Courtesy photo.
SANTA BARBARA — Pam Tanase, who helped launch one of Santa Barbara’s first coworking spaces, Workzones, more than a decade ago, was recently inducted into the Ted Ducey Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Hall of Fame at Claremont McKenna College, her alma mater.
The Ted Ducey CMS Hall of Fame recognizes outstanding athletes, scholars and leaders within Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, an NCAA Division III athletic program comprised of student-athletes from three of the Claremont Colleges: Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, and Scripps Colleges.
Tanase attended Claremont McKenna as a student from 1984 to 1988, and later joined the college as a faculty member and full-time head coach of the women’s water polo, swim and dive teams. Her induction honors her leadership throughout this time as an athlete, swimming and diving coach, and foundational water polo coach, including her instrumental role in leading the team to the first two Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) championships in its history, first in 1997 and again in 1999.
In an interview for the college’s alumni magazine, Tanase credited her time at Claremont McKenna with helping her develop the leadership skills and resiliency needed to succeed in starting small businesses, including Workzones, which she cofounded in 2013 with three other entrepreneurs from the Claremont Colleges.
“My time as an athlete at CMC was pivotal,” Tanase said. “Technical skills aside, the interpersonal skills, team building and leadership that I experienced in the classroom, as a Resident Assistant, manager at (the college’s student center), and team captain were most valuable. After 10 years of coaching and working with teams, I took all of that knowledge to launch small businesses.”
Tanase holds a master’s in education from Claremont Graduate School and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Claremont McKenna College. She has over 30 years of team building and operations experience. In addition to co-founding Workzones, she is a regional developer for the Massage Envy franchise, which has made therapeutic massage services and skin care solutions accessible to a network of more than 1.65 million members in over 1,000 franchised locations across the United States.
A dedicated champion for women entrepreneurs, Tanase serves as the advocacy chair for the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Santa Barbara board, as emerging professionals chair for the Santa Barbara Human Resources Association (SBHRA) and is a chair member for the Laird Norton Family Foundation. She’s part of the League of Extraordinary Women supporting Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) and a member of Santa Barbara Women for Good.
Located at the Paseo Nuevo mall, Workzones is an innovative, 15,000-square-foot coworking facility designed to support all hybrid work models with maximum productivity, flexibility and community. In addition to offering a traditional coworking area with a variety of amenities, Workzones provides members access to private offices, hybrid meeting rooms, board rooms, training rooms, team suites and event areas capable of accommodating the staff of a small company. Amenities include complimentary beverages, utilities, fast Wi-Fi, mail and concierge services, printing, scanning, and accommodation of corporate IT requirements.
–Workzones is at 351 Paseo Nuevo, 2nd Floor, Santa Barbara, CA, 93101. For more information visit https://workzones.com/, email host@workzones.com or call 805-966-3722.