hi! i'm tahni.
And I’m a cultural anthropologist and artist that spends my time observing, documenting, and communicating about the experience of being human in our modern day and age.
Professionally, I help organizations understand how culture and human behavior impact everything they are trying to do. Leveraging human and cultural insights leads to more effective services; communication or branding that resonates with people; and strategy that remains aligned with the reality of the human experience.
Outside of my work, I’m an avid yogi, a beginner (but obsessed!) surfer, and a dabbler in nearly every artistic medium.
Welcome, and please feel free to reach out!
hi! i'm tahni.
And I’m a cultural anthropologist and artist that spends my time observing, documenting, and communicating about the experience of being human in our modern day and age.
Professionally, I help organizations understand how culture and human behavior impact everything they are trying to do. Leveraging human and cultural insights leads to more effective services; communication or branding that resonates with people; and strategy that remains aligned with the reality of the human experience.
Outside of my work, I’m an avid yogi, a beginner (but obsessed!) surfer, and a dabbler in nearly every artistic medium.
Welcome, and please feel free to reach out!
Current
Role
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGIST — TEAM ONE
Working on creative qualitative research, thought leadership, and culturally-informed strategy.
previous work
As a freelance qualitative researcher and strategist, I helped entrepreneurs and organizations understand their audience in terms of actual people and their experiences in context, attain the critical language for communicating with those they serve, create or adjust roadmaps and strategies for achieving their goals/intentions, and evaluate or inform product or service decisions.
Writing is part and parcel of all the work that I do as a practicing anthropologist. However, during grad school and in the years immediately following, a portion of my freelance work was in writing and copyediting. As a writer I have worked on academic publications, white papers, web and social media content, ghostwriting, and digital course content.
I began my career with entrepreneurship — as a photographer, I ran an international wedding and portrait photography business full-time for 5 years from New York City. When I moved to Belgium for graduate school, I scaled-back to run the business part-time and still do some photography work to this day. And of course, I love to use photography to enhance my research.
other things of note
EPIC PEOPLE NETWORKING CO-CHAIR
EPIC, or Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference, is a professional organization that draws applied anthropologists and other researchers together for community, support, and learning opportunities. As the networking committee co-chair, my role is to ensure that members feel welcome in all EPIC spaces, facilitate connections between members, and to support organic networking efforts. I've been involved since 2019.
RYT200 YOGA TEACHER CERTIFIED
No matter where I am in the world, I practice yoga every day for both physical and mental strength. I completed my RYT 200 hour training with a Yoga Alliance accredited program and spent part of 2020 teaching weekly classes as well as assisting the lead trainer in online yoga teacher trainings.
MSc. IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
I went to graduate school in Belgium at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and completed a 12 month in-depth ethnography on self and community transformation in a Brussels evangelical community. I was a student representative and co-organized the 2017 Graduate Colloquium in Anthropology.
B.A. IN INTERNATIONAL ARTS & CULTURE
I completed my bachelor's degree in International Studies and Culture at Texas A&M University, learning French and studying abroad in Dakar, Senegal. I received the honor of "University Scholar" — serving as a representative of the honors program. I was involved in International Student mentorship organizations and a member of Global Justice.
other things of note
EPIC PEOPLE NETWORKING CO-CHAIR
EPIC, or Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference, is a professional organization that draws applied anthropologists and other researchers together for community, support, and learning opportunities. As the networking committee co-chair, my role is to ensure that members feel welcome in all EPIC spaces, facilitate connections between members, and to support organic networking efforts. I've been involved since 2019.
RYT200 YOGA TEACHER CERTIFIED
No matter where I am in the world, I practice yoga every day for both physical and mental strength. I completed my RYT 200 hour training with a Yoga Alliance accredited program and spent part of 2020 teaching weekly classes as well as assisting the lead trainer in online yoga teacher trainings.
MSc. IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
I went to graduate school in Belgium at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and completed a 12 month in-depth ethnography on self and community transformation in a Brussels evangelical community. I was a student representative and co-organized the 2017 Graduate Colloquium in Anthropology.
B.A. IN INTERNATIONAL ARTS & CULTURE
I completed my bachelor's degree in International Studies and Culture at Texas A&M University, learning French and studying abroad in Dakar, Senegal. I received the honor of \"University Scholar\" — serving as a representative of the honors program. I was involved in International Student mentorship organizations and a member of Global Justice.
on a personal note
personality + work style
I am an Enneagram Type 4, a classic I in the DISC assessment, and an ENFP according to Meyers-Briggs.
This means that I bring value to a team or project in the following ways:
- Warmth and empathy enable me to be an excellent listener, form social connections, build alliances, and match the communication style of my audience.
- Curiosity and innate pushing of boundaries mean I question everything, seek deeper meanings, provide thoughtful analysis, and pave the way for creative solutions.
- Open-mindedness and a sense of go-with-the-flow allow me to improvise, explore possibilities, and merge seemingly disparate perspectives and ideas.
- Energy, enthusiasm, and intuition lead to enhanced social perception in discovering how people tick, as well as bring a boost of morale whenever others need it.
Strengthsfinder ranks my strengths as:
