Allison Larsen
✨ Who I am: TadZo Founder and your Secret Weapon. Visual and Virtual Champion. Liberating Structures Practitioner. Professional Doodler. Strategic thinker. A leader with heart.
✨ What I Do: Cultivate creative, innovative, and empowered individuals and groups through inclusive engagement and visual thinking. Help people find their confidence to do great things. Coach for transformational change. Build collaborative capacity for meaningful work.
✨ Past Journeys: Chabin-ite alumna. Front-line economic developer and manager at California’s Fresno County and Madera County EDCs. California Agricultural Leadership Fellow. Globetrotting import-export distribution-networker for venture capitalist. National award-winning salesperson at Merck & Co. State FFA President. 4-H student sheep herder.
✨ Experience
18 years consulting
23 years in economic development
10+ years in international business management and sales
5 years EDC management and recruiting, yielding 9,000+ new jobs
✨ Education
University of California, Davis
University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute
California Agricultural Leadership Program, Class XXIV
The Grove Principles of Graphic Facilitation Training
Liberating Structures Immersion Courses
Doodle Institute Visual Facilitation Training Program
✨ Professional Affiliations
International Economic Development Council
Board Member
Certified Economic Developer (CEcD)
💖 Passionate About: Adventures in nature. Expressing my inner artist.
✨ Sweet Spot: When eye opening discoveries and passion intersect.
🎁 Secret Talent: Dangerously-delicious toffee-maker.
Email: allison@TadZoConsulting.com
LinkedIN: linkedIn.com/in/allisonTadZo
TadZo Mascots
Tadich
Tadich
Tadich
TadZo is named after Tad & Zo. Taddy went to doggie heaven. He was the original TadZo "CFO" a.k.a. Chief Food Officer
Enzo
Tadich
Tadich
TadZo "CBO" a.k.a. Chief Ball Officer
went to doggie heaven where he is chasing balls with Tadich.
Behos
Behos
Behos
Behos promoted to TadZo "CFO" after completing "CFO in-training" internship. He is responsible for keeping the TadZo Mascots' meals on schedule.
Davis
Behos
Behos
Davis, TadZo's "Director of Fun" and a little otter in the pool, swims laps every day. Davis is named after TadZo Founder's alma mater, the University of California at Davis.
We Believe...
life is too short so we must do meaningful work that we enjoy.
We want to make a difference - a positive impact - and have fun doing it.
in the power of groups.
Reach out and work together because more ideas emerge from a group than individuals. We embrace inclusiveness. Plus many hands make light work - and you can have more fun creating together.
we don't have all the answers.
We learn together with our clients. We innovate together from our synergies and diverse experiences. We leverage our networks for ideas and partners to bring great value.
that "shoulds" rarely translate into action.
Instead of telling you what you should do, we teach and discover through involvement. The result is commitment, ownership and energy to get into action!
slowing down may actually help us to achieve our goals faster.
We can take in more, learn more, become more informed for our direction forward when we slow down.
everyone has an inner artist.
We express it in our own way. Do you tap your creativity fully?
there is no reason for embarrassment from failure.
Trying something new - experimenting - may cause us to fail, but if we fail forward we gain in the process.
nothing is classier than kindness.
Kindness helps us stay centered on what ultimately matters most.
life is better with a dog.
Slobber. Rhythmic panting. Play fetch. Greet deliveries. Take a nap. Never a dull moment for Behos and Davis in the TadZo office.