We had the good fortune of connecting with Tara Austin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tara, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
“What you need, comes to you” – it’s my Dad’s catchphrase and I even made a framed cross-stitch of the words for him. I believe it’s true that the Universe provides. It might not give you what you want but it will bring what you need if you’re willing to see it that way. We started PAR really because people that wanted to make it happen joined together with us, and each brought the skills that we needed to make it happen. It continues to amaze me that seemingly just at the moment we need an accountant or web designer, someone appears and puts their hand up!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I feel very blessed that my career has altered direction a number of times in my life, the first time when Jon Steel brought me into advertising from PR, the second time that Rory Sutherland led me into applied behavioural science from advertising and the third time, the most pivotal of all, when some very bad and vindictive people bullied me out of my job because they saw me as a threat. I doubled my pay in less than a year when that happened and whilst desperately hard emotionally, it was the most brilliant blessing that showed me my commercial value in the world. The last twist of fate was the series of events that led to me abandoning my ambitions to work only in applied behavioural science but instead to help power the psychedelic movement in the UK, which I’ve done entirely thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers that run the PAR Campaign with me.

The path that took me from behavioural science to psychedelics was a very strange one. It involved coronavirus, redundancy from an agency I partially owned and a meeting at No.10 Downing Street where I was propositioned to be the Prime Minister’s spokesperson – without a doubt the strangest day of my life! Ultimately that took me to where I am today, working back at my alma mater, Ogilvy where I get to work with brilliant people, use my brain, run the world’s biggest festival of behavioural science and creativity but only work 4 days a week so that I can dedicate my life to psilocybin access rights (PAR) and getting people access to the healing medicine they need within safe and legal frameworks. Honestly the path has not been what I ever would have expected, but I feel I have grown so much along the way and that I’m just enormously blessed to not only work with such extraordinarily bright and brilliant people but also live my life with purpose as I truly believe in what we are trying to achieve!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
That one’s easy, I’d show them the wonders of Thanet 🙂 https://goo.gl/maps/4Xg5QVjxoVf4123R8

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Wow, where to begin, there have been so many big influences in my life – the generosity of spirit and brilliance of thought of my boss Rory Sutherland, it’s one of the great privileges of my life that I get to work with him and get paid for it. Angie Moxham and Annabel Duncan gave me first job, doing PR for compost (yes really!) then Jon Steel gave me my first break into advertising that led me down the path I’m on today and for that I’ll forever be grateful. The thinking of Jonathan Haidt’s moral foundations theory and John Stuart Mill’s libertarianism more than anything else have fundamentally shaped my understanding of human beings and our relationship to one another the world. Nicole Yershon, one of my mentors in work and life has been a great believer in me and always encouraged me to do things differently and not be ashamed of that. Ultimately I think I’ve taken the most from my parents and the fact that they’ve both had vast successes in their lives and what could also look like vast failures. They’ve lost more than most people, but they’re never lost their optimism and their ability to learn and love and thrive because of their resilience. They’ve shown me that success isn’t on the outside it’s what you cultivate within… which brings me to the single biggest influence in my life which comes from the deep intelligence of the mycelial network, an intelligence which only those who have experienced the profound insights of psychedelic therapy can relate to in terms of its life-enhancing power. I’ve dedicated myself to serving the mushrooms as a result, and I’ve never looked back from that decision.

Website: www.par.global

Instagram: par.global

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/psilocybin-access-rights-global/

Twitter: @PAR_global_

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parnow

Image Credits
Yuli Gates (PAR)

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