We’re excited to highlight a leader whose work is deeply rooted in the North and grounded in purpose. Tara Larkin, founder of Pursuit Coaching Services and Eve Rising, has spent years helping people reconnect with who they are, how they lead, and what they’re capable of becoming.
Raised in the Yukon and shaped by decades of leadership experience, Tara brings a mix of honesty, intuition, and boldness to every space she enters. Her journey reflects the kind of intention and clarity that continues to strengthen our entrepreneurial community.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what inspired your entrepreneurial journey?
I’m Tara Larkin, a professional coach, facilitator and consultant devoted to helping leaders thrive. I founded Pursuit Coaching Services in 2014 as well as Eve Rising in 2019 which is a holistic women’s leadHership movement right here in the north. Raised in the Yukon and shaped by over 20 years of leadership experience working throughout the justice system, as a business owner and in private practice, I’ve learned the importance of a values based, people centered, holistic approach that answers to the evolving complexity facing both leaders serving the north and the unique needs of our northern populations.
I started my business as both a career pivot and a personal one. I wanted work that aligned with the freedom and flexibility I needed to raise my family and that aligned with who I am at my core. Entrepreneurship gave me the ability to design my schedule, honour my priorities, and show up for my kids and my clients. Leaving the structure of government opened space for me to work differently, more creatively, and with a more human-centred approach.
I began as a health and wellness coach, but quickly found my true home in leadership coaching; the place where wellness, strategy, and human behaviour meet. I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs, where business strategy was basically a second language spoken around the kitchen table. Later, my career in the justice system taught me to read people quickly, hold space for difficult conversations, and navigate complexity; all skills that became the backbone of my coaching practice.
Now, I guide people from diverse backgrounds, across a wide range of roles, industries, and life experiences (including entrepreneurs) to slow down, tune in, and integrate who they are with how they lead, reconnecting them with their values, their voice, and the wisdom they’ve carried all along. I help leaders make radical personal and professional changes by discovering their inner compass and donning the courage to finally stop the behaviors and thought patterns holding them back from seeing themselves at their best.
The reality is, every time I help a leader step up to their true potential, I feel myself stepping more fully into mine. In coaching, we rise together and that partnership is what transformed this calling into a practice, then a business, and eventually, the Eve Rising movement.
What’s the story behind your business idea or project, and what impact do you hope it will have?
Pursuit Coaching was built on the belief that people already have what they need to succeed. I help leaders and teams strip away the noise so they can reconnect with that deep inner knowing, lead with clarity instead of overwhelm, and ground their decisions in values, integrity, and authenticity.
Then there’s Eve Rising, the northern women’s LeadHership movement, which was born from a gap in leadership support for women leading in the north. Women lead differently and leadership in the North isn’t like leadership anywhere else. The terrain, the relationships, the demands, and the communities ask something different of us. I believe women are uniquely suited to lead in ways that honour what’s needed here: heart-centred, relational, values-driven leadership that reflects the reality of community.
Eve Rising exists to help women come together, learn from one another, own a unique and genuine leadership style, and rise without burning out, shrinking, or reverting to leadership paradigms that simply don’t fit women or the complexities of the North.
How did the Entrepreneurship Fundamentals program help you take your idea further or gain confidence?
I actually didn’t take the program but am proud that we offer these services to entrepreneurs here in Yukon.
My connection to Yukonstruct solidified in 2019 when I started as a Coach for the inaugural Yukonstruct Bootcamp (which used to be called the Launchspace Bootcamp) at the program’s inception. I Coach bootcamp entrepreneurs at the early stages of starting a business and I’ve had the privilege of supporting every cohort since. Supporting founders through those early, high-energy stages has become a highlight of my work, and it continually pulls me back to where my own entrepreneurial foundations formed.
My entrepreneurial roots were planted long before Pursuit Coaching existed. I grew up watching my parents build what would later become a very successful business from our kitchen table, before they had an office. I absorbed entrepreneurship the way most kids absorb bedtime stories: listening to my parents answer phone calls, troubleshoot crises, bid on tenders, celebrate wins, and figure things out in real time. That kitchen table was the best business school I could’ve asked for, teaching me resilience, resourcefulness, and the kind of instinct you can’t manufacture.
Later in life, after starting our own family, I found myself witnessing that familiar spark all over again, this time as I watched my husband build his business. It was inevitable that the entrepreneurial leader in me would eventually surface, shaped by years of observation and fueled by the examples I saw in my whole family. Dave not only encouraged me to step into my own path but actively supported me as I launched Pursuit Coaching Services. To this day, he remains both my unofficial business partner and my greatest mentor, helping me continue the legacy of entrepreneurship that has surrounded me from the very beginning.
Simultaneously, my background in Applied Justice Studies and frontline justice work became its own form of entrepreneurial and leadership training. Spending years listening, reading people, navigating tough conversations, and making critical decisions taught me how to trust myself and lead others with clarity, compassion, and courage – in a psychological safe way.
