After graduation from law school, she moved to Minnesota to work with Thompson Group, a company that publishes legal information. There Tamara started as a research attorney and, thanks to her own experience and the interaction with her clients, she recognized that the company was missing out on a market opportunity. She persuaded them to create a position for her to oversee the offering of print materials in alternative formats to people with disabilities. Three years later she moved again to the south to take a position with the State of Georgia as a policy analyst, where she joined the Georgia Assistive Technology Project, Tools for Life and worked with them for four years. This project continues to help people with disabilities to access assistive technology that makes their everyday lives easier.
Knowing the challenge she faced as a vision-impaired person in getting a job, Tamara decided to open her own law practice. Her first client was the State of Georgia, which awarded her a 4-year contract to work as a policy advocate for the Georgia Commission on Equal Opportunity. The contract allowed her the financial freedom to build her clientèle without being burdened with the time-consuming task of applying for moneraty assistance to keep the newly formed business running. Her practice is comprised of 50% consumer and small business law and 50% family law.
Currently, Tamara continues with her private practice and has joined the Alternative Media Access Center (AMAC) at the University of Georgia. The AMAC provides books in alternative formats for college students across the state. There she is a compliance manager and braille coordinator, positions that suit her very well since she is a technology buff.
The good and the bad
Being an entrepreneur is not easy and Tamara takes pride in owning her private practice, which has thrived over the course of its nine year existence. As in everything, owning a small enterprise has its pros and cons. On the one hand, it has been a wonderful experience for her and she enjoys having greater control and flexibility over the work she does, and of course, she gets most of the profits! Also, while other entrepreneurs may find legal issues to be a headache and pay attorneys to handle them, Tamara has the advantage of being able to do her own legal work. Normally when starting a business, entrepreneurs are advised to hire a lawyer and an accountant. This is because legal and accounting decisions, like the particular organizational structure chosen for the business, for example, can have significant impacts on the way that entrepreneurs are protected under the law and are affected by income tax rules and regulations.
On the other hand, being solely responsible for the success of the company makes it hard for Tamara to take vacations and sick leave due to the time she must spend
