Tara Agacayak takes us along her journey from a data specialist in the U.S. Department of Defense to becoming an entrepreneur based in Istanbul, with a stop-over as a housewife in Pendik.
This talk was recorded by İltek Media.
After earning an undergraduate degree in psychology from Santa Clara University in Silicon Valley, Tara Agacayak joined the US Department of Defense as a data specialist.
During that time she completed a Master’s degree in Information Technology Management and met her Turkish husband. They were married in 2002 and moved to Turkey. When her struggle to adjust to a new culture and find a suitable job in the tiny town of Golcuk turned into a devastating identity crisis, Tara found direction by attending a global women’s leadership program. Melding her local environment, interest in women’s initiatives and global outlook, she built an e-commerce business selling handmade Turkish products. With the rise of the social web, Tara has turned the experience she gained from running her e-boutique into a consulting business for those looking to build their own global micro-businesses. As co-initiator of GlobalNiche.net, Tara supports the creative self-enterprise of a global community through programs aimed at building and promoting professional web platforms through a combination of technology and personal development.
And she recently became Vice President of Business Development for Linqto, a web app for live broadcasts over Facebook.