about me.

Hey, I’m Tessa —

first-gen American, first-gen entrepreneur, career coach, and (recovering) corporate recruiter who’s spent the last decade building, breaking, and rebuilding systems that shape how people work.

I also come from a family of educators — my grandma, my dad, and my stepmom all worked in education. So, I grew up understanding the power of learning and how life-changing access to information can be. That’s part of why I do this work.

I believe education is a fundamental human right.

And that everyone deserves access to the knowledge that helps them make informed, confident decisions about their careers.

And even though I learned that even when you’re right, you don’t always win, it didn’t stop me from trying.

In fact, it served me well…because my career in tech was exploding:

• I designed three highly successful talent programs

• Doubled a company’s headcount in a single year

• Attracted highly desirable candidates (who turned down offers from Meta and Amazon) to join us

• And helped build a community-driven culture that achieved over 90% retention, 90%+ employee satisfaction, and a 91% offer acceptance rate.

…then came the layoffs. Two of them.

And I had to ask myself: who am I without the title, the big paycheck, and that shiny company logo?

So, I stepped back, rested, upskilled…and recalibrated. I freelanced as a copywriter for a couple of years and gave myself time and space to dampen the burnout that had followed me through nearly every chapter of my career.

And along the way, I realized I didn’t just want to rebuild my own career.

I wanted to change how we all think about work.

I grew up in a big family in a small rural town in Michigan, where opportunity didn’t come easily. My dad and grandparents immigrated here, and that shaped my worldview: work hard, stay curious, and never stop improving your situation.

I’ve worked in talent and recruiting for over 12 years—10 of those in Denver—starting out hiring entry-level sales reps and eventually leading multi-million-dollar projects (including one that stayed confidential for more than a year and a half).

Later, at a startup, I was given complete autonomy to build everything from scratch: the hiring strategy, the systems, the candidate experience, the culture — all of it.

That experience changed how I saw the corporate world. I realized companies aren’t these faceless, immovable structures; they’re made up of people making decisions every single day. Which means you can have influence, help a company change course, and make things better.

In early 2023, I founded my business with one goal:

To empower professionals with the same insider knowledge and strategy I had as a recruiter — so they can make smart, informed decisions, advocate for themselves, and build careers that actually fit their lives.

And today, I help my clients outsmart the career and job search game that corporate America was never really designed for them to win. I teach them how to use the language, tools, and leverage that companies don’t expect them to have — and how to use all of it to land jobs (and paychecks) that they deserve.

I now live in Detroit, Michigan with my partner of nearly 20 years, Ian, and our cat, Jade. 🐈‍⬛