Meet Tahn Bae Park | Life Coach & Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tahn Bae Park and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tahn Bae, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
During the pandemic from fall 2020 to summer 2021 I had time to reflect on the last 5 years. I went straight through college and graduate school to working full time without stopping. I was burnt out and started writing about my experiences as a trans person of color, Asian American, and what it meant to be an educator without reassurance at that time. I decided to open a small support blog so people didn’t feel alone during the pandemic waiting out until the job market stabilized. Another 5 years in higher ed I was focused on one institution, one population. I didn’t feel my skills were being appreciated or utilized. My reach wasn’t wide enough. I had friend ask if I did life coaching and decided to rebrand to both expand my audience and use what I had developed over the last 10 years in my career. I am still an educator at heart. I enjoy learning and figuring out how to resolve issues both individually and within teams. My work is about about making people feel whole so they can positively engage with their community.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have spent the last decade in higher education supporting students, staff, and faculty. I have been the person to confide in through professional woes to suicide ideation. This work was focused on amplifying the stories of others, including staff and faculty. I continued to strengthen my inner dialogue that ultimately emerged in facilitating training sessions in leadership, professional and personal development, and conflict management. Yet, I still didn’t feel my own voice was being heard. Even in the APIDA (Asian Pacific Islander Desi American) and trans/queer community I was still very different. There was no space for me until I decided to make space.
I continued to gain as many certifications, knowledge, and practice in consultation. My learning inducted podcasts and YouTube channels about self development, financial savvy, and productivity mindsets; all topics I found helpful in the world of student services.
In order to expand my audience beyond a single institution I decided to open a life coaching and consultation business. It’s largely one-on-one navigating live, support to achieve one’s goals, and affirm that a person is not alone. It is supplementary to mental health services and that extra bit of help. I also help groups or teams through growing pains and conflict. Having fresh or outside set of ears and eyes can helpful to humanize everyone involved. I also have a physical space, the Velveteen, a small and private safe space. It is named after my rabbit, Latte the Velveteen, who reminded that one day we will have a home base for work and rejuvenation. He is still with me today as a beloved companion through my travels.
Each place I have been, people I’ve crossed paths with has given me a lesson or a blessing. The hardest situations is holding my values of peace, understanding, and love in the face of insecurity and ego. There are no good or bad people, but people who have intentions that harm specific individuals or identities. I have had to walk away from situations without a sense of justice so I can continue to do good work. It’s not about me in the end, but about helping others craft their own story.
What I can share is are a few reminders that keep me going:
Our interactions with others matter. They can be small, validating a hardship or a feeling, or be much more bringing to the surface deep wounds or struggles. Be kind and just.
We are not meant to be the same person we were years ago. Whether you level up or level out risk is a great teacher.
You are the captain of their own ship. However you chart forward preparing for the storm or savoring in the sun drenched moments, these are your lived experiences. They are unique because you live through it, storms and sun. It will look different for each of us. I set the course to help others using natural gifts (listening and story telling). As long as I keep sailing, my success will evolve. At the end I hope I have the energy to collect all that I’ve gathered into one amazing story and share it with it the world. Now, tell me, where are you charting your next adventure?

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Some key places I would take them is Kitchen Mouse in Highland Park, stop by Worship vintage for inspiration, pick up some goodies from Luca in Highland Park, head over to WEHO for a walk down Melrose into 2nd Street and view an open house or two, then finish the night at Wolf and Crane for a drink (me whiskey and him a mixed concoction). I’d recommend stopping by a list of coffee shops from my google list, Latte’s picks such as Aquarela, Cafe 2001, Hilltop in DTLA, and so many more. If we are wrapping up our time together I would set up a full body massage at Wisara, my personal favorite, before hopping on a long flight home.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There’s so many people that have inspired me! To start with, Matt D’Avella, Cal Newport, and Jay Shetty are iconic for sharing fascinating concepts and feeding my desire to learn. Colleagues and students who have never held me back from being my empathetic self or from pursuing opportunities outside higher education. They taught me to believe I am worthy and I have more to offer the world. The last group are the folx who weren’t allies or good friends. It taught me to carve my own path and stand behind my values as well as see through the performative, fake facades. It fortified that my love is strong enough to walk away.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vrbohz?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tahnbaepark