Article Written by bizjournals.com editor.
The New York Business Journal named 78 honorees for its inaugural Women of Influence Awards. The program honors women business leaders in the New York City area who innovate, succeed and “pay it forward.” In the days ahead, we’ll be giving readers a chance to hear directly from these women.
Patrice Tanaka, Co-Founder, Chief Counselor & Creative Strategist, PadillaCRT, New York
Tell us about your family: I’m a widow. My late husband, Assad (aka “Mr. Wonderful”) was an artist and an Afghani. We met in NYC a few years after Assad arrived here as a refugee from Afghanistan. He was finishing his studies in civil engineering at Brooklyn Polytechnic and working as a waiter when I met him. He never practiced engineering; instead, he became an artist, which I’m glad he did since this was his dream. Assad died after after a valiant struggle with a brain tumor, which he handled with incredible grace and good humor. We had been together 23 years. I am fortunate to have loved him and to have been loved by him. He was truly an inspiration to me. I am from Hawaii and most of my family still lives there. They are my heart and soul!
Where were you born? Honolulu, Hawaii
The one word that best describes you: Joyful
What was your first job and what did you learn from it? Working in the pineapple cannery on Oahu during the summer. It was hard work and I learned that I should study hard so I wouldn’t have to work at the cannery as my full-time job when I graduated!
What is your proudest career accomplishment? Leading a group of colleagues in a management buyback from Chiat/Day Advertising to co-found an employee-owned PR agency with 12 colleagues. Leading a management buyback was the only solution I could come up with to avoid having to fire four talented colleagues when we learned that we were losing our biggest client. We bought back our PR unit from Chiat/Day to start an independent agency owned by the 13 of us involved in the buyback. Our 13 co-founder/owners included the four colleagues I would have had to terminate. Within seven years of co-founding PT&Co., our agency was recognized as the “#1 Most Creative PR Agency” in America.
Who has been the biggest influence on your career, and why? My late mother was the biggest influence on my career and life. She taught me from an early age to “share your cookies and toys.” This advice has served me well from the playground to the boardroom.
If you could be mentored by anyone, who would it be and why? Pope Francis. Because his actions are always informed by love and serving those most in need of support.
What is your philosophy as a mentor? To pursue your joy with a sense of urgency because this will fill your life with joy and inform the way you engage with others and how you contribute to the planet. My vision is a joyful planet that can only be created by 7 billion-plus joy-filled and joy-generating people.
What is your one daily routine that you can’t do without? Starting the day with a request to the Universe that my day be filled with joy; and then counting all the joyful episodes in the day before I go to sleep every evening so that I am mindful of all the joy in my life.
What advice would you give to your younger self? Dance full-out and fearlessly, on and off the ballroom floor, and don’t worry about executing every step perfectly!
What is the biggest challenge or opportunity facing your company in 2015? Growing our business as a new entity recently formed by two independent PR agencies coming together each with its own strong legacy cultures.
Guilty pleasure: (“I hate to admit this, but I really like … “): I really love reality TV shows! There, I said it in public.
Book you have read recently that you would recommend to others:“The Law of Attraction,” by Esther and Jerry Hicks. Even if you think you know the law of attraction you must read this book to create the life you desire.
Favorite pastimes: Ballroom dancing, tennis, travel and cooking.
What needs to happen for more women to succeed in business in the United States? We must have gender-balanced leadership at every leadership table so that opportunities for women, including women in business, are equally available to them as they are for men.
Charities or other causes that are most important to you: Organizations that serve women and children and girls, in particular. This is why I’m on the board of organizations such as Girl Scouts of Greater NY, Dancing Classrooms, Phelophepa (South African health care train) and why I have served on the boards of Futures Without Violence, the US Fund for UNICEF and the Asian Pacific American Women’s Leadership Institute, among others.
Words to live by: Pursue your joy with a sense of urgency because when it’s your time you want to be ‘good to go,’ having lived and loved full-out and fearlessly leaving this life with no regrets.