As Founding Principal of Mountain Lily Studios, Tara brings over a decade of experience across hospitality, office, retail, medical office, industrial, and residential environments. Her wellness-driven focus on placemaking, equity, and human connection stems from her innate passion to build stronger and more resilient communities through evidence-based design practices. Tara brings strong leadership to every project, guiding clients and teams through complex decisions with clarity, creativity, and strategic insight.
Her work is rooted in the belief that the built environment shapes how people feel, connect, and thrive. Tara integrates wellness, sustainability, and social responsibility into each phase of the design process, creating environments that support physical, emotional, and mental well-being, while balancing technical expertise and disciplined project management. She is experienced in understanding project goals, budgets, and long-term project value, working closely with clients to align design, feasibility, and cost. Tara leads projects from initial concept and detailed programmatic development through full permitting and construction, collaborating with stakeholders to ensure thoughtful, high-quality outcomes.
Tara is a rising leader in the industry and is actively involved in mentorship, public speaking, and community engagement. She is passionate about building relationships and creating space for growth and opportunity.
As a Denver transplant hailing from Buffalo, NY, Tara is an avid rock climber, hiker, yogi, furbabe and plant momma, and spicy food connoisseur. She loves to travel, craves the ocean and a surf board, and can speak a little Thai, Russian, and Spanish. She has an affinity for spiders and all the little creatures, so if you see her scooping up a bug to take it outside to a nice grassy knoll, just know this is completely on point.
