping them to build “more energized, higher-performing” sales teams by teaching employers and employees alike to appreciate team dynamics, spot stress responses, and “hold space” for one another in corporate settings.

Although she works with clients all over the world, Tarr admits, “It’s an exciting time to be in Austin because every major company on the map has an office here now.” While “a city of entrepreneurs and expanding opportunities,” she says, she’s equally cognizant of the threat that “change” can pose to the original inhabitants of a community.

“Historically, there haven’t been a lot of resources to help people advance. [Minority] representation in higher positions of leadership is staggeringly low,” Tarr explains of Your Edge Coaching’s commitment to seeing underrepresented populations succeed. “Women still make, on average, about $0.80 for every $1 that a white male counterpart makes. … Change doesn’t happen overnight, but diversity and inclusion are here to stay.”

Because “the only way to get better [at negotiation] is to practice,” Tarr taught interactive classes on negotiation skills in Austin, L.A., and London in 2018. She plans to launch an online “negotiation school” later this year to reach even more people at “a more accessible price point than private coaching,” wherein students will feel “thoroughly encouraged” to be “brave enough to try and fail and try again in a low stakes situation.”

Contact:
youredgecoaching.com
@nerdette