I'm Tamara Zantell, I am so happy you found me...
Hey there!
I'm Tamara Zantell, and I'm so happy you found me.
Brand strategist, program builder, publisher, speaker. Buffalo, by way of Boston.
My story
Years ago I was an overworked, stressed-out people pleaser.
I spent fifteen years in practice management consulting for chiropractic, physiatry, and pain management practices. I worked my way up to Chief Administrative Officer of a $4.2 million medical practice, and on paper I had arrived.
In real life, my job came before my kids' dreams. I was also almost always the only Black woman in the room.
Then my nine-year-old daughter asked me to help her build a business. She was making soap and lotion at our kitchen table.
The bet
I said yes, mostly because I didn't know enough yet to say no.
We built it on nights and weekends with no map and nobody in front of us who looked like us. We rebranded in 2014, relaunched as Zandra Beauty in 2015, and landed our first six-figure purchase order within six months.
In October 2016 I retired. On my way out the door, my boss looked me in the eye and asked if I really thought I could make money selling soap and lotion.
I left anyway.
And that bet has paid off in so many ways!
By 2018 Zandra's products were in more than 600 boutiques and 1,500 big box stores. She built a million-dollar brand before she could drive, and today she runs that company as CEO without me. That was always the point.
Between the five of them, my children are professional athletes, authors, speakers, college graduates, and entrepreneurs.
We did that!
The work now
Programs, brands, and books for the organizations that serve founders
I'm Director of Business Development & Incubation at The Foundry in Buffalo, where I volunteered for ten years before I ever had the title. When a lot of people said no to my daughter, The Foundry said yes. Now I get to be part of the yes for somebody else.
Reach East, the accelerator I rebuilt in-house, has graduated thirty-two businesses across four cohorts. Eight of the ten families in the Build Her Business Family Dinners, a program I designed, graduated with seed funding. Right now I'm leading the 2027 relaunch of the Young Entrepreneurs of Color program. Pathstone, StoryGrowing WNY, and the University at Buffalo (the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, the School of Management, and UB CoLab) have brought me in to build brands, stories, and pitch rooms. Through Legacy Brand Creators, young pageant queens and first-time authors are holding printed books with their own names on the spine.
Sixteen businesses started. Plenty of them didn't work, and I want that in print, because the tidy version of the story is the reason people never start.
Along the way I got certified in the things I was already doing: marketing strategy, copywriting, and design (that's the triple threat), ads management, and coaching. The coaching wasn't about becoming a life coach. The people I serve are usually building with their families, for their kids, or against everything they were told, and somebody has to help them talk to each other before the brand can move.
Fun facts about me
The parts that aren't on the résumé
- I'm a licensed mortuary scientist with a degree in mortuary science and funeral service management, both earned before I ever touched a brand. Hard conversations don't rattle me.
- Five children, six grandchildren, and one senior dog named Sunni Muffin Lee.
- At forty-nine I spent a month alone in Belize. First time in my life I'd been alone anywhere.
- Meditation and manifestation, every day. Trap music and Adele, also every day.
- I lift heavy, I just started gardening, and I'm taking Ayurveda classes.
- I'm living alone for the first time in my life, at fifty, and I'm building it the way I want this time. The blog is where I tell the rest.
My official bio
For event hosts, press, and introductions
Copy freely.
Tamara Zantell is a brand strategist, program builder, and publisher based in Buffalo, New York. She founded Raising A Mogul, the family entrepreneurship company, in 2017, and its agency arm, Legacy Brand Creators, in 2020. She serves as Director of Business Development & Incubation at The Foundry in Buffalo.
Raised in Boston by parents who had her running a home candy store and selling lunches in the park, Tamara grew up on her grandmother's advice: always have your own. She spent fifteen years in practice management consulting, rising to Chief Administrative Officer of a $4.2 million medical practice, before helping her daughter grow a kitchen-table soap and lotion line into a million-dollar brand.
Since then she has designed programs that have graduated dozens of businesses, published first-time authors, and been featured by Buffalo News, Black Enterprise, AfroTech, SheKnows, and Entrepreneur Platform Magazine. She is a triple-threat certified marketer (strategy, copywriting, and design), a Certified Elite Ads Manager, an ICF-certified coach, a bestselling author, and a trained professional speaker. She is a mother of five and a grandmother.
Years Ago I Was An Overworked, Stressed-Out People Pleaser.
I was the one person that everyone could depend on. I was committed, dedicated, and dependable. I was a fixer.
Even as a single mother of small children, I still put my position, status, and the "job" I had to do before mine and my kid's hopes, dreams, and desires.
Then, one day I chose to do something different.
I decided to use the grit, skill, and entrepreneurial power I had developed over the years while building someone else's dream; to build my own!
My 9-year-old daughter had a passion, my 8-year-old was uniquely creative and my 12 years old wanted to become a football champion. All I wanted to do was create the space for them to live their dreams while I danced closer to my own. I decided to leave corporate and bet on us!
Today, my Children are professional Athletes, Authors, Professional Speakers, College Graduates And entrepreneurs.
That 9-year-old grew up to become one of the youngest millionaires in America.
We Did That!
Now, I am on a mission to help other families build sustainable brands that will lead them to
their freedom.
Freedom from stale positions in life that leave you uninspired, feeling
stressed, and unworthy.
I want to empower your children to mind their own business and
encourage you to become the badass parent manager you
know you can be!
Planting, nurturing, and building your own Family Farm
isn't easy, but you can do it!
We Did!
We Build Family Brands
don’t miss out this opportunity
I’m a licensed mortuary scientist—yes, really!
I adore my five children, six grand-beauties, and two little dogs who keep life entertaining.
I balance meditation and manifestation with a love for trap music and Adele.
Work with me?
With decades of experience in brand strategy, business development and operational leadership, I bring a builder’s perspective to every organization I work with. My work has been featured on AOL, ESPN, Netflix, Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazine, but my greatest pride is what the people in my programs go on to build.
Expertise: Brand and product development, marketing strategy, and youth entrepreneurship.
Recognition: Featured in top media outlets for innovative approaches to branding and family business success.
Values: Authenticity, community, and empowerment guide every project I take on.
Ready to Build Your Legacy?
Let’s turn your vision into reality. Join me in creating impactful brands and thriving businesses that make a difference.
Choose Your Path
Your journey to success starts here. Whether you’re a small business owner, a parent of a budding entrepreneur, or seeking mentorship, there’s a path for you:
I’m a Small Business Owner Ready to Build or Elevate My Brand
You’re ready to refine your brand, expand your reach, and grow with purpose. Let’s create a strategic foundation that makes your business stand out.
My Official Bio...
Tamara Zantell is a licensed mortuary scientist that specializes in managing human capital, resolving pressing issues, and making things happen.
For the past 25 years, she has been pushing, pulling, and lifting others into their greatness. Growing up as a little girl in Boston, the idea that a child could run a real business was no new news to her. Her mother and father made sure she and her siblings were kept busy with home candy stores and selling lunches in the park. Creating a simple business plan, presenting to the public, and making money as a team, was child’s play. Her mother's mother's words...” Always have your own”; “ create something that can’t be taken away” still rings in her ears today.
Tamara has been blessed to parent 5 of the most amazing people on this planet, spent 15 years as a Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), and 20 years managing teams and individuals.
Her greatest accomplishment beyond parenting her children; has been helping her daughter build a business from a small homemade hobby into an international brand. Today, her mission is to help other families do the same, in half the time or less!
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