Elmont Alumna, Dr. Tasha Brown, Wants You To Be Strategic About Accomplishing Your Goals

“Train up a child in the way [she] should go: and when [she] is old[er], [she] will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)

Elmont native, Tasha Brown, has always been destined for greatness. Now, she’s empowering others to access their full potential as well. [Read more.]

Meet Tasha Brown. Tasha is an Elmont native and a proud product of both Gotham Avenue Elementary and Elmont Memorial High Schools.

At Elmont Memorial, Tasha became active in high school clubs, such as Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), and also embraced leadership roles on the Spartans’ volleyball team as a tenacious scholar-athlete.

Back in June of 2016, exactly 10 years after graduating high school, Tasha Brown successfully defended her Doctoral thesis and officially earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from DePaul University.

“I am not even going to lie and say that graduate school was a walk in the park,” Tasha admitted in an exclusive interview with The Elmont Excelsior. “It was really challenging.”

Despite adversity, Tasha persisted. Even to this day, she attributes her work ethic to her roots in Elmont.

“I am grateful for the strong foundation that I received being part of such a unique community,” she told The Excelsior in our email interview.

We caught up with Tasha to discuss her humble beginnings in Elmont, her bumpy graduate school experience, and her exciting new coaching company, Launching Legends.

Please enjoy our interview!

Interview by Karl Valere for The Elmont Excelsior. Answers & photos by Tasha Brown. 

Full Name: Tasha Brown

Age: 29 (As of April 7, 2017!)

Year Graduated from Elmont: 2006

Schools attended & areas of study: Gotham Avenue (Elmont, NY), Elmont Memorial Junior and Senior High School (Elmont, NY), Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY) – Bachelor of Science —  Child and Family Studies and Psychology / Minor — African-American Studies, DePaul University (Chicago, IL) – Master of Arts — Clinical Psychology, Doctor of Philosophy — Clinical Psychology

What are you, Tasha, doing these days?

I graduated from graduate school last year, right now, I am completing a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Miami.

I primarily work with children who have significant disruptive behavior concerns. I work closely with their caregivers to help manage disruptive behavior. The goal is to get the child to a place where they are functioning adequately at home, school, and in their community. I love working with children and their parents; it really gets me excited when they incorporate the skills we work on into their daily lives.

I am also the co-founder of Launching Legends, LLC. Launching Legends is a coaching and consulting company, that I will talk about in great detail a little later!

You recently earned your Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. What do you think it takes to achieve such a feat?

I think that is a great question! I am not even going to lie and say that graduate school was a walk in the park because in it was really challenging. When I reflect on my overall experience, I think there are several things that it takes to successfully get through a graduate program:

Faith and Passion. You must be passionate about the work, or else it will be hard to make the sacrifices that you inevitably make during the process. My strong belief that God has a plan for my life and puts me where I need to be in order to do what I was created to do, is what got me through graduate school. I had to remind myself of that frequently, and still, do!

A great support system. I am extremely grateful for my support system, I know for a FACT that without a strong support system graduate school would have not been a possibility, and I would not have been able to successfully make it through. God really blessed me with a supportive family, great educators, advisors, and amazing friends.

Discipline.   You must be disciplined, it’s a long process and discipline is key when it comes to navigating the process.

What are a few challenges that you had to overcome to get through graduate school?

The biggest challenges I think that I have had to overcome, have been the challenges associated with adjusting to new environments, while still trying to meet my goals.
The adjustment period is always a little rough for me, BUT I have learned that if I can ride through it, it always gets better and there is always something to take from the experience.

Tell us about Launching Legends LLC.

Launching Legends is a coaching and consulting company, that I started with my business partner and friend Timeka Tounsel a few years ago.

We are passionate about helping the groups and individuals we work with tap into their dreams, identify their purpose, and define their goals.

We get excited about seeing people achieve their goals and contribute to society in meaningful ways. We are passionate about helping people create and navigate life in a way that works for them.

We work with individual clients and large groups. We empower people to soar in multiple areas of their life, without neglecting personal relationships, physical health, spiritual growth, and self-care. Check us out!!

We have a blog and podcast, that you can check out at LaunchingLegends.com.  You can also find us on Facebook at Launching Legends, LLC.

How do your academic career and your work with Launching Legends trace back to your roots in the Elmont community?

Elmont will ALWAYS have a special place in my heart. I am grateful for the strong foundation that I received being part of such a unique community.

I think the way that I have navigated academia and Launching Legends is the direct result of the values that were instilled in me growing up in Elmont.

Some of my earliest leadership roles were at Elmont. It was during Key Club, SADD, and on the Volleyball Team that I learned about discipline, sacrifice, and tenacity. It was in the halls of Elmont that I learned and saw the importance of community and what it looks like to generally support others. Lastly, I also learned what hard work looks like. I have carried all these things with me and I will forever be grateful to have grown up in such an amazing place.

Describe Elmont in one sentence.

Elmont exemplifies Excellence in all aspects!

For you and your partner, Dr. Timeka, Launching Legends seems like a passion project.  What is the source of your passion for this work?

I think our passion for Launching Legends is rooted in our love for people and our strong belief that we all have a purpose. We believe in the power of goal setting and being strategic about accomplishing your goals.

Share one tip or practice that you use to help keep you productive and efficient.

I write EVERYTHING down. During the week, I typically follow a pretty strict schedule. So, in order to get things done, I schedule work-related tasks, Launching Legends tasks, workouts, grocery shopping, self-care, and social activities. A schedule keeps me on track Monday-Friday.  I use my weekend to relax.

How are ‘Millennials’ approaching a career or life skills differently?  Name a few pitfalls Millennials should look to avoid professionally.

I think Millennials are just a unique generation, that’s why everyone is talking about us and trying to figure us out. Millennials are approaching career and life a little differently than other generations. We have higher expectations about work and life balance – that we at Launching Legends like to refer to as work-life harmony. The world is also a different place so we are redefining what it looks like to be a professional in a work where there have been shifts in gender roles, exceptions about production, and frequent changes in technology.

I think Millennials bring so many strengths to the workplace and therefore contribute in amazing ways. With that being said, I think that Millennials should avoid feeling entitled to having their views and immediately accepted by older generations. I think Millennials should be open to working collaboratively with the generations that have come before us, this will help create environments that are beneficial to us all.

If Launching Legends could achieve just one major milestone in 2017, what would it be?

We are always striving to do better and be better! Our goal is to touch as many lives as possible and so if we can continue to positively influence the people we work with and the people who consume our online material, we will be extremely happy! We have some big things coming, so look out for them!

Best advice you’ve ever gotten:

“It’s not about you.”

Meaning that sometimes in life we do things that are so much greater than ourselves and if we remember that we can accomplish powerful things for the greater good.

Happy birthday and a thousand thanks to Elmont’s own, Dr. Tasha Brown, for granting us this interview! Be sure to keep connected with Tasha, Timeka, and Launching Legends via Facebook, Instagram, Soundcloud, Twitter, email (launchinglegends@gmail.com) and, of course, LaunchingLegends.com.

#WeAreElmont #ElmontExcellence #HigherHeights