Check Out Tara Accardo’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tara Accardo.

Hi Tara, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Losses Become Gains, and my journey to become a Grief Coach and Soul Purpose (Dharma)/Spiritual Life Coach began about a year and a half after my dad died, around February 2022. My mom died in December 2019 of esophageal cancer, my dad died in July 2020 from prostate cancer, and my beloved 19-year-old dog, Princess, died in June 2021.

As an only child especially, after so much loss of my immediate family in such a short timeframe, I was profoundly lost, confused, deeply broken, in immense pain, scared, and there was really no light at the end of the tunnel to be found, so to speak. I couldn’t even find the tunnel at the time!

This started a journey of healing, growth, and deep self-reflection beyond my wildest dreams. One I’m still very much on, but I can confidently say I have found my purpose in life as a healer of the heart, mind, body, and soul by helping fellow grievers journey through their devastating losses.

Losses Become Gains launched in November 2022 and has evolved into my Intentional Life After Loss Membership and Community, my Losses Become Gains Daily Journal, available on Amazon, and the Losses Become Gains Podcast. I have even more new and exciting things in the works, too!

My approach to coaching and providing guidance & healing is incorporating the life lessons I have experienced alongside the coping tools I have used to reach this point in my healing journey. This all combined my education and expertise as a Grief Coach and Soul Purpose Coach to provide the most well-rounded experience and support for my clients as possible. We not only address the grief at hand and how to cope with the day-to-day difficulties of loss, but we look beyond our grief and into discovering who we truly are now (and what we envision for ourselves) after suffering such loss.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
After my dad died, there was a period of intense self-healing, self-reflection, self-education, and truthfully, relishing being alone. I had a support system around me, but no one who truly understood what I was experiencing or the depth of my pain. I didn’t feel particularly seen, heard, understood, or validated in my grief.

Getting to know myself again after loss, and discovering who I am now was a massive part of this that I didn’t anticipate. Diving into things such as: Who am I as a daughter now without her parents? What do I REALLY want for myself in my lifetime? What do I envision for myself? Who do I want to be? What do I want to embody, how do I want to embody this, and what does that feel like? What does my highest self and highest purpose look like and mean to me? All of these and so much more are things I have now tapped into and live out in my daily life, but the road certainly wasn’t easy.

The way I like to describe it is it was going from living very one-dimensionally to quite multi-dimensional. To living fully, vibrantly, magnetically, and on my own terms. Many people can’t see this in the thick of grief, though, and I was certainly no exception. I found I had to dig deep and tap into new levels of gratitude, resignation for what I’ve been through and what that really means post-traumatic growth, and emotional regulation that I hadn’t experienced before.

All of this was largely self-taught, but finding “my tribe” and the people who inspired me along the way truly made such a difference. I’ve overcome so many mental blocks in this timeframe, too. Everything from limitations creatively to blocks with how I view money and beyond. A lot of this journey has gone so much further and deeper than grief, but despite the ebbs and flows, I am forever grateful for the road I’ve been led down thus far.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Before I really dove into the grief space and coaching in this realm, my background has been in digital marketing in the wine industry. While this has served me incredibly well and is something I appreciate (and has 100% helped me grow my business!), what truly lights me up and sets my soul on fire, so to speak, is helping fellow grievers heal from a devastating loss. Grief and loss is an incredibly complicated, complex journey that never truly ends. While I specialize in Grief Coaching, what really sets me apart is the integration of my Soul Purpose and Dharma Coaching on top of this.

The way I like to approach working with clients is to bring them a beautiful combination of both, depending on their needs. I truly meet each and every person where they’re at with deep compassion because I have, in my own way, been where they are. I understand where their head and heart are, I understand what they’re coping with, and the road they have ahead of them. With all of this in mind, in addition to the education I’ve received, I am able to provide the most personalized and impactful coping tools they could need.

While the grief in and of itself needs to be worked on properly, I saw this as an incredible and unique opportunity to bring an essence of spiritual life coaching into the process as well. Since grief is something that, on some level, lasts a lifetime, that is my approach. To help grievers heal from the inside out in a way that incorporates their grief into their life as a part of their story and experiences, while also giving them the tools to not only cope with the grief itself but everything after! This approach helps ensure they are living the truest, most joyful, intentional, and fulfilled versions of themselves after loss.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
There are so, so many. I truly had a very blessed childhood; I’m very fortunate. In fact, that’s honestly what made the deaths of my parents that much more difficult. For me, a multitude of memories come to mind. Having such a close bond with my mom and dad (both together and separately) is an overarching part of this, but I think just the camaraderie and deeply loving relationships I had with them is what I look back most fondly on. The laughter, the encouragement to use my imagination, the outings we would go on together as a family (even if it was just to a neighboring town for the day, just to explore and get out of the house).

It was a home and life full of experiences with immense, all-consuming love. It almost didn’t matter what we were doing; simply being in each other’s presence was fulfilling. I always felt encouraged to try new things and to be curious, which I’m incredibly grateful for now. They were always very patient with me, even when I likely didn’t deserve it as a rowdy high schooler!

One memory I will mention, though – and this is always a memory I come back to if I’m ever feeling stressed, nostalgic, etc. Having grown up in New Jersey and Pennsylvania for the first 10 years of my life, catching fireflies on a warm summer night is one of my all-time favorite memories.

My family was nearby, but I imagined myself almost in this whimsical world that felt nearly out of body a little bit. It was a beautiful, magical, wonderfully innocent, and uncomplicated feeling. It’s hard to explain, but it’s one of the most heartwarming memories that I cherish. Similarly, sitting by the warmth of the fire around Christmas time, cozy all together, and enjoying each other’s company. It was a level of comfort and love I really haven’t experienced since my parents died, but is one I hope to provide our first child, a baby girl, due in February 2024.

Pricing:

• One-on-one coaching is available upon request, pricing and details are available at www.lossesbecomegains.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lossesbecomegains.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lossesbecomegains/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/losses.become.gains/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lossesbecomegainspodcast
• Other: https://lossesbecomegains.com/category/losses-become-gains-podcast/

Image Credits
Tara Accardo