It has been an exciting start to 2025 and we wanted to catch you up on all of the highlights and thrills! 

It wasn’t Thailand, but Tamra (TA), Lori (LO) and Maren (MA) started off 2025 strong with our Taloma Partners retreat in beautiful Mexico. No capers with Russian mobsters occurred, but we had a wonderful time being together and celebrating a banner year in 2024. Cheers!

From there it was back to work delivering for our clients. Here are some of the storylines… 

While we didn’t have to encourage anyone (like Gaitok) to abandon their beliefs and resort to violence to get a better job, we did help a client recruit and hire a new Director of Government Relations. As this leading civic organization is quasi-governmental, this was a key position. Working closely with HR and executive leadership, we utilized our decades of experience in this field to help define the role, curate and interview top applicants, and secure the fabulous hire.

Unlike these two, we actually had a plan! We were retained by a state government agency to lead a strategic planning process. We developed and facilitated a variety of stakeholder engagement tools that resulted in a diverse array of perspectives and ideas. From that, we shaped a comprehensive approach and drafted a robust strategic plan that will be executed over the next 5 years.

With no blood money exchanged in the negotiation, we worked closely with a client to secure a successful outcome in a situation with multiple government agencies – municipal, state and federal. To ensure a critical access point was maintained, we quickly developed the strategy, crafted the messaging, built a broad coalition of aligned stake-holders, and activated supporters to achieve a favorable result, against significant odds.  

A calm and steady approach is always important and is especially needed during the legislative session when it is essential to balance differing priorities and respond to rapidly changing events. We serve as a fractional Executive Director to several public policy-focused industry coalitions – advising our clients on policy strategies, issue-spotting potential areas of concern, and engaging key leaders & decision-makers – responding and activating much more quickly than Amrita.

Human beings struggle with change. We were retained by an anchor institution in Denver to conduct an assessment of their Marketing and Communications function, which resulted in our recommendation to restructure the department. Like Victoria (but without the Lorazepam), we helped this client navigate the early stages of a divisional transformation through detailed internal interviews, executive coaching, organizational development and a thoughtful change management approach. And, unlike the Ratcliff Family, we are confident we have helped to set them up for long-term success.  

Although Mook was somewhat of a mysterious character, her desire for something better for herself and a potential life partner was not a mystery. She was clear about her desire to think bigger and aim higher. We were hired to support a leading institution with a similar vision, leading their high-performing team through an effort to evaluate how they were executing against their plan goals. We facilitated and project-managed the process, and clarified a workplan for the coming years. (No murders on the to-do list!) 

While fan-favorite Chelsea (RIP) was a bit of a kook (and we love her for that!), she was a very direct and truthful communicator. Always aligned in that foundational approach, we were retained to support a client’s messaging and communications outreach strategy for an exciting new retail and residential development. We are quite sure this project will have a happier ending.

Sometimes you just need someone to listen and be a thought-partner as you manage everything from the day-to-day to significant issues in your organizations. And while we would never claim to be as wise as a Buddhist Monk, we do provide substantiative C-level and executive strategic counsel to many clients. Because of our unique history as being the client for most of our careers (as opposed to being consultants) we really do understand what it is like to sit in your chair. We’ve been there. We’ve done that. We get it. If there is a challenge or big idea you are considering in your organization – or if you simply need additional executive level capacity to get a project launched or completed, call us to schedule an exploratory lunch – or non-poisonous Piña Coladas!  

We’d love to work with you.



Tamra • Lori • Maren