Photo courtesy of Tara Hubbard
Tara Hubbard grew up in the family business, but she did not simply step into it.
A fourth-generation member of the Hubbard family, she has spent years carving out her own path as an entrepreneur, wellness retreat leader, and now a key force behind Hubbard’s Marina’s ferry expansion. In the process, she has become part of a new generation reshaping what leadership looks like in a legacy maritime business.
That kind of leadership remains rare in an industry that has not historically made room for women.
Recently, while helping lead the purchase process for a new ferry vessel, Hubbard received an email from a boat vendor in Louisiana addressed to “Dear Gentlemen and Tara.”
“I just took a moment with that email,” Hubbard said. “I’m like, yeah, this is it. It just cracked me up. And yes, that is like a one-liner of how it feels oftentimes.”
Even so, Hubbard said she never felt a hard glass ceiling inside her own family business. Instead, her biggest challenge was making sure she was not treated as someone passing through.
“I never really felt like I wasn’t supposed to be here,” she said. “But I’ve definitely sensed expectations and cultural norms that creep up.”
Photo courtesy of Tara Hubbard
Building Her Own Path
Hubbard said it was important for her to build an identity outside the family company before returning in a larger leadership role. After college, she pursued yoga, travel, and entrepreneurship, eventually creating a business called “On the Go” and inventing a two-in-one travel yoga mat and neck pillow.
Later, she shifted toward hosting yoga and wellness retreats, including sailing retreats in the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, Greece, and Italy. That work eventually led her to Wonderfield Farm and Retreat, a wellness and agritourism venture on family-owned land north of Brooksville.
Rather than simply falling into a traditional role, Hubbard said she wanted to prove herself through her own work and ideas.
“I’m an entrepreneur,” she said. “I want to do my own things.”
That independence also shaped how she approached the family business when a major opportunity emerged in regional ferry transportation.
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Photo courtesy of Tara Hubbard
Claiming Ownership
Hubbard helped lead public-private ferry partnerships in Pinellas County, including existing routes to Egmont Key and Shell Key. However, she said the larger opportunity came when the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority opened the door for a new chapter in regional ferry service.
Her father had spent decades pursuing the broader vision of waterborne transit in Tampa Bay. Hubbard saw momentum building and decided it was time to act.
“That’s when I sat my dad down and said, ‘Hey, this is a big deal. It’s happening. Let’s position ourselves to take it,’” she said.
But this time, she made her expectations clear.
“I said, ‘I will do this and I will do it well and I will get this. But I’m not going to be an employee,’” Hubbard said. “I’m going to be an owner.”
That stance came from experience. Hubbard said she had previously built a successful venture within the family orbit, only to realize she was doing major work without the corresponding independence or equity.
With the ferry expansion, she drew a line early.
Once the bid came through, the moment was both thrilling and sobering. Hubbard described the award not as a single celebration, but as an unfolding realization of just how significant the opportunity could be for the region.
“When I say my dad literally has been working on this for 30-plus years,” she said. “This is just the beginning of something.”
A Broader Vision for Business
Hubbard’s vision reaches beyond transportation. She speaks often about “business for good,” a model that values people, community, and the environment alongside profit.
That philosophy has shaped her work in ecotourism, sustainability, and environmental initiatives, including pushing Hubbard’s Marina away from single-use plastics. She said change did not happen overnight, but came when she connected sustainability goals to the company’s broader strategy.
“I was able to sell it from a larger vision,” she said.
She also sees leadership as something deeply tied to civic engagement. Rather than getting overwhelmed by national politics, Hubbard said she focuses on local systems where she believes people can still make meaningful change.
“The more you get involved and show up, the more you realize you can have change,” she said.
Photo courtesy of Tara Hubbard
Advice for Other Women
For women trying to build something of their own, Hubbard’s advice is rooted in self-trust.
“Find your center,” she said. “Your seat of sovereignty.”
From there, she said, women sometimes have to create their own space before anyone offers it to them.
“You may pull out the chair for yourself and sit down and feel like, ‘Ooh, I don’t think I’m wanted here,’” Hubbard said. “But you just have to stay.”
It is a lesson she has lived: build your own path, bring value to the table, and do not wait for permission to lead.
For Hubbard, that approach is helping shape not only her own future, but the future of a family business that has been part of Pinellas County life for generations.
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