Inspired Entrepreneurship

Passion drives entrepreneurship, but passion alone is not enough: TaraWilson’s journey

Tara Wilson, CEO of the Tara Wilson Agency, didn’t start out on an entrepreneurial path early in her career, but the entrepreneurial spirit has been engrained in her well before graduating from the Harbert College of Business with a degree in finance back in 1997. “When I was little, most girls played with dolls,” said Wil- son. “Not me — I played business. I had carbon copy paper, a telephone and I’d make my own miniature credit cards — a complete fake business. And when I grew older, I was always finding ways to make money. So, for me, being an entrepreneur was in my DNA.” That passion for entrepreneurship took a while to emerge in her professional career, but when it did, it took off like a shot. After spending nine years as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch, eventually rising to the position of Se- nior Financial Advisor managing in assets for corporate executives and high-net worth individuals, she finally took the plunge. Tara Wilson Events™ was founded in February 2007, and Wilson spent eight successful years executing social events. After realizing the business wasn’t scalable, Wilson pivoted the company in January 2015 — rebrand- ing as Tara Wilson Agency focused solely on experiential marketing events. The Harbert College of Business sat down with Tara, who was Auburn University Co-Entrepreneur of the Year in 2018, as part of its Harbert Entrepreneur Spotlight initiative to hear how her passion for business from a very early age has been a key driver of her ongoing entrepre- neurial success.