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Tara Lassiter

Most women aren’t afraid of selling, they’re afraid of sounding like someone they’re not. In each weekly episode of The Lede, I help founders stop hiding behind content and start conversations that lead to clients, collaborations, and confidence (without the cringe), because let’s be real: “Just post valuable content” is not a business development strategy. In my corner of the internet, you’ll find story-led sales strategy, spicy takes on what actually works, and DM-friendly messaging that helps you build a pipeline you’re proud of, one real conversation at a time.

Featured Post

Here's my secret sauce...

On a recent client call, she laughed and said, “Tara, it feels like you’re everywhere.” I had to chuckle, because behind the scenes, she knows I don’t have some big, high-maintenance visibility system. The only piece of original content I create every week is this newsletter. Everything else? Just repurposed versions: LinkedIn posts, captions, evenSubstacks. Same ideas, different doors into the same room. But here’s the real takeaway: her comment told me something powerful. She was Googling...

I used to think there was such a thing as wasted time. The lead magnet that barely scraped ten downloads. The webinar where three people showed up, two of them friends. The networking breakfast with fluorescent lights and lukewarm coffee where I handed out cards that never went anywhere. On paper, those moments looked like failure. Proof that I wasn’t “leveraging” my opportunities the way a smart business owner should. But here’s the part I missed for years: none of it was actually wasted....

There’s a particular kind of guilt that creeps in when you open your LinkedIn and realize you don’t recognize half the faces staring back from the feed. You see old coworkers, could-be-clients, and a few strangers you must’ve met at some virtual summit in 2020. The more you see, the more your network starts to feel less like a web of potential and more like a digital junk drawer. You scroll, you sigh, and you silently decide to deal with it “later.” I used to do that, too. But I’ve been...

There’s a certain strangeness to peeling a thin layer of lip stain off your mouth. Like snakeskin. Glossy, gummy, faintly gross, and yet, weirdly satisfying. maybe not this kind of satisfying tho Years ago, before TikTok made peel-off beauty products part of the daily scroll, I was modeling a pioneering product live on QVC. The peel-off lip stain was new, bizarre, and slightly misunderstood. My job was to show viewers this wasn’t just another lipstick; this was different. Durable....

This image shows a cozy, well-organized home office.  A white blazer hangs neatly over the back of a navy-blue, gold-framed desk chair with a fluffy white seat cushion. The desk itself is dark wood with gold legs, and it holds two computer screens — a lap

There’s a blazer that lives on the back of my office chair. It’s nothing special, thrifted, slightly wrinkled, a quiet (once white) neutral that doesn’t ask for attention. But it’s seen me through more high-stakes moments than anything else in my closet (hot orange pantsuit included). When I slide it on, something in me clicks into place. It's not about style. It’s not about polish. It’s about permission. Mission Control (on Tuesday/Wednesday mornings) Permission to show up as the version of...

August is a blur. You’re either cramming in one last beach day or elbow-deep in school supply lists. The kids need cleats. The fridge needs restocking. Your inbox is waving like an eager kid in the back row. And somewhere in your subconscious, you notice the steady whisper of, “Shouldn’t I be selling something right now?” This isn't the best month for focus I call this the August Guilt Loop. It’s when the calendar holds more soccer practices than sales calls. When your laptop opens to a light...

We were ten minutes into the call when she said it. Not in frustration. Not with defeat. But with a kind of quiet certainty that only comes when you’ve finally named the thing behind the fog. “I don’t think I need another course,” she told me. “I think I just need a system that works for me.” That was the moment everything clicked. Because it wasn’t confusion that brought her to me, it was clarity. Moments like this are why we listen more than talk on sales calls She’s an accomplished...

I used to audition for a living. It wasn’t my job, but it was essentially my job, Reader. Bus to NY. Fly to LA. Drive to Center City, Philly. Find the casting call. Slate, smile, sparkle. Week in, and week out, from 2009 to 2020. Every week, I’d get dolled up, walk into some blue-walled room with fluorescent lighting, hand over my headshot, and hope my face, or my height, hair, heart, anything, matched what they were looking for that day. I could never, but I showed up like I could anyway In...

Let’s be honest, Reader... There’s a lot of “sales advice” floating around the internet that’s really just social pressure in disguise. Post every day.DM strangers and ask them to tell you about their businesses.Make your offer so clear even a sleep-deprived toddler could repeat it. Cute. But not your target audience. But here’s the thing: you’re not a toddler. And your clients aren’t either. You're a smart, strategic founder (or fractional) who deserves sales tools that respect your time,...

Seven-year-old Wylee was soooo excited for his party, Reader. He helped pick the cake. Chose superhero plates. Sent out invitations to every single kid in his class. He waited by the door with blue balloons swaying above the mailbox and eyes scanning for the first sign of visitors. But no one came. Not even one classmate showed up. Seeing her baby in pain, his mom made a post on a local Facebook group where she explained the situation and asked if anyone would be willing to "come make her...