We had the wonderful opportunity to interview Lifestyle Manager, Tarra Stubbins.
Tarra Stubbins is a certified Lifestyle Manager, Celebrity Concierge, Accountability and Time Management Coach, Media Personality, Public Speaker and founder of Take It Easy Personal Concierge Inc., a luxury boutique concierge firm located in Toronto, Canada.
Tarra has been a personal assistant for over 20 years. After ten years on the road supporting some of the world’s most famous touring musicians and entertainers, including The Rolling Stones, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kenny Rogers, Nickelback and KISS, Tarra created Take It Easy Personal Concierge Inc. in 2007. Collectively the Take It Easy team has successfully helped thousands of top CEOS, Executives and Entrepreneurs eliminate their ever-growing To-Do lists and understand the true meaning of delegation and time management.
Tarra took the skills she learned out on the road and put them to use by helping her clients eliminate their tasks on a daily basis. Very early on in her career, she noticed that the celebrities she supported all had specifically detailed delegation and time management systems. She learned that these skills were exactly what helped the stars stand out from the crowd and become a huge success. She teaches individuals and organizations how to better use the 24 hours they have been given daily, to be more successful and less stressed, through keynote speeches and coaching sessions. Tarra leaves her audiences and clients with the inspiration they need to take action and become rock stars of their own careers.
Tarra’s expertise has been featured in some of the country’s top media outlets including Breakfast Television Toronto, CP24 Breakfast, CHCH Morning Live, The Morning Show on Global, CBC Radio, SiriusXM Canada Radio, Toronto Life, Toronto Star, and The National Post, to name a few. With over 20 years of experience, knowledge, and influence, Tarra Stubbins has also become an in-demand ambassador and educator partnering with major companies including Tourism Toronto, Professional Organizers in Canada, Domestic Estate Managers Association, the International Associates of Administrative Professionals, Mattel, Air Miles, and Huawei.
Tarra is a graduate of the Film and Television Production Program at Humber College and holds a Bachelor of Communications in Media Arts from the University of Western Sydney in Australia.
Helping others runs in Tarra’s blood. Her passion for time management and delegation techniques has given her the greatest joy and sense of fulfillment when others are organized and relaxed making it easier for her clients to thrive in their everyday lives.
Hi, Tarra! Thank you for granting the interview. Your career is amazing, and we’re excited to speak with you about. What inspired you to start your company Take It Easy Personal Concierge Inc.?
After living the rock n roll dream for over a decade, I knew that there was more to life than tour buses, stadiums and hotel rooms. Though working with Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, I knew that the time had come for me to say goodbye to touring. My real desire was to help as many people as possible turn their passions into concrete actions and ultimately success.
Why is time management important for a business?
Time is the most precious resource we all have, and it’s finite for every single person.
Time Management isn’t about shaving off a few minutes here and there. It’s about filling your schedule with moments and tasks that will ultimately have you living a happier and more successful life.
Inefficiency is the death of a business. I have seen a ton of clients waste time, continue to work 100-hour weeks and chase their tails not understanding why they are always so busy. Once you take a hard look at exactly how you are spending your time, it is amazing how you can fill your calendar with efficiency.
Time Management helps to set businesses up for those incredibly good and bad moments. Think about it, if Oprah called and said she was putting your product on Her Favourite Things List, would your business have all the systems in place to be able to handle the influx? Or maybe a legal disaster happened, and you need to drop everything on your to-do list and fix the problem. Would your business suffer? Time Management sets all businesses up for sustainable growth and gives them time to manage the good and bad moments that are bound to happen.
You have successfully helped thousands of top CEOS, Executives and Entrepreneurs eliminate their ever-growing To-Do lists and understand the true meaning of delegation and time management. How could a home-based business benefit from your business model?
The first thing an entrepreneur needs to learn is that they can’t do everything themselves. It was the first lesson I learned, and I have to admit that I learned it the hard way. You are only as strong as your network and if you can delegate a task, delegate it. All business owners need to determine the ROI of every single task and figure out if it is worth doing themselves our outsourcing. If you spend the day cleaning your home instead of planning a marketing strategy, does this help or hinder your bottom line? Or maybe you spend the day on social media trying to grow your followers; can somebody else do it for you while you focus on a special client request?
Giving up control of a task can be scary, but it is critical in the growth of your business. The reason I can work with over a thousand clients at a time is that I delegate to the right network of people.
Tell us about your special approach to delegation.
