Other Women’s Jobs / Tara Rose Kidd

NAME: Tara Rose Kidd AGE: 39 INSTAGRAM HANDLE: @tararosekidd JOB TITLE: Founder of Tara Rose Salons & Academy MOVED TO THE UAE IN: 2009

Tara Rose Kidd, founder and owner of the celebrated Tara Rose Salons in Abu Dhabi, she hosts quite a few trend events at her salons and recently did a packed-out event with Alan Austin-Smith, the famous UK stylist. She has won several awards and is known for her approach to both hair and business, making her salon a place for everyone to feel included and empowered. More recently Tara has been speaking up online about the deep-seated limiting beliefs she took on as a child who ‘wasn’t good at school’, and how those beliefs led to an early adulthood of instability and purposelessness. When Tara found positive psychology and self-help, she began to change her thinking and ultimately, her life. She opened her first salon as an expression of her determination to take control of her destiny ~ and the rest, as they say, is history.

5AM: Wake up for Power Hour! When I first wake up, I have set aside time that’s basically spent by myself planning for the day ahead. It’s really just spending quiet time without any distractions, including my phone. I start my day at the same time every day. Routine is very important to me so that I can maximise what I’m able to accomplish and with this structure, I can achieve what I need to and allow myself the time I need for myself, as well. This balance is incredibly important, especially as a busy mum. Often there’s a lot of guilt when you try to carve out time for yourself, but with routines and setting your schedule like I do, it’s quite easy to find balance and make some time for you to focus on your own needs.

6AM: I wake up my son, Sonny, to get him ready for school & then drop him off at the bus around 7am.

7AM: My time from 7-10 is again focused on the habits I’ve created for a healthy lifestyle. Once I’ve gotten my son off to school, I focus my energy on going to the gym and getting in my workout for the day. Once I finish, I do my day’s meal prep and eat a healthy breakfast to keep me going for the morning. Food is a huge part of self-care and self-love. So, I take the time to make sure that I’ve not only prepped this for my day, but I’ve actually slowed down and nourished my body well. After this, I start my morning meditation and quiet time before work. This is a non-negotiable for me. The entire day may be filled to the brim with things I need to accomplish, but it’s that moment of mindfulness that allows me to set my intentions, focus and get into space I need to be for the rest of the day.

10AM: By 10am, I am ready to start work for the day and I usually work until around 5pm. From 10-12, I focus on the administrative and managerial aspects of my job which include things like checking in on the salons, meeting with my managers, and doing the planning side of the business. As the managing director, I have to lead by example and be hands on. I make sure that I am engaged with what my teams are doing by being involved in the day-to-day runnings of the salon, but I trust my managers enough to oversee the decisions being made. Then from 12-2, I shift gears a bit and work on the Academy side of my business. This is a new part of Tara Rose brand where we are building up the education opportunities for the hair industry throughout the region. So not only am I planning and working to materialise ideas, but I am actually leading courses. The late afternoon from 3-5 is a mixture of work that

can be everything from seeing my clients to networking meetings to more of the planning and development that I put into my business each and every day. As much as I try to have a weekly routine where certain days are set aside for certain meetings, or visits to each branch on set days, it’s really important for me to remain flexible and be in tune to what the real time needs of my team are.

6PM: By the end of the day, I have to be home by 6pm. You simply cannot miss out on time with your family and once you start compromising on this boundary, the balance quickly goes and burnout comes. As a mum, the guilt is already packed on, but I know I want to be there, daily, to have the time together. Even if it’s just to be able to sit and do homework with my son, I think it’s important for him to have that time where we are together and talking about the things that matter to him because it will create important memories for him later on. And for me, being able to have time before my son goes to bed means that I don’t miss out on seeing him grow up and knowing what’s important to him or how he’s doing, even though I am choosing to have a career and be busy outside the home.

7PM: In the evening, having quiet time or evening meditation, where I can be present and unpack my day to debrief and evaluate is the non-negotiable bookend to my day; I started the day this way and I finish this way. This is the time when I am able to really be the most creative and allow my ideas to flow. I look at what happened during the day, what’s working and what’s not working. But this is my brainstorm time, really. I get my ideas for the next day and how I’m going to take what I did today and make it that much better. During this time of day, I put boundaries in place where I don’t allow other things to interrupt. This is the time I need to really fine tune the focus that I have and make sure the day ahead is set to see the best me that I can give it.

8:30PM: Early to bed, early to rise! I’m generally in bed, reading a book every night by 8:30 and fast asleep by 9:30pm. There’s nothing better for your self-care than a full night’s sleep. The fear of missing out or one too many episodes binged isn’t worth sacrificing your health or what you can achieve when you’ve just really slept well. While the above routine is pretty much the same from day-to-day, my weekends are about going a bit easier on yourself and not necessarily sticking to the schedule. They’re just about being present and spending time with my family, and being kind to myself—whatever it is I may be needing. Then, by Sunday evening, I start preparing myself for the week ahead, making sure that everything is ready to go to start my routine on Monday morning all over again.