Tara Balboni
Vice President, Advocacy and Recruitment
Snow Companies
Pioneering New Recruitment Avenues
When does a storyteller “look like me” or “sound like me”? The answer to that question is relevant for a story to resonate with people struggling with chronic or rare conditions, to help the audience feel validated and not so alone.
One person who has a knack for accurately answering that question and finding candidates to become the faces that represent a specific condition is Tara Balboni. Tara is continuously pioneering new recruitment avenues and convincing brand managers of different paths to take, different stories that need to be told, and of veering off path when they are looking for that “perfect” marketing profile that does not exist. At the core is the firm belief that we must engage people who bring authenticity, not just the profile.
As a leader, Tara is effective at energizing and guiding her Advocacy and Recruitment Specialists. Thousands of calls are made and hundreds of emails sent under Tara’s supervision. Among the high number of candidates screened, the way in which her team communicates with those that were not chosen for a patient engagement program is just as important as how new program participants are on-boarded.
Another of her talents is to strategize about how to connect with doctors and office staff to pinpoint candidates. No two patients are the same. Tara recognizes this and approaches each one with respect and empathy.
Jenn Mason, SVP, Health Education, Learning and Patient Support, Snow Companies, describes Tara’s positivity as contagious: “She radiates confidence and has never met a mountain she did not want to climb or a barrier that she could not find a way around.” Tara recognizes the value of teamwork and collective thinking that enables success and raises the bar.
Tara is continually pondering new strategies and approaches, taking learnings and implementing them throughout the process. Her team appreciates Tara’s welcoming approach to feedback—good or not so good—which she incorporates into policy as appropriate. “She leads from the front, middle, and back,” said Mason, who herself is a past ELITE winner. “She is truly a pleasure to work with.”
