Meet Tammy Takaishi

We were lucky to catch up with Tammy Takaishi recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tammy, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

WHEW! That’s a heavy, but important question. Many people in my life have commented about my resilience and admittedly, I don’t always take the time to delve into the whys. I can only speak to my experiences, but for me it’s not just about survival; it’s about reaching my potential in whatever I’m doing–my career, podcasting, friendships, relationships, and personal growth. I care so much about being a better human, and making the world a better place, that I feel I have no choice but to keep on keeping on. Do I have less-than-stellar days? Absolutely. Are there times in my life where I wanted to stay in bed and mope? Sure do. Who doesn’t have those from time to time? Right? But in the end, it’s about taking one breath at a time, and one day at a time, especially when the difficulties pile up. For me, it’s believing in myself and believing I can achieve xyz, even if that’s something small that day. Sometimes breaking a larger task into smaller ones really helps so I can conquer the mountains in front of me, and then they don’t feel like mountains anymore.
I recently relocated across the country and with that I closed some big chapters of my life and started new ones I’d been dreaming of for years. It was necessary for this time in my life, and absolutely everything I wanted, but it was still scary, and emotional. And there were days it felt like the moving boxes and all the things I had to do to make my dreams a reality were almost too much. Except, they weren’t. Amidst the stress of the time I reminded myself of all the difficult things I’d gotten through before then–the passing of both my parents, many moves prior, and so forth, and I got through it and became stronger.
Personally, I believe that resilience gets stronger as we get stronger. We weather storms in our lives, and it builds character. We get to grow, and become better selves. And there’s no shame in falling apart and leaning on our loved ones because they make us stronger too. We lift each other up and that helps make everyone more resilient.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m a Board Certified-Music Therapist working in the hospital setting. I absolutely love it, and it’s everything I’ve wanted at this stage of my career. Currently, I’m focused on caring for patients, and their families, and following through with some amazing research being done at my workplace. Prior to, I was a music therapist in the hospice and palliative settings, and those experiences will stay with me forever. It’s an absolute joy and privilege to be a music therapist. I don’t get the “Sunday Scaries” I wake up on Monday’s ready to tackle the week. I know that’s a rare thing–for people to get to do something they went to school for, and also really really love, and I don’t take it for granted.

I’m also the creator and host of Creative Peacemeal Podcast, a creative arts podcast. As of press time, I’ve had nearly 140 episodes, and I am humbled at the success of it. Top 5% in the world since summer of 2023 and it continues to grow. I get emails about where the show has been in the charts across the world and that’s so fun to see where the show is being listened to, and how it’s making an impact.

There’s a variety of guests from NYT Bestselling authors, to chefs, famed rock musicians, artists, illustrators, educators, fellow music therapists, even wedding planners and astrophysicists! I love being able to connect with persons from across the fields and finding what made them go into the arts, and how their journey is. There’s something for everyone on the show, and I encourage people to give it a listen. No matter how busy I get, I’ll always find time to podcast because I feel that getting the authentic stories out there are important for the guests, and inspiring for the listeners.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

This is a great question! Three qualities that are most impactful on my journey are: compassion, empathy, and patience. Those qualities go hand in hand and apply not only to my work as a music therapist, but also as a podcaster. Being able to be present with someone, and be a good listener, and empathize with what they are going through is vital–not only to provide the best care in my professional field, but also to get a great story from a guest.

Advice that works across fields is to ground yourself. Take time to focus and ground before a session, before an interview, before you start your workday even. In this fast-paced world, it’s more important than ever to take a few moments for yourself because that transfers and translates in everything that comes after. And if you’re grounded, you can then (ideally) be able to provide the best going forward for whomever you’re sharing your space with; that translates to being able to be more compassionate, empathetic, and patient.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

It’s actually been an area of growth for quite sometime, but there’s been marked improvement over the past year, and that’s removing the rose-colored glasses. I refer to myself as a semi-reformed people pleaser. I’ve been doing a lot of work to see people for who they are (and believing it!) and not just thinking everyone is amazing, and believing almost detrimentally in someone’s potential. Seeing people authentically is an important part of love and acceptance, but it’s also about making authentic connections that work well for all involved. It was years before I realized I’d put many of my friends and loved ones on pedestals and that it was uncomfortable for them, and learned why it was harmful. So, I’ve grown a lot there and I like to joke that I’ve got a closet full of pedestals getting dusty.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Kathryn Jenson
Tammy Takaishi

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