People of the OCQ: Tara

For as long as she can remember, business has been part of Tara’s life.

“When I was 16, I started working in the family business,” says Tara. “My mom was the founder 40 years ago.”

That early exposure never left her. 

Teaching, restaurants, real estate, and now beauty services, each chapter has built on the one before it. “It runs in my blood,” she says. “My dad was a commercial fisherman. He was always cooking up neat ideas. Not everything works out, so you just keep trying until you find the right fit.”

That mindset is what eventually led Tara to Foxy Box Wax Bar Nanaimo. The idea for Foxy Box began not as a business plan, but as a client experience.

“I always liked getting waxed,” says Tara. “And I had really specific ideas about what I wanted as a client.”

Tara noticed the Foxy Box brand and eventually booked an appointment at the Victoria location.

“I went there as a client,” she says. “At that point, they were looking for their first franchisee.”

As someone with decades of business experience, Tara noticed the structure behind the service.

“I’m a business person,” she says. “I can see things from one side and see things from the other.”

What stood out most was what wasn’t present — pressure, shame, or sales tactics.

“I’m not pro-waxing,” she says. “It’s a choice. If you choose hair removal, you should come here.” The model made sense to her. Like restaurants, it was service-based, relationship-driven, and reliant on trust.

Tara opened the first franchise of Foxy Box in October 2019. 

Foxy Box Nanaimo doesn’t feel like a typical beauty studio. It’s quiet and private. It feels more like stepping into a home than a commercial space. For many clients, that feeling matters as much as the service itself.

The studio operates out of a heritage style house on 241 Milton Street in Nanaimo’s Old City Quarter. From the moment clients arrive, the environment signals discretion and ease.

“It has a matriarch feeling,” says Tara. “There’s a feminine energy here.”

That sense of care isn’t accidental. It reflects how Tara understands service work. The services offered here are intimate, and trust is essential.

Five months after their grand opening, everything changed. 

“I remember getting the phone call—you gotta close your doors—and I was like, what?”

After three months closed during COVID, she reopened. “It’s just been a constant growth ever since.”

Today, Foxy Box Nanaimo serves hundreds of clients every week, supported by a team of aestheticians and administrative staff working seven days a week.

But Tara is clear about what the work really is.

“It’s not just going in and make somebody feel their best,” she says. “It’s a counselling session. Somebody’s very trusting and bearing their soul—literally.”

That level of trust requires more than technical skill. “It’s not a job for everybody,” she says. “This isn’t just a service, it’s care work.”

That care extends to clients of all genders, with the studio continuing to grow its capacity for gender-affirming hair removal.

Over six years, more than 50 employees have come through the business. “I’ve had some really lovely people,” she says. “But you have to be able to maintain your well-being to do this work.”

The first few years were hard. “The first three years were really challenging,” she says. “Post-COVID, nobody was coping that well. It was so stressful.”

Now, she describes her current team with pride. “It’s an epic group of women. We just have such an amazing team here,” she says. “I feel like I’m at the highlight of my career.”

After decades of entrepreneurship, she’s preparing for what comes next. The business is now for sale.

“I love it,” she says. “But it’s time for a new chapter.”

Her hope is simple. “The well-being of my staff is really my number one thing,” she says. “I really want somebody to care as deeply as I do about this place.”

Foxy Box Nanaimo isn’t built on trends or pressure. It’s built on respect, privacy, and the understanding that people deserve to feel safe — especially in vulnerable moments.

It’s a space shaped by decades of experience, attention, and care — and by a woman who has spent her life learning what it really means to show up for others.

Looking back, she’s proud of what she’s built. “It’s been fun. It’s been joyful,” she says. “And the growth opportunity—the last six years—that’s what this gave me.”