She Did What?! Tara Kangarlou, Award-Winning Journalist, Author, and Humanitarian
This is a platform to share the radical pivots, risks, self evaluations and reflections of people I admire. We dig into the moments that led the people in their lives to go, “She Did What?!” and ultimately, to their personal or professional metamorphosis.
Award-winning journalist, author, and humanitarian, Tara Kangarlou, is no stranger to crossing divides, building bridges, and giving a voice to the voiceless. Throughout her extensive career, Tara has reported, written, and produced for NBC-LA, CNN, CNN International and Al Jazeera America, covering some of the most pressing issues in the United States and around the world. To add to her credentials Tara is also an Adjunct Professor, Georgetown SFS.
In 2016, she launched Art of Hope, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that helps empower local grassroots in the Middle East to tackle mental health and psychosocial issues among refugees and vulnerable members of the host community. Art of Hope is the only American non-profit that solely focuses on PTSD, trauma, and psychosocial support among war-torn refugees in the Middle East—with operations in Lebanon, Eastern Ukraine and Southern Turkey.
Born an American citizen, but raised in Iran, Tara often found herself navigating two vastly different cultures.
I think my first pivot in life happened with my move to the United States and my immigration story. Leaving one place that was home to another, a new place that was supposed to be called home. Moving back and forth from two estranged countries and trying to make sense of all the differences was visible, but so was society’s attitude toward someone who comes from Iran and that part of the world.
Tara shared with me that straddling these two worlds and experiencing first-hand the immigrant experience, led her to always be proud of her identity, heritage, and roots and allowed her to define her identity based on all that she is, rather than what society wants her to be. Most of the population cannot fathom experiencing a pivot as monumental as leaving their life and homeland behind for a new culture and beginning, but for individuals including Tara, this life-altering decision can lead to incredible opportunities and successes.
I worked in the mainstream news world as an American journalist, and that's also not a straightforward industry. Having had that malleability, and flexibility, and ability to evolve and adapt also helped me excel in my professional life. I think my own personal story of being an immigrant and moving from Iran to the United States, two very contrasting places, was by far the most profound pivot of my life.
Tara’s story reminds me just how important it is to be comfortable with the uncomfortable in life. Oftentimes, our greatest successes, adventures, and lessons live just beyond our comfort zone. Tara continues to push the boundaries of her comfort zone in every aspect of life, including the decision to become a published author.
Another big pivot in my professional life was the decision to leave the comfort of mainstream news to work on my book and be the author that I am today, which I am very proud to be. It has been a successful journey, but more so the pivot of again leaving something that's more comfortable to do and taking on a project that is so daunting, so overwhelming, and a huge undertaking. The ability to have the confidence to say ‘You know what? Today I'm going to move on and do something that I believe in and I’m passionate about, and leave that comfort zone’, I think, is something that was another big pivotal moment in my life.
I love Tara’s fearlessness to never stop seeking a new, exciting challenge. Throughout our conversation, Tara touched on her belief that journalism is a public service, and for her, writing her book was not only an act of public service, but a way to bridge divides.
Before my book, there was no book in the mainstream for a non-Iranian audience, especially an American audience, to really humanize Iran and talk to Western readers about the people of Iran. For me, this was a mission to allow my readers in the rest of the world to connect with ordinary Iranians, ordinary people, and see them differently than the country’s government, and to understand all that they have in common with an average Iranian. I wanted to humanize a the people of a country that for long have been represented by an Islamic regime (not their representatives) - a nation, whose hopes and dreams, fears and aspirations mirror that of millions of others around the world.
Tara is clearly a woman of many talents who continuously levels up and pushes the boundaries of greatness. This made me wonder, when you are constantly juggling various projects, how do you take stock of where you are and what you want to accomplish? Tara’s answer is something we can all implement into our lives:
The way I bring it home and anchor myself is, I always ask myself, ‘How are the things that I'm doing on the day to day getting me closer to that mission? How is my daily routine, or daily engagements, or activities, or events getting me closer to where I want to be?’ You have to picture where you want to be, and emulate that, and act as if you are already there.
I have always believed in the power of visualizing our goals and taking bold action to bring them to existence. However, to get to these goals, we often must have difficult conversations with ourselves about our weaknesses and shortcomings. For Tara, it all comes back to one thing: Humility.
I think this goes back to my upbringing. Humility plays a huge role. I come from a family where discipline, kindness and generosity was at its core, all entwined with humility, and so these are all at the core of my missions. Humility is actually something I always try to embed in my students and mentees. You're always a student. You're always a student of life. You are always learning whilst you're contributing.
It is so powerful to see impactful women, like Tara, mentoring the next generation of girls. You can never underestimate the importance of having role models who look like you or have similar experiences to your own. Tara’s advice to young women:
You need to do things that could have impact, and you shouldn't always make your decisions based on the comfort of your own personal life.
Knowing Tara’s journey to get to where she is in her career, I asked Tara how her priorities have changed over the years and how they have impacted her growth. Her answer brings up an important issue for so many women.
I used to be a huge people pleaser. I would always want to say ‘yes’ to everything and everyone. I always wanted to make sure that I'm giving 200% just because I wanted to avoid any area of doubt in my abilities that were sometimes questioned because of the identity issue that people just didn't know what to do with me. I always tend to say ‘yes, yes, yes’, but then I realized, ‘You know what? Screw that. I'm confident, and I should own it. I shouldn't let someone else's ignorance, or confusion, or behavior dictate my confidence and how I need to operate in a healthy and effective way.’
This ability to realize we don’t need to prove ourselves to anyone by saying ‘yes’ to every opportunity that comes our way is something that takes most people years to learn. I think we can all take a page from Tara’s book when it comes to trusting in our abilities and only saying ‘yes’ to things we wholeheartedly want to do.
As our conversation was coming to a close, I really wanted to hear about Tara’s tips for self evaluation. Similarly to many aspects of her life and career, her answer goes back to her values and upbringing.
Whatever I do, I have to measure it against my core values of empathy, kindness, courage, strength, and impact. These are the values that I care so deeply about. Everything somehow touches those values. Whether I'm throwing a book event, or if I'm writing a book, or doing a film, whatever it is, I need to check these boxes.
It’s amazing to see how in tune Tara is with herself and her core values, and how she translates this into each and every part of her life. This even rings true in the advice she would give to others looking to make a pivot in their life or career.
Whatever you do, or whatever pivot you want to make, be sure it's aligned with your values and comes from your heart. Whatever comes from the heart and whatever has strong values attached to it, will have so much more longevity than what is not.
Having already broken so many molds, and accomplished a lifetime of achievements, I wondered, what’s next for Tara? In her own words:
I’m really keen on turning the book into a film. I'm definitely working on my second book, but it's not on Iran. It's focused on mothers and displacement. That’s all I can give you for now. I’m also working on launching a new show that has to do with food and current affairs.
Speaking with Tara reignited my spark to step out of my comfort zone more often and have the confidence to make the tough or less-popular decisions in my life and career. After reading Tara’s story, I hope you all feel encouraged to do the things that scare you and pursue your passions without fear of judgment or failure. Thank you, Tara, for sharing your bravery and unique talents with us!
You can find Tara’s book Heartbeat of Iran here.
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