Tessa Sayers
Director of Marketing and Program Development
Tessa Sayers grew up in Washington State on a small llama farm. She is a certified Native American artist with her tribe, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, a poet, holistic health enthusiast, and seeker of personal growth and healing. Her creativity is inspired by her indigenous roots encompassing three tribal communities; Chippewa, Cree, and Metis. In 2017, Tessa created the brand Soul Curiosity to inspire holistic healing through the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual elements of the Medicine Wheel. Through art, she uses a variety of mediums to tell stories empowering others to cultivate more love, embrace vulnerability, heal the shadow self, and live courageously.
While obtaining a B.A. in Sociology with a focus in Native American studies from Western Washington University, she was the co-director of the Native American Mentoring Program at WWU, spending time on the Lummi Reservation tutoring and mentoring youth. In 2005, she was accepted into the Native American Teacher Training Program, attaining an M.Ed. in Educational Psychology at the University of Utah and became a counselor at NAYA ECA, a Native American high school in Portland, Oregon. In 2010, Tessa transitioned to the Nike World Headquarters at Nike N7, a brand within Nike that inspires and enables Native and Aboriginal youth to be physically active. After meeting her husband in 2016, she moved back home to Port Orchard and oversaw marketing and business development for Wenaha Group, a Native-owned construction management company. With an opportunity to support her local community, Tessa joined Kitsap Regional Library as their marketing manager, overseeing nine branches that served 271,000 residents. Currently, she is the director of marketing and program development for the National American Indian Business Leaders. In this role, she empowers Indigenous youth business leaders with the experience necessary to lead tribal communities in economic development and entrepreneurship activities.
Besides working on her next creative venture, Tessa enjoys time with her parents and friends. She spends her evenings in the country with her husband, two dogs, Tule and Rollo, farm cat Boo, and 12 chickens.