Returning to school in my thirties to become a coach tied everything together. My confidence came from a mix of academia, lived experience, continuous learning, and a deep belief that relational, values-led leadership changes lives. That’s the foundation Pursuit Coaching and Eve Rising is built on.
What’s one challenge you’ve faced so far, and how are you tackling it?
Wearing all the hats can be exhausting: CEO, marketer, creative director, admin assistant you name it. Which is why I’m no solo act; I ask for help when I need it. I partner up with other professionals like bookkeepers and accountants, delegating the things that don’t align with my strengths. This allows me to ruthlessly prioritize what truly moves the needle.
My superpower? The courage to be different is what sets me apart from everyone else, and it’s a core capacity I help my clients cultivate too so they can show up genuinely in alignment with their values. I carve out space for life outside work to keep the fire alive and I look for the proof – the constant reminders that I’m changing lives every single day. Plus, plenty of coffee and more than occasional assistance from ChatGPT, because a marketing degree is definitely not in my cards.
In line with this year’s theme, “Invest in Her,” how do you think supporting women-led businesses fuels economic growth?
Investing in women doesn’t just shift economic indicators—it strengthens entire communities. Women-led businesses reinvest locally, solve real problems with empathy and innovation, and create workplaces rooted in care and service. When you invest in her, the whole economy grows.
A powerful example of this is the generous funding support provided to Eve Rising by YukonU Innovation & Entrepreneurship, The Northern Elite Realty Team: Brittany Widrig and Hillary Labar, and one other local business woman who wishes to remain anonymous. Their support directly reduces participant costs, ensuring that northern women leaders have access to high-quality, inclusive, and accessible programming without added financial, social, or environmental barriers. I only had to ask three organizations—and all three responded with an enthusiastic yes.
Eve Rising supports that economic growth by equipping northern women with the skills, confidence, and networks to launch and lead ventures that address the North’s unique challenges and opportunities. This sparks a ripple effect of innovation, job creation, and community investment that strengthens the entire Yukon economy.
And more important than anything is women investing in themselves first. Research consistently shows that higher self-efficacy leads to greater entrepreneurial success. When women believe in their capability, they take bolder risks, recover faster from setbacks, and pursue their goals with persistence and clarity creating the conditions for long-term economic impact.
What’s next for your idea or project?
In 2026, Pursuit Coaching and Eve Rising are stepping into bold new territory. We’re embracing risks and leveling up in ways that feel both thrilling and overdue, thanks in part to my new status as a partial empty nester with a little more time (and energy) to devote to the work I love.
Eve Rising is still in its early days, but already it’s building real energy, strong community connections, and soul-fueling momentum. We’re kicking off the New Year with a LeadHership Lab designed to help northern women leaders set a powerful and intentional course for 2026. The Self-Authored LeadHer: A New Year Awakening will support participants in envisioning their year ahead by aligning their intentions with their core values and the leadership presence they want to embody.
We’ll also be launching our 2nd Eve Rising LeadHership Development Program at the event, where attendees will have first priority to register and first input in co-creating specific elements of the program. While the bones of a solid leadership development program are already in place, part of what makes Eve Rising so unique is our commitment to ensuring it fulfills the needs and addresses the gaps that northern women leadhers experience and who better to shape that than the leadhers themselves.
There’s so much exciting growth on the horizon. Stay tuned, because what’s coming next will be truly impactful.
If your business had a personality, how would you describe it in three words?
Empowering. Game-changing. Unapologetic.
Outside of your business, what’s your go-to activity to recharge or have fun?
I refuel with water, fire, nature and family. A road trip, a long walk, time near, on, or in the water, a crackling bonfire, a country playlist, and coffee in my favourite mug. Any moment at the lake surrounded by the people I love reminds me life is short, breathe it all in, and don’t take it for granted.
Which fictional character, movie, or celebrity best represents your entrepreneurial vibe?
Honestly, my entrepreneurial journey has been about forging my own path—I do business differently. I chose a profession that isn’t fully regulated and I’m constantly challenging the status quo. I thrive in spaces where rules aren’t clear and where real transformation happens by asking tough questions and breaking molds.
If I had to describe my vibe, it’s all about curiosity, resilience, and the courage to lead authentically even when it means going against the grain.
If you had to pitch your business in one sentence for a TikTok or Reel, what would the hook be?
Hmmmm, it would have to be something like: “Forget the pitch. I’m all about honest conversations that help you grow on your terms.”
The idea of pitching feels scripted to me so you’ll rarely find me pitching. Instead, I trust in word of mouth advertising and know that people will reach out with curiosity about my business when they are ready. That’s when I engage in real honest conversations with people about what I do and how it can benefit them – no pressure, no sales, no strings attached. If we’re a fit it will happen. When I talk to people about business, it comes from the heart and is grounded in honest care and connection.
Learn more about Tara by visiting the links below:
Website: www.pursuitcoaching.ca
Email: tara@pursuitcoaching.ca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/www.pursuitcoaching.ca/
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/tara-larkin-b-a-jus-ihc-85398396