Women we love - Kelly Tackett
By Maria Pascucci
(Originally published on Blue Jean Online)
Have you ever tried to reach out to someone you love, only to
realize you have no clue how to begin? While thoughts and emotions
race through your mind, somehow the right words never escape your
lips, and all effective communication is blocked. Words left unsaid,
opportunities missed, one chance gone.
Twenty-eight-year-old Kelly Tackett of Rochester, New York, sympathizes
with people's inability to express their emotions. "There
is so much power in words. They are a script for life," she
says. In 1997, this Latina writer-turned-businesswoman founded
InnerActions, Ltd. in hopes of "creating a catalyst for communication"
through greeting cards. From the pain of a broken heart to the
joy of a marriage proposal, Tackett captures intense human emotions
and packages them into attractive cards.
Her newest line of cards, called, "Talk to Your Kids,"
give "well-meaning parents who were never trained [the chance]
to effectively communicate a voice," Tackett says. Later,
she says, she plans to produce a line to "give kids a rebuttal."
For people tackling difficult topics, Tackett says, her cards
are useful because they are unbiased and written by a third party.
"When a person buys a card and gives it to someone else,
it is not their words, so it takes some of the vulnerability away
from the sender," she says.
Even as a young girl, Tackett used writing to express herself.
"I wrote to my inner child when I was a child," she
says. At the age of eight, Tackett wrote herself letters to vent
her emotions and shredded them afterward. These actions proved
therapeutic in coping with the lack of communication in her house,
she says.
As a teenager, Tackett embraced the roles of "analyst"
and "observer". It was through these roles that she
discovered the commonality of human experience. "Women have
a lot of the same emotions," Tackett says, " and when
feelings are involved, there's a lot of gray area. I put the feelings
in black and white. Validation is a huge thing for me. I want
to conquer verbal communication."
Tackett began penning card scenarios about love, anger, trust,
and betrayal to mediate her friends' wayward relationships. She
quickly realized her cards could be marketed to teens on the dating
scene. Any girl who feels her boyfriend is pressuring her sexually
should consider sending him Tackett's "I'm Not Ready To Have
Sex With You" card.
In the future, Tackett intends to align her company with psychological,
educational, and parental organizations geared toward opening
lines of communication. She hopes to attract talk shows to InnerActions.
Oprah is her top choice, she says, because "her show is all
about self-healing and resolving issues."
To her fellow dream-seekers, Tackett says, "Think highly
of yourselves and respect your dreams because no one else will
do it for you." She should know. Growing up in a rough Latino
neighborhood, Tackett watched every one of her teenage girlfriends
get pregnant. "We all grew up believing you were supposed
to become pregnant at sixteen or seventeen," she says.
When asked how she fought those odds, she responds, "Life
is about exploration, journey, and excitement. If you want a different
outcome, do something different. Life is a contribution-a legacy
for you to write."
To learn more about Kelly Tackett and InnerActions, Ltd. visit
her website at www.relationshipcards.com.