When it comes to delegation, I learned my favorite tip from Mick Jagger. Every hotel room he stayed in, he always asked us to paint it a specific shade of beige. Whenever I tell this story, people always ask me why? I have no idea why, I never asked, but there is an important delegation lesson in this story. Jagger knew exactly what he wanted, and he wasn’t afraid to ask for it. He could easily move on to other more important tasks, like composing a new song. Think about it, how much time would you save if you knew exactly what you wanted and immediately asked for it! If you’re too scared to ask for help or if you aren’t clear about what you want, you won’t get your results. People can read right through your hesitation.
What has been the biggest challenge in your career?
The biggest challenge I faced was when I started to Take It Easy and I had to remember to be true to my brand and myself.
When I started out as an entrepreneur I thought I had to wear a power suit to all meetings. I thought that I had to carry a briefcase. I was uncomfortable in my wardrobe and you could totally tell. I never landed any of my pitches. I spent most of the time itching and tugging at my clothing.
It wasn’t until I realized that potential clients weren’t meeting me because of my suit and briefcase, they were wanting to hire me because of my experience and what I could bring to their lives.
I burned all those power suits and have never looked back. Once I was true to myself I landed all my pitches and have been successfully growing Take It Easy ever since.
I discovered that being professional was actually being true to yourself. I also discovered that making a brand wasn’t something that was imposed; it was something that comes from within.
What’s the ultimate direction of your business?
My ultimate goal is to take the time management lessons I have learned from being a personal assistant for over 20 years and use those techniques to teach entrepreneurs how to better manage their time. Not just for business growth, but for their personal growth too.
Give us an example of how can a business benefit from your service(s)?
There are so many books, podcasts, and series, on time management, and I find that it can be overwhelming. There is the 4-second rule, the 5-second rule, Pareto’s Law, Laborit’s Law, Carlson’s Law, Murphy’s Law, Parkinson’s Law, Illich’s Law, Eat the Frog, Delegate, Procrastinate, Hustle, Time Block, Wear shoes (I’m not making this up) … it is really hard to keep up, especially when some of the more popular approaches contradict each other.
I can help a business owner navigate through the world of time management strategies and put systems in place that will make them thrive. I have seen first-hand the approaches to time management that work and the ones that are a huge time waster!
Who are your biggest icons/influences?
Sir Richard Branson, no hesitation. He is unafraid to be his true self. He has never wavered from his rock n roll spirit. He is the definition of a business leader. From starting a magazine in his dorm room to now running an airline and maybe a rocket ship commuter jet someday, like who on earth couldn’t be inspired by him?
Barack Obama has influenced the way I run my schedule. I greatly admire his time blocking technique. He divides his days into 5-minute chunks and never shows being fazed. Now, this is a bit extreme, but time blocking is a time management strategy that I will stand by that actually works.
My parents have also been a huge influence on my life and career. They too were business owners and still had a wonderful family life; they are loving parents who ran a successful business. They taught me by their daily example that you can follow your dreams and not necessarily sacrifice everything. Without their example, I’m not sure I would have the courage to jump into being a full-on business owner.
When looking back on your career, what resonated with you the most and why?
It’s the people I’ve had the honor of working with over the years. I’m grateful to constantly be surrounded by so many incredible people and even those who have been difficult at times. Every single person who has come into my life has taught me valuable lessons about myself and about running a business. And I would have never met these people without owning Take It Easy.
Now I have to admit that running a business has been f**king hard – I cannot stress that enough. It is hard to get to a level of success where people think what you do is easy. It has been a slow uphill battle about a decade in the making, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’m still standing. I’m proud I have never taken advantage of others and that I’ve been able to stay true to myself.
In your opinion, how could delegation and time management make an impact on the world?
There is too much stress in the world and people hating what they do. It is sad that many people work for the weekend and are wishing away over 55% of their working career. And when your working career takes up over 75% of your waking hours in life that is a lot of time wasted. There is road rage, family emergencies, health declines, and many more stressful moments all caused by stress because of badly spent time. I said it before and I will say it again, time management isn’t about shaving off minutes of your commute or answering emails the fastest in your office, it is about filling your days with moments that make you happy.
If you had to do it all over again, would you still choose this career? Would you do anything differently?
I would absolutely choose this career all over again. I seriously could not picture myself doing anything else.
There are days when I wish I did things differently but reflecting on my mistakes, they have been some of my greatest lessons.
I believe that I have been put on this planet to help others and I have been able to do that every day of my career. I seriously love what I do.
I’ve heard people say that if you are happy on Monday mornings then you know you have found your true calling in life. I’m always happy on Monday mornings … well except when the alarm rings at 4 am for an early morning flight!
Do you have anything else you would like to share about your company?
I’m very proud I’ve been living my dream through creating a successful business. My hope is to help other business owners get out of the rut of wasted time and live their dreams too.
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